Origination:
nottcountyfc.co.uk, Notts County Football Club's Official Site, has been live on the internet since 1998 and has progressed from strength-to-strength ever since in providing Magpies fans with the very latest news from right inside the club.
Back in the late 90s, Notts County's first-ever Official Site was launched off the back of the very successful 1997/98 championship-winning season and at the time provided very little for fans with only the latest news from the club, player profiles and various match reports.
Back then there were only a handful of Notts County-related websites, and very few official club websites.
Obviously, back then there wasn't as much online activity and demand as there is nowadays, and with no designated member of staff to work on the website, it was only updated every so often as staff found time during their traditional roles.
During the 1999/2000 season the website was redesigned and managed by Magpies fan Phil Lockwood, who kindly donated his time and efforts free of charge to revamping the website and also providing fans with regular news bulletins, reports and other snippets of information from Meadow Lane.
Next Step:
In the summer of 2000 the Club employed a full-time member of staff to work on the website by the name of Sean Turtle.
Sean redesigned the website and was able to update the website with daily news and other various other details from the club online and available to the fans around the world - as well as the first ever online shop.
Overhaul:
A year later, the website moved forwards even more as the majority of the teams in the Football League at that time teamed up with FLPTV - a joint venture between Premium TV and the Football League - to overhaul the websites and bring them into the new digital age.
With a mobile zone, betting website and many other new and interactive features including match highlights introduced, Craig Mankelow was hired by the Club to oversee the development of the new website and work with Sean in the Media Department at Meadow Lane.
A Whole New World:
The following year in 2002, Magpie World was introduced as a subscription-based section of the website with audio interviews and match highlights, as well as live commentary available on all the Magpies matches in the Match-Live Console.
2003 saw the website redesigned once again, as Football League Interactive took over the running of the websites from PTV, who continued to remain involved with the websites on the network.
Also, a new website team arrived, as Mark Stevenson and Tom Loakes took charge of matters during the club's final stages of administration on a voluntary basis - providing news and information when possible.
In late 2004, Tom took control of the website on a full-time basis and helped provide the website with daily news updates, audio interviews and the very latest from Meadow Lane, taking it from strength-to-strength each season.
Cuba:
In May 2007 the new-look Official Site was launched as part of Football League Interactive's latest project, named 'Cuba' - once again taking the website into a new age.
In May 2008, nottscountyfc.co.uk announced its first-ever sponsor - Nottingham-based company Heart Internet - and in the early part of the 2008/09 season the website took a bigger stride forwards with video interviews, introduced to the website for the first time as part of the Magpie World package.
In July 2009, Magpie World was rebranded as Magpie Player and redesigned to utilise flash player and full widescreen output.
Expansion:
As part of the Munto Finance era, a new media team arrived, consisting of Webmaster Dane Vincent and Press Officer Ralph Shepherd, and the website expanded to involve social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter, in an attempt to bridge the gap with supporters.
Both groups' numbers grew significantly in such a short space of time and supporters enjoy interacting with each other and the club on both sites.
Another relationship was also formed with the Access Network Group to allow disabled fans better access to the site through advanced tools. The page can be found here.
Player Focus:
Improved numbers to the Magpie Player service during 2009/10 led to Chairman Ray Trew investing in better video equipment and the service saw an influx of new features, such as pre and post-match reaction for every game and plenty of behind-the-scenes insight.
