Notts County cruise into League One with emphatic win over Salford

The final match of the English domestic season saw football’s oldest professional club continue a clamber back up the divisions. Alassana Jatta’s injection of higher echelon quality for the opening goal began a County stroll in baking Wembley sunshine as Salford melted away. Following Lucas Ness’s towering header, Jodi Jones’s second-half goal confirmed County’s promotion to League One.

Salford, club of the Class of 92, facing Notts County was celebrity versus tradition. Not that Salford lack football heritage within their ownership, nowadays Gary Neville and Sir David Beckham, with further former Manchester United notables lending a hand. Beckham, furthering the A-lister trend of soccer ownership by co-owning two, was in the posh seats, along from Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt. Not that County eschew modernity, their Danish owners are leading lights in data analytics. Having spent four years in non-league until 2023, County’s is a redemption arc for a top-division club in 1991-2, relegated the season before the Premier League year zero. County, coached by Martin Paterson, former assistant at Beckham’s Inter Miami, set about their task at quite a lick, Jones, their impressive, buzzy Maltese No 10, at the heart of neat possession play. In temperatures approaching 36 degrees, Karl Robinson, the lower league specialist hired in 2024 to rescue the Salford project, suffered as his team sweated cobs in chasing shadows. Those travelling south from Nottingham shared their disapproval of Neville and Salford’s low turnout; Wembley’s South Stand was three-quarters empty, Salford fans numbering about 5,000 of an overall 30,851. Salford’s approach was direct, former Everton full-back Luke Garbutt’s left foot diagonals for Daniel Udoh, the striker, as the key weapon. Pushing forward at a set piece left the back door open. Garbutt’s disappointing corner fell straight into the arms of James Belshaw, the County keeper, and within moments, Jones’s curving pass – a beauty – had found Jatta. The striker’s pace burned him beyond Brandon Cooper and Adebola Oluwo.

Key points

• Salford, club of the Class of 92, facing Notts County was celebrity versus tradition.
• Not that Salford lack football heritage within their ownership, nowadays Gary Neville and Sir David Beckham, with further former Manchester United notables lending a hand.
• Beckham, furthering the A-lister trend of soccer ownership by co-owning two, was in the posh seats, along from Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.
• Not that County eschew modernity, their Danish owners are leading lights in data analytics.
• Having spent four years in non-league until 2023, County’s is a redemption arc for a top-division club in 1991-2, relegated the season before the Premier League year zero.