Sports Week 7.30 #Notts @BBCRNS legend Colin Slater on his long career & why Munto finance wasn’t all bad @Notts_TV pic.twitter.com/Jk1DU9CSFP
— Christian Hewgill (@ChrisHewgill) August 3, 2016
Video: Colin Slater appears on the Aug 3 edition of Sports Week
Notts County’s Munto Finance era has taken on a more positive aura as time has gone by, says club expert and BBC reporter Colin Slater.
The radio commentator, who has covered the Magpies for BBC Nottingham since 1968, appears as the special guest on this week’s edition of Sports Week on Notts TV.
He says the club’s now infamous takeover by Munto in 2009 can now be seen as boost which drove the club forward over time – although the group’s ownership ended after just six months following promises of big money being poured into Meadow Lane.
There are some very mixed emtions
Colin said: “They are very mixed memories really because in the end of course they didn’t have the millions of pounds that they claimed to have.
“I’ve called it the ‘Munto Mirage’ which I think is no bad description for it. But bear in mind they went out with all the confidence in the world and brought certain players in they were able to achieve promotion.
“Two of the players that mattered most, with all due respect to the rest, were Kasper Schmeicel in goal, still doing the business at Leicester City of course, with a record number of clean sheets how important was that,
“And then up front Lee Hughes scoring 30 goals – a controversial signing at the time – and those two were the key.
“Would they have got promotion without that? I doubt it. So what was a mirage turned out to be the basis of Notts County going places.”
Picture: Colin enjoys legendary status at Meadow Lane
Colin reached the milestone of covering 2,000 Notts County games for Radio Nottingham in 2007 and has a Nottingham tram named after him.
He is also in the club’s hall of fame and was awarded an MBE in 2001.
He covered Notts County for the Nottingham Evening News, which later merged with the Evening Post, before commentating on matches for the BBC.
He added: “I still vividly remember the first game – Notts County losing 5-0 at Lincoln City – after which I thought ‘it can only get better’.”
For more of the interview with Colin plus the best of sporting achievement across Nottinghamshire, watch Sports Week on Notts TV at 7.30pm on Wednesday, August 3.
