{"id":8724,"date":"2021-03-18T17:35:02","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T17:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nottinghamsport.com\/?p=8724"},"modified":"2021-03-18T17:35:02","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T17:35:02","slug":"brian-bates-a-creator-of-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nottinghamsport.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/18\/brian-bates-a-creator-of-excellence\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Bates – A Creator of Excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wes Morgan, Jermaine Pennant, David McGoldrick and Leon Best all came through Notts County\u2019s youth ranks\u2026\u00a0And the man behind nurturing and developing a generation of young talent at Meadow Lane was Brian Bates.<\/p>\n

A former flying winger with over 140 appearances for Notts in the 60s, Bates returned to Meadow Lane to set up the club\u2019s Centre of Excellence in the late 90s.<\/p>\n

And in the latest edition of The Magpie Circle podcast, Bates reflects on those times at Meadow Lane.<\/p>\n

He recalls how Morgan was unlucky to be released by Notts after being viewed as \u2018a little overweight\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWes was unlucky, I wanted to keep him but the view was that he should be released.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was delighted for him that he went on to join Forest and carve out a hugely successful career for himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another outstanding talent was Jermaine Pennant.<\/p>\n

And Bates has fond memories of having to get Pennant out of bed to go training on more than one occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d often have to walk over from Meadow Lane to go into The Meadows and get Jermaine out of bed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis timekeeping wasn\u2019t great but he was always a fantastic talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thursday 18th March 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n