Notts County v Salford - a battle of the ages at Wembley

Inspired by Messi, driven by mum – how Iorpenda earned his place at Wembley
‘Wembley is Salford’s biggest moment’ – Robinson
‘There was obvious danger’ – how fear turned into hope at Notts

Salford hit new heights

Salford City boss Karl Robinson has been riding the crest of a wave this season, building on the momentum generated since he took charge of the club in January 2024.

After guiding them out of the bottom two to safety that season, Salford finished eighth last term, missing the play-offs by a point, before narrowly missing out on automatic promotion this season via their fourth-placed finish.

Should they beat Notts County at Wembley, it will mean they climb to the third tier for the first time in their history and represent another milestone in the club’s ownership.

“It’s the highest point the club has ever been to, currently,” Robinson told BBC Radio Manchester.

“We’ve broken every single record this season, everything – FA Cup ties, beating teams from above us the most amount of times, most amount of home wins, most amount of wins in a league season, most amount of points, highest league finish.

“They have invested money, time and so much emotion into this. And this is not just a game for them, they love this football club.”

Salford get past Grimsby to reach League Two play-off final
Notts County edge Chesterfield in League Two play-offs

Those owners, Neville and Beckham, have transformed the club’s fortunes since an initial takeover with fellow former Manchester United ‘Class of 92’ members Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville, in 2014.

Neville and Beckham have since taken control of the club, yet the impact of the rest of the group still remains with the other four still involved in other roles.

“People don’t see, for instance, playing Colchester away last season and Ryan’s baby was due on the Saturday or Sunday morning. But Ryan got this car and drove all the way up because he’s on the bench for the game,” Robinson mentioned of Giggs.

“When I first came here, the amount of work Nicky was putting in, the amount of meetings he had in a day, he was everywhere.

“And then you look at Paul, since the summer, he’s been ever present nearly every single day at the training ground. He’s been everywhere, and he sits there really, really happy and looking forward to it.”

Salford’s closest run at promotion to League One came three years ago when they were knocked out of the play-offs at the semi-final stage by Stockport County.

Having won four promotions in five seasons under the Class of 92 until 2019, it has been a long seven years since their last.

Yet despite the weight of expectation, Robinson mentioned he has not felt pressured by the ownership group to deliver promotion.

“Gary’s messages have never changed. If everything’s brilliant, nothing. If everything’s terrible, nothing,” he mentioned.

“It’s been so consistent all the way through my whole time here. So they mean quite a lot to me, trying to get this done.”

Paterson focused on Salford, not Beckham

Salford’s owners are also well known to Notts County head coach Martin Paterson.

One of the former Burnley and Stoke City striker’s first jobs as a coach was at Inter Miami – the US Major League Soccer side owned by Beckham.

It was in Florida that he worked alongside Phil Neville, the younger brother of Gary.

And while in Miami, Paterson also coached Beckham’s son Romeo, who was on the books at the club at the time.

Despite the link, Paterson dismissed it as a sub-plot in Monday’s game of high-stakes.

“I don’t think the focus will be on David Beckham. The attention will be on Salford because they’re a dangerous team,” Paterson told BBC Sport.

“Those kind of questions I understand because of who it is, he’s a knight of the realm. Yes, I worked for him, but it wasn’t a personal relationship, it was a professional one because I coached his son as well.

“But I’ll be honest with you, it’d be remiss of me to start talking about anything other than Salford being a really good team coached by somebody that’s been around a long time in these divisions and if not higher.

“So my focus is on Salford as a footballing team and how well they have done this year.”

Importance of game ‘organic’

It is only since Notts returned to the EFL in 2023 that this has become a regular fixture for these sides.

They were travelling in different directions before that, with Salford promoted to League Two in 2019 as Notts dropped to non-league level for the first time in their existence.

Two relegations in five years, both of which were complicated by financial issues at the club at the time, condemned the Magpies to four years in the National League – a period in Notts’ history that was tantamount to an exile for a side whose identity is intrinsically linked to being the oldest football league club in the world.

After more than a decade, they now have a shot of returning to the third tier – a level they were at for 13 out of 20 seasons before going down in 2015.

“The players, the supporters, the football club, nobody needs to be told the importance of the game,” Paterson added.

“It’s there right in front of you, it’s organic, everybody can sense that. So my strategies and my ideas as a person are to go, ‘OK, well, how do we win it?’, and focus on that and prepare the team the same way I’ve prepared all year round, while giving them that balance of detail and freedom to express themselves.”