MAGPIES 'FAMILY' GET READY TO GO THE DISTANCE

LUKE WILLIAMS is recalling the first day he sat in his office as County Notts head coach.

- Matt Badcock

As he met the staff around the club, it quickly became clear the privileged position he was in.

"Of course no one ever told a head coach: Come here, it's a bit of a mess and we don't do things very well, a few people don't care," Williams says. "No one ever said that. They tell you how great (it is).

"Then when you turn up and it is that great, you think, 'Maybe it's a trick?' But it wasn't a trick. It's a fiercely supported football club in a brilliant city, with another club across the river.

"It's almost tells you: this is a hub of sport. The cricket ground is obviously just there. Then you meet the people and realise, these people are as driven as I am.

"We lost one of the greatest people I've ever met in football. He was a sensation because however much you wanted to push as a head coach and ask, 'I want this to try to improve,' he wanted it straightaway. 'Brilliant, let's do it.' "He'd come to you and say, 'Why don't you think about this? Everything was to make us better.

Then you realise, 'Ok, don't mess up. You need to work hard, there's a lot of people who want you to do well. That's how it felt." Williams certainly hasn't messed up. By now, everyone knows the stats 107 points, 117 goals, just three defeats, but still in the play-offs thanks to Wrexham's incredible season too.