Having just watched their side lift the National League play-off final trophy at Wembley on Saturday, Notts County supporters will have the opportunity to compete for more silverware this weekend.
This Saturday will see Magpies fans, branded as Notts County Fans FC, compete in a fixture at Carlton Town's Stoke Lane against Juventus supporters for the Tom Savage Memorial Trophy (kick-off 2pm).
The special relationship between Notts and Juventus is well known to football fans around the world. It can be traced back to the early 1900s, when Nottingham-born Turin resident Tom Savage gave Juventus a batch of Notts kits as a replacement. Juventus were so impressed with the stripes they decided to keep them as their home kit and have played in them ever since.
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The two football communities were further strengthened in September 2011, when Juventus invited Notts to play in the opening game at their new stadium. The match finished 1-1 and this extraordinary gesture signalled to the rest of the world the unique bond between the clubs.
The idea for the supporters’ game began in 2019 when Magpies fans Ian Baggott and Andy Black came together with the same vision. Mr. Black was in touch with London-based Juventus fans and so was able to help organise the game.
The Juventus team will consist of players from England and Italy and will be managed by Antoni Sorgi and captained by Riki Canningham. The Notts team, meanwhile, will be managed by Matt Lawson and captained by Mr. Baggott.
And ahead of the fixture, we spoke with Mr. Lawson to discuss everything that will be taking place on the day.
"This Saturday, kicking off at 2pm at Carlton Town Football Club, we have got Notts County fans against Juventus fans, and it's been agreed by both clubs to build on a relationship between both clubs which goes back along way of course.
"We are playing this game between the two sets of fans for the Tom Savage Memorial Trophy that will be presented on the day with Juventus fans flying in from Turin as well as some of the Italian Magpies who are based in London, and they have got a team who are going to face a great group of lads representing Notts County who are all local footballers that have played at a good standard, along with a couple of ex-Notts County academy lads that I have worked with and some of the fans may know.
"The event is all for charity, raising money for Bottled Up Blokes which is a mental health charity in Nottingham and they are going to be there on the day and use it as one of their social occasions to get blokes talking and promote the benefits of the great work they do within the community.
"The Juventus guys have also been promoting it within the media in Italy, and they are very keen that we do a minute's silence to remember the victims of the Heysel Disaster so that will also taking place pre-kick-off.
"We are hoping to break Carlton Town's attendance record for this season, or certainly get right up there and get a few hundred people down there, and it should be a great day."
At the start of Mental Health Week, it's a time to reflect on those who are unfortunately no longer with us and to raise awareness of not suffering in silence.
Football often provides a release from every day struggles, even if it is just for 90 minutes, with Bottled Up Blokes continuing to provide some fantastic aids for those who are struggling - Lawson, a former dietician with Notts, explaining the importance of mental well-being.
"There are obvious lots of benefits for physical well-being by looking after yourself and playing sport, but we want to highlight the mental side because it is so important to get people out socialising, talking to people, and engaging our minds to be happier and positive - being a part of this gives a lot of guys a lot of structure.
"For anybody involved on the day, it is going to be a positive day to be out there on a nice day. We have picked a men's mental health charity because not many blokes talk, so Bottled Up Blokes is the perfect charity to partner up with - it's about raising awareness of the benefits of talking and the importance of working on your mental health, as well as your physical health.
Admission on the day is free of charge and looks set to be a fantastic event that will hopefully continue for many years to come.
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