THERE are hundreds of tales to be told about Jimmy Sirrel's tenure at Notts County and few are better equipped to tell them than Dave McVay.

But, while his anecdotes may flow freely, there is one regular event he feels sums up his former manager better than most.

It was not unheard of for Sirrel to give the groundsman a start when they turned up to open Meadow Lane early in the morning.

"The groundsman would sometimes turn up at the ground at the crack of dawn and find it was already open," explains McVay. "There, in the dressing room, would be Jimmy, sat in the bath.

"He would have driven up to Scotland, to East Fife or somewhere totally random to watch a youth team player he had heard about.

"Jimmy was not the quickest of drivers so it would probably take him about ten hours to get back, so he'd just come straight to the ground, have a quick soak and be ready for training, having not even bothered to go home.

"That was a fairly regular occurrence, with poor old Jack Wheeler [Sirrel's right hand man] often getting dragged along for the ride."

It was such dedication that helped Sirrel to become a success, says McVay, who was given his chance as a young player by Sirrel.

"He was not a modern manager by any means, but few of them were in those days," he said. "We are talking about an era when there was no internet and few matches were covered on television.

"But he would still know everything there was to know about the opposition before we played them.

"He would give us a full run-down of what we needed to know before every game. He was always prepared. He was dedicated, he was determined, he was a character and he was a success.

"There are no end of stories about Jimmy, most of which people will have heard before. But, behind all the smiles and laughter there was a man who made Notts County a force to be reckoned with, against the odds. He is part of the very fabric of the club and he always will be."

McVay, a former writer for the Nottingham Evening Post who is now an author and a freelance writer for the Daily Telegraph, says the achievements of Sirrel at Meadow Lane should not be underestimated.

"He took over a club that was really at its lowest point, in the old Fourth Division and he made them a success," he said.

"In the 70s there was probably a period when Notts were the greater force in the city, when they were more of a success than Forest. That was pre-Clough, of course. But it was down to Jimmy.

"When I joined, the club was in what is now the Championship and, after a first season where we found our feet, we were there or thereabouts when it came to challenging for promotion then.

"There were some good, established players already there at that time, but he had a real strength in shaping the careers of young players as well.

"He was responsible for ensuring quite a few players went on to have a decent career in the game. I know he was a huge influence on me.

"For Notts County fans he has left a legacy of a lot of good memories, but essentially he is responsible for making the club what it was, in his way.

"We had the famous Cup win over Leeds and we looked to be going places, at least until Jimmy left for Sheffield United.

"But when he came back, he finished the job he had started and took them up."

Despite his advancing years in the mid-70s, Sirrel would often pull on his boots on the training pitch.

"He used to join in training; he reckoned he was the best right winger to come out of Scotland," said McVay. "We were never quite sure about that, but it help to galvanize a bit of team spirit.

"He would get the ball and start trying to take on Brian Stubbs who would be doing his best to launch him into the stand.

"Jimmy was not that much of a disciplinarian though. He was not a man to suffer fools gladly, but he was not really a disciplinarian.

"I did pick up a few fines off him in my day, the most ridiculous of which was for refusing to shave off my beard.

"He pulled me to one side on the team coach on the way to a game one day and told me he wanted it gone by the Monday.

"Needless to say I kept it on as some petty act of rebellion. He fined me, as he promised, and I shaved it off within a few days. Jimmy got his way as always.

"Few people ever really properly got to know Jimmy. But he was Notts County through and through."

paul.taylor@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk