INSIDE THE EFL: How a BT WiFi engineer got Notts County firing again after turning his back on his pension to turn the world's oldest football club into a data-driven powerhouse

Stuart Maynard was in his van when he received the call that would forever change his life. Over the previous three years Maynard had been balancing being manager of Wealdstone in the National League with his other role, as a senior engineer at BT. Rave reviews poured in for the 44-year-old as he repeatedly overachieved with the Stones - who at the time were one of only two part-time clubs left in the top tier of non-League football - and there were murmurings of interest in his services from EFL teams for some time.

When the call came, it was Wealdstone chairman Rory Fitzgerald, informing him that high-flying League Two side Notts County had made an approach. ‘It happened so quickly,’ Maynard tells Mail Sport. ‘Within the space of 24 hours we were up at Notts County meeting the owners and the director of football and signing. ‘From the minute I gave up playing I always wanted to get into management and make it a full-time job. So I could never turn the opportunity down, especially after chatting to the owners.’.

Stuart Maynard has led Notts County up to second in League Two, seven points off the top. The 44-year-old was a non-League player and assistant coach until getting his chance in 2021. Maynard was an apprentice at Watford, and after a brief trial at Dutch side Groningen spent his entire 12-year playing career in non-League. He was No 2 to now-Barnet boss Dean Brennan at four clubs across nine years until his big chance came at Wealdstone in February 2021.

During that time, Maynard racked up 19 years of experience fixing WiFi boxes for BT, but he was now taking on an altogether different challenge. Given the perilous nature of football management, were they ever any doubts?. ‘It was a difficult decision with my wife and daughter,’ says Maynard, who was spared having to serve a notice period by BT. ‘My daughter is going through her GCSEs but it was a decision we always knew was going to be made and my wife knew I’ve always wanted to go full-time.

‘You’re walking away from a pension - and BT is almost known as a job for life - but I always backed myself if an opportunity came to go and give it a go.’. Just over a year on and Maynard’s belief in his ability has paid off, with County - who are owned by Christoffer and Alexander Reedtz, the Danish brothers behind statistical football analysis company Football Radar - second in League Two, hunting down leaders Walsall who had threatened to run away with the division. They sit seven points behind with a game in hand.

Last Saturday’s victory over Morecambe was their fifth in six games and the mood around the world’s oldest football club is buoyant, although it wasn’t always this way. When Maynard arrived last January Notts were sixth, but their quest for a second successive promotion had stalled following nine defeats in 15 matches. And it proved to be a turbulent introduction to full-time football for Maynard as the Magpies' push for League One continued to fall apart.

Maynard reshuffled County's defence and has turned them into an extremely solid outfit. A run of five wins and 11 losses from their remaining 19 matches saw them meander to 14th place and the new manager already faced pressure, with ‘Maynard Out’ banners in the crowd. ‘It was difficult coming in when we took the job,’ he adds. ‘They had been on a bad run but were still in a really good league position.

‘From the outside looking at the league position, even the fans to a degree, you’re thinking we should be up there and stay up there. But defensively we just weren’t good enough to cope and we knew we had to get to the summer and reshuffle.’. Maynard knew something had to change and despite losing the talismanic Macaulay Langstaff, labelled the 'non-League Haaland' after scoring 71 goals in 96 games for the club, he underwent an aggressive recruitment drive in the off-season.

Fourteen players were brought in, including a new goalkeeper in Alex Bass from Sunderland. This has helped Maynard turn what was League Two’s leakiest defence into the second-tightest this time around, with Bass’ 12 clean sheets instrumental to the transformation. Instead of relying on Langstaff, who has scored just once in the Championship with Millwall since joining last summer, the goals have been more shared around this season, led by Gambian international Alassana Jatta (17 goals) and the evergreen David McGoldrick (13), still firing them in at 37.

The latter's goal to put County 2-0 up at Gillingham earlier this month is well worth a watch - latching on to a loose ball, beating a man and then dinking the ball high over the onrushing goalkeeper from the edge of the area. The passion and attention to detail of Maynard, who takes a forward-thinking approach with a key focus on data, is evident throughout our conversation. Gambia striker Alassana Jatta has scored 17 goals this season to fire County's promotion push.