As an emotionally charged season reaches its climax Notts County boss Luke Williams knows there are no guidelines for grief.
The Magpies lost chief executive Jason Turner suddenly in March, aged just 50, with his funeral held last week.
Williams, who was among those who carried his coffin, has helped lead a club through heartache while trying to win promotion from the National League.
A staggering 107 points still saw them finish second, behind Wrexham, but they then claimed a blockbuster 3-2 win over Boreham Wood in their play-off semi-final on Sunday as Jodi Jones’ strike in the final minute of extra time capped a comeback from 2-0 down.
Now, Saturday’s play-off final against Chesterfield is their chance to end a four-year EFL exile with the memory of Turner a driving force.
“I don’t think there’s a manual,” Williams told the PA news agency.
“You can be involved in 1,000 games of football but this is something that is about life and there’s no rule book for this. I try my best to support people and to try to support Jason’s family as best I can.
“It’s been a huge challenge for me but at the same time I got to work with Jason and got to know him as a man. He’s made a huge impact on my life in a very, very positive way.
“Nothing that I’ve had to do has been a burden to me. It’s actually, in a way, helped me to mourn Jason’s passing.”
Saturday’s final at Wembley will mark the finale of a thrilling campaign, one where Williams and the club have kept going in tragic circumstances.
Yet it leaves the former Swindon boss wary for when the adrenaline wears off and he and the Magpies have time to reflect.
He said: “When you experience very, very strong emotions, very, very high emotions and very low emotions – when they’re all very extreme – I feel like you’re always very vulnerable when you come to an end of a chapter like this.
“I have experienced things similar in the past and I have a brilliant family and that is the key thing.
“After this type of rollercoaster you need to be with people that care about you and people you trust with your life to be able to help you to recover before it all begins again.
“Will I be able to draw on these experiences? I’m sure, yes. l hope nothing like that happens but you know life is so fragile so there is every chance I’ll be involved in something of a similar nature.
“So I think this stressful experience will help me to cope with that in the future.”
While champions Wrexham have been partying in Las Vegas, courtesy of owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Notts County have one last game.
Reynolds and McElhenney are expected at Wembley to support the Magpies, something which Williams welcomes as he looks to join them in League Two.
“It’s brilliant we’re able to be really fiercely competitive and do everything we possibly can to try to get to the title and then be able to be respectful and supportive at the same time,” added Williams.
“Not that I think anybody wants to take the passion and the competition out of football, we all want rivalry.
“We want passionate performances and brilliant moments to celebrate and the fans to be able to wind each other up. Then, afterwards, it is a nice development to see the class of the two clubs and the respect they have shown towards each other.”
Kurzawa to follow Mbappe through PSG exit door
Defender Layvin Kurzawa will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season after nine years with the Ligue 1 giants, he announced on Monday.
Left-back Kurzawa joined PSG from Monaco in 2015 for €23million and has made 154 appearances for the Parisiens.
However, the 31-year-old has fallen out of favour in recent years and has played just eight minutes in one match throughout the 2023-24 campaign.
Kurzawa was loaned out to Premier League club Fulham in the 2022-23 season after not playing for the French side for more than 11 months, but he made just six appearances for the English outfit.
"I've had some great times, as well as some tough ones," he wrote in a post on X. "But I want you to know that my love for Paris Saint-Germain is sincere.
"I know that our relationship has sometimes been complicated, but I want you to know that I can only take back the positive and that I have been privileged to have called the Parc des Princes my home for all these years."
Kurzawa's announcement comes after Kylian Mbappe played his final home game for PSG on Sunday, a 3-1 defeat to Toulouse.
Mbappe is widely expected to join Champions League finalists Real Madrid after opting not to activate a one-year extension clause in the big-money deal he signed with PSG in 2022.
Manchester City's success is "not boring" or purely determined by financial reasons, head coach Pep Guardiola insists.
The Citizens are on the hunt for an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title, and could become the first team to win back-to-back doubles should they also prevail in the FA Cup final later this month.
Once again, City appear to be hitting form at just the right time, winning each of their last four matches by an aggregate scoreline of 15-1.
Guardiola's side are a point behind leaders Arsenal heading into the final week of the campaign, and will leapfrog the Gunners should they win their game in hand against Tottenham.
But the Spaniard rejected the claim City's success is becoming too predictable - or that it is down to the money they have spent - believing other teams would have lifted more silverware than his side had that been the case.
"It's not boring," he said. "It's difficult. Before, it was the money. For that reason, Manchester United should have won all the titles, Chelsea - all the titles, Arsenal - all the titles.
"They spent as much money in the last five years as us. They should be there. They are not there.
"For that reason, Girona shouldn’t be in the Champions League [next season] and Leicester should win the Premier League."
City will take a giant step towards that fourth straight Premier League crown with victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday.
While Guardiola admits the achievement was not at the forefront of his squad's intentions at the beginning of the campaign, he is well aware of it's significance.
"In the beginning of the season, we didn't think about it," he added. "But then we were in February, March and April, we were still there [in the title race]. After that, it ignites something in all our heads.
"No team has done it. That shows how hard it is. Liverpool in the 1980s, Alex Ferguson's [Manchester] United in the 1990s. Chelsea with [Roman] Abramovich and Jose [Mourinho], Arsenal with [Arsene] Wenger didn't do it."
Barcelona pleased to have second-place battle with Girona in their own hands
Barcelona face a tough battle to secure a second-place finish in LaLiga but are pleased to have their fate in their own hands with three games remaining, says defender Inigo Martinez.
Barca leapfrogged Girona into second with Monday's 2-0 home win over Real Sociedad, going one point clear of their Catalan rivals after they drew 2-2 with Alaves on Friday.
Lamine Yamal put Xavi's team ahead in the 40th minute when he coolly slotted home from Ilkay Gundogan's pass after a quick breakaway, then Raphinha's stoppage-time penalty made certain of the win.
The Blaugrana go to Almeria on Thursday before hosting Rayo Vallecano in their final home game of the season on Sunday. They then bring their campaign to a close at Sevilla on May 25.
"There is still a long way to go. It will be a battle to the end. Girona are very strong," Martinez told Movistar after Monday's game.
"It's in our hands now. I think the team is very good. It's three valuable points. We had some mistakes in the first half, but in the second half I think we could have finished it off earlier."
Teenage winger Yamal believes Xavi's side – who are some 14 points adrift of champions Real Madrid – may need maximum points to hold off Girona.
"It was an important game to regain second place and we have to try to make it a nine-point week," the 16-year-old said.
"La Real did very well in the first half but then we were able to improve. There was a good feeling in the whole team."
Xavi, meanwhile, was pleased to see his team pass a difficult test, saying: "La Real always make it difficult for us.
"They are always very organised, aggressive, you don't create danger for them. It's an important victory for us. We played a good game in general."
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