With Ruben Rodrigues’ contract running down towards the end of the 2022/23 season, few Notts County supporters would’ve predicted how the situation played out for their club.

Notts had made the gamble to not look to sell Rodrigues in January 2023 for what would likely have been a cut-price fee and instead accepted the fact that losing him for free was a risk worth taking in order to achieve their four-year-long promotion ambition.

It was a bad situation for the club to find themselves in, with their key man clearly bound for bigger things, but in the end, they played it extremely well. Rodrigues helped lift them secure promotion back to the Football League, before departing for Oxford United (then of League One).

Meanwhile, Notts secured a top-quality replacement in Dan Crowley, ensuring both club and player got a satisfactory outcome.

Rodrigues signed for Notts on a free transfer in August 2020, with the Magpies beating off competition from several other clubs to secure the signature of the Portuguese.

He arrived in Nottingham on the back of an impressive season in the Dutch second tier, where he netted 12 goals and made 10 assists in just 27 league games for FC Den Bosch.

A tally of 12 National League goals saw Rodrigues end his first season in English football as Notts’ player of the year, but the Magpies missed out on promotion with a play-off defeat to Torquay United.

The midfielder’s performances went up a level further in the 2021/22 season, with Rodrigues finishing with 20 goals and nine assists as his side again tasted defeat in the play-offs.

In the final year of his three-year deal, Notts opted against trying to move Rodrigues on, instead accepting the fact that he was too important to the team to replace, even if that meant losing him for nothing the following summer.

It was a decision that proved to be very successful.

19 goals and 15 assists, the strongest season of Rodrigues’ career in terms of output, helped propel the Magpies to a sensational promotion back to the Football League.

Ever the man for the big occasion, Rodrigues netted an extra-time equaliser at Wembley, before converting his penalty in the shootout to help haul Luke Williams’ side through that nerve-shredding play-off final against Chesterfield.

It would prove to be Rodrigues’ last game in black and white, with the midfielder moving to Oxford upon the expiry of his contract.

Nine goals and five assists in League One played a big part in Oxford’s own run to the play-off final.

Rodrigues once again turned out an impressive performance under the Wembley arch, assisting both goals in a 2-0 win for the U’s that secured second-tier football for Oxford for the first time in 25 years.

With the 28-year-old now a Championship footballer, having started all three of Oxford’s opening games this campaign, Notts’ decision has certainly paid off for Rodrigues, but it also has for the Magpies.

Notts achieved that all-important promotion back to the Football League, far more valuable than the likely £50-100k they would’ve received for their key playmaker.

As well as this, they’ve also been able to fill the gap left by Rodrigues with another technically superb midfielder.

Notts’ recovery

After losing Rodrigues, Notts were able to pick up an equally classy operator to play between their midfield and attack in the form of Crowley.

The former Arsenal academy man joined Notts for free after leaving Morecambe, having also had experience of the Dutch Eredivisie for Willem II and the Championship with Birmingham City. Crowley hit the ground running at Meadow Lane, finishing the 2023/24 season with 15 goals and 10 assists in League Two.

This highlights not only the quality of Notts’ scouting network, in that they were able to identify and then attract two midfielders of this quality, but also the confidence the club’s hierarchy have in their approach.

They backed themselves to find another high-quality option and weren’t deterred by the potential of losing a valuable player for nothing, where previous owners had been in the past.

With promotion secured and an equally capable replacement found, Notts have made the best of a bad situation.