Luke Williams labelled Notts County player "a special guy" - he won't be forgotten for 71 reasons | OneFootball

Everybody at Notts County adored Macaulay Langstaff - including Luke Williams

Macaulay Langstaff's two-season stay at Notts County was emphatic, memorable and simply unprecedented in the success it brought, and ex-boss Luke Williams cherished his goal-getting kingpin.

The Magpies acquired Langstaff from Gateshead in the summer of 2022, and nobody could've dared to predict just how many goals could follow.

Langstaff had emerged as a prolific goalscorer in the non-league game and made the move down to Nottinghamshire off the back of a 28-goal campaign in the National League North. Even still, though, his impact was as surprising as it was sensational.

Little wonder why Notts managed to curtail what had been a four-year exile from the Football League during Langstaff's first season with the club, then, and while supporters will always wish his stay lasted for longer, the influence he was able to exert in such a short space of time may never be topped.

Macaulay Langstaff's Notts County career

The frontman enjoyed an incredible return in front of goal during his two campaigns at the club, and he ensured his name will never be forgotten for no less than 71 reasons. That, of course, is the astonishing number of goals he recorded from just 97 appearances, averaging 0.73 strikes per game.

He was the lethal ingredient in Luke Williams' promotion-winning squad - via the National League play-offs - during the 2022/23 campaign, where he found the back of the net on 42 occasions.

National League defenders were simply unable to get near Langstaff all year long, with his sharp movement and incisive finishing just far, far too good for the level. Yet that also turned out to be the case the following campaign in League Two.

Poised among the pre-season promotion favourites after enjoying such a stunning, widely-praised promotion back to the fourth-tier, the Magpies ultimately failed to deliver on such high, unconventional expectations and were undone by their defensive frailties as they scored the most goals, and leaked the most goals, in League Two last time out.

Mind you, a natural fall-off in the second-half of the term followed from the mid-season departure of Luke Williams, who jumped ship to return to Swansea City, as Notts wound up in 14th place. Through everything, though, Langstaff prevailed and remained completely unfazed by the adjustment to a higher division - indeed, he took to it like a duck to water.

The 27-year-old finished the season with 29 goals from 46 matches, and he had duly earned a move to the Championship when Millwall came calling and were able to prize him away from Meadow Lane back in the summer.

Of course, the County faithful have been keeping a close eye on his varying exploits with Millwall thus far, showing they haven't forgotten about him one bit. But, with his remarkable goalscoring record in mind, it's really no surprise that he was adored so fondly by Williams either.

Ex-Notts County star Macaulay Langstaff was a "special guy" according to Luke Williams

Williams often took time to laud Langstaff during his time at the club, but there's one such delivery of praise which stands out above the rest.

After Langstaff hit a first-half hat-trick to inspire Notts to a 5-0 thrashing of Morecambe on December 29, Williams went out of his way to heap praise upon his star striker. He didn't just praise Langstaff's goal-getting antics, though, and he hailed the ultra-prolific forward as a "special guy" owing to his character away from the pitch.

Williams was quoted by beIN SPORTS as saying: "He is adored because imagine you are playing, and you are desperate to win, and you look around and you see Macca and you think ‘well, we definitely have a chance to win because Macca’s going to score’.

"But then if that guy is going to run for team, like he kills himself every week - running, tackling and now playing in three different positions like he has played there his whole career - and then you spend time with him and he is just the best guy as well, he is a really special guy."

That's another reason why Langstaff's legacy at Notts lives on. Ask Williams, or virtually any Notts supporter, and you'll rightly be told of just how special and inspirational Langstaff was both on and off-the-pitch, underlining his influence in more ways than one.

Make no mistake about it, Langstaff represents a modern-day legend at the club, and the way in which Williams decided to hail him on this very occasion leaves little in doubt on that front.