Over the years, Notts County’s academy has produced some strong Football League players.
Meadow Lane produced David McGoldrick, Leon Best, and Jermaine Pennant in the late 1990s and early 2000s, while more recent alumni include Kion Etete, Luther Wildin, and Curtis Thompson, all of whom have established successful EFL careers.
Many Notts fans were disappointed when numerous players, like Etete and Wildin, left the club before making a significant impression at the senior level. Unfortunately for the Magpies, Portsmouth striker Colby Bishop is another one of those examples.
The 28-year-old was released by his boyhood club in the summer of 2016, after only four senior games for Notts County, a decision that has proven to be a costly mistake.
Bishop was released from Notts in 2016.
Bishop made his Notts debut on Boxing Day 2014, when manager Shaun Derry started the then-18-year-old in a 1-0 League One home defeat to MK Dons.
The Magpies were subsequently relegated to League Two at the end of that season, following a heartbreaking 3-1 defeat against Gillingham on the penultimate day.
Bishop was released by Notts County in the summer of 2016-17 and joined Worcester City, before playing a portion of the season with Boston United. 
The Nottingham-born frontman’s career took off once he joined National League North side Leamington in 2017.
He scored 28 goals in 51 games for the Brakes over two seasons, while simultaneously working as a PE teacher at a school in Newark (just outside Nottingham).
Bishop, who was still only 22 years old at the time, was signed by Accrington Stanley in July 2019, for an undisclosed fee.
Bishop made the three-division transition to League One appear simple, scoring 10 league goals in each of his first two seasons for Accrington, who were considered the underdogs.
His 12-goal performance in 2021-22 inspired Danny Cowley’s Portsmouth to make a bid, and the club subsequently signed Bishop for another unknown amount ahead of the 2022-23 season.
Notts released Bishop, which proved to be a costly decision.
Bishop has struck the ground running since his relocation to the South Coast.
He scored 20 League One goals in his first season with Pompey, followed by a 21-goal campaign last season, which helped John Mousinho’s side win the League One title and return to the Championship for the first time in 12 years.
Bishop has probably caused Notts to rue their decision in 2016. In recent seasons, he has turned into one of the lower leagues’ fiercest strikers, and his stock appears to be on the rise.
He recently scored his first Championship goal in Pompey’s 3-1 victory against Preston on November 9th, his first game back after undergoing heart surgery over the summer.
With Portsmouth caught up in what might be a particularly dramatic relegation battle in the second division this season, Bishop could be the key to their survival if they can get him fit and firing on all cylinders again.
From Notts’ perspective, Bishop’s incredible ascension is yet another story of an academy product whose ending the Magpies would have preferred.
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