The Notts County weapon who can spoil Gary Neville, David Beckham dream at Wembley | OneFootball

Huddersfield Town loanee Tom Iorpenda has been ever-present for Notts County this season, and could spoil a Salford City promotion party next Monday

The 2025/26 EFL campaign draws to a close on Bank Holiday Monday, as Notts County and Salford City battle under the arch at Wembley in the League Two play-off final.

Karl Robinson's side are 90 minutes away from a place in League One for the first time in their history.

Having bounced up non-league at an alarming pace under the Class of '92, the journey plateaued somewhat in League Two. This is the Ammies' seventh EFL campaign and, crucially, their first under a new leadership model.

Indeed, the Class of '92 are no longer shareholders, but an ownership group led by teammates David Beckham and Gary Neville acquired the club last May. That has led to their best-ever EFL finish and a first-ever fourth-tier play-off final.

In the opposite corner, though, are Notts County, who are arguably at the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of footballing history. Salford have only been a professional club since 2017, whereas Notts are universally recognised as the oldest professional club in the world, being founded in 1862, a whole 155 years earlier.

Both sides will have League One on their minds this Monday, but one name within Martin Paterson's side may hold the x-factor to deliver promotion to the Magpies.

Tom Iorpenda can end a successful Notts County loan spell with a Wembley triumph

Despite finishing in the play-offs last year under Stuart Maynard, there wasn't much expectation for Notts to replicate that finish this season with Martin Paterson at the helm.

The Northern Irishman hadn't had the best managerial credentials after a poor run in the Burton Albion dugout a year earlier, and the club itself came under scrutiny for outlining their fresh approach with a technical board to review footballing matters ahead of each match.

However, it's proven successful, with Notts going one better in terms of league position this season, but finishing with eight more points and ending the campaign with the second-best goalscoring record. It's also seen them make the play-off final.

A key component of all of that has been exciting attacking midfielder Tom Iorpenda, who has played a part in every league and play-off game and assisted the only goal of their semi-final win over Chesterfield for fellow loanee Jayden Luker.

In the regular season, the 21-year-old played all across the centre of the park in both an attacking and defensive sense. His three goals and seven assists were backed up by being in the top five % of fourth-tier midfielders when it came to successful passes, duels won, and defensive contributions, per Fotmob, highlighting his quality across the midfield.

The 21-year-old is in the midst of his first loan spell away from parent club Huddersfield Town, and he couldn't have wished for it to have gone any better.

He'd played sparingly in West Yorkshire up until this season, making 15 senior appearances over two seasons, including five cameo stints off the bench in League One in the 2024/25 campaign. But he's shown that he's easily at League One level, and could be a more regular feature at the Accu Stadium next season.

But for now, his focus is on finishing the job with the Magpies and getting the historic club back into the third tier for the first time since the 2014/15 campaign.

Salford City will have their hands full with Notts County's frontline at Wembley

While Iorpenda has clear qualities, Salford can't just focus on him. The likes of Luker, Jodi Jones and Alassana Jatta can all provide problems for the Ammies' backline, but that doesn't mean that Karl Robinson's side doesn't have star players of their own.

Kelly N'Mai and Kallum Cesay have returned from injury at the right time. Daniel Udoh is always a threat, and as is Ryan Graydon, albeit the latter has yet to truly find his feet in a Salford shirt after his mid-season switch from Fleetwood Town.

It may be a case of which defensive line can stand strongest against the other's attack. Notts did that to perfection against Chesterfield, but they'll be relying on those frontmen to ease some of that stress by taking their chances.

Iorpenda will be the main man to watch, though, and a performance that we've almost come to expect from him this coming Monday will definitely have Gary Neville and David Beckham worrying about their club's third-tier chances.