Former striker Mark Stallard says Notts County will be the National League's prize scalp next season and that will make their promotion push twice as hard.
The Magpies are preparing for a maiden voyage for life outside the EFL but will be hoping to bounce back at the first attempt.
The landscape of non-league has changed dramatically over the years and is largely a full-time division with a host of ex-Football League clubs still striving to relclaim their place in the 72-club.
Who will be Notts County's biggest rivals in the National League?
The task facing Neal Ardley's side is a tough one as they look to mount a credible challenge, and BBC Nottingham pundit Stallard says the difficulty is only increased by their history and reputation.
"I am struggling to think of a bigger club that has been relegated to the National League than Notts County," he said.
"Luton and Oxford were obviously down there, but when you sit down and think about it Notts surely have to be the biggest of them all.
"The problem you have with that is teams will raise their level of performance every single week.
Players will want to sign for Notts County for all the wrong reasons
"When they come to Meadow Lane they will see a fantastic 20,000 all-seater stadium and automatically these teams will get such an enormous lift to play at a stadium like it.
"So when you think about the home fixtures, it will effectively be 23 cup finals.
"Everybody will want Notts as a scalp because of who they are and their history. Like it or not, that's something they are going to have to contend with."
