Notts County Football Club history

On 7 December 1864, a football club was formed for Nottinghamshire county, and it was to be known as the Notts Club.

Then came the first significant match against Sheffield on 2 January 1865.

Annual subscriptions, 10s [50p]. The officers for 1871-72 are President F.C. Smith, Esq., M.P. Vice-Presidents, Doctor Wright, E.B. Steegman, Esq., Jno.

Notts had representation in the first ever international match as full-back Ernest Greenhalgh played for England against Scotland in November 1872, thereby becoming the club's first international player.

In 1877 Notts, ever mindful of their genteel background, (viewed as snobbery by the other club in town), moved on to the ‘Gentlemen of Nottinghamshire Cricket Club’ at Beeston.

When necessary, Notts still used the Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, such as when they played Derbyshire in November 1878 in one of the earliest floodlit games.

Overall the move to Beeston did not prove to be a success, so in 1880 yet another move was made, this time to the Castle Cricket Ground, with the actual pitch located on the site of the aforementioned The Meadows.

In 1888, Notts County, along with 11 other football clubs, became a founding member of The Football League.

Notts County finished third in the top flight of English football in the 1890–91 season, a position they maintained ten years later.

On 21 March 1891, Notts County played in the FA Cup final for the first time.

1893 Relegated to the Third Division for the first time.

On 31 March 1894 (the day Notts were winning the F.A. Cup), the Nottingham Journal copied this information: “History of the Notts Club.

After a series of ‘test matches’, which are now called play-offs, Notts City won Division Two in 1896/97 and was promoted back to Division One.

Their black and white home strip led the Italian club Juventus (1903) to adopt the same color scheme for their kit, earning them the nickname “Magpies.”

Three years later County settled into the Trent Bridge Cricket Ground until 1910.

On 31 May 1912, Notts County Football Club held a banquet to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the club’s formation.

However, since an article appeared in 1923 in one of the Nottingham newspapers about the club’s early years, there have been questions about when Notts County Football Club was formed.

Despite a ninth-position finish in 1924-25, Notts dropped back down to the Second Division the following campaign.

County were relegated in 1926 in what was to be their last season in the English top flight for over half a century.

Then, in 1929-30, the club fell to the Third Division South, only to bounce back at the first time of asking – as champions.

1930 Relegated to the Third Division for the first time.

After 16th, 15th and 18th placed finishes respectively, Notts ended the 1934-35 season at the foot of the Second Division.

Prior to the Second World War, Notts narrowly missed out on promotion, as they finished 1936-37 second in the Third Division (South) – two points adrift of the champions, Luton Town.

The club suspended all fixtures during the 1941–42 season after Meadow Lane was hit by enemy bombing.

The signing of Tommy Lawton from Chelsea for a then-record fee of £20,000 in 1946 stunned the football world.

A number of attendances were over 30,000 and 40,000, and, in 1949-50, with an average of over 34,000, Notts gained promotion to the Second Division.

1959 Relegated to the Fourth Division for the first time.

Notts County are recognised as the oldest club in the Football League and although the date of their foundation has been questioned recently, it did not stop Notts celebrating their centenary in 1962.

Forest again used Meadow Lane in 1968, after fire destroyed the main stand at the City Ground.

The club have had mixed fortunes through the years, until in 1969 when Jimmy Sirrel was appointed manager.

In the 1970–71 season County clinched the Fourth Division title in record-breaking style, remaining unbeaten at Meadow Lane.

In 1981, the club achieved promotion to the First Division where they played for three seasons before being relegated. It took him just two years to lead the club to a Fourth Division victory in 1971 and followed it up with a promotion to the Second Division two years later.

The next promotion arrived in 1972-73, as Notts finished Third Division runners-up, which preceded an eight-year stay in the Second Division.

He completed the remarkable transformation of Notts County in May 1981.

Three years later they were back in the FA Cup Final for the 1984 competition and this time made no mistakes, beating Bolton Wanderers 4-1, thanks in no small part to a hattrick by Jimmy Logan.

After two decent but unremarkable finishes in the Third Division, Sirrel finally retired in 1987, bringing to a close one of the most successful and memorable periods in Notts County's history.

The signings of goalkeeper Steve Cherry and skipper Phil Turner boosted the squad and, in Warnock's first full season, 1989-90, the club achieved a third-placed finish and a spot in the Play-Offs.

Since, the only time the club have spent in the top-flight league is 1991 for a single season before being relegated again.

In a similar circumstance as their relegation in 1992, due to the rebranding of the Football League, County went from Division Two to League Two.

Warnock was dismissed in January 1993 and was succeeded by Mick Walker.

1995 Anglo-Italian Cup Winners.

1997-98 was a remarkable and unique season in the club's history, as the Magpies smashed a number of national and club records to clinch the Division Three championship.

The Magpies secured the Division Three title in March 1998 by a record margin of seventeen points.

Allardyce left in October 1999 to join his old team Bolton Wanderers.

In 2001-02, Notts were nailed on for another relegation but, with just 11 games remaining, something incredible began.

But despite new ownership, the club were unable to avoid relegation back to the bottom division in 2004.

The 2005–06 season began well for the Magpies: they won or drew their first seven league games and were top of the table in September.

Former assistant manager Steve Thompson was appointed as manager and he led the team to a 13th place division finish in 2006–07.

The following season started with poor results, including early exits from the League Cup and the EFL Trophy, and Thompson was sacked in October 2007, to be replaced by Ian 'Charlie' McParland.

The lovely chocolate and blue halves were reprised for our away kit in 2008/9.

In June 2009, it was announced that County were in talks on a takeover by Munto Finance, a Middle Eastern consortium owned by Qadbak Investments and represented by Nathan and Peter Willett.

Ray Trew bought the club in February 2010, after it had been served with two winding up petitions from HM Revenue and Customs due to demands for a late PAYE payment of around £500,000.

In 2011-12, Notts were invited to take on Juventus in a friendly fixture that marked the opening of the Italian giants' new stadium in Turin.

The lovely chocolate and blue halves were reprised for our away kit in 2008/9. It was itself used as the basis for our 150th anniversary away kit in 2012/13.

A poor opening to the 2013-14 campaign saw Kiwomya leave the club by mutual consent in November 2013.

But County defied the odds, picking up six wins and a draw during the run-in, incuding an emotional 1-1 draw with Oldham Athletic which saw the Magpies secure League One status for the 2014-15 campaign.

Unfortunately the momentum from the Great Escape could not be maintained and Derry was dismissed in March 2015 as the Magpies slid towards the relegation zone once again, despite occupying a play-off spot in the early part of the season.

Jamie Fullarton's reign was even shorter; appointed in January 2016 on a three-and-a-half year contract, but sacked in March after 12 games, during which time Ray Trew stepped down as chairman.

Sheridan was sacked in January 2017 for gross misconduct, following his verbal assaults and threats against match officials during the club's 2–0 home defeat by Wycombe in December.

Colin Slater MBE was named an honorary vice-president of the club after more than 50 years reporting on the Magpies, whose home record remained impressive in 2018.

On 27 January 2019, with County bottom of League Two, Hardy officially put the club up for sale, though not before attracting the attention of the FA for accidentally including a picture of his penis in a screenshot posted to Twitter.

Notts County came within 90 minutes of regaining its Football League status at the first attempt, losing 3–1 to Harrogate Town on 2 August 2020 in the National League promotion play-off final behind closed doors at Wembley Stadium.