Notts County Football Club is a professional
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club based in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
, England. The team participate in the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
, the fifth tier of the
English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the
oldest professional association football club in the world and predates
the Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
itself. The club became one of the 12 founder members of the
Football League in 1888. They are nicknamed the "Magpies" due to the black and white colour of their home strip, which inspired Italian club
Juventus to adopt the colours for their kit in 1903. After playing at different home grounds during its first fifty years, including
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also ...
, the club moved to
Meadow Lane
Meadow Lane Stadium is a football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the home ground of Notts County, who have played there since it opened in 1910. The stadium was also home to Notts County Ladies F.C. from 2014 until 2017.
It currently h ...
in 1910 and remains there. Notts County has a local
rivalry
A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
with city neighbour
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
, as well as with other nearby clubs such as
Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...
.
Notts County finished third in the top flight of English football in the 1890–91 season, which, together with the same achievement 10 seasons later, remains their highest ever league position. They also reached the
1891 FA Cup Final, finishing as runners-up to
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
. However three years later the club won the
1894 FA Cup Final with a 4–1 victory over
Bolton Wanderers. From 1897 until 1920 they played in the
First Division which was then the top flight, barring the 1913–14 season when they won the
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
immediately following relegation the previous year. They won the Second Division for a third time in the 1922–23 campaign, before suffering relegations down to the
Third Division South
The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...
, which they won in their first attempt in 1930–31.
The club were back in the Third Division South by
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, but were again promoted as champions in 1949–50 and spent most of the 1950s in the second tier before successive relegations saw them drop back into the
Fourth Division. County won promotion as runners-up in 1959–60. They returned to the fourth tier by 1964, but were promoted as champions in the 1970–71 season, before securing promotion out of the
Third Division under the stewardship of
Jimmy Sirrel
James Sirrel (2 February 1922 – 25 September 2008) was a Scottish football player and manager; he gained his highest profile in the latter role.
Born in Glasgow, Sirrel began his career with Celtic before moving to England, spending most o ...
in 1972–73. They made their return to the top flight by finishing as runners-up of the Second Division in 1980–81. County were relegated after a three-season stay, and ended the decade back in the third tier, before
Neil Warnock masterminded play-off successes in
1990 and
1991 that saw them promoted back into the top flight. However they were immediately relegated, thus missing out on the first-ever season of
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
football. They fell back into the basement division by 1997–98, but managed to finish the season as champions. Following a financial crisis they were relegated again in 2004, before they won the
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
title in 2009–10 amid a takeover bid from a Middle Eastern consortium that eventually fell through despite great publicity and initial expectations. County were relegated back to the bottom tier at the end of the 2014–15 season, and remained there until the end of the 2018–19 season, when they were relegated from the Football League for the first time.
History
Beginnings 1862–1942
Notts County has, for many years, claimed to be the
oldest professional association football club in the world, having been
formed in 1862, although this is now disputed by
Crystal Palace FC
Crystal Palace Football Club is a professional football club based in Selhurst in the Borough of Croydon, South London, England, who compete in the Premier League, the highest level of English football. Although formally created as a profe ...
.
The club predates
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
and initially played a game of its own devising, rather than association football. At the time of its formation, Notts County, like most sports teams, were considered to be a "
gentlemen-only" club. Notts County are considered to be one of the pioneers of the modern game and are the oldest of the world's professional association football clubs (there are
older professional clubs in other codes of football, and
Sheffield F.C.
Sheffield Football Club is an English football club from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, although now based in nearby Dronfield, across the county boundary in Derbyshire. They currently compete in the . Founded in October 1857, , an amateur club founded in 1857, are the oldest club now playing association football). In November 1872, the Notts County
full-back Harwood Greenhalgh played for
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
against
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
in the
first-ever international match, thereby becoming the club's first international player. In 1888, Notts County, along with 11 other football clubs, became a founding member of
The Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...
. They finished their first league season in 11th place, but avoided the dubious honour of the wooden spoon, which went to Midlands rivals
Stoke City. However, the club did achieve their highest ever league finish of third in
1890–91, an achievement they repeated 10 seasons later.
![Notts county 1894](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Notts_county_1894.jpg)
On 21 March 1891, Notts County played in the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
final for the first time. The Magpies were defeated
3–1 by
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
at
The Oval
The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...
, despite having beaten the same side 7–1 in the league only a week earlier. County made up for this on 31 March 1894, when they won the FA Cup at
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a association football, football stadium in the Walton, Liverpool, Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area ...
, defeating
Bolton Wanderers 4–1 in a game in which
Jimmy Logan
James Allan Short, OBE, FRSAMD (4 April 1928 – 13 April 2001), known professionally as Jimmy Logan, was a Scottish performer, theatrical producer, impresario and director.
Family
Logan was born in Dennistoun, Glasgow, a member of a fami ...
scored the second
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
in FA Cup final history.
This achievement is also memorable for Notts County becoming the first club outside the top division to win the FA Cup: Notts County finished third in
Division Two that season. In 1910 they moved to
Meadow Lane
Meadow Lane Stadium is a football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the home ground of Notts County, who have played there since it opened in 1910. The stadium was also home to Notts County Ladies F.C. from 2014 until 2017.
It currently h ...
.
County were relegated in 1926 in what was to be their last season in the English top flight for over half a century. The 1925–26 season was the last season that famed giant goalkeeper
Albert Iremonger played for the club. Legend among Notts County supporters it has been said he had "hands like the claws of a JCB and was a seven foot tall monster".
The club suspended all fixtures during the 1941–42 season after Meadow Lane was hit by enemy bombing.
Two golden ages 1945–1987
In the 1946–47 season, the ground was used temporarily by
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
after the
River Trent
The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...
flooded both Meadow Lane and the
City Ground
The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445.
The stadium was a venue when En ...
. Forest again used Meadow Lane in 1968, after fire destroyed the main stand at the City Ground. The 'golden age' of the club came just after the end of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
.
County stunned the footballing world by signing
Tommy Lawton
Thomas Lawton (6 October 1919 – 6 November 1996) was an English football player and manager. A strong centre-forward with excellent all-round attacking skills, he was able to head the ball with tremendous power and accuracy.
Born in F ...
from
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
for a then-record fee of £20,000
(). Lawton's arrival increased crowds by over 10,000. One incident during this period saw 10,000 fans locked outside the ground. In the 1949–50 season, Notts County clinched the
Third Division (South)
The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to o ...
championship. Crowds averaged 35,000 as The Magpies held off Nottingham Forest in a thrilling championship race.
As the 1950s drew to a close, Nottingham Forest replaced Notts County as the city's biggest club. After the 1957–58 season, the two clubs did not play each other again in a League match for 16 years, until 26 December 1973.
![Jimmy_and_Jack_statue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Jimmy_and_Jack_statue.jpeg)
The Magpies struggled during the 1960s, being on the brink of financial ruin and striving to avoid the indignity of having to apply for re-election to the league. This situation continued until
Jack Dunnett
John Jacob Dunnett (24 June 1922 – 26 October 2019) was a British Labour Party politician, solicitor, and football club chairman. He died in London in October 2019 at the age of 97.
Early life and politics
Dunnett was educated at Whitgift ...
, a local member of parliament, took control of the club.
He appointed
Jimmy Sirrel
James Sirrel (2 February 1922 – 25 September 2008) was a Scottish football player and manager; he gained his highest profile in the latter role.
Born in Glasgow, Sirrel began his career with Celtic before moving to England, spending most o ...
, a charismatic Scot who had once played for
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
, as manager in November 1969.
In the 1970–71 season County clinched the
Fourth Division title in record-breaking style, remaining unbeaten at Meadow Lane. Two seasons later Notts County was again promoted, this time to
Division Two. Sirrel departed for
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
in October 1975 but returned two years later. He completed the remarkable transformation of Notts County in May 1981. He had turned The Magpies from Fourth Division strugglers to a
top division side in little over a decade, ending an absence of 55 years from the top flight.
This achievement was with the same chairman (Jack Dunnett) and trainer (Jack Wheeler) throughout the decade.
In one of the most famous moments in the club's modern history, Notts County visited newly crowned champions
Aston Villa on the opening day of the 1981-82 season. The Villa team had paraded their 1980-81 League Championship trophy to an expectant crowd before kickoff, but against all odds, County came away with a 1–0 victory. After surviving relegation at the end of the season, Sirrel became the club's general manager, with his assistant
Howard Wilkinson
Howard Wilkinson (born 13 November 1943) is an English former footballer and manager. Despite having a low-profile playing career, Wilkinson embarked on a successful managerial career. He won the First Division championship in 1992 with Leeds ...
taking over as manager. County survived relegation a little more comfortably the following season, but Wilkinson was tempted away by the manager's job at his boyhood club,
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
, and the board recruited former
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
manager
Larry Lloyd
Laurence Valentine Lloyd (born 6 October 1948) is an English retired association football central defender and manager. He won domestic and European honours for both Bill Shankly's Liverpool and Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest in the 1970s.
...
to replace him. Despite a good run to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where they were knocked out by eventual winners
Everton, the club had a poor league campaign that ultimately resulted in their relegation. This poor form continued into the following season, resulting in Lloyd's dismissal with the club bottom of the Second Division.
Richie Barker took over as manager, but failed to improve the club's fortunes, and was dismissed after less than six months in charge.
Jimmy Sirrel took charge of the team once again, and while the club's form improved, it came too late, and County suffered their second successive relegation. 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.
Chasing the Premier League 1987–1995
Sirrel was replaced by
John Barnwell
John Barnwell (born 24 December 1938) is an English former football player and manager. He was the chief executive of the League Managers Association.
Career Arsenal
Born in Newcastle, Barnwell first played as an amateur for Whitley Bay and ...
, who nearly steered the club to automatic promotion in the season that followed, but a late stumble meant they had to settle for the play-offs, where they lost to eventual winners
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield.
Walsall is th ...
. The team failed to repeat their form the following season and instead found themselves battling relegation to the Fourth Division, resulting in Barnwell being dismissed just before Christmas.
In late 1988, a new manager arrived.
Neil Warnock had previously led
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
into the
Football League as champions of the
Football Conference
The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...
. At the end of his first full season, Warnock had led Notts County to promotion back to Division Two. The club anthem The Wheelbarrow song originated during this season, stemming from the club's historic first game at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
in a 2–0 win over
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...
. A famous 1–0 victory over
Manchester City in the FA Cup booked them a place in the quarter-final, which they lost to eventual winners
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
. Notts County also booked their second successive visit to Wembley and their second successive promotion. The Magpies defeated
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
3–1 in front of 60,000 spectators, 25,000 of which were Notts County fans.
The following season was disappointing, seeing Notts County relegated from the top flight after just one season back there. Their first game of that season was a visit to
Manchester United at
Old Trafford, where they lost 2–0. However, they did manage to hold Manchester United to a 1–1 draw in the return game at Meadow Lane just after the turn of the year, as United began a dismal second half of the season which ultimately cost them the league title. County's relegation came shortly after the sale of strikers
Paul Rideout
Paul Rideout (born 14 August 1964) is an English former professional footballer and youth team coach of Major League Soccer side Sporting Kansas City.
As a player, he was a striker from 1980 until 2002, notably in the Premier League with Ever ...
and
Tommy Johnson, which raked in nearly £2million in total and contributed towards a £5million stadium revamp which saw Meadow Lane rebuilt on three sides shortly afterwards. With the introduction of the Premier League, County were relegated from the old
Division One
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
to the new Division One. Warnock was dismissed in January 1993 and was succeeded by
Mick Walker. Walker successfully averted a second consecutive relegation.
The Magpies narrowly missed the play-offs for promotion to the
Premiership. The season is most remembered for a 2–1 victory over archrivals Nottingham Forest in which Charlie Palmer scored the winning goal with just four minutes remaining. Notts had led for much of the game, until Forest got a free kick from which they equalised. Notts fans were reluctantly resigning themselves to a draw, when Palmer headed in the winner. This was all the more remarkable because he only scored 4 goals in his whole career. The game has become a celebrated event among Notts County fans, who have dubbed 12 February (the anniversary of the game)
Sir Charlie Palmer Day, and Charlie Palmer has been referred to as "Sir Charlie" by Notts fans ever since. In March 1994, Notts County lost the
Anglo-Italian Cup final to
Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...
.
Walker was surprisingly sacked in September 1994. This event triggered a dramatic decline in the club's fortunes that has persisted to the present. Notts won the
Anglo-Italian Cup at Wembley in March 1995, but ended the season relegated to Division Two, with Walker,
Russell Slade
Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English professional football manager, who was most recently managerial consultant of League Two club Stevenage.
Having had an extended career at reserve team level, Slade entered professional ...
,
Howard Kendall
Howard Kendall (22 May 1946 – 17 October 2015) was an English footballer and manager.
Kendall joined Preston North End as an apprentice and stayed with the club when he turned professional. He was a runner-up in the 1964 FA Cup with Preston, ...
and
Steve Nicol
''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen
Notable people with the name include:
steve jops
* Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people
* Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people
* Steve ...
each taking control of the team at different times throughout the season, before the club appointed yet another manager,
Colin Murphy Colin Murphy may refer to:
* Colin Murphy (comedian) (born 1968), Irish comedian
* Colin Murphy (ice hockey) (born 1980), Canadian ice hockey player
* Colin Murphy (footballer, born 1950)
Colin Murphy (born 21 January 1950) is an English for ...
after the season ended.
Mixed fortunes 1995–2008
County made another visit to Wembley Stadium in the
1996 play-off final, but missed the chance of a return to Division One with a 2–0 defeat to
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
...
. The following season ranks among the club's worst, as they managed just seven victories all season and finished in the bottom position of the league table. Relegation to the league's basement division happened just six years after promotion to the top flight. However, success followed relegation under
Sam Allardyce
Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player.
Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...
.
The Magpies secured the Division Three title in March 1998 by a record margin of seventeen points. They became the first side since World War II to win promotion in mid-March, with six games still remaining.
Allardyce left in October 1999 to join his old team
Bolton Wanderers.
In September 2003, Notts County faced the real possibility of dissolution.
Crippling debts and an increasingly impatient Football League board combined to leave the future of the league's oldest club in doubt.
However, the considerable efforts of a group of local businessmen and the club's supporters helped save the club from extinction. But despite new ownership, the club were unable to avoid relegation back to the bottom division in 2004. 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
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
.
Ian Richardson
Ian William Richardson (7 April 19349 February 2007) was a Scottish actor.
He portrayed the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's '' House of Cards'' (1990–1995) television trilogy. Richardson was also a leading S ...
replaced
Gary Mills as manager in November 2004. Richardson managed to guide the club away from the relegation zone and held the manager's job until the end of the season when
Gudjon Thordarson became the club's sixth manager in five years. 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. But their form dropped and they escaped relegation only on the final day of the season with a 2–2 draw against
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
, whilst
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
lost and went down. The Magpies' 21st place in League Two, and 89th place overall, was the lowest position the club had ever finished, and at the end of the season both the chairman and the manager left, a long-standing youth squad programme was ended, and many of the first-team players were out-of-contract or nearing contract maturity.
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
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
and the
EFL Trophy, and Thompson was sacked in October 2007, to be replaced by
Ian 'Charlie' McParland. However, the team's poor form continued and safety from relegation was only secured in the penultimate match of the season.
The 2009–10 season
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
Qadbak Investments Ltd is a British Virgin Islands registered[SonntagsZeitung](_blank)
2009-09-27 and represented by Nathan and Peter Willett. Speculated by the British media and supported in part by various press releases, the club were believed to be given multimillion-pound backing, and were linked during the takeover's initial planning stages with the
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
i
royal family by British tabloids. However, the latter claim was denied by the family. The supporters' trust, which owned the majority 60% share in the club, voted in favour of the takeover. On 14 July 2009, the takeover was confirmed, with Peter Trembling being appointed as executive chairman. A week later, former England manager
Sven-Göran Eriksson was announced as the club's new
director of football
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...
,
having been persuaded by convicted fraudster
Russell King to join Notts County. On 28 July 2009, the club unveiled a new logo.
The biggest headlines of the summer were made with the signings of England international defender
Sol Campbell
Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Southend United. He previously managed Macclesfield Town from November 2018 to August ...
, and of goalkeeper
Kasper Schmeichel
Kasper Peter Schmeichel (born 5 November 1986) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Nice and the Denmark national team.
Schmeichel began his career with Manchester City, but had loan spells with Darlington, B ...
. Schmeichel, a future Denmark international and Premier League winner, had just been released by
Manchester City, and dropped a full three divisions to accept a five-year contract with County. Campbell, 34, moved from Premier League
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
where he had been an FA Cup winner just eight months previously, but played only one game for County before walking out citing false promises. Schmeichel remained for the whole season, travelling with the squad to away games by private jet, but was never paid by the club, claiming in hindsight "it was all a farce" and "I knew something was wrong but I didn't care because I just wanted to play football".
On 20 October 2009, the
League
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
announced that County's owners had met its
"fit and proper persons" regulations, and that while their structure was "complicated" and featured "both offshore entities and discretionary trusts", it had provided "extensive disclosure" to the League on their ownership structure.
The League also stated that public disclosure of their ownership structure was a "matter for the club".
McParland parted company with the club in October 2009 with Notts fifth in
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
and 4 points from the top of the table; youth team manager
Michael Johnson and assistant manager
Dave Kevan
David John Kevan (born 31 August 1968) is a Scottish football coach and former player.
A midfielder, he made his debut in the English Football League for Notts County in February 1986. He spent the next four years at the club, also enjoying a b ...
were installed as joint caretaker managers..
On 27 November 2009, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' revealed that the league had reopened inquiries into the ownership of Notts County.
The League chairman,
Brian Mawhinney, confirmed that the club had been sent a series of questions relating to its ownership structure.
On 12 December 2009, Peter Trembling purchased the club from Munto Finance for a nominal fee.
Hans Backe
Hans Roland "Hasse" Backe (; born 14 February 1952) is a Swedish football manager and former player who most recently led Finland's national team. Prior to this he managed the New York Red Bulls.
He has coached clubs in Sweden, Norway, Greece, ...
, Eriksson's former assistant at
Manchester City, was given the job of manager in October 2009. He signed a three-year deal and stated his intent to get the club promoted to
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
, but resigned two months later after just nine games in charge.
Ray Trew bought the club in February 2010, after it had been served with two winding up petitions from
HM Revenue and Customs
, patch =
, patchcaption =
, logo = HM Revenue & Customs.svg
, logocaption =
, badge =
, badgecaption =
, flag =
, flagcaption =
, image_size =
, co ...
due to demands for a late
PAYE
A pay-as-you-earn tax (PAYE), or pay-as-you-go (PAYG) in Australia, is a withholding of taxes on income payments to employees. Amounts withheld are treated as advance payments of income tax due. They are refundable to the extent they exceed tax as ...
payment of around £500,000. After two months without a permanent manager,
Steve Cotterill
Stephen John Cotterill (born 20 July 1964) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He is currently the manager of side Shrewsbury Town.
Cotterill had a nine-year career as a footballer playing for Burton Albion, Wimbledon, ...
was given the Notts County job until the end of the 2009–2010 season in February 2010. Cotterill led the club to the League Two title after a 5–0 away win against the already-relegated
Darlington, becoming the third club to win the fourth tier of English football three times. A month after winning the title, Cotterill stated that he would not be renewing his contract at Meadow Lane.
Falling out of the Football League 2010–
A succession of short-term managers were able to keep the club afloat in League One. Ex-Notts County player
Craig Short
Craig Jonathan Short (born 25 June 1968) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
Playing career
Short was born in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England and after attending Amotherby primary school and Lady L ...
replaced Cotterill as Manager but was relieved of duties on 24 October 2010.
Paul Ince
Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince (; born 21 October 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of EFL Championship side Reading. A former midfielder, Ince played professionally from 1982 to 2007, st ...
took over in October 2010, then
Martin Allen
Martin James Allen (born 14 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player. He played more than 100 games as a midfielder for both Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United before finishing his playing career with Portsmouth and ...
in April 2011,
Keith Curle
Keith Curle (born 14 November 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, who is the current manager of League Two side Hartlepool United.
He played as a centre back from 1981 to 2005, notably in the Premier League for ...
in February 2012,
Chris Kiwomya
Christopher Mark Kiwomya (born 2 December 1969) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who is the manager of British Virgin Islands national football team.
He played as a forward from 1987 until 2002 notably in the ...
in March 2013 after a short caretaker spell, and
Shaun Derry
Shaun Peter Derry (born 6 December 1977) is an English former professional footballer and manager. He previously managed Notts County and Cambridge United, and played for Crystal Palace, Leeds United and Queens Park Rangers among other clubs. De ...
in November 2013. Derry was able to turn the team's fortunes around and avoid relegation thanks to a 1–1 draw away at
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic be ...
on the final day of the 2013–14 season.
County's luck ran out in March 2015, when Derry and assistant manager Greg Abbott were sacked with the team relegated to League Two.
Ricardo Moniz
Ricardo Moniz (born 17 June 1964) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Hungarian Nemzeti Bajnokság I club Zalaegerszeg.
Career
He played for RKC Waalwijk, HFC Haarlem, Helmond Sport and FC Eindh ...
joined on a three-year contract, but lasted only until 29 December 2015.
Jamie Fullarton
James Fullarton (born 20 July 1974) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who recently left Walsall FC
Fullarton played for several clubs in Scotland, France and England, including St Mirren, Bastia, Crystal Palace, Bo ...
'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.
Mark Cooper was Fullarton's temporary replacement, with the contract to be made permanent if a certain, undisclosed, amount of points total was achieved, but on 7 May Cooper left the club of his own volition.
Later that month
John Sheridan left Oldham Athletic to become manager on a three-year contract. 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. On 7 January 2017, Notts County set a new club record of 10 successive defeats.
On 12 January 2017, Alan Hardy completed the takeover of the club from Ray Trew and appointed
Kevin Nolan
Kevin Anthony Jance Nolan (born 24 June 1982) is an English former professional footballer and current first team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He has represented England at under-21 level.
After growing up in Toxteth, Live ...
as manager, followed in August 2018 by
Harry Kewell
Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian association football coach, manager and former player. His most recent role as a club manager was at English National League side Barnet, and he is currently a first team coach at Celtic F ...
. Kewell left the club On 13 November 2018, to be replaced by
Neal Ardley
Neal Christopher Ardley (born 1 September 1972) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a right midfielder. He is currently the manager of Solihull Moors.
Ardley was capped at Under-21 level by England. Ar ...
. 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
A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males d ...
in a screenshot posted to
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
. On 4 May 2019, following a 3–1 defeat away at
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
, Notts County was relegated from the English Football League for the first time in their 157-year history. In the summer, the club was sold to Danish businessmen Alexander and Christoffer Reedtz.
Notts County came within 90 minutes of regaining their Football League status at the first attempt, losing 3–1 to
Harrogate Town
Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...
on 2 August 2020 in the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
promotion play-off final
behind closed doors at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
.
In
their next season, which was also their second consecutive season in the National League, they secured 5th place, which qualified them for the
quarter-finals of the promotion play-offs. They beat
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
3–2 in the quarter-final. However, they lost 4–2 to
Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
in the semi finals after extra time, thus keeping them in the
National League for another year.
In the
2021-22 season, they finished fifth in the National League and reached the playoffs, but were knocked out by
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...
in the quarter-final.
Kit and badge
Notts County's first known colours were amber and black hooped shirts, dating from the 1870s. This was followed by short spells playing in amber, then chocolate and blue halves. In 1890, the club adopted black and white striped shirts, and have played in these colours for most of the rest of their history.
Juventus F.C. shirts
The Italian football club
Juventus F.C.
)''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback)
, founded = as Sport-Club Juventus
, ground = Juventus Stadium
, capacity = 41,507
, owner = Agnell ...
derived its famous black-and-white striped kits from Notts County. Juventus have played in black and white striped shirts, and with white or sometimes black shorts, since 1903. Originally, they played in pink shirts with a black tie, which only occurred due to the wrong shirts being sent to them. The father of one of the players made the earliest shirts, but continual washing faded the colour so much that in 1903 the club sought to replace them. Juventus asked one of their team members, Englishman John Savage, if he had any contacts in England who could supply new shirts in a colour that would better withstand the elements. He had a friend who lived in Nottingham, who being a Notts County supporter, shipped out the black and white striped shirts to
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...
.
[ Extracts taken from the Official History of Notts County and article kindly reproduced by the Daily Mail.] Juve have worn the shirts ever since, considering the colours to be aggressive and powerful.
On 8 September 2011 to mark the opening of the
new Stadium in Turin, Juventus invited Notts County for an historic exhibition match. After a spectacular opening ceremony referencing Juve's history, the game ended 1–1 with goals from
Luca Toni and
Lee Hughes
Lee Hughes (born 22 May 1976) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Stourport Swifts.
A strong striker with excellent finishing abilities, Hughes represented the England semi-professional team once in 1996. ...
both coming in the second half.
Stadium
![ViewFromKop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/ViewFromKop.jpg)
* 1862 – 1863 Park Hollow,
The Park Estate
The Park Estate is a private residential housing estate to the west of Nottingham city centre, England. It is noted for its Victorian architecture, although many of the houses have been altered, extended or converted into flats. The estate uses ...
* 1863 – 1873 Meadows Cricket Ground
* 1873 – 1877
Trent Bridge Cricket Ground
Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also t ...
* 1877 – 1878 Beeston Cricket Ground
* 1880 – 1894
Castle Ground
* 1894 – 1910
Trent Bridge Cricket Ground
Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also t ...
* 1910 – present
Meadow Lane
Meadow Lane Stadium is a football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the home ground of Notts County, who have played there since it opened in 1910. The stadium was also home to Notts County Ladies F.C. from 2014 until 2017.
It currently h ...
The club initially played at Park Hollow in the grounds of the old
Nottingham Castle
Nottingham Castle is a Stuart Restoration-era ducal mansion in Nottingham, England, built on the site of a Norman castle built starting in 1068, and added to extensively through the medieval period, when it was an important royal fortress and ...
.
In December 1864, the decision was made to play games against outside opposition, and it was decided that the club needed to find a bigger venue. After playing at several grounds, including the
Castle Ground, the Magpies settled at
Trent Bridge Cricket Ground
Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also t ...
in 1883.
However, when Trent Bridge was in use for cricket, Notts played matches at the Castle Ground or Nottingham Forest's
Town Ground.
The club moved to their current ground, Meadow Lane, in 1910. It currently has an all-seated capacity of 19,841 for Football League games. The record attendance is 47,310, who watched Notts lose 1–0 to
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...
in the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
Sixth Round on 12 March 1955.
Supporters and rivalries
The ''Notts County Supporters Trust'' were the majority shareholders in the club between 2006 and 2009. When the club went into administration in 2003, and looked to be going out of business, the money to keep it in business was only found a week before the Football League's deadline. During this time, the supporters decided to form a supporters trust. In 2006 the trust eventually took control of Notts County Football Club, buying the club from Haydn Green. In 2009, members of the trust voted to accept a takeover bid from Munto Finance, with Peter Trembling named as Chairman. The group saw
Sven-Göran Eriksson come in as Director of Football and
Sol Campbell
Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Southend United. He previously managed Macclesfield Town from November 2018 to August ...
as a player. The club has a very large overseas following, with a large number of overseas fans mostly from Italy and Hungary, despite its relative lack of silverware; it was reported the number was one of the highest in
The Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...
.
Famous supporters include television and theatre writer William Ivory, musician
Jake Bugg
Jake Bugg (born Jake Edwin Charles Kennedy on 28 February 1994) is an English singer-songwriter. His self-titled debut album, '' Jake Bugg'', some of which was co-written with songwriter Iain Archer, was released in October 2012 and reached num ...
who sponsored the club in 2017, MP
Kenneth Clarke
Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham, (born 2 July 1940), often known as Ken Clarke, is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997 as well as serving as de ...
[The Notts County Miscellany by David Clayton, The History Press, 17 March 2017] (although he supports Forest as well) and infamously mass-murderer serial killer
Harold Shipman
Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known by the public as Doctor Death and to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner and serial killer. He is considered to be one of the most prolif ...
.
Notts County view their main rivals as neighbours
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
. However, during recent stints in the lower levels of the Football League, rivalry has increased with
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...
neighbours
Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...
. Other clubs sharing local rivalries with Notts County are
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 188 ...
,
Lincoln City,
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
, and
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
.
Honours and achievements
League
*
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
/
First Division/
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
(Tier 2)
**Champions (3):
1896–97,
1913–14,
1922–23
**Runners-up:
1894–95,
1980–81
**Play-off winners:
1990–91
*
Third Division/
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
/
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
(Tier 3)
**Runners-up:
1972–73
**Play-off winners
1989–90
*
Third Division South
The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...
(Tier 3)
**Champions (2):
1930–31,
1949–50
*
Fourth Division/
Third Division/
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
(Tier 4)
**Champions (3):
1970–71,
1997–98,
2009–10
**Runners-up:
1959–60
Cups
*
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
**Winners (1):
1894
**Runners-up:
1891
*
Anglo-Scottish Cup
The Anglo-Scottish Cup was a tournament arranged for teams in the English and Scottish football leagues during the summer for several years during the 1970s. It was created in 1975 as a new incarnation of the Texaco Cup, with a similar format t ...
**Runners-up:
1981
*
Anglo-Italian Cup
**Winners (1):
1995
**Runners-up:
1994
Club records
As of the 2018–19 season, Notts County had played more league games (4,986) than any other English team, although following relegation to the National League this has subsequently been superseded by Preston North End.
League history
L1 = Level 1 of the football league system; L2 = Level 2 of the football league system; L3 = Level 3 of the football league system; L4 = Level 4 of the football league system; L5 = Level 5 of the football league system.
* Seasons spent at Level 1 of the
football league system
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
: 30
* Seasons spent at Level 2 of the football league system: 37
* Seasons spent at Level 3 of the football league system: 34
* Seasons spent at Level 4 of the football league system: 18
* Seasons spent at Level 5 of the football league system: 3
With a total of 13 promotions and 17 relegations, no club has moved between the divisions of the Football League on more occasions than Notts County.
Promotion years:
1897
1914
1923
1931
1950
1960
1971
1973
1981
1990
1991
1998
2010
Relegation years:
1893
1913
1920
1926
1930
1935
1958
1959
1964
1984
1985
1992
1995
1997
2004
2015
2019
Most appearances
Most goals
Players
Current squad
Players of the season
:As voted for by supporters of the club.
Club management
Coaching staff
Managerial history
References
External links
Club HistoryNotts County Official WebsiteNCFCOSA (Official Supporters' Association)
{{Authority control
Articles with hCards
Association football clubs established in 1862
Football clubs in England
Former English Football League clubs
National League (English football)
The Football League founder members
FA Cup winners
1862 establishments in England