Notts County

Although formally organised on 7 December 1864, Notts County's traditional foundation date is 1862. From about this time, the founding members had met in The Park, Nottingham, to practice football amongst themselves, and these gatherings came to be regarded as the club's beginning. Notts played their first recorded match on 8 December 1864 at Nottingham's Meadows Cricket Ground, against a team known as Trent Valley. On 2 January 1865, Notts were beaten 1–0 by Sheffield at the Meadows, the latter's first match against an opponent from outside of Sheffield. The club's early members were overwhelmingly from middle class backgrounds, including bankers, solicitors and men involved in Nottingham's lacemaking industry. Notts are thought to have mostly played under Sheffield Rules in their early days, though certain matches are recorded as being played according to "Nottingham Rules".

In 1872, Harwood Greenhalgh played for England in the first international match against Scotland, so becoming Notts County's first international representative. The club entered the FA Cup for the first time in the 1877–78 season, and the team reached semi-finals in 1883 (losing to Old Etonians) and 1884 (losing to Blackburn Rovers). It was during this period that Harry Cursham played for Notts; his 49 FA Cup goals remains the competition record. The Football Association legalised professionalism in 1885, and Notts immediately recognised six of its players as professionals. In 1888, the club had just experienced what Mark Metcalf described as their worst ever season, but nevertheless Notts County became one of the 12 founding members of the Football League. Notts finished 11th in the competition's inaugural year and were obliged to apply for re-election to the League for the following season; the club received seven votes, the fewest of the four League clubs required to reapply for their place, but nonetheless were re-elected.

In 1891, Notts County reached the FA Cup final for the first time. The week before the final, Notts defeated their opponents Blackburn 7–1 in a league match, a result that left the former as a strong favourite to win the Cup. However, Blackburn would win the final 3–1 at Kennington Oval. The Magpies were relegated for the first time in 1893, but in 1894 became the first Second Division team to win the FA Cup. The team defeated Bolton Wanderers 4–1 in the final at Goodison Park, Liverpool, with Jimmy Logan scoring a hat-trick, one of three men to score three goals in an FA Cup final. Notts won the Second Division championship in the 1896–97 season, and won promotion to the First Division following a series of "test matches". The Magpies would spend 18 of the next 19 seasons in the first tier; in 1913–14, their only season outside of the First Division, the team won the Second Division title.

League football was suspended for most of World War I. Upon its resumption in 1919–20, Notts were relegated to the Second Division. In 1921–22, while still a Second Division club, the Magpies reached the FA Cup semi-final, losing 3–1 to Huddersfield Town at Turf Moor, Burnley. In 1922–23, Notts won the Second Division championship and promotion back to the First Division, where they remained for three seasons. The team conceded only 31 goals and were in contention for the league championship for much of the 1924–25 season, but they were relegated the following year; Keith Warsop speculates that a change to the offside law was the reason for Notts County's swift decline. The Magpies were relegated to the third tier for the first time in 1930, but they immediately won promotion back to the Second Division as champions of the Third Division South. It was during 1930–31 that Tom Keetley scored 39 league goals for Notts, a club record which would stand for 92 years.

By 1935, Notts County were back in the Third Division South, where they remained at the outbreak of World War II; once again, competitive football was suspended. In 1947, after the league had resumed, and whilst still a third tier club, Notts paid £20,000, then the British transfer record, to sign England international forward Tommy Lawton. Lawton's presence resulted in a significant increase in Notts County's crowds. A home match with Swansea Town on Boxing Day 1947 was attended by 45,116 spectators, with an estimated 10,000 locked outside. Over the next three seasons, Lawton forged a productive goalscoring partnership with Jackie Sewell, culminating in the Magpies winning the Third Division South title in the 1949–50 season. The championship was secured with a 2–0 home win over Nottingham Forest played before 46,000 spectators.

Sewell was controversially sold to Sheffield Wednesday in 1951, and Lawton left in 1952. Notts spent most of the 1950s in the Second Division, but suffered consecutive relegations in 1958 and 1959 to drop into the Fourth Division for the first time. They immediately won promotion as runners-up, and celebrated their centenary in 1962 as a Third Division club; the occasion was marked with a friendly against an England XI. Prominent players during this period include Tony Hateley, who established himself as one the club's most prolific strikers before being sold to Aston Villa in 1963. The Magpies were ultimately relegated back to the Fourth Division in 1963–64, and continued to struggle for the next few years; in 1966–67, the team finished 20th, avoiding the need to apply for re-election only on goal average ahead of Rochdale.

In 1969, Notts County appointed Jimmy Sirrel as manager. He already had several promising players at his disposal, including Les Bradd, to become Notts County's all-time record goal scorer, and Don Masson, described in one club history as Notts County's greatest ever passer of the ball. In 1970–71, Hateley returned to the club; he scored 22 goals and the Magpies won the Fourth Division championship. The team amassed 69 points, equalling the then record, and completed the entire season unbeaten at home. Notts narrowly missed out on consecutive promotions in 1971–72, finishing fourth in the Third Division, but they ended runners-up a year later, and so were promoted to the Second Division. Masson was sold to Queens Park Rangers in 1974, and Sirrel left to become manager of Sheffield United a year later. Notts fell short of promotion in 1975–76, but they did knock First Division Leeds United out of the League Cup in a 1–0 win at Elland Road.

Sirrel returned as manager in 1977, and Masson followed in 1978. In 1980–81, the Magpies finished as runners-up in the Second Division, and so won promotion to the First Division after a 55 year absence. Their first match back in top flight was away at Villa, the reigning league champions, and resulted in a 1–0 win for Notts. The Magpies had been a pre-season favourite for immediate relegation, but the team finished 15th, surviving comfortably despite losing 4 of their last 5 games. The 1982–83 season saw off-field changes, with Sirrel becoming "club manager" and Howard Wilkinson becoming "team manager", and the team once again avoided the drop. Wilkinson moved to Sheffield Wednesday in 1983, replaced by Larry Lloyd; there was talk of the team being capable of qualifying for European competitions, but they were relegated back to the Second Division in 1984.

Lloyd and his successor Richie Barker were both sacked before Sirrel once again took charge during the 1984–85 season; he could not prevent Notts from suffering a second consecutive relegation, but remained in post until May 1987. Notts were still a Third Division club in 1989, when they appointed Neil Warnock as manager. In 1989–90, his first full season in charge, Warnock led the Magpies to third place in the Third Division, and the team ultimately won promotion to the Second Division by beating Tranmere Rovers 2–0 in the Third Division play-off final, the club's first ever match at Wembley Stadium. Notts returned to Wembley 12 months later, this time for the Second Division play-off final, and the team won consecutive promotions to the First Division by beating Brighton & Hove Albion 3–1. Notts County's return to the First Division was short lived, and they were relegated back to the second tier at the end of the 1991–92 season.

Relegation meant that Notts County narrowly missed out on participating in the first season of the Premier League. Warnock departed in 1993, and the team was relegated to the Second Division (as the third tier was now known) in 1995, though they did also win the Anglo-Italian Cup that year. After losing the 1996 Second Division play-off final to Bradford City, the Magpies suffered a club-record 20 game winless run during 1996–97 and were consequently relegated to the Third Division. Under manager Sam Allardyce, Notts won the Third Division championship in 1997–98, becoming the first team since World War II to win promotion in March, and breaking several club records, including longest winning run (10 games). A 3–1 win at Bury on 9 October 1999 put the Magpies second in the Second Division, but Allardyce resigned shortly afterwards to become manager of Bolton, and Notts would ultimately finish the 1999–2000 season in eighth.

Beginning in the early 21st century, Notts County were beset by a series of serious off-field problems. Between 2002 and 2003, the club spent a record 534 days in administration and, although bankruptcy was avoided, the team were relegated to the fourth tier (shortly to be rechristened League Two) in 2004. They were still there in 2009, when the club was taken over by Munto Finance, purportedly a wealthy Middle East-based consortium who appointed former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson as director of football. In reality, Munto Finance was controlled by the convicted fraudster Russell King; the takeover had collapsed by December 2009, and Notts were left at risk of being wound up over unpaid debts. This was prevented in a further takeover by Ray Trew, and the 2009–10 season ended successfully, with the team winning the League Two championship. The Magpies remained in League One for five seasons before being relegated back to League Two in 2015.

Trew sold the club in Alan Hardy in December 2016. Notts reached the League Two play-off semi-finals in 2018, but Hardy put the club up for sale in January 2019 with the team bottom of the table. The Magpies ended the 2018–19 season relegated from the Football League for the first time in their history, before Hardy sold to Christoffer and Alexander Reedtz in July 2019. Notts lost the 2020 National League play-off final to Harrogate Town, and ultimately remained a National League club for three more years. In 2022–23, the Magpies amassed 107 points, but nevertheless the team finished four points behind Wrexham, their points tally setting a record for a team finishing second. Notts would eventually win promotion to League Two via the play-offs, defeating Chesterfield 4–3 in a penalty shootout in the 2023 National League play-off final following a 2–2 draw at Wembley Stadium.