Notts County F.C.
| Notts County badge | |||
| Full name | Notts County Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Magpies | ||
| Founded | 1862 | ||
| Ground | Meadow Lane Nottingham | ||
| Capacity | 19,588 | ||
| Chairman | John Armstrong-Holmes | ||
| Manager |  Steve Thompson | ||
| League | League Two | ||
| 2006–07 | League Two, 13th | ||
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Notts County Football Club is a football club based in Nottingham, England, and are the oldest of all the clubs that are now professional[1]. The team currently plays in Football League Two, of the Coca-Cola league section of the English football league system. "The Magpies" play their home games at the Meadow Lane stadium and play in black and white striped shirts, which was the inspiration for Juventus's strip of the same design, after it had been borrowed by the Italian club.
They have had several spells in the top division of English football. The most recent one came in 1991-92, when they played in the last season of the First Division before the Premiership was created.
Well known former managers of Notts County include Jimmy Sirrel, Neil Warnock and Sam Allardyce.
History
Described below is a history of Notts County Football Club from their foundation in 1862 to the current day.
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Formation
Notts County was formed in 1862. The club pre-dated The Football Association 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, even being credited with the invention of the offside trap. Notts County is the oldest of the world's professional Association football clubs. (There are older professional clubs in other codes of football.)
The club initially played at Park Hollow in the grounds of the old Nottingham Castle. In December 1864, the decision was taken to play games against outside opposition and it was decided that the club needed to find a bigger venue. After playing at several grounds, The Magpies settled at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground in 1883.
Notts County was a founder member of the original Football League in 1885.
Football League
In 1888, along with 11 other football clubs, Notts County became founder members of The Football League. Their first league season was unsuccessful one as they finished 11th. They avoided the dubious honour of the wooden spoon which went to Midlands rivals Stoke City. County did however achieve their highest ever league finish of 3rd in 1890-91. (an achievement they repeated 10 seasons later.)
FA Cup Finals
On March 25, 1891, Notts County made the FA Cup final for the first time. The Magpies were defeated 3-1 by Blackburn Rovers at The Oval despite having beaten the same side 7-1 in the league only a week earlier. Notts County made up for this on March 31, 1894, when they lifted the FA Cup at Goodison Park for the first and thus far only time in their history. The Magpies defeated Bolton Wanderers 4-1 in a game where Jimmy Logan scored the first hat-trick in FA Cup final history. This was also memorable for the fact that Notts County became the first club outside the top division to win the FA Cup, Notts finished 3rd in Division Two that season.
Club Stadia
Here is a brief history of the home stadia used by the club:-
1867-1883
Home games were occasionally played at Trent Bridge the most regular venue was the Meadows Cricket Ground and later the Castle Cricket Club
1883-1910
Trent Bridge
When city rivals Nottingham Forest vacated the Trent Bridge cricket ground in 1883, County moved in as they had previously used it for some of their own fixtures. The club remained here until moving to their own purpose-built football stadium at nearby Meadow Lane. When Trent Bridge was needed for Cricket Notts played home games at the Castle Cricket Ground then on Nottingham Forests grounds Town Ground and City Ground.
1910-present day
Meadow Lane
In 1910, County moved to their current home, Meadow Lane. The first game there was a 1-1 draw with old rivals Nottingham Forest played in front of 28,000 fans. Notts County were relegated in 1926 in what was to be their last season in the English top flight for over half a century. 1925-26 was also the last season that famed goalkeeper Albert Iremonger played for the club. Legend amongst Notts County supporters has it that 'his hands were as big as frying pans.' Notts County's Meadow Lane and Nottingham Forest's City Ground are the two closest grounds in England being just 330 yards apart - though the River Trent lies between them. Meadow lane is to the North, while Forest's City Ground lies South of the River. Notts County is the only fully professional football club based within the boundary of the city of Nottingham, as the Forest's City Ground, is in West Bridgford in the Borough of Rushcliffe.
War and Post-War
In World War II the club suspended all fixtures during the season 1941-2, after Meadow Lane was hit by enemy bombing. In 1946-7 the ground was used temporarily by Nottingham Forest after the River Trent flooded both grounds; Forest again borrowed 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 World War II. County stunned the footballing world by signing Tommy Lawton from Chelsea for a then record fee. In modern times this would be like David Beckham signing for Notts County today.
Lawton's arrival increased crowds by over 10,000. There was one incident in which 10,000 fans were even locked outside during this period. In 1949-50, Notts clinched the Third Division (South) championship. Crowds averaged 35,000 as The Magpies successfully saw off Nottingham Forest in a thrilling championship race. 1950-51 was to be the last season in which Notts would compete in a higher league than their city rivals. As the 1950s drew to a close Nottingham Forest replaced Notts County as the city's biggest club, 1957-58 was to be the last time the clubs would play each other for 16 years.
1960s to 1990s
Below is a history of the club from the late 1960s through to the late 1990s.
Jimmy Sirrel Era
The 1960s were a dark and difficult period for The Magpies, who were on the brink of financial ruin and were constantly struggling to avoid the indignity of having to apply for re-election. This was until Jack Dunnet, a local MP took control of the club. He appointed Jimmy Sirrel, a charismatic Scot who had once played for Celtic as manager in November 1969. In 1970-71, The Magpies clinched the Fourth Division title in record breaking style, remaining unbeaten at Meadow Lane. Two seasons later, Notts County were promoted again, this time to Division Two. It marked an amazing turn around in form under Sirrel and would also renew meetings with old adversaries Forest. Sirrel departed for Sheffield United in October 1975 but returned two years later. Sirrel 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 their 55-year absence from the top flight.
In one of the most famous moments in the club's modern history, Notts County went to newly crowned champions Aston Villa on the opening day of the season. The Villa team had paraded their League Championship trophy to an expectant crowd before kickoff but against all the odds County came away with a 1-0 victory. Notts County were relegated three seasons later, but not before they had made the FA Cup quarter final where they lost to Everton. Sirrel also retired at the end of that season. He came out of retirement a few months later in an unsuccessful attempt to save Notts County from a second consecutive relegation. Sirrel finally retired in 1987 bringing to a close one of the most successful and memorable periods in Notts County's history.
Neil Warnock Era
In late 1988, a new manager arrived, Neil Warnock who had previously taken Scarborough into the Football League as Conference champions. At the end of his first full season, Warnock had led Notts County to promotion back into Division Two. This had come via the club's historic first game at Wembley Stadium in a 2-0 win over Tranmere Rovers. Warnock's magic wasn't done there though, 1990-91 is considered by many County fans to be one of the club's greatest seasons. A famous 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup booked them a place in the quarter final where they lost to eventual winners Tottenham Hotspur. Notts also booked their second successive visit to Wembley and their second successive promotion. The Magpies defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1 in front of 60,000 people, 25,000 of them Notts County fans.
The following season was a disappointing one. Notts County were relegated from the top flight at the end of the season.
Warnock quit in January 1993 and was succeeded by Mick Walker. Walker successfully averted a second successive relegation.
Mick Walker Era
Walker's first full season as manager was a memorable one for Notts County fans. The Magpies narrowly missed out on the playoffs for promotion to the Premiership. The season is most remembered for a famous 2-1 victory over arch rivals Nottingham Forest in which Charlie Palmer scored the winning goal with just 4 minutes remaining. This has become a celebrated event amongst Notts County fans who have dubbed February 12 (the anniversary of the game) Sir Charlie Palmer Day. This game was the last competitive Nottingham derby fixture to date.
Walker was surprisingly sacked in September 1994, an event which started a dramatic decline in the club's fortunes which has persisted to this date. Notts won the Anglo-Italian Cup at Wembley in March 1995, but ended the season being relegated to Division Two. County made another visit to Wembley Stadium in 1996 in the play-offs, but lost out on the chance of a return to Division One with a 2-0 defeat to Bradford City.
Sam Allardyce Era
The following season is seen by many as the club's worst ever as they managed just seven victories all season and finished in bottom place. Relegation to the league's basement division happened just six years after promotion to the top flight. Relegation did not turn out to be a bad thing however, under Sam Allardyce The Magpies secured the Division Three title in March 1998 by a record margin of 17 points. They became the first side since World War II to win promotion in mid March, with six games still remaining.
Financial crisis and relegation battles
Allardyce left in October 1999 to join his old team Bolton Wanderers. In September 2003, many feared that Notts County would be closed down. Crippling debts and an increasingly impatient Football League board combined to leave a question mark over the future of the league's oldest club. The considerable efforts of a group of local businessmen and the club's loyal and incredibly upbeat supporters were responsible for saving the club from extinction. Despite new ownership, the club were unable to avoid relegation back into the bottom division in 2004.
The 2004-05 season was a dramatic season of highs and lows for Notts. Despite high levels of expectation about promotion it quickly became apparent that Notts County would not be challenging. Fans would have to wait until October before a home win was recorded and the club had even occupied bottom place in September. Gary Mills was relieved as manager in November and was replaced by player Ian Richardson who managed to guide the club away from the relegation zone with little experience at football management. Richardson held the Manager's job until the end of the season in January 2005. The club announced in April that Richardson would not be the manager for the following season. On May 17 2005 former Iceland manager Gudjon Thordarson was appointed as the club's sixth manager in five years.
League Two relegation battle
The 2005-06 season began promisingly for the Magpies. Thordarson and assistant manager Ross MacLaren instituted a punishing fitness regime including double training sessions ensuring that the Notts County squad were fitter than the rest of the league come the start of the season. The club were undefeated their seven opening league games and were top of the table in September when they were starting to seriously talk about promotion. After other teams were able to catch up with fitness the Magpies stumbled and embarked upon a 14 game winless run. A strong January with just one defeat saw talk of promotion re-emerge but an awful February which saw five consecutive defeats which were part of a 6 game winless run ended all promotion talk. They had managed just 13 points out of a possible 48 in their last 16 games and had eventually ended up in real danger of relegation. On the final day of the season, Notts were just 2 points off the drop zone, and faced Bury another side with relegation worries. A season high attendance of 9,817 of which 8,594 were home supporters saw the game. The Magpies went down 2-0 meaning that with Oxford United and Stockport County drawing their games, the club were only one Oxford United goal away from being relegated. A late rally saw Notts tie the game at 2-2 and Oxford's 3-2 defeat meant the Magpies were safe.
Despite surviving, Notts County finished in 21st place in League Two and in 89th place overall, the lowest position the club has ever finished. Thordarson subsequently left the club by mutual consent. Many fans were concerned about the state of the club, as a number of issues had become apparent. Notts finished in the lowest position the club has ever held, and the doomsayers were out in force.
This set of circumstances resulted in the departure of both the chairman and the manager, and the cessation of a long-standing youth squad program. Unbelieveably, almost the entire player squad was out of contract, or nearing contract maturity.
Thompson returns
The announcement of Steve Thompson as the club's new manager on June 12 was greeted with outrage and disbelief from some fans. Thompson had previously been assistant to Colin Murphy, who was widely blamed for the relegation in 1996-97, and Thompson's only real success as a manager had been with Southend over ten years previously. Notts County's new boss signed fourteen new players, including former Nottingham Forest player Jason Lee.
However, the start to the season saw the club only lose twice in their opening fifteen games, and become one of the teams competing for promotion from league two. They soon had a blip in form, however, and inconsistency plagued the team over the rest of the season, resulting in a 13th place finish.
Steve Thompson second season. Early pre season transfer movements have seen some changes to the Notts County lineup with the additions of Neil MacKenzie from Scunthorpe United, Adam Tann from Leyton Orient, Hector Sam from newly promoted Walsall, Paul Mayo from Lincoln City, Tim Sandercombe from Plymouth Argyle, Myles Weston from Charlton Athletic, Richard Butcher from Peterborough United, Lee Canoville from Boston United F.C. and Spencer Wier-Daley from local rivals Nottingham Forest. The pre season has also seen the exit of David Pipe to league one new boys Bristol Rovers. Before his transfer Pipe was the current longest serving player at Notts County with 141 appearances and scoring 4 goals. The Magpies bowed out of both the Carling Cup and the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in the opening weeks of the season.
Rivalries
Notts County have a long standing rivalry with city rivals Nottingham Forest. The club have gone through hard times in recent years which has led to an increasing rivalry with Nottinghamshire neighbours Mansfield Town. Derby County, Leicester City, Lincoln City and Chesterfield are among the other clubs that share local rivalries with Notts County.
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Honours
With a total of fourteen promotions and fifteen relegations, no club has moved between the divisions of the Football League on more occasions than Notts County.
FA Cup Winners 1893-94 FA Cup Finalists 1890-91
Second Division Champions 1896-97, 1913-14, 1922-23 Runners-Up 1894-95, 1980-81 Play-off Champions 1990-91
Third Division Runners-Up 1972-73 Play-off Champions 1989-90 Third Division (South) Champions 1930-31, 1949-50
Fourth Division Champions 1970-71 Runners-Up 1959-60
Third Division (Modern) Champions 1997-98
Anglo-Italian Cup Winners 1994-95 Runners-Up 1993-94
Records
Highest Attendance 47,310 vs York City, FA Cup 6th Round, March 12th 1955
Highest Gate Receipts £124,539 vs Manchester City, FA Cup 6th Round, February 16th 1991
Record League Victory 11-1 vs Newport County, Division Three South, 15th January 1949
Record Cup Victory 15-0 vs Rotherham Town, FA Cup 1st Round, 24th October 1885
Most League Points (2 for a win) 69, Division Four 1970-71
Most League Points (3 for a win) 99, Division Three 1997-98
Most League Goals 107, Division Four 1959-60
Highest Scorer in One Season Tom Keetley, 39, Division Three South1930-31
All Time Top Scorer (League) Les Bradd, 124, 1967-78
All Time Most Appearances (League) Albert Iremonger, 564, 1904-26
Most appearances
| Name | Career | Appearances | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albert Iremonger
|
1904 - 1926 | 601 |
| 2 | Brian Stubbs
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1968 - 1980 | 486 |
| 3 | Pedro Richards
|
1974 - 1986 | 485 |
| 4 | David Needham
|
1965 - 1977 | 471 |
| 5 |  Don Masson
|
1968 - 1982 | 455 |
| 6 | Les Bradd
|
1967 - 1978 | 442 |
| 7 | Percy Mills
|
1927 - 1939 | 434 |
| 8= | Billy Flint
|
1908 - 1926 | 408 |
| 8= | David Hunt
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1977 - 1987 | 408 |
| 10 | Dean Yates
|
1985 - 1995 | 394 |
Most goals
| Name | Career | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Les Bradd
|
1967 - 1978 | 137 |
| 2 | Tony Hateley
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1958 - 1963, 1970 - 1972 | 114 |
| 3 | Jackie Sewell
|
1946 - 1951 | 104 |
| 4 | Tommy Lawton
|
1947 - 1952 | 103 |
| 5 | Tom Keetley
|
1929 - 1933 | 98 |
| 6 | Don Masson
|
1968 - 1982 | 97 |
| 7 | Tom Johnston
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1948 - 1957 | 92 |
| 8 | Ian McParland
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1980 - 1989 | 90 |
| 9 | Harry Daft
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1885 - 1895 | 81 |
| 10= | Mark Stallard
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1999 - 2004, 2005 | 79 |
| 10= | Trevor Christie
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1979 - 1984 | 79 |
| 10= | Gary Lund
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1987 - 1995 | 79 |
Notable players
Interesting Facts
- With the formation of the Premiership, Notts County were relegated from Division One to Division One in 1992. A similar thing would occur in 2004 when the club were relegated from Division Two to League Two.
- When Jimmy Sirrel managed the team to three promotions from the 4th, 3rd and 2nd divisions over the periods 1970-1981, it was with the same chairman (Jack Dunnett), same captain (Don Masson) and same trainer (Jack Wheeler).
- In 1981, the club released a song called 'County's the Team For Me' to celebrate their promotion to the First Division. It was sung by Magpies supporter and local entertainer Jimmy Willan and gained some national fame when Noel Edmonds named the song as the worst pop song of all time on his Radio One programme. Despite this, the team continued to run out to the song until 2004.
- The Italian football club Juventus got its famous black-and-white striped kits from Notts County. Originally Juventus played in pink shirts with polka dots (pink being the cheapest material available) with a black tie, but continual washing faded the colour so much that in 1903 they sought to replace them. The club 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. By coincidence, his friend back home lived in Nottingham, and being a Notts County supporter, shipped out the black and white striped shirts to Turin. Juve have worn the shirts ever since.
References
- ^ Notts County - A Pictorial History ISBN 0954783034 page 8