Notts County F.C.

Formation to World War I

Although formally organised on 7 December 1864, Notts County's traditional foundation date is 1862, making them the oldest professional football club in the world. From about this time, the founding members had met in The Park, Nottingham, to practice football amongst themselves, and these informal 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…

Notts County have won two cup competitions in their history; the FA Cup in the 1893–94 season, and the Anglo-Italian Cup in the 1994–95 season. Notts have won eight league titles in total; they have been second tier champions three times, third tier champions twice, and fourth tier champions three times. Their most recent championship was the League Two title won in the 2009–10 season. Notts have won seven other promotions, most recently by beating Salford City in the 2026 League Two play-off final. League

Second Division (level 2) Champions: 1896–97, 1913–14, 1922–23 Runners-up: 1894–95, 1980–81 Play-off winners: 1991 Third Division South / Third Division (level 3) Champions: 1930–31, 1949–50 Runners-up: 1972–73 Play-off winners: 1990 Fourth Division / Third Division / League Two (level 4) Champions: 1970–71, 1997–98, 2009–10 Runners-up: 1959–60 Play-off winners: 2026 National League (level 5) Play-off winners: 2023 Cup

FA Cup Winners: 1893–94 Runners-up: 1890–91 Anglo-Italian Cup Winners: 1994–95 Runners-up: 1993–94 Anglo-Scottish Cup Runners-up: 1980–81 Notts Senior Cup Winners: 1884–85, 1899–1900, 1900–01, 1902–03, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1924–25, 1928–29, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36