Notts County
Formed 1862
Founder member of the Football League 1888
Kit History
1872-1873 a
1877-1878 a
1880-1890 a
1890-1900 a
circa 1900 a d
circa 1912-1923 a d
1923-1926 a d
1926-1934 a
September 1934
Oct 1934-1939
1940-1946 b
1946-1947
1947-1949 h
1949-1950
1950-1952 c
1952-1953
1954-1955
1956-1957
1959-1960 c
1962-1963 a
1963-1964 a
1964-1965 a
1965-1968 a
1968-1970 a l
1970-1971 a j k l
1971-1975 a j k l
1975-1976 k
1976-1977 k
1977-1978 a k
1978-1983 a k
1983-1984 a m
1984-1986 a i f m
1986-1987 a f
1987-1988 a
1988-1989 a f i
1989-1990 a f i
1991-1993 a f g i
1993-1994 a f i
1994-1995 a f i
1995-1996 a f i
1996-1997 a f i
1997-1999 a f
1999-2000 a f
2000-2001 a f i
2001-2002 a f
2002-2003 a f
2003-2004 a f i
2004-2005 b f i
2005-2006 b f
2006-2007 a f
2007-2008 b f
Background
With a heritage that dates back to 1862, Notts County is the oldest League club still in existence, predating rivals Nottingham Forest by three years. Although there are several older clubs still around, including Sheffield FC, Hallam FC and Cray Wanderers, none of these has ever competed in the Football League. The Nottingham Guardian of November 28th 1862 reported that the fledgling Nottingham club won its first match against unnamed opposition by "two goals and two rouges against one and one." This was before the rules of association football had been standardised: players could catch and throw the ball, hack (i.e. kick) opponents while a "rouge" was scored if the ball crossed the goal line outside the goalposts but between a second pair of posts set four yards on either side. If teams were level on goals, the one with most "rouges" was declared the winner. The club was formally constituted in 1864. In those early days there were no team strips - players wore whatever they had and teams were distinguished by coloured caps, scarves or sashes.
The first records of players wearing a uniform kit are from 1872, when the club turned out in amber and black hooped jerseys. When County first entered the English FA Cup in 1877-78 they were wearing plain amber shirts. By 1880 the club was one of the most respected in the north midlands and, now in chocolate and blue, County were naturally invited to become founder members of the Football League in 1888.
The first records of the club appearing in their now traditional black and white striped shirts date from 1890, a year before the club made their first FA Cup final appearance. In 1894 County won the FA Cup for the first and so far, only time. They had been relegated in 1893 and so became the first Second Division club to win the cup. In 1897, Notts County won the Second Division championship and remained in the top division until 1913 when they were relegated but immediately returned to the top flight in 1914 as Division Two champions for the second time.
In 1903, Italian side Juventus decided to replace their pink jerseys and asked John Savage, an Englishman in their side, if he could help. Savage wrote to a friend in Nottingham, who happened to be a County supporter and arranged the delivery of a set of black and white striped shirts. This remains Juve's traditional kit to this day.
Fortune deserted County when the League resumed after the Great War with relegation in 1920. Two years later, wearing white shirts with a black chevron, County won the Second Division title for the third time. They stayed in the First Division for only three years before relegation took them back to the Second Division. After spending the 1930-31 season in Division Three (North), County struggled in Division Two until 1935 when they were relegated once again. Chocolate and blue shirts made a brief reappearance in 1934 but were quickly replaced.
During wartime competition, County wore hooped jerseys but when regular league fixtures were re-instated in 1946, they adopted plain white shirts and signed England international Tommy Lawton, regularly attracting 30-40,000 spectators to watch Third Divsion games. In 1950 a new badge, featuring a Magpie was adopted but as results went badly, the players removed it. In 1950 County won promotion back to Division Two but inevitably this fine side broke up. Two successive relegations took County into Division Four in 1959 but they bounced back immediately to return to the Third Division in 1960. In 1964 the "Maggies" droppped back into Division Four,
Promotion in 1971 and again in 1973 took the club back to Division Two but few commentators predicted promotion to Division One, which arrived in 1981 under manager Jimmy Sirrell. Two seasons of struggle in the top flight were followed by successive relegations that took County back into Division Three in 1985. In 1987 local businessman Derek Pavis took control and under his regime the club returned to Division One after successive promotions from the Third Division only to drop immediately back into Division Two. By 1997 "The Maggies" were in the bottom division (now called Nationwide Division Three) but with Sam Allardyce in charge, County stormed to the championship to return to Nationwide Division Two in 1998. In 2002 County went into administration and were relegated at the end of the end of the 2002-03 season. After 18 months in administration, the world's oldest club survived thanks to the intervention of the "Blenheim Consortium."
In August 2006, the club had to withdraw 2,000 replica kits when the manufacturers supplied them with a white stripe down the centre of the shirt, the authentic team kit having a black stripe.