Notts County
Also written as Notts Co.
The club
Notts County date from 1862 as an informal arrangement and from 7 December 1864 as a formally constituted club, which makes them, by their own claim and by Wikipedia's, the oldest professional football club in the world. They have played at Meadow Lane since 1910, a few hundred yards across the Trent from Nottingham Forest's City Ground, and the capacity is 19,841. They are the Magpies and have worn black and white since 1890.
Recent seasons
County spent six seasons outside the Football League after relegation in 2019 and were consistently near the top of the National League without going up: third in 2019/20 with 63 points, fifth in 2020/21 with 70, fifth again in 2021/22 with 82. In 2022/23 they took 107 points and still finished second, behind Wrexham, and went up through the play-offs. The return to League Two was untidy at first, 14th with 61 points in 2023/24, then sixth with 72 in 2024/25, then fifth with 80 in 2025/26 from 24 wins, eight draws and 14 defeats, 74 goals scored and 52 conceded. That was enough for a second promotion in four years: County beat Chesterfield 2-0 in the play-off semi-final, the home leg on 15 May 2026 drawing 17,224, the club's biggest crowd of the season, and then beat Salford City 3-0 in the final at Wembley. Their biggest league win of the campaign was 5-0 at home to Tranmere Rovers on 21 February 2026 and their heaviest defeat 4-0 at Cambridge United on 11 April. Alassana Jatta scored 16 league goals and Matthew Dennis 16 in all competitions. 2026/27 is the club's first season in the third tier since 2014/15.
Honours and landmarks
The FA Cup of 1893/94 is the club's one major trophy. They also won the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1994/95. League titles run to eight: Second Division in 1896/97, 1913/14 and 1922/23, Third Division South in 1949/50, Third Division in 1997/98, Fourth Division in 1970/71 and League Two in 2009/10, with National League play-off promotion in 2023 and League Two play-off promotion in 2026 on top. Albert Iremonger holds the appearance record with 601 matches between 1904 and 1926. Les Bradd is the leading scorer with 137 goals between 1967 and 1978. Record attendance is 47,310 against York City in an FA Cup quarter-final on 12 March 1955, a figure that says something about how far the club has travelled since. The sources read did not establish the club's record transfer fees.
Notable scorelines
Record win: 15-0 against Rotherham Town in the FA Cup on 24 October 1885. The record league win is 11-1 against Newport County in Division Three South on 15 January 1949. The club's record defeat was not established from the sources read; the 2025/26 season's heaviest was 4-0 at Cambridge United on 11 April 2026. The 3-0 win over Salford City in the 2026 League Two play-off final at Wembley is the most recent match of consequence.
Head-to-head notes
No published all-time head-to-head records against 2026/27 League One opponents were found. The most recent meeting with Nottingham Forest was a pre-season friendly at Meadow Lane on 18 July 2026, which Forest won 2-0. Oliver Norburn left County for Oldham Athletic on 1 July 2026, and the two clubs are now in different divisions. Leicester City, relegated from the Championship, are the opening-day visitors; no record between the clubs was established. Burnley, the EFL Cup first-round opponents, were relegated from the Premier League in May 2026; again, no all-time record was established.
Right now (2026/27)
Martin Paterson is head coach. He was in post before the 2025/26 season began and led the promotion campaign; the sources read did not give his exact appointment date.
Recruitment for the step up has been busy and largely from within the EFL and non-league. Midfielder Darius Lipsiuc arrived from Stoke City for an undisclosed fee on 27 June. On 1 July right-back James Gibbons joined on a free from Cambridge United, winger Callum Roberts came from Scunthorpe United and midfielder Max Sanders from Crewe Alexandra, both undisclosed. Striker Emile Acquah signed from Dundee for an undisclosed fee on 8 July, centre-back Matt Baker arrived on a free from Newport County on 17 July, defensive midfielder Jack Evans came from Harrogate Town for an undisclosed fee on 24 July, and forward Luka Smyth joined from VPS of Finland for £125,000 on 27 July, the one fee the club put a number on. Going the other way, Matthew Dennis joined Burton Albion for an undisclosed fee on 4 July, Oliver Norburn went to Oldham Athletic on 1 July, and top scorer Alassana Jatta left for Casa Pia of Portugal for an undisclosed fee on 29 July.
Pre-season was mixed. County won 5-0 at Alfreton Town on 4 July, then lost 2-0 to Viborg on 11 July and 3-1 to Randers on 14 July on a Danish trip, lost 2-0 at home to Nottingham Forest on 18 July, won 3-1 at West Bromwich Albion behind closed doors on 25 July and beat Barrow 2-1 at Meadow Lane on 28 July.
The season proper starts with an EFL Cup first-round tie away to Burnley at Turf Moor on 8 August 2026 at 3pm. The League One campaign opens at home to Leicester City on Saturday 15 August 2026 at 12.30pm.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notts_County_F.C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Notts_County_F.C._season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_Notts_County_F.C._season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_EFL_League_Two https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_EFL_League_One https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_EFL_Cup https://www.fchd.info/NOTTSCO.HTM
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.