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Notts County Football Club- The Magpies
2006-07 Season 13th in League Two Highlight: Low Spot: Good: In Brief:
Notts County Football Club was formed in 1862 which makes them the oldest Football League club in existence. The club reached the semi finals of the FA Cup in both 1883 and 1884 and became founder members of the Football League in 1888. In 1890-91 County finished 3rd in Division One and enjoyed a fine run to the FA Cup final. They knocked out Sheffield United, Burnley, Stoke City and Sunderland after a replay before losing 3-1 to Blackburn Rovers in the final at The Oval. In 1893 the club was relegated to Division Two but responded by promptly winning the FA Cup the following season. The Magpies defeated Burnley, Burton Wanderers, Nottingham Forest and Blackburn Rovers before hammering Bolton Wanderers 4-1 in the final with Jimmy Logan scoring a hat trick. County regained a place in the first division in 1897 when they won the Division Two title and stayed there until relegation in 1913. The clubs' highest finish came in 1901 when they claimed 3rd place. The club gained an instant promotion as Division two champions in 1914 but were relegated immediately after the First World War in 1920. In 1922 the Magpies made it through to the FA Cup semi finals beating Grimsby Town, Bradford City, West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa before losing to Huddersfield Town in the last four. The following season they again won the second division championship but after relegation in 1926 it would be a long time before the club would return to the top flight. 1926 also marked the end of Albert Iremonger's playing career. Iremonger had made his debut way back in 1904 and finished with 564 league appearances to his name, still a club record. In 1930 the Magpies dropped into Division Three South but were promoted from that division as champions the following season. The club slipped back again in 1935 and would not manage to return to the second division until 1950. In the days of the maximum wage the club had caused a sensation by bringing England's legendary centre forward Tommy Lawton to Meadow Lane. As he was lining up alongside a future England player in Jackie Sewell it was hardly surprising that the club romped to the Division Three title. County struggled to make an impact at the next level, however, and relegation in 1958 led to some bleak times at Meadow Lane. The club dropped into Division Four in 1959 but were promoted as runners up behind Walsall at the first time of asking. Another relegation followed in 1964 and this time the club would remain in the basement for seven seasons. The appointment of Jimmy Sirrel as manager in 1969 led to a consistent improvement in the clubs' fortunes, however. The Magpies stormed to the Division Four championship in 1971 and were promoted from Division Three as runners up behind Bolton Wanderers in 1973. The club were well served by the goals of Les Bradd, who would end up the clubs' all time leading scorer, and Don Masson who was remarkably prolific for a midfielder. Masson would prove impossible to keep at Meadow Lane but the club enjoyed eight relatively stress free seasons in the second division before winning promotion to the first division as runners up behind West Ham in 1981. By that time Masson had returned to the club and the side also included the likes of Ray O'Brien, Brian Kilcline, Ian McCulloch and Trevor Christie. The Magpies, hardly surprisingly, found life difficult back in the top flight but they certainly approached their task in a refreshingly positive manner. With the acquisition of flying winger John Chiedozie the club retained their status for three seasons playing vibrant, attacking football but were relegated in 1984. Worse was to follow with another relegation in 1985. The Magpies made the third division play offs in 1988 but were soundly beaten in the semi finals by Walsall. County were back again in 1990, however, and reached Wembley after disposing of Bolton Wanderers in the semi finals. Goals from Tommy Johnson and Craig Short then gave them a 2-0 victory over Tranmere Rovers and promotion. County then reached the Divison Two play offs at the first attempt and claimed another promotion. After squeezing past Middlesbrough in the semi finals they defeated Brighton at Wembley with Johnson scoring twice in a 3-1 win. The club could not survive in the top flight, however, and were immediately relegated in 1992. In 1995 the Magpies dropped into the third tier but were able to make the play offs in 1996. They overcame Crewe 3-2 on aggregate in the semi finals but lost 2-0 in the final to Bradford City. The next season saw them collapse and County suffered relegation into the fourth tier of English football after finishing bottom of Division Two. The roller coaster continued in 1998 as County were crowned champions of Division Three a massive 19 points clear of Macclesfield Town. The club appeared to have stabilized in the third tier but after five seasons of no real alarms they were relegated back into the basement in 2004 and finished a disturbing 19th last season. County's best efforts in the League Cup have been in reaching the 5th round, something they managed in 1964, 1973 and 1976. The clubs who put them out were Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle United but the Magpies did claim some notable scalps along the way. In 1964 they knocked out Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth, in 73 they defeated Southampton and Stoke City and in 1976 Sunderland, Leeds United and Everton were among their victims. The resurrection of the Anglo Italian Cup in the 1990's also gave the club some cheer as they finished runners up in 1994 and then lifted the trophy in 1995. They lost 1-0 to Brescia in 1994 but beat Ascoli 2-1 in 95 with goals from Tony Agana and Devon White. You can't expect Italians to live with quality like that.
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