"English club Notts County, which has existed informally from 1862, is the world's oldest fully professional association football club."
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"Notts County Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies, is an association football club based in Nottingham. Founded in 1862, they are the oldest professional association football club in the world. They participate in League Two, the fourth tier of English football, as of the 2018–19 season. Their history includes an FA Cup victory, a Football League record 29 combined promotions and relegations, several financial crises, and periods of success and struggle across all four divisions of English professional football.
The club are known informally as Notts and their nickname is often shortened to the Pies. After playing at a few different home grounds during their first fifty years, including Trent Bridge, the club moved to Meadow Lane in 1910 and have remained there since. They traditionally play in black and white striped shirts and lent their colours to Juventus in 1903. Between 2014 and 2017, there was also a professional Notts County ladies team.
Notts County were one of twelve founder members of The Football League in 1888. By the end of the 2017–18 season, they had played a record 4,940 league matches. Notable periods in their history include the years immediately after World War II, when England international Tommy Lawton played for the club; Jimmy Sirrel’s three spells as manager (1969–75, 1977–82, 1985–87), which saw the club promoted from the Fourth Division to the First; and the tenure of Neil Warnock (1989–93), who oversaw their first visits to Wembley and their last season in the top flight (1991–92). The club also attracted headlines in 2009 after a takeover by alleged Middle Eastern billionaires."
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The early years -
"'The opening of the Nottingham Football Club commenced on Tuesday last at Cremorne Gardens. A aide was chosen by W. Arkwright and Chas. Deakin. A very spirited game resulted in the latter scoring two goals and two rouges against one and one.' - The Nottingham Guardian from 28 November 1862
Notts County Football Club, now universally recognised as the world's oldest Football League club, was formed in 1862. Official formation followed two years later as the 'Notts. Foot Ball Club'.
Pre-dating The Football Association, the club initially played matches of its own devising at Park Hollow, inside the grounds of the old Nottingham Castle. In 1864, the decision was made to take on outside opposition from both England and Scotland, which led to a move away from the club's initial home to allow for larger crowds.
The following years saw the club appear at numerous locations, including Castle Cricket Ground (1894), and Nottingham Forest's Town Ground (1895 and 1896) and City Ground (1899 to 1909). However, the club's main home, from 1883 onwards, was Trent Bridge, until the permanent switch across the river to Meadow Lane was completed in 1910.
In 1888, Notts became one of 12 founder members of The Football League and ended the first season in 11th place, above Stoke City. A highest ever league finish of third was achieved in 1890-91 – a feat that was replicated in 1900.
Notts had representation in the first ever international match as full-back Ernest Greenhalgh played for England against Scotland in November 1872, thereby becoming the club's first international player."
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