In 1947, they signed England international Tommy Lawton, whose presence attracted large crowds, but the club fell into decline after his departure and was in the Fourth Division by the 1960s.

Notts County's most recent season in the top division was 1991–92 under Neil Warnock, who had overseen back-to-back promotions via the play-offs at Wembley Stadium.

[13] The club's early members were overwhelmingly from middle class backgrounds, including bankers, solicitors and men involved in Nottingham's lacemaking industry.

The week before the final, Notts defeated their opponents Blackburn 7–1 in a league match, a result that left the former as a strong favourite to win the Cup.

The team conceded only 31 goals and were in contention for the league championship for much of the 1924–25 season, but they were relegated the following year; Keith Warsop speculates that a change to the offside law was the reason for Notts County's swift decline.

[39] In 1947, after the league had resumed, and whilst still a third tier club, Notts paid £20,000, then the British transfer record, to sign England international forward Tommy Lawton.

[47] The Magpies were ultimately relegated back to the Fourth Division in 1963–64,[48] and continued to struggle for the next few years; in 1966–67, the team finished 20th, avoiding the need to apply for re-election only on goal average ahead of Rochdale.

[57] Wilkinson moved to Sheffield Wednesday in 1983, replaced by Larry Lloyd; there was talk of the team being capable of qualifying for European competitions,[57] but they were relegated back to the Second Division in 1984.

[55] Lloyd and his successor Richie Barker were both sacked before Sirrel once again took charge during the 1984–85 season; he could not prevent Notts from suffering a second consecutive relegation,[58] but remained in post until May 1987.

[68] A 3–1 win at Bury on 9 October 1999 put the Magpies second in the Second Division,[69] but Allardyce resigned shortly afterwards to become manager of Bolton,[70] and Notts would ultimately finish the 1999–2000 season in eighth.

[72] Between 2002 and 2003, the club spent a record 534 days in administration and, although bankruptcy was avoided,[73] the team were relegated to the fourth tier (shortly to be rechristened League Two) in 2004.

[74] They were still there in 2009, when the club was taken over by Munto Finance, purportedly a wealthy Middle East-based consortium[75] who appointed former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson as director of football.

[76] In reality, Munto Finance was controlled by the convicted fraudster Russell King;[77] the takeover had collapsed by December 2009,[78] and Notts were left at risk of being wound up over unpaid debts.

[c] Before becoming the "Magpies", Notts were known as the "Lambs"; Brown suggests this was a reference to a notorious gang from Nottingham's Narrow Marsh slums active in the nineteenth century.

However, the season began poorly and the Notts chairman, believing the magpie to be bringing the team bad luck, ordered the crest removed from the shirts.

Rothera, an early club secretary, recalled being "taken by my father to the Park, where he and his partner and a number of younger men, principally from the banks, met to kick a ball about, without any very definite rules.

[115] Notts County's record attendance at Trent Bridge was 25,000, reported for an FA Cup third round tie against Tottenham Hotspur in February 1907 and again for a First Division match against Everton in December 1908.

[120] Originally, a stream ran adjacent to the ground on its "Leenside", and the club employed a man with a long pole and cane basket charged with retrieving the ball when it entered the water.

[133] In 2024, the National Lottery Heritage Fund supported a project led by LeftLion, a Nottingham-based arts and culture magazine, to digitize and make available online all issues of The Pie and The Almighty Brian, its Forest counterpart.

[139] Goalkeeper Albert Iremonger holds the record for Notts County appearances, having played 601 matches for the club between 1904 and 1926, 564 coming in the league and 37 in the FA Cup.

[159] Buoyed by the team's third place finish and run to the FA Cup final in 1890–91, the club made plans to open a billiard room and clubhouse on Nottingham's Thurland Street.

[160] When the team were relegated at the end of the 1892–93 season, the chairman and four directors resigned, and the club considered declining to play in the Second Division in favour of the Midland Football League, which would provide more local derbies.

[20] A crisis meeting attended by 1,500 supporters (with others locked outside) was held at Nottingham's Astoria nightclub in September 1986,[163] where the board of directors presented a blueprint to salvage the situation.

[165] Derek Pavis became chairman in 1987;[60] during his tenure, the club collected several large transfer fees for its players, including for Tommy Johnson and Craig Short, and Meadow Lane saw significant redevelopment.

[20] Notts invested significant sums of money in its squad in an effort to win promotion to the First Division (now the EFL Championship) while Scardino attempted to secure loans to fund his takeover.

[170] Sven-Göran Eriksson, who was appointed director of football soon after Munto Finance's takeover, stated his ambition was to see the Magpies promoted to the Premier League,[171] and the club began to spend lavishly.

[173] In reality, the takeover had been orchestrated by the convicted fraudster Russell King as part of a complex plot to list a fake mining company on the stock exchange, and the promised money did not exist.

[161] Fisher remained in charge until 1927, his 14-year tenure the longest of any Notts manager,[193][d] during which time the Magpies twice won promotion from the Second Division and reached an FA Cup semi-final.

[66] Notts began the 2009–10 season under the leadership of Ian McParland before he was sacked in October 2009,[200] and his replacement Hans Backe lasted only seven games before his resignation in December 2009.

[202] Cotterill could not be persuaded to remain at the club at the end of the title-winning season,[203] and there were frequent changes of manager under Ray Trew's chairmanship, contributing to instability and disillusionment among fans.