Retro Notts County Shirt – Football's Original Black and White

Notts County's story begins in 1862, when a group of Nottingham gentlemen established what would become the world's oldest surviving professional football club. They were among the 12 founding members of the Football League in 1888, helping to create the very competition that would eventually evolve into the modern pyramid that governs English football today. In those early decades, County were a genuine force. They lifted the FA Cup in 1894, defeating Bolton Wanderers 4-1 in the final – a triumph that remains the club's greatest honour and one of the earliest FA Cup finals in history.

The club spent significant periods in the top flight throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but the twentieth century brought turbulence. County slid between divisions with maddening regularity, earning the unfortunate distinction of being one of the most relegated clubs in Football League history. Yet each fall was followed by a fight back, and the club's supporters – among the most loyal in the lower leagues – never deserted them.

One of the most remarkable chapters came in the early 1990s under manager Neil Warnock. County reached the First Division (then the second tier) and briefly rubbed shoulders with elite clubs, attracting big-name signings including the legendary Tommy Lawton in an earlier era and later Dean Yates and Devon White. The club also became synonymous with Nottingham's fierce local rivalry: matches against Nottingham Forest carry enormous weight in the city, with County able to claim historical seniority even if Forest have long since moved into the upper echelons of the game.

Perhaps the most extraordinary footnote in County's global legacy is their influence on Juventus. In 1903, the Turin club adopted black and white stripes after a Notts County connection provided them with a set of jerseys – meaning one of the most iconic kits in world football owes its existence to a club from the East Midlands. County spent several years in non-league football after a financial collapse in 2019, but were dramatically rescued, promoted back into the EFL, and are once again competing in League Two. Their story is, above all, one of survival.

Across 160 years, Notts County have produced and attracted players who left indelible marks on the club and on football itself. Tommy Lawton stands as perhaps the greatest name in County's history – one of England's finest ever centre-forwards, he made a shock move to Notts County in 1947 despite the club being in the Third Division South. His arrival was front-page news, and he delivered, scoring prolifically and drawing huge crowds to Meadow Lane at a time when the club desperately needed a figurehead.

Don Masson was another hero of a later generation, a cultured midfielder who captained the club with distinction in the 1970s before going on to represent Scotland at international level. Les Bradd became a cult figure for his goalscoring consistency across multiple seasons, while Pedro Richards gave the club decades of service as one of their most dependable defenders.

In the managerial dugout, Jimmy Sirrel is revered as the most important figure in the club's modern history. His two spells in charge across the 1970s and 80s brought sustained stability and promotion, transforming County from a struggling lower-league outfit into genuine competitors. Neil Warnock's early 1990s stint delivered further highs, while more recently, Stuart Pearce brought name recognition and passion to the role. County's history is rich with characters – players and managers alike – who chose the oldest club and gave everything for those black and white stripes.

The Notts County retro shirt is defined first and foremost by those black and white vertical stripes – one of the most recognisable and historically significant colour schemes in world football. The stripes have remained remarkably consistent through the decades, though the width, cut, and detailing have evolved with the times. Early kits from the Victorian era were heavy cotton affairs, broad-collared and functional, a world away from the synthetic fabrics of modern football.

Through the 1970s and 80s, County's shirts carried the classic Admiral and then various local sponsor designs, with stripes that became bolder and the cuts more fitted as football fashion changed. The 1990s brought a range of designs that collectors now prize highly – including some slightly adventurous away kits in amber and yellow that played on Nottinghamshire's county colours. Shirts from the Warnock era carry particular nostalgia, associated as they are with some of the club's most competitive recent seasons.

For collectors, the classic home black and white stripe in any era is the centrepiece of a County shirt collection. Match-worn examples from the 1990s First Division campaigns are especially sought after. With 37 retro Notts County shirts available in our shop, there's a strong selection spanning key eras – from classic 80s polyester through to the more recent revival kits that accompanied the club's dramatic return to the Football League.