Football in England
Season1888-89
Men's football
Football LeaguePreston North End
FA CupPreston North End
England

The 1888–89 season was the 18th season of competitive association football in England.

Overview

A new competition, The Football League, started this season. The Football League was open to clubs all over the United Kingdom, but the first twelve entrants (Accrington, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke (now Stoke City), West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers) were all from the Midlands or North of England (in later years the competition became the de facto English league, though some clubs from outside England still compete in it). Each club in the League played each other twice (once at home and once away) and would be awarded two points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. From these points, a league table was drawn up. Preston North End were in first place at the end of the season and thus became the first ever Football League champions. They did not lose a match all season (a feat only accomplished once since, by Arsenal in 2003–04) and also won the FA Cup.

The Football League is still going today and now has 72 clubs in three divisions (down from an all-time high of 92 clubs in four divisions). Since the 1992–93 season, it has become only the second-most important league competition, behind the FA Premier League in the English football league system.

Events

National team

England finished second in the 1888–89 British Home Championship, which was won by Scotland.

John Yates, of Burnley, scored 3 goals against Ireland in his only appearance for England.

Date Venue Home team Visitors Score Comp England scorers
23 Feb 1889Victoria Ground, Stoke-on-Trent England Wales4–1BHCBilly Bassett (West Bromwich Albion), John Goodall (Preston North End), Jack Southworth (Blackburn Rovers) and Fred Dewhurst (Preston North End)
2 Mar 1889Anfield, Liverpool England Ireland6–1BHCAlf Shelton (Notts County), John Yates (Burnley) (3), Joe Lofthouse (Accrington) and John Brodie (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
13 Apr 1889Kennington Oval, London England Scotland2–3BHCBilly Bassett (West Bromwich Albion) (15, 17 mins)

Key

1889 British Home Championship table

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Scotland 3 2 1 0 10 2 +8 5
 England 3 2 0 1 12 5 +7 4
 Wales 3 1 1 1 4 5 −1 3
 Ireland 3 0 0 3 2 16 −14 0
Source: [1][2]
Rules for classification: 1) points. The points system worked as follows: 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.

Honours

Competition Winner
FA CupPreston North End (1st FA Cup title)
The Football LeaguePreston North End (1st English title)*

* Indicates new record for competition

FA Cup

Final

Date Home team Visitors Score Venue
30 Mar 1889 Preston North End Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–0 Kennington Oval

The Football League

League table

The Football League
Season1888–89
ChampionsPreston North End
(1st English title)
Relegatednone
FA Cup winnersPreston North End (1st FA Cup title)
Matches played132
Goals scored586 (4.44 per match)
Top goalscorerJohn Goodall (Preston North End), 21
Biggest home winAston Villa – Notts County 9–1 (29 Sept 1888)
Biggest away winNotts County – Preston 0–7 (3 Nov 1888)
Highest scoring10: Aston Villa – Notts County 9–1 (29 Sept 1888)
Bolton – Notts County 7–3 (9 Mar 1889)
Blackburn Rovers – Accrington 5–5 (15 Sept 1888)
Longest winning run6 – Preston North End (8 Sep – 13 Oct 1888)
Longest unbeaten run22 – Preston North End (8 Sep 1888 – 9 Feb 1889), the entire season
Longest losing run8 – Derby County (29 Sep – 8 Dec 1888)
Highest attendance?
Lowest attendance?
Average attendance?

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification
1 Preston North End[lower-alpha 1] 22 18 4 0 74 15 4.933 40 League Champions
2 Aston Villa 22 12 5 5 61 43 1.419 29
3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 22 12 4 6 50 37 1.351 28
4 Blackburn Rovers 22 10 6 6 66 45 1.467 26
5 Bolton Wanderers 22 10 2 10 63 59 1.068 22
6 West Bromwich Albion 22 10 2 10 40 46 0.870 22
7 Accrington 22 6 8 8 48 48 1.000 20
8 Everton 22 9 2 11 35 46 0.761 20
9 Burnley 22 7 3 12 42 62 0.677 17 Re-elected
10 Derby County 22 7 2 13 41 61 0.672 16
11 Notts County 22 5 2 15 40 73 0.548 12
12 Stoke 22 4 4 14 26 51 0.510 12
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
Notes:
  1. ↑ Also FA Cup Winners

Stadia and locations

Team Location Stadium Stadium capacity
Accrington Accrington Thorneyholme Road n/a
Aston Villa Birmingham Wellington Road (Perry Barr) n/a
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Leamington Road 600–700
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Pike’s Lane n/a
Burnley Burnley Turf Moor n/a
Derby County Derby Racecourse Ground n/a
Everton Liverpool Anfield n/a
Notts County Nottingham Trent Bridge Cricket Ground n/a
Preston North End Preston Deepdale n/a
Stoke Stoke-on-Trent Victoria Ground n/a
West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Stoney Lane n/a
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Dudley Road n/a

Top scorers

Rank Scorer Club Goals Matches played Goals per match
1England John Goodall Preston North End 21211.00
2Scotland James D. RossPreston North End18210.86
3England Albert AllenAston Villa17210.81
4England John SouthworthBlackburn Rovers16210.76
England Harry WoodWolverhampton Wanderers16170.94
6England Thomas GreenAston Villa14210.67
7Scotland James BroganBolton Wanderers13220.59
England David WeirBolton Wanderers13220.59
9England Frederick DewhurstPreston North End12170.71
England Herbert L. FecittBlackburn Rovers12170.71
Scotland Alexander BarbourAccrington12190.63
Scotland Alexander HigginsDerby County12210.57
England Thomas PearsonWest Bromwich Albion12220.55

[3]

References

  1. ↑ Reyes, Macario; Morrison, Neil (1 October 1999). "British Home Championship 1884–1899". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  2. ↑ "British Championships 1889". Scotland Football Stats. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  3. ↑ Fußball-Weltzeitschrift No. 10, Jan/Feb 1988.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.