The Creation of the English Football League

Printed in the Cray Wanderers matchday programme on Saturday 9 August 2014 v AFC Sudbury

In 1888, Aston Villa director William McGregor was a major influence in the formation of the world's first organised professional football league. By its very creation, the English Football League was seen as the regular organised alternative competition to meaningless friendly fixtures and occasional F A Cup ties. 

Strangely enough, it was on the eve of the F A Cup final in 1888 that the competition was inaugurated, at a meeting held at Anderson's Hotel in London. Subsequent meetings were arranged in Birmingham and Manchester to devise, agree upon and ratify the laws of the tournament.

Due consideration and care were taken over several issues, including the fact that appropriate calendar space was to be afforded to the playing of the F A Cup competition around the league games. In fairness, all the teams involved in the newly-created scheduled games would play each other at their own and their opponents' venues.

McGregor was the first appointee as the president of the Football League, while the job of Honorary Secretary went to Harry Lockett of Stoke (later to become Stoke City). London clubs were ominous by their absence as founder members of the Football League; their counterparts from the North of England and the Midlands made up the 12 nominal clubs that set the ball rolling, as follows:

Accrington

Aston Villa

Blackburn Rovers

Bolton Wanderers

Burnley

Derby County

Everton

Notts County

Preston North End

Stoke

West Bromwich Albion

Wolverhampton Wanderers

As a bit of a cop-out by the organisers, they decided to leave out Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday and the now little-known Halliwell Rovers from the first competition, due ostensibly to concern about fixture congestion!

The big kick-off came on 8 September 1888, and not all the founding clubs played. The two clubs that had to sit out the first Saturday were Notts County and Blackburn Rovers who, for some apparent reason now lost in the mists of time, didn't get to play their game until the following week.

At the end of the 1888-89 season,  Preston North End were declared the first champions of the Football League. They had done it in style, not losing any of their 22 games, topping the table by a country mile ahead of second-placed Aston Villa who had finished 11 points behind. The wooden spoon went to Stoke for finishing at the foot of the table.

John Goodall, of Preston North End, was the highest goalscorer in that first season, grabbing an impressive 21 goals in 22 games. Just to rub salt into the wounds of their competitors, the F A Cup was also secured by Preston, earning them the coveted first 'double' winners accolade. The following season saw Preston lose four of their matches, but they retained their title nonetheless.

It wasn't until four years later, in 1892, that a second division was added and the Football League had grown to 36 member clubs within 8 more years.

Of the original member clubs, only Accrington are no longer with us. They were a totally separate side to the Accrington Stanley club that we know of today. The original Lancashire club went out of existence in 1896, after they tendered their resignation just after they'd been relegated to Division Two.

Trevor Mulligan