Football : Season Details : 1889

Final English Top Division Football (soccer) Table and Cup Final(s)

[Seasons 1872 to 1888] [Season 1890]

Position	Club	Points	History	Notes
1	Preston North End	40	1-1	FAC-W
2	Aston Villa	29	1-1
3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	28	1-1	FAC-F
4	Blackburn Rovers	26	1-1
5	Bolton Wanderers	22	1-1
6	West Bromwich Albion	22	1-1
7	Accrington	20	1-1
8	Everton	20	1-1
9	Burnley	17	1-1
10	Derby County	16	1-1
11	Notts County	12	1-1
12	Stoke	12	1-1

Legend and Abbreviations
Points: 2 for a win : 1 for a draw.
History is in the form A-B: A is the number of occasions that the club has been in the Top Division. B is the current number of consecutive seasons in the Top Division.
Notes: FAC FA Cup; W Winners - F Finalists

FA Cup Final

Preston North End 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0

History

When football became professional in 1885, clubs wanted and needed to have regular games rather than the odd FA Cup games. On 17 April 1888, twelve of the best clubs set up the Football League. Each club would play every other club twice, once at home, once away. A draw would be worth 1 point, a win 2 points. The club with the most points would be League Champions and would win a trophy. In the event of two clubs having the same number of points, goal average would decide position. Goal average was calculated by dividing the number of goals scored by the number of goals conceded.

The twelve founder members of the League are all from either the Midlands or the North West. None are from southern England or London. Of these twelve, most would go on to dominate the English game. Accrington are the exception. They dropped out of league football in 1895. A subsequent club Accrington Stanley played in the lower leagues between 1921 and 1962 and from 2007.

In the first season, Preston North End completed the double by winning the League and the FA Cup in the same season. They won the League without losing a game (not equalled until 2004), conceding 15 goals (not equalled until 2005). Their winning margin of 11 points was not equalled until 1956. They won the FA Cup without conceding a goal in any round (not equalled until 1903).

[Seasons 1872 to 1888] [Top] [Season 1890]