WHEN FOOTBALL BEGAN

  In the third season of league football, Everton, playing at Anfield, took the title for the first time when they knocked reigning Champions Preston North End into second place at the end of the 1890-91 season.  Jack Angus  played his eleventh and final league game of the season in the away game at Deepdale in November 1890. He performed with distinction to ensure Everton suffered only a two goal defeat to a Preston side demonstrating the sort of talents that had seen them win the Football League in its first two seasons. Angus, who began his career with King’s Park of Stirling, injured his knee during the game. His place in goal was taken by new signing from Bootle, David Jardine, in the following match at home to Blackburn Rovers and the new man retained his place between the sticks for the remaining League fixtures. Angus then made his final first team appearance for the Toffees at Newcastle Road where Sunderland, playing their first season of League football, kn...

  GOODALL, JOHN (PRESTON NORTH END) Season: 1888/1889 Goals scored: 20 (out of 74); 12 home, 8 away Percentage: 27 per cent Runner-up: Jimmy Ross (Preston North End), 19 goals Preston were League Champions and FA Cup winners The top scorer in the inaugural Football League season was Preston North End ’ s John Goodall, who in a race to the very end, finished with a goal more than his colleague Jimmy Ross. Not surprisingly, in a League in which each team played only twenty-two games, Preston ran away with the title, remaining unbeaten and drawing just four times. Formed in 1881, Preston was the possibly first club to become wholly professional. Secretary Major William Sudell had drawn on the example of sides north of the border. England and Scotland had first faced each other internationally in 1872, and the former even became the first winners with a 4-2 victory in 1873. After that, the Scots reigned supreme by deploying their players in a more balanced f...

  Sunderland’s record defeat was on 25 February 1884 in Bolton when they faced a Great Lever side packed with many players who were, in defiance of the rules at time, being paid for their efforts. On 25 February 1884 the Bolton side Great Lever’s advertised opponents on a Woodside pitch almost devoid of grass were a combined Durham side. This was clearly an attempt to attract a decent crowd as in reality the visiting side were Sunderland AFC, formed in September 1880 and yet to make a name in football. Both sides played a 2-3-5 formation and Sunderland were assisted by Robinson of PNE. John Goodall, who had moved only weeks before from Kilmarnock Athletic to Lancashire and who was to go on to become of the all-time greats, was unfortunate when his shot got stuck in the mud but long before the close the travelling team were well beaten and the final score was 11-0 with the Great Lever centre scoring at least two and playing a role in another four. The result remains Sunderland’s...

  The great-great grandfather of Jack Grealish was a GREAT PLAYER IN 1899-1900 HE FINISHED TOP SCORER IN THE TOP FLIGHT   GARRATY, BILLY (ASTON VILLA) Season: 1899/1900 Goals scored: 27 (out of 77); 17 home, 10 away Percentage: 28.5 per cent Runner-up: Steve Bloomer (Derby County), 19 goals Villa were League Champions   Billy Garraty set a new Aston Villa scoring record in 1899/1900 when, in a total of forty first-class matches, he netted thirty-one goals, twenty-seven in the League. His closest rival was his strike partner Jack Devey with eighteen (thirteen in the League) and Garraty’s tally could and should have been higher, as he missed two penalties! Nevertheless, his haul of twenty-seven in the League remains as the second highest total in any one season by a Villa player; the great Tom ‘ Pongo ’ Waring holds the record, with an amazing haul of forty-nine in 1930/31. In 1899/1900, Billy played wonderfully well – nothing seemed to bother him....

 Manchester United’s great run continued when it faced Birmingham (City only being added to the club’s name in 1943) at St Andrews. With the home side struggling at the bottom of the League, the news that William Henry ‘Billy’ Jones was fit enough to play after a lengthy absence due to injury was a big boost. He was a popular player with the Birmingham fans, earning the nickname of the ‘Tipton Smasher’ for scoring over 100 goals in just over 250 appearances at the club in two spells between 1901/09 and 1912/13. With the home half-backs finding it difficult to keep pace with the United forwards, it was no great surprise when the League leaders struck on 15 minutes, James Turnbull driving the ball home. Thoughts that this might lead to another United rout was quickly dispelled when almost from the kick-off Billy Peplow crossed for Jones to head the equaliser. Five minutes later, Manchester United was back in the lead when Meredith nipped between Frank Cornon and Frank Stokes and, fro...

 Because they were the best-supported club, Everton had been able to attract Nick Ross from Preston North End. It is believed that he was being paid £10 a month, twice what other top players were receiving at £1.25 a week, or 25 shillings. This was around 25 per cent greater than the average working wage, considerably less than what the top players earn today, but as playing football for a living was much better than working down the pit or a dusty factory, few players would have bemoaned their luck. Other Earning Opportunities Although there was no corporate sponsorship of football in 1888 – the first competition to negotiate a sponsorship deal was the League Cup ninety-four years later – some players did benefit from the growing commercial appeal of the game. Ross’s teammate George Dobson was an agent for R. Mercer of Bolton, who was famous for manufacturing football goods for many years. Another Evertonian, Frank Sugg, was even more successful. The international cricketer, who w...

Burnley 1 McKay Blackburn Rovers 7 (Southworth 3, Beresford, Forrest, Fecitt 2)  The Rovers met with feeble resistance at Turf Moor on Saturday, and walked round the home contingent … but for some smart work by Poland, the record would have been even more serious than it was. (The Burnley Gazette, Wednesday 3 October 1888) Having won two and lost six of their opening eight fixtures, the Burnley Club Committee had been searching north of the Border for Scottish players to boost their line-up and it was believed beforehand that three new men had been secured. In the event, only Billy McKay from Edinburgh had travelled south and his performance was to be disparaged in the local paper, reporting that ‘he was of very little use, being about the slowest man on the field’. He did, however, score, a feat he was to repeat in his next three games, but after failing to keep his sequence going in the fifth game McKay never played again for Burnley and moved to Newcastle West at the season’s en...