1888–89 Aston Villa F.C. season
English football club season
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The 1888–89 English football season saw Aston Villa's 1st season in the Football League in the Football League inaugural season.[a] In the late 1880s, Birmingham and the surrounding region boasted many of the country's strongest football teams. Aston Villa were one of the new league's 12 founding members and finished as runners-up behind double winners Preston North End. The 'Invincibles' from Lancashire also ended Villa's bid to win every single home game, with a 2–0 win at Wellington Road in Villa's last home fixture.
| 1888–89 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | George Ramsay | ||
| Ground | Wellington Road | ||
| Football League | 2nd | ||
| FA Cup | Round 3 | ||
| Top goalscorer | League: All: Albert Allen (19) | ||
|
| |||
| Season | 1888–89 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Preston North End 1st English title |
| Matches | 132 |
| Goals | 586 (4.44 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | John Goodall, PNE (21 goals)[1] |
| Biggest home win | Aston Villa 9–1 Notts County (29 September 1888) |
| Biggest away win | Notts County 0–7 Preston NE (3 November 1888) |
| Highest scoring | Blackburn 5–5 Accrington (15 September 1888) Aston Villa 9–1 Notts County (29 September 1888) Bolton 7–3 Notts County (9 March 1889) |
| Longest winning run | 6 matches Preston North End |
| Longest unbeaten run | 22 matches Preston North End |
| Longest losing run | 8 matches Derby County |
1889–90 → | |
Local businessman, George Kynoch was appointed president of the club in 1888.[2]
On 1 October 1888 Archie Goodall signed for Aston Villa.[3][4][5] Goodall's move from Preston North End was the first transfer during a season to be approved by the Football League. Goodall, playing at centre – half, made his Aston Villa debut on 13 October 1888, at Wellington Road, the then home of Aston Villa. Aston Villa defeated the visitors, Blackburn Rovers, 6 – 1 and Goodall scored the second of Aston Villa’ six goals. Goodall appeared in 14 of the 18 League matches and scored seven League goals. Goodall played in defence, midfield and the forward–line for Aston Villa. Playing as a full–back/centre–half (four appearances) he was part of a defence-line that kept the opposition to one–League–goal–in–a–match once. Playing as a wing–half (five appearances) he was part of a midfield that achieved a big (three-League-goals-or-more) win once. As a forward (five appearances) he played in a front-line that scored three–League–goals–or–more on three occasions. Goodall's seven League goals for Aston Villa included two–League–goals–in–a–match twice. Goodall scored both Villa goals against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 2 – 1 win at Wellington Road on 24 November 1888. On 8 December 1888 Goodall scored the second and fourth goals as Villa defeated Notts County 4 – 2 at Trent Bridge, the then home of Notts County.
In May 1889 Goodall signed for Derby County.[6][7][8] There were also debuts for Batty Garvey, Arthur Dixon, Walter Ashmore, Archie Wollaston, Thomas Harrison and Bob Thomas[9][10]
As late as 1901, in the warm weather months, Villa would forgo their heavier woollen club colours in favour of thin cotton red shirts .[11]
League
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preston North End (C) | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 74 | 15 | 4.933 | 40 |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 61 | 43 | 1.419 | 29 |
| 3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 51 | 37 | 1.378 | 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 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Matches
Aston Villa's score comes first
| Win | Draw | Loss |
| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 September 1888 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Dudley Road | 1–1 | 2,500 | Green[12] |
| 2 | 15 September 1888 | Stoke | Wellington Road | 5–1 | 4,000 | Dixon, Brown, Green, Hunter, Allen[13] |
| 3 | 22 September 1888 | Everton | H | 2–1 | 4,000 | Hodgetts (2) [14] |
| 4 | 29 September 1888 | Notts County | H | 9–1 | 4,000 | Green (3), Allen (3), Hunter (2), Hodgetts [15] |
| 5 | 6 October 1888 | Everton | Anfield | 0–2 | 10,000 | [16] |
| 6 | 13 October 1888 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 6–1 | 5,000 | Goodall, Green, Brown, Allen (2), Hunter[17] |
| 7 | 20 October 1888 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 3–2 | 8,000 | Hodgetts, Hunter, Allen[18] |
| 8 | 27 October 1888 | Accrington | H | 4–3 | 6,000 | Allen, Brown (2), Hodgetts[19] |
| 9 | 3 November 1888 | Stoke | A | 1–1 | 4,000 | Allen[20] |
| 10 | 10 November 1888 | Preston North End | A | 1–1 | 10,000 | Green[21] |
| 11 | 17 November 1888 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–5 | 9,500 | Allen[22] |
| 12 | 24 November 1888 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2–1 | 6,000 | Goodall (2) [23] |
| 13 | 8 December 1888 | Notts County | A | 4–2 | 2,000 | Goodall (2), Brown, Green[24] |
| 14 | 15 December 1888 | Accrington | A | 1–1 | 2,000 | Brown[25] |
| 15 | 22 December 1888 | Burnley | H | 4–2 | 2,000 | Green, Goodall, Allen, Hunter[26] |
| 16 | 29 December 1888 | Derby County | H | 4–2 | 4,000 | Green (2), Allen, Goodall[27] |
| 17 | 5 January 1889 | Burnley | A | 0–4 | 6,000 | [28] |
| 18 | 12 January 1889 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 6–2 | 2,000 | Brown, Allen, Hodgetts, Hunter, Green (2) [29] |
| 19 | 19 January 1889 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 2–0 | 10,000 | Allen, Hodgetts[30] |
| 20 | 26 January 1889 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 3–3 | 8,515 | Allen (2), Green[31] |
| 21 | 9 February 1889 | Preston North End | Wellington Road | 0–2 | 10,000 | [32] |
| 22 | 9 March 1889 | Derby County | A | 2–5 | 3,000 | Allen (2) [33] |
FA Cup
Villa's cup season ended with an 8–1 defeat by Blackburn Rovers that remained a club record until 2012.
Birmingham Senior Cup
When Ironbridge F.C. entered the Birmingham Senior Cup for the first time, after a surprise win over Burton Swifts,[37] and a walkover over Derby Midland.[38][39] they reached the semi-final of the Birmingham cup against Aston Villa at the latter's Wellington Road ground and went down 9–1, the Villans going on to win the final. The tie was meant to be played at Wolverhampton, but the Villans offered Ironbridge £20 and a friendly at Hill Top to switch to Aston, and the difference in the two sides was shown by the Villans including seven of the XI which played in the 1887 FA Cup Final, while the Ironsides' captain, Walter Baguley, was landlord of the All Nations pub in Madeley.[40][41]
Appearances
| Pos. | Name | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| FW |  Albert Allen |
21 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 24 | 19 |
| GK | Walter Ashmore |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Arthur Brown |
22 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 8 |
| HB | John Burton |
16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| FB | Frank Coulton |
19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| FB | Gershom Cox |
22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| HB | Frankie Dawson |
3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| HB | Harry Devey |
21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| HB | Arthur Dixon |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| FW | Batty Garvey |
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW |  Archie Goodall |
14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 |
| FW | Tommy Green |
22 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 16 |
| FW | Thomas Harrison |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Dennis Hodgetts |
17 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 10 |
| FW |  Archie Hunter |
19 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 9 |
| GK | Jimmy Warner |
21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| HB | Arthur Wollaston |
4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| HB | Harry Yates |
13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
Notes
- Up until 1992, the top division of English football was the Football League First Division. The Premier League took over from the First Division as the top tier of the English football league system upon its formation in 1992. The First Division then became the second tier of English football, the Second Division became the third tier and so on. The First Division is now known as the Football League Championship, while the Second Division is now known as Football League One.