1888–89 Aston Villa F.C. season

Main article: History of Aston Villa F.C. (1874–1961)
Aston Villa
1888–89 season
ManagerScotland George Ramsay
GroundWellington Road
Football League2nd
FA CupRound 3
Top goalscorerLeague:
All: Albert Allen (19)

The 1888–89 English football season saw the first season of the Football League. In the late 1880s, Birmingham and the surrounding region boasted many of the country's strongest football teams. Villa and several of the region's leading clubs joined the first two national leagues set up in England, the Football League and the Football Alliance.

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.

Villa's cup season ended with an 8–1 defeat by Blackburn Rovers that remained a club record until 2012.

Local businessman, George Kynoch was appointed president of the club in 1888.[1]

On 1 October 1888 Archie Goodall signed for Aston Villa.[2][3][4] Goodall's move from Preston North End was the first transfer during a season to be approved by the Football League. Archie 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 Archie Goodall scored the second of Aston Villa’ six goals. Archie Goodall appeared in 14 of the 18 League matches played by Aston Villa from when Goodall joined the club and he 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 separate occasions. Goodall' seven League goals for Aston Villa including 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 Archie Goodall signed for Derby County.[5][6][7]

There were debuts for Batty Garvey, Arthur Dixon, Walter Ashmore, Archie Goodall, Archie Wollaston, Thomas Harrison and Bob Thomas.[8]

Final league table

Main article: 1888–89 Football League

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification
1 Preston North End[a] 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

Results

Aston Villa's score comes first

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League

Main article: 1888–89 Football League
Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 8 September 1888 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1 – 1 2,500 Green
2 15 September 1888 Stoke H 5 – 1 4,000 Dixon, Brown, Green, Hunter, Allen
3 22 September 1888 Everton H 2 – 1 4,000 Hodgetts (2)
4 29 September 1888 Notts County H 9 – 1 4,000 Green (3), Allen (3), Hunter (2), Hodgetts
5 6 October 1888 Everton A 0 – 2 10,000
6 13 October 1888 Blackburn Rovers H 6 – 1 5,000 Goodall, Green, Brown, Allen (2), Hunter
7 20 October 1888 Bolton Wanderers A 3 – 2 8,000 Hodgetts, Hunter, Allen
8 27 October 1888 Accrington H 4 – 3 6,000 Allen, Brown (2), Hodgetts
9 3 November 1888 Stoke A 1 – 1 4,000 Allen
10 10 November 1888 Preston North End A 1 – 1 10,000 Green
11 17 November 1888 Blackburn Rovers A 1 – 5 9,500 Allen
12 24 November 1888 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 2 – 1 6,000 Goodall (2)
13 8 December 1888 Notts County A 4 – 2 2,000 Goodall (2), Brown, Green
14 15 December 1888 Accrington A 1 – 1 2,000 Brown
15 22 December 1888 Burnley H 4 – 2 2,000 Green, Goodall, Allen, Hunter
16 29 December 1888 Derby County H 4 – 2 4,000 Green (2), Allen, Goodall
17 5 January 1889 Burnley A 0 – 4 6,000
18 12 January 1889 Bolton Wanderers H 6 – 2 2,000 Brown, Allen, Hodgetts, Hunter, Green (2)
19 19 January 1889 West Bromwich Albion H 2 – 0 10,000 Allen, Hodgetts
20 26 January 1889 West Bromwich Albion A 3 – 3 8,515 Allen (2), Green
21 9 February 1889 Preston North End H 0 – 2 10,000
22 9 March 1889 Derby County A 2 – 5 3,000 Allen (2)

FA Cup

Main article: 1888–89 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R1 2 February 1889 Witton H 3 – 2 1,500 Allen, Hunter, Green
R2 16 February 1889 Derby County H 5 – 3 2,000 Hunter (2), Hodgetts (2), Brown
R3 2 March 1889 Blackburn Rovers A 1 – 8 12,000 Hodgetts

Appearances

Pos. Name League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
FW England Albert Allen 21 18 3 1 24 19
GK England Walter Ashmore 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW England Arthur Brown 22 7 3 1 25 8
HB England John Burton 16 0 3 0 19 0
FB England Frank Coulton 19 0 2 0 21 0
FB England Gershom Cox 22 0 3 0 25 0
HB England Frankie Dawson 3 0 0 0 3 0
HB England Harry Devey 21 0 3 0 24 0
HB England Arthur Dixon 3 1 0 0 3 1
FW England Batty Garvey 2 0 0 0 2 0
FW Ireland Archie Goodall 14 7 0 0 14 7
FW England Tommy Green 22 15 3 1 25 16
FW England Thomas Harrison 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW England Dennis Hodgetts 17 7 3 3 20 10
FW Scotland Archie Hunter 19 6 3 3 22 9
GK England Jimmy Warner 21 0 3 0 24 0
HB England Arthur Wollaston 4 0 1 0 5 0
HB England Harry Yates 13 0 2 0 15 0

See also

References

  1. ^ "George Kynoch". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48741. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ "English National Football Archive". Retrieved 14 April 2018. (registration & fee required)
  3. ^ Metcalf, Mark (2013). The Origins of the Football League The First Season 1888/89. Stroud: Amberley. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-4456-1881-4.
  4. ^ Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Preston North End. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 95. ISBN 1-85983-516-3.
  5. ^ "English National Football Archive". Retrieved 14 April 2018. (registration & fee required)
  6. ^ Metcalf, Mark (2013). The Origins of the Football League The First Season 1888/89. Stroud: Amberley. pp. 57–58/84/92. ISBN 978-1-4456-1881-4.
  7. ^ Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Preston North End. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 95. ISBN 1-85983-516-3.
  8. ^ "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.
  • Brown, Tony (2010). The Football League Match by Match 1888-89 to 1892-93. SoccerData. ISBN 978-1-899468-44-7.