September 8, 1888, The Football League Begins Play

September 8, 1888: The 1st games are played in England's Football League. Their national sport, which America would come to call "soccer," had been played for decades. The Football Association (FA) had been founded in 1863. A national tournament, the FA Cup, had been contested since the 1871-72 season. But now, there was a national league.

It was made up solely of teams from the North. From Birmingham and the surrounding area: Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers, a.k.a. Wolves. From the East Midlands: Derby County and Notts County. (Nottingham Forest had applied to be a charter member, but were turned down. They were admitted in 1892.) From Staffordshire: Stoke City. From Liverpool: Everton. (Liverpool F.C. would be founded in 1892.) From the Manchester area: Bolton Wanderers. (Manchester United wouldn't join the League until 1892, and Manchester City weren't founded until 1894.) From Lancashire: Preston North End, Blackburn Rovers, Burnley and Accrington Stanley.

Of the 12 teams, 10 played on the 1st day. The 2 that didn't were Blackburn Rovers and Notts County.

The 1st goal was scored by Kenny Davenport of Bolton, 2 minutes into their match with Derby. However, Derby won the game, 6-3. West Brom beat Stoke 2-0. Preston beat Burnley 5-2. Everton beat Accrington 2-1. And Aston Villa and Wolves drew 1-1.

Preston, which had won the FA Cup the previous season, not only won it again in 1889, but went through the League season undefeated: Played 22, won 18, drew 4, lost exactly none. At the time, a win was 2 points, and a draw 1. They finished with 40 points, with Aston Villa finishing 2nd with 29 points.

Hail the Champions: James Trainer, goalkeeper; Bob Howarth, right back; Bob Holmes, left back; George Drummond, right half; David Russell, centre half; Johnny Graham, left half; Jack Gordon, right wing; Jimmy Ross, inside forward; John Goodall, centre forward; Fred Dewhurst, inside forward; Sammy Thomson, left wing.

It would take 115 years for another English team to go through a League season unbeaten: In the 2003-04 season, North London team Arsenal played 38, won 26, drew 12, lost exactly none.

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September 8, 1888 was a Saturday. There was no professional football, as Americans understand that word. There was no professional hockey. Basketball wouldn't even be invented for another 3 years. But there was what we would later call Major League Baseball:

* The New York Giants beat the Indianapolis Hoosiers, 3-2 at Athletic Park in Indianapolis. The Giants went on to win the National League Pennant. The Hoosiers played just 1 more season before going out of business.

* A doubleheader was split at Recreation Park in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Alleghenys won the opener, 2-0. The Philadelphia Quakers won the nightcap, 3-2. The Alleghenys would be accused of unfairly acquiring a player, a method that was called "nothing but piratical." So they became the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 1891 season. The Quakers became the Philadelphia Phillies in 1890.

* The Cleveland Blues beat the Cincinnati Red Stockings, 2-1 at League Park in Cleveland. The following season, the Blues became the Cleveland Spiders, because a writer noted that their fielders were so good, they seemed to have 8 arms. They went out of business after the 1899 season. The Red Stockings became simply the Reds in 1890.

* A doubleheader was split at Recreation Park in Detroit. The Washington Nationals won the 1st game, 2-1. The Detroit Wolverines won the 2nd game, 7-2. Despite having won the Pennant in 1887, the Wolverines ran out of money, and folded at the end of the 1888 season. The Nationals went out of business after the 1899 season, and have no connection to the current National League team of that name.

* The Chicago White Stockings beat the Boston Beaneaters, 11-6 in Chicago. The White Stockings became the Cubs in 1903, and the Beaneaters became the Braves in 1912.