League Details
Played |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Goals For |
Goals Against |
Points |
|
| Home | 11 |
8 |
0 |
3 |
24 |
17 |
16 |
| Away | 11 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
11 |
29 |
4 |
| Total | 22 |
9 |
2 |
11 |
35 |
46 |
20 |
Top Scorers
- Edgar Chadwick 6 goals - Nick Ross 6 goals
Highest Scores
- 6-2 v Derby County at home - 4-2 v Derby County away
Despite a rapid growth in popularity, football had no clear direction and with the better teams having trouble finding games that would attract the public, a campaign to start a league of some sort was gathering pace. William MacGregor from Aston Villa gave the idea a voice from within the game and became one of the main driving forces behind the idea. He sent a letter to the most prominent clubs in the North West and the Midlands, inviting them to a meeting to be held Anderton’s Hotel in London to discuss the proposals. A follow up meeting was held in Manchester and this led to the formation of the Football League.
Willian Mcgregor
MacGregor, who was elected the first president, suggested the name The Football Association Union, but this was not adopted as it could have been confused with the Rugby Union. Similarly he objected to the name Football League as it may be mistaken with the Land League in Ireland, he eventually withdrew his objections and the name was adopted.
Six teams from the North West and six from the Midlands were chosen to take part in the inaugural season. Despite questions being raised by the Lancashire Association into their overall ability Everton joined Accrington, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers as the founder members of the Football League. The format was devised by journalists with two points for a win and one for a draw being awarded for each game.
W.E. Barclay was elected Everton's club secretary and he promptly brought in the best players he could find. The likes of Johnny Holt, Alf Milward, Edgar Chadwick and Nick Ross were drafted in, Ross was one of the great defenders of the time and was reputed to be paid the princely sum of 10 pounds a month, the rest of the team were paid no more than half this amount. Milward and Chadwick were to form a fine left wing partnership that was regarded as the best in the league at the time. Holt joined from Bootle, who were unlucky not to be invited to join the league, and played in the centre of defence were he was a fine man-to-man marker and powerful in the air.
The season kicked off on the 8 September 1888 and Everton made a bright start with five wins out of the firat eight games and by early November they were lying a respectable third but of the remaining 14 games they only won four times and finished the season in a disappointing eighth; only avoided applying for re-election by 3 points. The lack of consistency was partly responsible for the failure to finish higher in the league and the reason behind this was the constant changes to the team, 35 players were used in the 22 games. Scoring goals was also a problem and as a whole the team only managed 35 goals, and conceded 46. Away from home they were very poor losing e of the eleven games, scoring only 12 goals.
