Midland Combination Football League

“I beg to tender the following suggestion, that ten or twelve of the most prominent clubs in England combine to arrange home-and away fixtures each season …” So wrote William McGregor, Aston Villa Director, on March 2nd, 1888. By April 17th the name had been decided and The Football League kicked off with 12 members at the start of the season on September 8th.

The First Dozen Clubs and the First Goal

Just three years before, in 1885, the Football Association had first allowed players to be paid on a professional basis, rather than illegal payments. McGregor saw that the system of fixtures at that time was not attracting supporters and therefore the clubs were not making any money. The Football League started the season that year with 12 clubs as founder members, and changed the face of soccer.

The first goal of the Football League was an unfortunate own goal, as Gershom Cox, one of McGregor’s Aston Villa players, tried to clear a shot and cleared his side’s goal-line instead. The twelve teams in the young League were Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion, Everton, Burnley, Accrington Stanley, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Notts County, Derby County and Stoke F.C.

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