1888–89 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season
| 1888–89 season | ||
|---|---|---|
| Club secretary | Jack Addenbrooke | |
| Football League | 3rd | |
| FA Cup | Runners-up | |
| Top goalscorer | League: Harry Wood (13) All: Harry Wood (14) | |
| Highest home attendance | 10,000 (vs The Wednesday, 2 March 1889) | |
| Lowest home attendance | 2,000 (vs Bolton, 10 November 1888) | |
| Average home league attendance | 4,545 (league only) | |
| | ||
The 1888–89 season was the first season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played in the inaugural season of the newly formed Football League. The club finished in third place in the league, and as runners-up in the FA Cup.
The team scored the first goal in Football League history when they took the lead against Aston Villa on the league's opening day. This match, as with all other home games for Wolves, was staged at Dudley Road in Wolverhampton, the only league campaign in which the club have not been based at Molineux.
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Results
[edit]Football League
[edit]A total of twelve teams competed in the inaugural Football League in the 1888–89 season. Each team would play every other team twice, once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Two points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats.
| 8 September 1888 1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1–1 | Aston Villa | Wolverhampton |
Cox  (o.g.) | Green | Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 2,500 |
| 15 September 1888 2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0–4 | Preston North End | Wolverhampton |
| Gordon Ross A Goodall J Goodall | Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 5,000 |
| 22 September 1888 3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 4–1 | Burnley | Wolverhampton |
| Hunter Knight White | A. Brady | Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 4,000 |
| 29 September 1888 4 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2–2 | Blackburn Rovers | Wolverhampton |
| Cooper Wykes | Southworth | Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 5,000 |
| 6 October 1888 5 | Accrington | 4–4 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Accrington |
| Barbour Brand Holden | Knight Wood Fletcher Stevenson (o.g.) | Stadium: Thorneyholme Road Attendance: 4,000 |
| 13 October 1888 6 | Burnley | 0–4 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Burnley |
| Wood Knight Hunter | Stadium: Turf Moor Attendance: 4,000 |
| 20 October 1888 7 | Blackburn Rovers | 2–2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Blackburn |
| Haresnape Unknown | Wood Brodie | Stadium: Leamington Road Attendance: 3,500 |
| 27 October 1888 8 | Preston North End | 5–2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Preston |
| Gordon Ross J Goodall | Brodie Wykes | Stadium: Deepdale Attendance: 5,000 |
| 3 November 1888 9 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 4–1 | Derby County | Wolverhampton |
| Wood Brodie | Lees | Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 6,000 |
| 10 November 1888 10 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 3–2 | Bolton Wanderers | Wolverhampton |
| Brodie Cooper Knight | Brogan McGuinness | Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 2,000 |
| 17 November 1888 11 | Stoke | 0–1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Stoke-on-Trent |
| Brodie | Stadium: Victoria Ground Attendance: 2,000 |
| 24 November 1888 12 | Aston Villa | 2–1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Birmingham |
| Goodall | Brodie | Stadium: Wellington Road Attendance: 6,000 |
| 8 December 1888 13 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 4–0 | Accrington | Wolverhampton |
| Brodie Cooper Knight | Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 3,000 |
| 15 December 1888 14 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2–1 | West Bromwich Albion | Wolverhampton |
| Brodie Hunter | Pearson | Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 3,000 |
| 22 December 1888 15 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 4–1 | Stoke | Wolverhampton |
| Brodie Wood Wykes | Sloane | Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 3,000 |
| 29 December 1888 16 | Bolton Wanderers | 2–1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Bolton |
| Weir unknown (o.g.) | Cooper | Stadium: Pike’s Lane Attendance: 5,500 |
| 5 January 1889 17 | West Bromwich Albion | 1–3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | West Bromwich |
| Woodhall | Brodie Hunter Cooper | Stadium: Stoney Lane Attendance: 4,000 |
| 12 January 1889 18 | Derby County | 3–0 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Derby |
| Cooper L. Plackett Higgins | Stadium: Racecourse Ground Attendance: 2,000 |
| 19 January 1889 19 | Notts County | 3–0 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Nottingham |
| Cursham E. May | Stadium: Trent Bridge Attendance: 3,000 |
| 26 January 1889 20 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 5–0 | Everton | Wolverhampton |
| Lowder Brodie Knight Wood | Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 3,500 |
| 9 February 1889 21 | Everton | 1–2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Liverpool |
| Chadwick | Knight Wood | Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 6,000 |
| 23 February 1889 22 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2–1 | Notts County | Wolverhampton |
| Knight Wood | Jackson | Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 4,000 |
- Final table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preston North End | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 74 | 15 | 4.93 | 40 |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 61 | 43 | 1.42 | 29 |
| 3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 51 | 37 | 1.38 | 28 |
| 4 | Blackburn Rovers | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 66 | 45 | 1.47 | 26 |
Source: Statto
- Results by round
FA Cup
[edit]| 2 February 1889 R1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 4–3 | Old Carthusians | Wolverhampton |
| Wykes Knight Mason | Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 6,000 |
| 16 February 1889 R2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 6–1 | Walsall Town Swifts | Wolverhampton |
| Knight Brodie Hunter Lowder | Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 5,000 |
| 2 March 1889 R3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 3–0 | The Wednesday | Wolverhampton |
| Wykes Fletcher | Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 10,000 |
| 16 March 1889 SF | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1–1 | Blackburn Rovers | Crewe |
| Wykes | Stadium: Alexandra Road Attendance: 15,000 |
| 23 March 1889 SF Rep. | Blackburn Rovers | 1–3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Crewe |
| Hunter Allen Wood | Stadium: Alexandra Road Attendance: 9,000 |
| 30 March 1889 Final | Preston North End | 3–0 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | London |
| Dewhurst 15' Ross 25'Thomson 70' | Stadium: Kennington Oval Attendance: 22,250 Referee: Francis Marindin |
Players
[edit]| Pos. | Name | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| HB |  Harry Allen | 22 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 28 | 1 |
| FW | Nick Anderson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FB | Dickie Baugh | 22 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| GK | Jack Baynton | 18 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| HB | John Benton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | John Brodie | 18 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 12 |
| HB | Alec Cannon | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| FW | Joe Cooper | 21 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 6 |
| HB | R. Dudley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| HB | Albert Fletcher | 16 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 22 | 2 |
| FW | Tommy Hunter | 20 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 26 | 6 |
| FW | Tommy Knight | 17 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 23 | 12 |
| HB | Arthur Lowder | 18 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 24 | 2 |
| FB | Charlie Mason | 20 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 26 | 1 |
| GK | William Rose | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FW | T. Tomkyes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Walter White | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| FW | Harry Wood | 17 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 23 | 14 |
| FW | David Wykes | 18 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 24 | 7 |
References
[edit]Brown, Tony (2010). The Football League Match by Match 1888-89 to 1892-93. SoccerData. ISBN 978-1-899468-44-7.