English football league history

I'm going to write about the history of the English football league, I will update it every time I publish another post.

Foundation of the football league

I suppose I should start in 1863, this was the year the FA was founded, this was the start of competitive football. Fast forward to 1878, the greatest year in football. It was the year Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Football club, or Manchester United as they are now known, was founded. Fast forward to 1885, the year the English football league was founded, when ‘’professionalism’’ was introduced and players could be paid wages, the birth of the sport as we know it today. The first actual league competition took place in 1888 to stem the chaos being caused by individual clubs arranging their own matches and cup competitions. It was Aston Villa director who put the motion forward and wrote to directors of various football clubs with the suggestion. The first season began on the 8^th of September, 12 clubs took part. Each club played each other twice, two points for a win, one point for a draw. The first ever winners of the English football league were Preston North End. They also won next season which concluded in 1890. Preston North End, Aston Villa and Sunderland were the three main forces in the early years, dominating the league, only Everton interrupted these three clubs in 1891. Sheffield United in won in 1898 and Liverpool won their first in 1901. Before that however, P.N.E. Sunderland and Aston Villa in particular dominated the game.

Football and the 20th century

The early 20^th century saw the rise of a more open, competitive teams from around England. The addition of teams such as Newcastle United and Manchester United began to have great success. Both winning the title twice before the outbreak of the First World War as well as The Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers. 1905 saw both the first and second tiers of English football league extended to 20 teams, which allowed further southern clubs such as Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur to play with the best in the country. The league was suspended for the First World War.

 Manchester United were renamed in 1902, the names suggested included the likes of ‘Manchester Celtic’ and ‘Manchester Central’ but it was the Italian Louis Rocca, who held a seat on the board of directors, who dismissed these names, claiming they didn’t suit the club. Rocca was the man who suggested ‘Manchester United.’ He was responsible for the two words that mean so much to so many.