The 1893–94 season was the 23rd season of competitive
football in England
Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of ...
.
Events
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
won their first top-flight league title, beating Sunderland by 6 points. Villa's captain
John Devey
John Henry George Devey (26 December 1866 – 11 October 1940) was an English football player and a first-class cricketer. He is considered one of Aston Villa's greatest captains.
Football career
Devey was born in Birmingham and signed for Asto ...
was the league's top-goal scorer with 20 goals.
The 1893–94 season saw four of the most famous teams in English footballing history join the Second Division:
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
,
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
,
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
, and the first team based in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
Woolwich Arsenal (later Arsenal). Other teams to join the expanded Second Division of 15 teams were
Middlesbrough Ironopolis and
Rotherham Town. Middlesbrough Ironopolis disbanded at the end of the season, having only completed one season in the Football League.
Liverpool had the most successful season of all the new league clubs, winning the Second Division title and sealing promotion to the First Division by beating Newton Heath in the relegation/promotion test match.
A timeline for Liverpool Football Club
/ref>
National team
Ireland
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
took a team of professionals to Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
for the 1894 British Home Championship against Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
on 3 March 1894.
Joe Reader (West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...
) made his solitary England appearance in goal, whilst Henry Chippendale (Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
) earned his single cap at outside right, with his club team-mate Jimmy Whitehead
James W. Whitehead (1870–1929) was an English footballer who played at both professional and international levels as an inside right.
Career
Born in Church, Lancashire, Whitehead played in the Football League for Accrington, Blackburn Rovers ...
earning his second, and last, cap alongside him. The other débutante was Jimmy Crabtree
James William Crabtree (23 December 1871–18 June 1908) was a gifted English footballer of the end of the 19th century.
Career
Crabtree began his career at Burnley, but left in 1890 and played in non-league football for two years before ret ...
of Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
at full-back, who went on to play a total of 14 games for England over the next 8 years. The remainder of the team were experienced internationals, including three members of Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
's championship winning team ( Jack Reynolds, John Devey
John Henry George Devey (26 December 1866 – 11 October 1940) was an English football player and a first-class cricketer. He is considered one of Aston Villa's greatest captains.
Football career
Devey was born in Birmingham and signed for Asto ...
and Dennis Hodgetts
Dennis Hodgetts (28 November 1863 – 25/26 March 1945), commonly known as Denny Hodgetts, was a footballer in the early years of professional football in England.
Signed as a Youth player for Mitchell St George's in 1878 and played for three ...
) and were expected to secure a comfortable victory.
Despite losing Robert Holmes with an injury after 20 minutes, England took a 2–0 lead by the 55th minute with goals from John Devey
John Henry George Devey (26 December 1866 – 11 October 1940) was an English football player and a first-class cricketer. He is considered one of Aston Villa's greatest captains.
Football career
Devey was born in Birmingham and signed for Asto ...
and Fred Spiksley
Fred Spiksley (25 January 1870 – 28 July 1948) was an English footballer and coach, who played as a forward for Sheffield Wednesday and England. He also played for Gainsborough Trinity, Glossop North End, Leeds City, Watford. After retirin ...
. Ireland rallied, however, and with goals in the 70th and 87th minutes, pegged England back to a 2–2 draw.
Wales
For the match against Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
at Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
on 12 March 1894 the selectors decided to field a team consisting entirely of players with Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
connections, including three players making their international début. Lewis Vaughan Lodge
Lewis Vaughan Lodge (21 December 1872 – 21 October 1916) was an English footballer who represented the England national football team. He also played first-class cricket with Hampshire.
Sporting career
Lodge, a left- or right-back, made his ...
(Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
) made the first of five appearances at right back; Lodge was an accomplished county cricketer with Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
and Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
. Arthur Topham
Arthur George Topham (19 February 1869 – 18 May 1931) was an English international footballer who played as a left half.
Early and personal life
Topham was born in Elson, near Ellesmere, as the youngest of six children. His brother Robert wa ...
( Casuals), a schoolteacher who had gained a University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
blue, made his solitary England appearance at left half, whilst his brother, Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
made his second, and final, appearance at outside right. The third débutante was John Veitch of Old Westminsters, who played at centre forward.
Wales opened the scoring after 10 minutes, but by half-time England had taken the lead with a goal from John Veitch and an own goal from Everton's Charlie Parry
Charles Frederick Parry (1870 – 4 February 1922) was a Welsh footballer who played as a defender for Everton in the 1890s, helping them to win the Football League championship in 1891. He also made thirteen appearances for the Wales national ...
. Veitch scored again early in the second half and completed his hat-trick in the 80th minute, thus joining a select band to score a hat-trick on his début. The fifth goal came from Robert Cunliffe Gosling as England ran out comfortable 5–1 victors.
Scotland
The final match of the 1894 British Home Championship
The British Home Championship
* sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp
* gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta
* cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...
was against Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
on 7 April 1894. England needed to secure a victory in order to retain the Championship for the fifth consecutive year. The match was played at Celtic Park
Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...
, Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
and attracted a world record attendance for a full International of 45,107. The selectors chose an experienced eleven, with the only newcomer being Ernest Needham
Ernest Needham (21 January 1873 – 8 March 1936) was an English footballer and cricketer. He played in sixteen international football matches for England and captained the side in 1901.
He was an outstanding left half who played for Sheffield ...
, the hard-tackling Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
half back; "Nudger" Needham went on to make 16 England appearances over the next 8 years.
Scotland opened the scoring after 7 minutes, with a quick reply coming from John Goodall
John Goodall (19 June 1863 – 20 May 1942) was a footballer who rose to fame as a centre forward for England and for Preston North End at the time of the development of the Football League, and also became Watford's first manager in 1903. He ...
. England managed to keep the Scottish forwards at bay until the 75-minute, when Sandy McMahon
Alexander McMahon (16 October 1870 – 25 January 1916) was a Scottish footballer who spent most of his career with Celtic.
Career
Born in Selkirk, McMahon started his career with Woodburn F.C. then Darlington St Augustine's before relocating ...
was able to get through the England defence. (In 1901
Events
January
* January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...
, McMahon was one of two players to put four goals past Ireland in an 11–0 victory for the Scots.) England equalized through Jack Reynolds with five minutes remaining and managed to hold on for a 2–2 draw.
The result meant that Scotland won the British Home Championship for the fifth time outright – plus two shared with England.
* England score given first
Key
* A = Home match
* BHC = British Home Championship
The British Home Championship
* sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp
* gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta
* cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...
Honours
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition
League table
First Division
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
Test Match results
Footnotes
References
Details of Ireland v England game
Details of Wales v England game
Details of Scotland v England game
{{DEFAULTSORT:1893-94 in English football