The 1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain was the first, and to date only, professional baseball championship for the national baseball title of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. The National League's headquarters were located at 38 Holborn Viaduct,

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 ...

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 ...

were the National League champions, despite Derby Baseball Club leading the league for much of the season, following their contentious dismissal from the championship, mid-season. Aston Villa were officially known as Birmingham Baseball Club Limited, with their uniforms emblazoned with ‘Birmingham AV’ on the jersey, despite being officially part of the famous football club. As a result, in some reports of the day, they were referred to as Birmingham. Preston Amateurs were the Amateur League champions, beating Birmingham Amateurs 43-15 and 42–7 in a best of three finals. A large number of leading football and cricket professionals of the era were involved, alongside

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional baseball players.

Events

*10 February -

Morton Betts Morton Peto Betts (30 August 1847 – 19 April 1914)
England Football Online. Retrieved 2018-09-15. ...

, honorary Secretary of the National League appeals to professional football clubs to form baseball clubs. *5 March - It is reported that the National League of Baseball of Great Britain has asked for

A. G. Spalding Albert Goodwill Spalding (September 2, 1849 – September 9, 1915) was an American pitcher, manager, and executive in the early years of professional baseball, and the co-founder of A.G. Spalding sporting goods company. He was born and raise ...

to send several American professionals to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

to be distributed across National League clubs. *6 March -

William Sudell Major William Sudell (1850–1911) was an English association football player and administrator, who was the first chairman of Preston North End. He joined the Preston Nelson sports club on 3 August 1867, aged 17. Initially a player of severa ...

agrees to form a professional baseball club at Preston North End and Francis Ley agrees to form a professional baseball club for Derby from his Ley’s Recreation Club. Professional football clubs were chosen as ideal partners for new baseball clubs. It is suggested that a twelve club National League will be formed, with teams to be based at

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

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 ...

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

Manchester 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 t ...

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. *22 March - A maximum salary of £15 per month, plus travel expenses, is offered to American professional baseball players to join National League clubs in the

. *6 June - The first annual meeting of the National League of Baseball of Great Britain is held at the Queens Hotel,

, with the constitution being drawn up and agreed upon. The constitution broadly followed the rules and regulations of the American leagues. It is reported that ninety Baseball clubs now exist in the

Thomas Slaney Thomas Charles "Tom" Slaney (1852 – 1935) was an English footballer and manager who was the first manager of Stoke. Career Slaney was born in Stoke-upon-Trent and attended Stoke St Peter's School where John William Thomas was a teacher. Tho ...

(President) and

Harry Lockett Harold Lockett (1855–1930) was an English association football manager and administrator. Career Lockett was born in Stoke-upon-Trent and was appointed manager-secretary of Stoke in 1884 replacing Walter Cox. He was Stoke manager when profe ...

(Administrator) of the

Baseball Club), Francis Ley (President of Derby Baseball Club, William McGregor (President of the

Baseball Club) and James Allard on behalf of the absent

(President of the Preston North End Baseball Club were all in attendance,

Morton Betts Morton Peto Betts (30 August 1847 – 19 April 1914)
England Football Online. Retrieved 2018-09-15. ...

was in the chair. A National League schedule was confirmed for the four clubs, with Aston Villa hosting Stoke on the 21 June on opening day. A 42-game season is agreed upon, Francis Ley will supply the pennants and badges for the winning club. *14 June - Newton Crane, President of the National League and

Morton Betts Morton Peto Betts (30 August 1847 – 19 April 1914)
England Football Online. Retrieved 2018-09-15. ...

, Secretary and all elected officers from the league committee reiterate their commitment to expanding the league across the

following the first season. *14 July -

issue a formal apology to Francis Ley for unsporting behaviour of their players at Derby Baseball Club and accept the fines given to them by the National League. *4 August - Secretary Alexander Langland of Derby Baseball Club officially ‘retires’ the club from the National League, with immediate effect, citing financial losses and low attendances *4 August - In a meeting at the Athenaeum, Derby, a new baseball club for the town of Derby was formed. It was noted that Francis Ley was to be elected as Chairman of the new club, given that his old club had been dissolved. Ley agreed to the new Derby Baseball Club being tenants of the Ley’s Recreation Centre (known later as the

Baseball Ground The Baseball Ground (sometimes referred to as the BBG) was a stadium in Derby, England. It was first used for baseball as the home of Derby Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898 and then for football as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 19 ...

) rent free until the club was making a profit. It was reported that “for all practical purposes it (the dissolved club) was Ley’s Recreation Club” and the new club would be the real Derby Baseball club. Ley also maintained his claim that his dissolved works club had actually won the 1890 National League pennant and not Aston Villa. *5 August - Francis Ley writes to the Derby Daily Telegraph to propose that the ‘retired’ Derby Baseball Club take on other local baseball clubs for a local challenge cup, he donates £52 10s. towards a cup for the winning club. *8 August - The Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal state that “owing to the decision of the National League requiring the Derby club to not pitch Reidenbach, the American pitcher, in remaining championship matches, the Derby club have withdrawn from the league.” Francis Ley confirmed that he intended to cease the activities of the club, and had refused

’s request for Derby Baseball Club to finish their National League fixtures. It is confirmed that Reidenbach and Bullas, American professionals at Derby, are the only Americans in the employ of Francis Ley, in order to allow them to play for Derby. *8 August -

Morton Betts Morton Peto Betts (30 August 1847 – 19 April 1914)
England Football Online. Retrieved 2018-09-15. ...

, Secretary of the National League of Baseball of Great Britain issues a statement, in response to continued “incorrect statements” given to regional press by Francis Ley, on events leading up to Derby Baseball Club ‘retiring‘ from the National League. It is stated that on the 9 July Francis Ley agreed to only use his professional American pitchers in games versus

, that under this new arrangement Derby lost four out of their six matches, harming their championship prospects to the degree that Francis Ley broke a number of bye-laws under threat of his Derby club withdrawing from the league, including refusing to field a nine on 6 August and giving the League Board no option but to erase the National League record of Derby. *11 August - The Birmingham Daily Post claims that three of the four National League clubs are being financed by Spalding Bros, whereby Derby Baseball Club are financed by Francis Ley, leading to various financial disagreements. *15 August - The Derby Daily Telegraph publishes an article claiming that the Derby Baseball Club have actually won the National League, under Section 21 of the league constitution, under which it is said the club with the highest win percentage will be the winner of the pennant. The club claim that up until their ‘withdrawal’ from the National League, 5 August, they would have a win percentage that would have been unachievable for the remaining clubs, based on their completed season stats to that date. *3 September -

and Preston North End are both accused of cheating during the season. *12 November - Preston North End reflect on being crowned winners of the Amateur League. It is reported that attendances of the Preston North End National League had exceeded 5,000 per game.

Champions

*National League:

*Amateur League: Preston Amateurs

National League final standings

''Derby Baseball Club expelled from the National League championship mid-season, record expunged.''

Rosters

Aston Villa

*Frank Barr *William Barr (player-manager) *

Arthur Brown Arthur Brown may refer to: Entertainment * Arthur William Brown (1881–1966), Canadian commercial artist * H. Arthur Brown (1906–1992), American orchestral conductor * Arthur Brown (musician) (born 1942), English rock singer * Arthur Brown, ak ...

* James Cowan *

Fred Dawson Frederick Thomas Dawson (April 26, 1884 – August 18, 1965) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Union College in Schenectady, New York (1912–1916), Columbia University (1918–1919) ...

*Abel Devey *

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 ...

Harry Devey Henry Prince Devey (September - December 1864 – 1940) was an English footballer who played in The Football League for Aston Villa. (registration & fee required) Family He was one of five brothers who all played professional football, Ted a ...

Will Devey William Devey (12 April 1865 – 10 June 1935) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre forward for Small Heath (renamed from Small Heath Aliiance in 1888) in the Football Alliance and for a variety of Midlands clubs in the ...

*H. E. Simon (player-coach) *

Joey Simmonds Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horac ...

*Frank Stevenson *Harry Widdowson

Derby Baseball Club

* Dan Allsopp *H. Bates *Edwin Booth * William C. Bryan * Sim Bullas *James Mellors *H. M. Middleton *W. North *S. Presbury *John Reidenbach

Preston North End

*H. Brown *J. Brown *? Colford *

Samuel Dobson Samuel Dobson also known as Sammy Dobson was an English footballer who played as either an inside left or inside right. Born in Preston he appeared for Crewe Alexandra, Preston North End and Sheffield United. Playing career Club career Dobso ...

George Drummond George Drummond (1688–1766) was accountant-general of excise in Scotland and a local politician, elected Lord Provost of Edinburgh a number of times between 1725 and 1764. Life Drummond was born at Newton Castle in Blairgowrie, Perthshire ...

Billy Hendry William Harold Hendry (20 June 1869 – 4 May 1901) was a Scottish footballer who played as a defender. Born in Newport-on-Tay he played in the Football League for Bury, Preston North End, Sheffield United, Stoke and West Bromwich Albion. ...

*? Hogan *W. Livesey *

Leech Maskrey Samuel Leech Maskrey (February 11, 1854 – April 1, 1922) was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball. He played five seasons in the majors, from 1882 to 1886, for the Louisville Eclipse/Colonels and Cincinnati Red Stockings. His brother ...

(player-coach) * Moses Sanders * William Stewart * James Trainer ''W. Livesey was a sprinter of some regional notoriety who played as a reserve for Preston North End, local rugby union and as a professional baseball player for Preston North End. He was killed in 1893.''

Stoke

*? Ainsworth *Charles B. Bartlett (player-coach) * William Dunn * John Eccles *? Holdford * Edgar Montford *? Morrell *? Powner *James Prior *

Bill Rowley William Spencer Rowley (11 September 1865 – 16 March 1934) was an English footballer who played as goalkeeper for Stoke in the 1880s and 1890s, also making two appearances for England. He later became Stoke's manager between 1895 and 1897. H ...

* Wilmot Turner *

Alf Underwood Alfred Underwood (April 1869 – 8 October 1928) was an English footballer who played 130 times for Stoke in the 1880s and 1890s. Early and personal life Alfred Underwood was born in April 1869, with the birth registered in Newcastle-under-L ...

''Edgar Montford was one of two footballing brothers who played for

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

in the era, Edgar was part of the Stoke City football squad of 1889-90 so it is assumed this was the brother who was a professional baseball player in the same year. Harry Montford had left Stoke City for Leek by 1890.''

References

External links

BBF (British Baseball Federation)Great Britain National Baseball Team
the Project for the Chronicling of British Baseball.

the home of baseball scoring in the UK. {{Year in baseball, this year=1890 Baseball competitions in the United Kingdom

1890 in baseball 1890 in British sport Baseball in the United Kingdom Defunct sports competitions in the United Kingdom Defunct baseball leagues