The 1888–89 season was Stoke's first season in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

, Stoke becoming one of the 12 founder members. There was a major change to English football in 1888–89 following the formation of

. Stoke successfully joined the league along with 11 other professional football clubs. Managed by

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 ...

Stoke struggled throughout the season and ended up finishing bottom of the table after managing just four victories.

Season review

League

Prior to the 1888–89 season clubs played in friendlies,

Staffordshire Senior Cup The Staffordshire Senior Challenge Cup is a football cup tournament based in the county of Staffordshire in England first competed for in 1877–78. Organised by the Staffordshire Football Association, it is competed for by a mix of clubs from St ...

and in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

which Stoke entered for the first time in 1883. However once a team has been knocked out of the cup there was little excitement for players and supporters and so a league format was advocated by the chairman of Aston Villa, William McGregor and in the spring of 1888

was formed with McGregor as its first president.

represented Stoke at the meeting in Anderton's Hall Hotel,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

and was successful as three weeks later Stoke joined the league and Lockett was appointed as the league's first secretary which he went on to occupy from 1888 to 1902. Stoke's first league match was at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

against midlands rivals and FA Cup holders

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 pl ...

. A crowd in excess of 4,500 attended the contest which was won 2–0 by the visitors thanks to late goals from Joe Wilson and

George Woodhall George "Spry" Woodhall (5 September 1863 – 29 September 1924) was an English footballer, who played most of his career with West Bromwich Albion, helping them to reach three consecutive FA Cup finals, including winning the cup in 1888. Woodha ...

which meant that the "Baggies" were the first side to be top of the table. Stoke had the misfortune to finish bottom of the table, albeit on goal-average at the end of the first league season after only winning 4 of their 22 matches. These were 3–0 both home and away over

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

the team who finished level on points with Stoke, 4–3 v

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, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

and 2–1 against

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. Th ...

. Frank Staton had the honour of scoring the club's first league goal which came in a 5–1 loss at Aston Villa. Stoke's first win was against Notts County on 22 September with two goals from Billy Tunncliffe and a strike from the clubs first Scottish player Bob McSkimming who went on be the leading goalscorer with six. Stoke's heaviest defeat was a 7–0 loss away at the eventual winners of both League and cup Preston North End. Two Stoke players failed to board the train on the morning of that game at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

and so Preston agreed to loan two of their reserves ( Bill Smalley and Alfred Dempsey) to make up the numbers.

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 ...

and Bob McSkimming were Stoke's only ever-presents and Bill Rowley only missed one game. Stoke successfully applied for

re-election The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

to along with Burnley, Derby County and Notts County.

FA Cup

On the same day as the first qualifying round Stoke's first team had an away match against Preston North End so Stoke's reserve side, the Stoke Swifts played the

Season review

League

FA Cup

Final league table

Results

Legend

Football League

FA Cup

Squad statistics

References