The 1891–92 season was the 21st season of competitive
football in England
Association football, Football is the most popular sport in England. Widely regarded as the birthplace of modern football, the first official rules of the game were established in England in 1863. The country is home to the world's first footba ...
.
Events
The Football League expanded to fourteen clubs by electing two from the 1890–91 Football Alliance, which lost one more by the defection of
Sunderland Albion to the
Northern League. The Alliance remained at 12 members by adding three new clubs:
Ardwick
Ardwick is an area of Manchester, England, southeast of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 19,250.
Historically in Lancashire, by the mid-nineteenth century Ardwick had grown from being a village into a pleasant and wealt ...
(later Manchester City),
Burton Swifts and
Lincoln City.
Everton left
Anfield
Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...
on 15 March 1892 after a dispute with the stadium's landlord,
John Houlding. Everton moved into a new stadium at nearby
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...
, while Houlding formed a new football club—
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...
—on 30 March 1892, to play at Anfield.
Preston North End set a new league record by winning 13 consecutive matches up to March 1892. A month later
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
equalled the record when they won their 13th successive game. The record of 13 consecutive wins in a single season stood for 125 years until broken by
Manchester City in 2017.
Aston Villa recorded their biggest ever victory, defeating Accrington 12-2 on 12 March 1892.
National team
In the
1892 British Home Championship, for the third (and final) time
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
played matches against
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
and
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
on the same day, 5 March 1892, winning both by a 2–0 margin.
Wales
For the Welsh game, England selected a team consisting mainly of players with
Corinthian connections and awarded eight new caps. The new caps included professionals
George Toone of
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...
in goal,
Henry Lilley of
Sheffield United (making his only England appearance at left-back) and
George Kinsey (
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...
) at left-half.
Joe Schofield a Staffordshire schoolteacher with
Stoke City played at outside-left. The other débutantes were
Anthony Hossack (
Corinthian),
William Winckworth (
Old Westminsters),
Robert Cunliffe Gosling (
Old Etonians) and
Rupert Sandilands (
Old Westminsters). England were a little too skilful for the Welsh and ran out 2–0 winners with goals from
Arthur Henfrey and Rupert Sandilands.
Ireland
Against Ireland, England issued a further five new caps. The most prominent débutante was
Charlie Athersmith of
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...
at outside-right, who would continue to appear for England over the next eight years, making twelve appearances in all. He was accompanied by his club team-mate,
Jack Devey. The other new caps were
John Cox of
Derby County,
Michael Whitham of
Sheffield United and
John Pearson of
Crewe Alexandra for each of whom this was their solitary England appearance. Pearson went on to have a successful career as a Football League referee, including the
1911 FA Cup Final.
Harry Daft of
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...
was awarded the captaincy for his last of five England appearances and marked the occasion by scoring twice, either side of half-time.
Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
also beat both Wales and Ireland and, as a result, the outcome of the
British Home Championship rested on the final game of the season (for the third consecutive year). England selected a much more experienced team than for the Wales and Ireland games, and only included four players who had featured in those games, including only one of the debutantes,
George Toone in goal.
Jack Reynolds, the
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...
full-back, was selected to play for England for the first time, even though he had previously played five international games for Ireland, having scored against England on 15 March 1890. It had wrongly been assumed that Reynolds was born in Ireland; however, his birth certificate had proved that he was in fact born in
Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...
, thereby enabling him to make eight appearances for England. England rattled in four goals in the first 21 minutes, and although Scotland scored a late consolation goal, England were able to continue their excellent run of results against the Scots and claim the championship again.
* England score given first
Key
* A = Home match
* BHC =
British Home Championship
Honours
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition
League tables
The Football League
The Football Alliance
References
References
Details of Wales v England gameDetails of Ireland v England gameDetails of Scotland v England game
{{DEFAULTSORT:1891-92 in English football