The 1892–93 season was the 22nd 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
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...
and the
Football Alliance
The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92.
History
In 1888, the same year the Football League was founded, The Combination was established by clubs who had been ...
formally merged, and so the
Football League Second Division
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...
was formed, consisting mostly of Football Alliance clubs. The existing League clubs, minus
Darwen
Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners".
The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...
(who were relegated) plus three of the strongest Alliance clubs (
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football.
Founde ...
,
Newton Heath
Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883.
Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial ...
and
The Wednesday, who would later be renamed Manchester United and Sheffield Wednesday respectively), comprised the Football League First Division.
The Second Division comprised the remaining Football Alliance teams, plus
Northwich Victoria
Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...
,
Burslem Port Vale and
Sheffield United.
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, formed in March 1892 by
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 ...
landlord
John Houlding
John Houlding ( – 17 March 1902) was an English businessman and local politician, most notable for being, the founder of Liverpool Football Club and later Lord Mayor of Liverpool. Formerly he was Everton FC Club President and member.
In Nov ...
after
Everton's exit to
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 ...
, join the
Lancashire League. They would be elected to the Football League Second Division after one season in the Lancashire League.
National team
Ireland
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 ...
's opening international game of the season took place in Birmingham on 25 February against
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 ...
, with the selectors choosing a team consisting mainly of players with connections to
the Corinthians, of which seven were making their England débuts.
Chris Charsley of
Small Heath, who later went on to be
Chief Constable of
Coventry
Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
, made his solitary England appearance in goal.
Alban Harrison (
Old Westminsters
The following people were educated at Westminster School in London, and are sometimes listed with OW (Old Westminster) after their name (collectively, OWW). There are over 900 Old Westminsters listed in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biogra ...
) and
Fred Pelly (
Old Foresters) made their débuts as the two
full-backs and
Norman Cooper (
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
) made his solitary appearance at centre-half.
Robert Topham, an amateur player with
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 ...
, who had previously declined an invitation to play for
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 ...
following his selection in 1885, made the first of his two appearances at outside right, with
Walter Gilliat of
Old Carthusians making his solitary appearance at inside right. Gilliat, an excellent dribbler of the ball, would probably have made more England appearances but for his religious beliefs, and went on to become the
vicar
A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...
of
Iver
Iver is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central nucleated village, clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park and the hamlets o ...
and the
rector of
Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...
.
The most notable débutante was
Gilbert Oswald Smith of
Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
, who went on to represent his country on 20 occasions in a career spanning 8 years (scoring 11 goals) and was
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
16 times. He was considered by many to be the world's best player of the 19th Century.
England totally dominated the match itself with
Walter Gilliat scoring three times in the first 30 minutes, although Ireland had levelled the scores shortly after England's first goal. Further goals from
G.O. Smith,
William Winckworth and
Rupert Sandilands enabled England to run out convincing 6–1 victors. Gilliat thus became one of only five players to have scored a
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
in his only appearance in an England shirt.
Wales
For the match 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 ...
at
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...
two weeks later, the selectors chose a team consisting entirely of professional players, of which four were making their début. In goal they selected
John Willie Sutcliffe of
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
, for the first of his 5 appearances; Sutcliffe had previously made an appearance for the
English rugby union side.
Jimmy Turner (
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
) and
Jimmy Whitehead (
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
) made their débuts at left half and inside right respectively. The fourth débutante was
Fred Spiksley of
The Wednesday who made the first of seven England appearances at outside left, from where he scored seven goals during his England career, including a hat-trick on his debut.
Once again, England were comfortable victors, with further goals from
Billy Bassett,
John Goodall and
Jack Reynolds as England easily defeated the Welsh 6–0.
Scotland
England's final international match of the season came at
Richmond Athletic Ground
Built in 1886, and located in Richmond upon Thames, London, the Athletic Ground is a rugby ground, managed by Richmond Athletic Association, home to RFU Championship side London Scottish and National League 1 side Richmond. The first team ...
on 1 April against
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 ...
who were hoping to avenge their defeat in each of the two previous seasons. England selected a strong eleven, with only
Leslie Gay
Leslie Hewitt Gay (24 March 1871 – 1 November 1949) was an English dual-international sportsman who played both cricket and football. In cricket, he played predominantly as a wicket-keeper for Cambridge University, but also played county cric ...
of
Old Brightonians making his début in goal. Gay later played
Test cricket
Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...
for
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 ...
.
England ultimately enjoyed another comfortable victory;
Gosling scored after 15 minutes, but Scotland went ahead with goals after 30 and 55 minutes. A goal from
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
George Cotterill brought England level after 65 minutes.
Fred Spiksley then scored twice in two minutes before completing his hat-trick after 84 minutes, thus enabling England to continue their fine run against the Scots.
As a result, England were the winners of the
British Home Championship
The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...
for the third consecutive season.
* England score given first
Key
* H = Home match
* BHC =
British Home Championship
The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...
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
Test Match Results
Footnotes
References
Details of England v Ireland gameDetails of England v Wales gameDetails of England v Scotland game
{{DEFAULTSORT:1892-93 in English football