1888–89 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season

1888–89 season of Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1888–89 football season

Wolverhampton Wanderers

1888–89 season

Club secretary

Jack Addenbrooke

Football League

3rd

FA Cup

Runners-up

Top goalscorer

League: Harry Wood (13)
All: Harry Wood (14)

Highest home attendance

10,000 (vs The Wednesday, 2 March 1889)

Lowest home attendance

2,000 (vs Bolton, 10 November 1888)

Average home league attendance

4,545 (league only)

Home colours

1889–90 →

The 1888–89 season was the first season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played in the inaugural season of the newly formed Football League. The club finished in third place in the league, and as runners-up in the FA Cup.

The team scored the first goal in Football League history when they took the lead against Aston Villa on the league's opening day. This match, as with all other home games for Wolves, was staged at Dudley Road in Wolverhampton, the only league campaign in which the club have not been based at Molineux.

Results

Football League

A total of twelve teams competed in the inaugural Football League in the 1888–89 season. Each team would play every other team twice, once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Two points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats.

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Aston Villa

8 September 1888 1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–1	Aston Villa	Wolverhampton
	Cox (o.g.)		Green	Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 2,500

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Preston North End

15 September 1888 2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–4	Preston North End	Wolverhampton
			Gordon Ross A Goodall J Goodall	Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 5,000

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Burnley

22 September 1888 3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	4–1	Burnley	Wolverhampton
	Hunter Knight White		A. Brady	Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 4,000

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Blackburn Rovers

29 September 1888 4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–2	Blackburn Rovers	Wolverhampton
	Cooper Wykes		Southworth	Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 5,000

Accrington v Wolverhampton Wanderers

6 October 1888 5	Accrington	4–4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Accrington
	Barbour Brand Holden		Knight Wood Fletcher Stevenson (o.g.)	Stadium: Thorneyholme Road Attendance: 4,000

Burnley v Wolverhampton Wanderers

13 October 1888 6	Burnley	0–4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Burnley
			Wood Knight Hunter	Stadium: Turf Moor Attendance: 4,000

Blackburn Rovers v Wolverhampton Wanderers

20 October 1888 7	Blackburn Rovers	2–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Blackburn
	Haresnape Unknown		Wood Brodie	Stadium: Leamington Road Attendance: 3,500

Preston North End v Wolverhampton Wanderers

27 October 1888 8	Preston North End	5–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Preston
	Gordon Ross J Goodall		Brodie Wykes	Stadium: Deepdale Attendance: 5,000

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Derby County

3 November 1888 9	Wolverhampton Wanderers	4–1	Derby County	Wolverhampton
	Wood Brodie		Lees	Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 6,000

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Bolton Wanderers

10 November 1888 10	Wolverhampton Wanderers	3–2	Bolton Wanderers	Wolverhampton
	Brodie Cooper Knight		Brogan McGuinness	Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 2,000

Stoke v Wolverhampton Wanderers

17 November 1888 11	Stoke	0–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Stoke-on-Trent
			Brodie	Stadium: Victoria Ground Attendance: 2,000

Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers

24 November 1888 12	Aston Villa	2–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Birmingham
	Goodall		Brodie	Stadium: Wellington Road Attendance: 6,000

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Accrington

8 December 1888 13	Wolverhampton Wanderers	4–0	Accrington	Wolverhampton
	Brodie Cooper Knight			Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 3,000

Wolverhampton Wanderers v West Bromwich Albion

15 December 1888 14	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–1	West Bromwich Albion	Wolverhampton
	Brodie Hunter		Pearson	Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 3,000

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Stoke

22 December 1888 15	Wolverhampton Wanderers	4–1	Stoke	Wolverhampton
	Brodie Wood Wykes		Sloane	Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 3,000

Bolton Wanderers v Wolverhampton Wanderers

29 December 1888 16	Bolton Wanderers	2–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Bolton
	Weir unknown (o.g.)		Cooper	Stadium: Pike’s Lane Attendance: 5,500

West Bromwich Albion v Wolverhampton Wanderers

5 January 1889 17	West Bromwich Albion	1–3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	West Bromwich
	Woodhall		Brodie Hunter Cooper	Stadium: Stoney Lane Attendance: 4,000

Derby County v Wolverhampton Wanderers

12 January 1889 18	Derby County	3–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Derby
	Cooper L. Plackett Higgins			Stadium: Racecourse Ground Attendance: 2,000

Notts County v Wolverhampton Wanderers

19 January 1889 19	Notts County	3–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Nottingham
	Cursham E. May			Stadium: Trent Bridge Attendance: 3,000

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton

26 January 1889 20	Wolverhampton Wanderers	5–0	Everton	Wolverhampton
	Lowder Brodie Knight Wood			Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 3,500

Everton v Wolverhampton Wanderers

9 February 1889 21	Everton	1–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Liverpool
	Chadwick		Knight Wood	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 6,000

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Notts County

23 February 1889 22	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–1	Notts County	Wolverhampton
	Knight Wood		Jackson	Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 4,000

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Preston North End	22	18	4	0	74	15	4.93	40
2	Aston Villa	22	12	5	5	61	43	1.42	29
3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	22	12	4	6	51	37	1.38	28
4	Blackburn Rovers	22	10	6	6	66	45	1.47	26

Source: Statto

Results by round

Source: Statto.com
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

FA Cup

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Old Carthusians

2 February 1889 R1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	4–3	Old Carthusians	Wolverhampton
	Wykes Knight Mason			Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 6,000

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Walsall Town Swifts

16 February 1889 R2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	6–1	Walsall Town Swifts	Wolverhampton
	Knight Brodie Hunter Lowder			Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 5,000

Wolverhampton Wanderers v The Wednesday

2 March 1889 R3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	3–0	The Wednesday	Wolverhampton
	Wykes Fletcher			Stadium: Dudley Road Attendance: 10,000

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Blackburn Rovers

16 March 1889 SF	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–1	Blackburn Rovers	Crewe
	Wykes			Stadium: Alexandra Road Attendance: 15,000

Blackburn Rovers v Wolverhampton Wanderers

23 March 1889 SF Rep.	Blackburn Rovers	1–3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Crewe
			Hunter Allen Wood	Stadium: Alexandra Road Attendance: 9,000

Preston North End v Wolverhampton Wanderers

30 March 1889 Final	Preston North End	3–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	London
	Dewhurst 15' Ross 25' Thomson 70'			Stadium: Kennington Oval Attendance: 22,250 Referee: Francis Marindin

Players

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
HB	Harry Allen	22	0	6	1	28	1
FW	Nick Anderson	2	0	0	0	2	0
FB	Dickie Baugh	22	0	6	0	28	0
GK	Jack Baynton	18	0	6	0	24	0
HB	John Benton	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	John Brodie	18	11	4	1	22	12
HB	Alec Cannon	7	0	2	0	9	0
FW	Joe Cooper	21	6	0	0	21	6
HB	R. Dudley	1	0	0	0	1	0
HB	Albert Fletcher	16	1	6	1	22	2
FW	Tommy Hunter	20	4	6	2	26	6
FW	Tommy Knight	17	7	6	5	23	12
HB	Arthur Lowder	18	1	6	1	24	2
FB	Charlie Mason	20	0	6	1	26	1
GK	William Rose	4	0	0	0	4	0
FW	T. Tomkyes	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Walter White	4	2	0	0	4	2
FW	Harry Wood	17	13	6	1	23	14
FW	David Wykes	18	4	6	3	24	7

References

Brown, Tony (2010). The Football League Match by Match 1888-89 to 1892-93. SoccerData. ISBN 978-1-899468-44-7.

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1888–89 in English football

« 1887–88

1889–90 »

FA competitions

FA Cup
- Qualifying rounds
- Final

Leagues

Football League (First Division)

Related to national team

Home Championship

Other

Canadian tour

Club seasons
Football League	Accrington Aston Villa Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Burnley Derby County Everton Notts County Preston North End Stoke West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers
Others	Burslem Port Vale Eastville Rovers (Bristol Rovers) Newton Heath LYR (Manchester United) Royal Arsenal St. Mary's (Southampton)