PRESTON AT THE DOUBLE AND THEN TROUBLE

The Preston of 1888-9 was not going to fail at the last hurdle. Playing in the newly formed Football League the club won 18 and drew 4 of its 22 matches, 74 goals were scored for and 15 against. No other team could match the Invincibles. Preston, on Saturday March 30th, did the double by winning the FA Cup 3-0 against Wolves, a team that came third in the league. Preston did not concede a goal during their cup run and put on a wonderful show at the Oval, kicking off at a balmy 4pm with 22,000 watching. Major Marindin reffed!

Wolves had beaten the Old Carthusians 4-3 in the First Round of the FA Cup, the old boys having been spared the four qualifying rounds. Preston, as a league member, were also spared the early rounds and beat Bootle 3-0 away at first.

Grimsby Town were beaten 2-0 on the Lincolnshire coast as the lads from Cleethorpes had waded their way through six qualifying games and five rounds to meet the best team in the land. Preston then beat Birmingham St George's 2-0 and West Bromwich in the semi-final 1-0. It might have been the OCs had ther old boys' side taken their chances.

So it was the first Double.The following season Preston won the league again, only two points ahead of Everton and lost in the quarter-final of the cup to Bolton Wanderers 2-3. From 1890-1 to 1892-3, Preston came second in the league but then in 1893-4 they came 14th out of the extended division of 16 teams. It was typical, that Major Sudell who had run the club like a dictator through the great period, was overthrown and in June 1893 the club was created into a Limited Company with a new board of directors. In 1895, the Major was charged with embezzling club funds, he was jailed and then emigrated to South Africa where he died in 1911. This rather spoilt the reputation of a man who set out to build the "finest team in the country" acquiring the best players in the game, which happened.

Players came and went with poor results that meant  the club had to play in a "Test Match" against Notts County at the end of the season to avoid the "drop" to the second division. Preston survived 4-0. Beneath Preston were Darwen and Newton Heath, both were relegated.