Today is the anniversary of the first professional Football League matches. It was founded by William McGregor, an Aston Villa director.
William McGregor (13 April 1846 – 20 December 1911) was a Scottish FA administrator, who is regarded as the founder of Football League, the first organised association football league in the world.
After moving from Perthshire to Birmingham to set up business as a draper (dealing in cloth and stuff), McGregor became involved with local Aston Villa, which he helped to establish as one of the leading teams in England. He served the club for over 20 years in various capacities, including president, director and chairman. In 1888, frustrated by the regular cancellation of Villa's matches, McGregor organised a meeting of representatives of England's leading clubs, which led to the formation of the Football League, giving member clubs a guaranteed fixture list each season. This was instrumental in the transition of football from an amateur pastime to a professional business.
McGregor served as both chairman and president of the Football League and was also chairman of The English FA. He was recognised by the FA for his service to the game shortly before his death in 1911, and was posthumously honoured by the local football authorities and Aston Villa.
The agreement came in "Anderson's Hotel", London on the eve of the 1888 FA Cup final. McGregor was made President and Harry Lockett of Stoke, secretary. Originally goal difference was not considered if points were equal. The original 12 clubs came from the North and Midlands and Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday and Halliwell Rovers were refused entry, because there were enough teams to satisfy the length of season. Five matches resulted in 23 goals.
The results for the first and second Saturdays of the Football League:
| Saturday September 8th 1888 | ||||
| Bolton Wanderers | 3 | - | 6 | Derby County |
| Everton | 2 | - | 1 | Accrington |
| Preston North End | 5 | - | 2 | Burnley |
| Stoke | 0 | - | 2 | West Bromwich Albion |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1 | - | 1 | Aston Villa |
| Saturday September 15th 1888 | ||||
| Aston Villa | 5 | - | 1 | Stoke |
| Blackburn Rovers | 5 | - | 5 | Accrington |
| Bolton Wanderers | 3 | - | 4 | Burnley |
| Derby County | 1 | - | 2 | West Bromwich Albion |
| Everton | 2 | - | 1 | Notts County |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | - | 4 | Preston North End |
The first goalscorer on the opening Saturday was believed to be Preston's Jack Gordon. About 25,000 people attended the first Saturday's fixtures, the highest attendance was 10,000 at the Everton v Accrington match. Preston finished the season as champions with an undefeated record in the League. Preston - known as the 'Old Invincibles' - were the dominant force, winning the League without losing a match and the FA Cup without conceding a goal. 586 goals were scored in the 132 League matches played - an average of just over 4.4 goals a game. Only 2 matches ended in a 0-0 draw.
On October 6th 1888 Stoke became the first League side to be defeated by a non-league side in the FA Cup. Their reserves were beaten 2-1 at home by Warwick County while on the same day their first team lost 0-7 at Preston in the League. Nine non-league clubs challenged the four clubs needing to seek re-election in the vote for League membership. Voting -
| 10 votes | Stoke | Re-elected to the League |
| 9 | Burnley | Re-elected to the League |
| 8 | Derby County | Re-elected to the League |
| 7 | Notts County | Re-elected to the League |
| 5 | Mitchell St George's | Not elected to the League |
| 4 | Sheffield Wednesday | Not elected to the League |
| 2 | Bootle | Not elected to the League |
| 2 | Sunderland | Not elected to the League |
| 1 | Newton Heath | Not elected to the League |
| 0 | Grimsby Town | Not elected to the League |
| 0 | South Shore | Not elected to the League |
| 0 | Sunderland Albion | Not elected to the League |
| 0 | Walsall Town Swifts | Not elected to the League |
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