1888–89 Everton F.C. season

In 1888–89, Everton F.C. was a founding member of the Football League and competed in the first edition of the competition. The team finished eighth, avoiding re-election by a single place.

Everton
1888–89 season
ManagerWilliam Edward Barclay
The Football League8th
Top goalscorerEngland Edgar Chadwick (6)
Highest home attendance15,000 vs Preston (19 January 1889)
Lowest home attendance2,079 vs West Brom (23 February 1889)
← none

Regular First team

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK   ENG Robert Smalley, 18 appearances
DF   ENG George Dobson, 18 appearances
DF   SCO Nick Ross, 19 appearances
MF   SCO John Weir, 16 appearances
MF   ENG Johnny Holt, 17 appearances
MF   WAL George Farmer, 21 appearances
FW   WAL Joe Davies, 8 appearances at outside right
FW   ENG Robert Watson, 18 appearances at inside right
FW   ENG Frank Sugg, 9 appearances at centre forward
FW   ENG Edgar Chadwick, inside left
FW   ENG James Costley, 6 appearances at outside left

Teams at the time played a 2–3–5 formation. Thus, Dobson and Ross were "full-backs" while Weir, Holt, and Farmer were "halfbacks". However, Everton fielded by far the most unsettled side of all the twelve original Football League members, using thirty-five players in their twenty-two game campaign. Indeed, the club have never fielded more players in any season since, despite having played as many as twenty league games more in over fifty subsequent seasons. So inconsistent was their team selection that at no time did the above combination actually take the field. Not surprisingly Everton's best result of the season, a 6–2 victory over Derby County on 20 October 1888 was achieved with ten of the above players on the field. Robert Watson missed that game while his deputy, Alex McKinnon scored the only hat-trick obtained by an Everton player all season. This was the only game in which ten of the first eleven featured.

Other players used

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Note that position listed is that filled most commonly by the player during this season and may not always have been the role played.

League

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Table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification
6 West Bromwich Albion 22 10 2 10 40 46 0.870 22
7 Accrington 22 6 8 8 48 48 1.000 20
8 Everton 22 9 2 11 35 46 0.761 20
9 Burnley 22 7 3 12 42 62 0.677 17 Re-elected
10 Derby County 22 7 2 13 41 61 0.672 16
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored

Results

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Date Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F – A
Scorers Attendance
8 September 1888 Accrington H 2–1 George Fleming (2) 12,000
15 September 1888 Notts County H 2–1 Edgar Chadwick, Nick Ross 6,000
22 September 1888 Aston Villa A 1–2 Robert Watson 5,000
29 September 1888 Bolton A 2–6 William Lewis, Robert Watson 5,000
6 October 1888 Aston Villa H 2–0 George Farmer, Dave Waugh 10,000
13 October 1888 Notts County A 1–3 Nick Ross 4,000
20 October 1888 Derby A 4–2 James Costley (2), Edgar Chadwick, Alex McKinnon 3,000
27 October 1888 Derby H 6–2 Alex McKinnon (3), Nick Ross (2), Robert Watson 3,000
3 November 1888 Bolton H 2–1 William Brown, Nick Ross 8,000
10 November 1888 Blackburn A 0–3 6,000
17 November 1888 Burnley A 2–2 Edgar Chadwick, Robert Watson 3,000
24 November 1888 Burnley H 3–2 Edgar Chadwick, James Costley, Coyne 6,000
1 December 1888 West Brom A 1–4 Edgar Chadwick 5,700
15 December 1888 Stoke A 0–0 1,500
22 December 1888 Preston A 0–3 8,000
29 December 1888 Accrington A 1–3 William Brown 2,000
12 January 1889 Stoke H 2–1 Joe Davies, Alf Milward 7,000
19 January 1889 Preston H 0–2 15,000
26 January 1889 Wolves A 0–5 4,500
9 February 1889 Wolves H 1–2 Edgar Chadwick 6,000
23 February 1889 West Brom H 0–1 2,079
30 March 1889 Blackburn H 3–1 Joe Davies, Alf Milward, Dave Waugh 4,000

Sources

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