# 1891–92 in English football

The 1891–92 season was the 21st season of competitive football in England.

## Events

The Football League expanded to fourteen clubs by electing two from the 1890–91 Football Alliance, which lost one more by the defection of Sunderland Albion to the Northern League. The Alliance remained at 12 members by adding three new clubs: Ardwick (later Manchester City), Burton Swifts and Lincoln City.
Everton left Anfield on 15 March 1892 after a dispute with the stadium's landlord, John Houlding. Everton moved into a new stadium at nearby Goodison Park, while Houlding formed a new football club—Liverpool F.C.—on 30 March 1892, to play at Anfield.
Preston North End set a new league record by winning 13 consecutive matches up to March 1892. A month later Sunderland equalled the record when they won their 13th successive game. The record of 13 consecutive wins in a single season stood for 125 years until broken by Manchester City in 2017.
Aston Villa recorded their biggest ever victory, defeating Accrington 12-2 on 12 March 1892.

## National team

In the 1892 British Home Championship, for the third (and final) time England played matches against Wales and Ireland on the same day, 5 March 1892, winning both by a 2–0 margin.

### Wales

For the Welsh game, England selected a team consisting mainly of players with Corinthian connections and awarded eight new caps. The new caps included professionals George Toone of Notts County in goal, Henry Lilley of Sheffield United (making his only England appearance at left-back) and George Kinsey (Wolverhampton Wanderers) at left-half. Joe Schofield a Staffordshire schoolteacher with Stoke City played at outside-left. The other débutantes were Anthony Hossack (Corinthian), William Winckworth (Old Westminsters), Robert Cunliffe Gosling (Old Etonians) and Rupert Sandilands (Old Westminsters). England were a little too skilful for the Welsh and ran out 2–0 winners with goals from Arthur Henfrey and Rupert Sandilands.

### Ireland

Against Ireland, England issued a further five new caps. The most prominent débutante was Charlie Athersmith of Aston Villa at outside-right, who would continue to appear for England over the next eight years, making twelve appearances in all. He was accompanied by his club team-mate, Jack Devey. The other new caps were John Cox of Derby County, Michael Whitham of Sheffield United and John Pearson of Crewe Alexandra for each of whom this was their solitary England appearance. Pearson went on to have a successful career as a Football League referee, including the 1911 FA Cup Final. Harry Daft of Notts County was awarded the captaincy for his last of five England appearances and marked the occasion by scoring twice, either side of half-time.

### Scotland

Scotland also beat both Wales and Ireland and, as a result, the outcome of the British Home Championship rested on the final game of the season (for the third consecutive year). England selected a much more experienced team than for the Wales and Ireland games, and only included four players who had featured in those games, including only one of the debutantes, George Toone in goal. Jack Reynolds, the West Bromwich Albion full-back, was selected to play for England for the first time, even though he had previously played five international games for Ireland, having scored against England on 15 March 1890. It had wrongly been assumed that Reynolds was born in Ireland; however, his birth certificate had proved that he was in fact born in Blackburn, thereby enabling him to make eight appearances for England. England rattled in four goals in the first 21 minutes, and although Scotland scored a late consolation goal, England were able to continue their excellent run of results against the Scots and claim the championship again.
| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score* | Comp | England scorers |
| 5 March 1892 | Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A) | Wales | 2–0 | BHC | 15' Arthur Henfrey (Corinthian), 87' Rupert Sandilands (Old Westminsters) |
| 5 March 1892 | Solitude, Belfast (A) | Ireland | 2–0 | BHC | 44', 47' Harry Daft (Notts Co.) |
| 2 April 1892 | Ibrox Park, Glasgow (A) | Scotland | 4–1 | BHC | 1' Edgar Chadwick (Everton), 14', 21' John Goodall (Derby Co.), 16' Jack Southworth (Blackburn Rovers) |
* England score given first
Key
* A = Home match
* BHC = British Home Championship

## Honours

| Competition | Winner |
| The Football League | Sunderland (1) |
| FA Cup | West Bromwich Albion (2) |
| Football Alliance | Nottingham Forest |
| Home Championship | England |
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

## League tables
### The Football League

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sunderland | 26 | 21 | 0 | 5 | 93 | 36 | 2.583 | 42 | League Champions |
| 2 | Preston North End | 26 | 18 | 1 | 7 | 61 | 31 | 1.968 | 37 | |
| 3 | Bolton Wanderers | 26 | 17 | 2 | 7 | 51 | 37 | 1.378 | 36 | |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 89 | 56 | 1.589 | 30 | |
| 5 | Everton | 26 | 12 | 4 | 10 | 49 | 49 | 1.000 | 28 | |
| 6 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 26 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 59 | 46 | 1.283 | 26 | |
| 7 | Burnley | 26 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 49 | 45 | 1.089 | 26 | |
| 8 | Notts County | 26 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 55 | 51 | 1.078 | 26 | |
| 9 | Blackburn Rovers | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 58 | 65 | 0.892 | 26 | |
| 10 | Derby County | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 46 | 52 | 0.885 | 24 | |
| 11 | Accrington | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 40 | 78 | 0.513 | 20 | Re-elected |
| 12 | West Bromwich Albion | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 51 | 58 | 0.879 | 18 | FA Cup Winners |
| 13 | Stoke | 26 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 38 | 61 | 0.623 | 14 | Re-elected |
| 14 | Darwen | 26 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 38 | 112 | 0.339 | 11 | Failed re-election |
* ↑ FA Cup winners — no re-election required
* 1 2 New club in the league
* ↑ Not re-elected, invited to join Second Division.

### The Football Alliance

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Nottingham Forest | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 59 | 22 | 2.682 | 33 | Football Alliance Champions, elected to Football League First Division |
| 2 | Newton Heath | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 69 | 33 | 2.091 | 31 | Elected to Football League First Division |
| 3 | Small Heath | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 53 | 36 | 1.472 | 29 | Elected to Football League Second Division |
| 4 | The Wednesday | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 65 | 35 | 1.857 | 28 | Elected to Football League First Division |
| 5 | Burton Swifts | 22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 54 | 52 | 1.038 | 26 | Elected to Football League Second Division |
| 6 | Crewe Alexandra | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 44 | 49 | 0.898 | 18 | Elected to Football League Second Division |
| 7 | Ardwick | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 39 | 51 | 0.765 | 18 | Elected to Football League Second Division |
| 8 | Bootle | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 42 | 64 | 0.656 | 18 | Elected to Football League Second Division |
| 9 | Lincoln City | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 37 | 65 | 0.569 | 17 | Elected to Football League Second Division |
| 10 | Grimsby Town | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 40 | 39 | 1.026 | 16 | Elected to Football League Second Division |
| 11 | Walsall Town Swifts | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 33 | 59 | 0.559 | 15 | Elected to Football League Second Division |
| 12 | Birmingham St George's | 22 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 34 | 64 | 0.531 | 11 | Disbanded |
* 1 2 3 New club in the Alliance
* 1 2 Two points deducted from Birmingham St George's and Grimsby Town for fielding ineligible players
* ↑ Disbanded at the end of the season due to financial problems