page_title: 1888–89 Football League
section_title: Saturday 15 September 1888: Preston go top of the League
hierarchical_section_title: 1888–89 Football League / The season / Saturday 15 September 1888: Preston go top of the League
caption_attribution_description: English: Early example of a football league table. Teams are listed in alphabetical order
context_page_description: Founded in 1888, the Football League is the oldest such competition in world football. The 1888–89 Football League was the first edition of the Football League, which ran from the autumn of 1888 until the spring of 1889. The Football League was formally created and named in Manchester during a meeting on 17 April 1888.
  The season began on 8 September 1888 with 12 member clubs from the Midlands and North of England: Accrington, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Each club played the other twice, once at home and once away.
  The original league rules stated that teams' positions should be calculated "from wins, draws, and losses", without further detail. It was not until late November that a points system was decided upon, with teams being awarded two points for a win and one point for a draw. Goal average was used to separate teams level on points.
context_section_description: Preston North End took over from West Bromwich Albion at the top of the table in their second game on Saturday 15 September 1888 when they won 4–0 at Wolverhampton Wanderers with Archie Goodall scoring on his Preston debut. Albion also won 2–1 at Derby County but the victory gave them an inferior goal average while Everton were the only other club to secure maximum points from their opening two games. Both Blackburn Rovers and Notts County made their respective football league debuts. Rovers were held 5–5 by Accrington while Notts County lost 1–2 at Everton.
caption: League table published in Cricket and Football Field on 15 September.  Since the points system had not yet been introduced, the teams were listed in alphabetical order.
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