page_title: History of Preston North End F.C.
section_title: Champions (1888–90)
hierarchical_section_title: History of Preston North End F.C. / Halcyon days (1886 to 1893) / Champions (1888–90)
caption_attribution_description: English: The Preston North End F.C. team. They would win the 1889 FA Cup final. Standing: Sudell (manager), Holmes, Ross, Russell, Howarth, J. Graham and Dr Mills-Roberts. Seated: Gordon, Ross, J. Goodall, F. Dewhurst.
context_page_description: Preston North End is an English football club in Preston, Lancashire which traces its origins to a local cricket club formed c.1863. This club moved to Deepdale in January 1875. They started playing football as a winter activity in 1878 and, in May 1880, took the decision to focus on football. Progress was rapid and the club became professional in 1883. They were a founder member of the Football League in 1888 and won the first two league championships in 1888–89 and 1889–90. Their team in 1888–89 also won the FA Cup and so became the first to achieve "The Double" in English football. In addition, the team was unbeaten in all first-class matches played that season and are famously remembered as "The Old Invincibles". Preston have had a chequered existence since 1890 and have won only one more major trophy, the 1937–38 FA Cup, when Bill Shankly was a key member of the team.
  Preston's greatest player was Tom Finney who joined the club as a teenager in 1938. His first team debut was delayed until 1946 by the Second World War but he played for Preston until he retired in 1960.
context_section_description: The Football League was founded in 1888; North End were one of the founder members and went on to make history. In the League's first season (1888–89), North End were inaugural league champions, achieving the feat without losing a match. On top of this, they completed the league and cup 'Double', winning the FA Cup without conceding a single goal, defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–0 in the final. Preston were the first club to achieve the league and cup "Double" and they did so with a majority of their team being made up of "Scotch Professors" - as the professional Scottish players of the time were known.
  In 1889–90 Sudell's team repeated the feat in the League, but it wasn't long before rival teams improved. Despite many close calls, North End would never match The Old Invincibles' feat by winning the Football League Championship again.
caption: The team pictured in March 1888.
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