The FA Cup Finalists 1880-1889 - Historical Football Kits English League Teams > FA Cup Finals English FA Cup Finalists 1880 - 1889 The dominance of the southern public school, army and university teams came to an end as the game took root in the industrial midlands and north-west. The 1881 final between Old Carthusians (left) and Old Etonians was the lasted contested by public school teams. With the participation of the working class, both as players and spectators, the game ceased to be the exclusive pursuit of the genteel upper and middle classes and became a mass spectator sport. The new breed of clubs built enclosed grounds, charged admission and were run for profit. Intense competition led to players being poached by one club from another and financial inducements, forbidden by the FA's strict rules on amateurism, became commonplace. In 1885 the FA bowed to the inevitable and recognised professionalism and the balance of power shifted decisively north - no amateur side has appeared in the final since then. In 1888 the Football League was formed and members have enjoyed a monopoly of the FA Cup (with one notable exception) ever since.

1879 - 1880 Blackburn Olympic 2 Old Etonians 0 (Extra Time played) venue Kennington Oval date 31 March 1883 The FA Cup went north for the first time but it was the unknown working men's team of Olympic rather than the former grammar school boys of Rovers that achieved the honour. Both sides changed shirts because of a colour clash. With the game scoreless after 90 minutes, Olympic showed superior stamina (they were the first team to train specifically for their cup ties) and scored twice in extra time. Their success proved to be the seed of their downfall, however, as their best players were poached the following season by their rivals and in 1889, Olympic closed down. This was the last final in which any of the old former public school sides would appear. Blackburn Rovers 2 West Bromwich Albion 0 (Replay after 0-0 draw) venue Kennington Oval: Replayed at The Racecourse Ground, Derby date 3 & 10 April 1886 Blackburn Rovers appeared in their third successive final where they were nearly beaten by strong West Bromwich side.

The replay took place in Derby, the first time that the final had been played outside London. Rovers led at half-time and could have had a third but the scorer, Sowerbutts, thinking that he was offside, did not appeal to the referee who, later turned out would have awarded the goal. The FA awarded Blackburn a silver shield to commemorate their achievement in winning the competition for the third time in succession. West Brom played in a change kit but Rovers declined to have a team photographs taken before the match so I have not been able to confirm their kit. West Bromwich Albion 2 Preston North End 1 venue Kennington Oval date 24 March 1888 Preston, with a side full of Scottish imports, demolished Hyde FC 26-0 on their way to their first final, still an English record. With 434 consecutive victories under their belt, Proud Preston were confident that they would easily beat Albion. Indeed, it is said that their captain asked for the team to be photographed with the cup before the match kicked off. In the event, it was West Brom who took the honours in their third successive final appearance.

For the first time the Oval's gates were locked as 17,000 crammed into the ground. England - List of Champions England - List of Champions See Paul Felton's archive for full tables.

Champions Football League Champions 1889-1915 1889 *Preston NE 1890 -Preston NE 1891 *Everton 1892 *Sunderland 1893 Sunderland 1894 Aston Villa 1895 Sunderland 1896 Aston Villa 1897 Aston Villa 1898 *-Sheffield United 1899 Aston Villa 1900 Aston Villa 1901 *Liverpool 1902 Sunderland 1903 *The Wednesday 1904 The Wednesday 1905 *Newcastle United 1906 Liverpool 1907 Newcastle United 1908 *Manchester United 1909 Newcastle United 1910 Aston Villa 1911 Manchester United 1912 *Blackburn Rovers 1913 Sunderland 1914 Blackburn Rovers 1915 Everton * indicates club's first title - indicates club's last title Football League Champions 1920-39 1920 *-West Bromwich Albion 19

21 *Burnley 1922 Liverpool 1923 Liverpool 1924 *Huddersfield Town 1925 Huddersfield Town 1926 -Huddersfield Town 1927 -Newcastle United 1928 Everton 1929 The Wednesday 1930 -Sheffield Wednesday 1931 *Arsenal 1932 Everton 1933 Arsenal 1934 Arsenal 1935 Arsenal 1936 -Sunderland 1937 *Manchester City 1938 Arsenal 1939 Everton * indicates club's first title - indicates club's last title Football League Champions 1947-1992 1947 Liverpool 1948 Arsenal 1949 *Portsmouth 1950 -Portsmouth 1951 *Tottenham Hostpur 1952 Manchester United 1953 Arsenal 1954 *Wolverhampton Wanderers 1955 *Chelsea 1956 Manchester United 1957 Manchester United 1958 Wolver

hampton Wanderers 1959 -Wolverhampton Wanderers 1960 -Burnley 1961 -Tottenham Hotspur 1962 *-Ipswich Town 1963 Everton 1964 Liverpool 1965 Manchester United 1966 Liverpool 1967 Manchester United 1968 Manchester City 1969 *Leeds United 1970 Everton 1971 Arsenal 1972 *Derby County 1973 Liverpool 1974 Leeds United 1975 -Derby County 1976 Liverpool 1977 Liverpool 1978 *-Nottingham Forest 1979 Liverpool 1980 Liverpool 1981 -Aston Villa 1982 Liverpool 1983 Liverpool 1984 Liverpool 1985 Everton 1986 Liverpool 1987 -Everton 1988 Liverpool 1989 Arsenal 1990 -Liverpool 1991 Arsenal 1992 -Leeds United * indicates club's

 first title - indicates club's last title FA Premier League Champions 1993-2016 In 1992 the 22 Division One clubs resigned en masse from the Football League and formed the FA Premier League.

At the end of the 1991-92 season promotion and relegation took place as normal between Div 1 and Div 2 and the 22 clubs which would have formed Div 1 of the Football League for season 1992-93 became the founder members of the new FA Premier League. Summary 1889-2016 (117 championships) 20 Manchester United 18 Liverpool 13 Arsenal 9 Everton 7 Aston Villa 6 Sunderland 5 Chelsea 4 Newcastle United, The Wednesday/Sheffield Wednesday, Manchester City 3 Huddersfield Town, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers 2 Preston North End, Portsmouth, Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur, Derby County 1 Sheffield United, West Bromwich Albion, Ipswich Town, Nottingham Forest. Leicester City Wartime Champions 1915-1919 The Football League closed down at the end of the 1914-15 season until the end of the war. Two regional leagues were organised for the Midlands and Lancashire and London clubs formed their own competition.

In 1918 and 1919 the Midlands and Lancashire champions met over two legs in unofficial championship matches (these titles are not counted in clubs championship totals).

1915-16 Lancashire Section Principal tournament: Manchester City Subsidiary tournaments: Northern division: Burnley Southern division: Manchester City Midland Section Principal tournament: Nottingham Forest Subsidiary tournaments: Northern division: Leeds City Southern division: Nottingham Forest Midland division: Grimsby Town London Combination Principal tournament: Chelsea Supplementary tournament: Chelsea South-Western Combination Portsmouth 1916-17 Lancashire Section Principal tournament: Liverpool Subsidiary tournaments: Section A: Rochdale Section B: Everton Section C: Burnley Section D: Manchester United Midland Section Principal tournament: Leeds City Susidiary tournaments: Section A: Bradford Park Avenue Section B: Sheffield United Section C: Birmingham City Section D: Chesterfield London Combination West Ham United 1917-18 Lancashire Section Principal tournament: Stoke Subsidiary tournaments: Section A: Liverpool Section B: Manchester City Section C: Preston North End Section D: Bolton Wanderers Midland Section Principal tournament: Leeds City Subsidiary tournaments: Section A: Grimsby Town Section B: Notts County Section C: The Wednesday Section D: Leeds City London Combination Chelsea League Championship Cup Play-off First leg: Leeds City (2) 2 Stoke (

0) 0 Second leg: Stoke (0) 1 Leeds City (0) 0 Leeds won on goal average 1918-19 Lancashire Section Principal tournament: Everton Subsidiary tournaments: Section A: Blackpool Section B: Oldham Athletic Section C: Manchester City Section D: Liverpool Midland Section Principal tournament: Nottingham Forest Subsidiary tournaments: Section A: Sheffield United Section B: Birmingham Section C: Bradford Park Avenue Section D: Hull City London Combination Brentford League Championship Cup Play-off First leg: Nottingham Forest 0 Everton 0 Second leg: Everton 0 Nottingham Forest 1 Forest won overall Wartime Champions 1940-46 Normal league competition was suspended on declaration of war in 1939 and alternative regional leagues were organised.

1939-40 Midland League: Wolverhampton Wanderers West League: Stoke City North-East League: Huddersfield Town North-West League: Bury South League 'A': Arsenal South League 'B': Queen's Park Rangers South League 'C': Tottenham Hotspur South League 'D': Crystal Palace South-West League: Plymouth Argyle East Midland League: Chesterfield 1940-41 Northern Regional League: Preston North End Southern Regional League: Crystal Palace 1941-42 League North: Blackpool League South: Leicester City London League: Arsenal 1942-43 League North: Blackpool League South: Arsenal League West: Lovells Athletic 1943-44 League North: Blackpool League South: Tottenham Hotspur League West Lovells Athletic 1944-45 League North: Huddersfield Town League South: Tottenham Hotspur League West: Cardiff City 1945-46 League North: Sheffield United League South: Birmingham City History of the English Premier League - SuperSport - Football History of the English Premier League William McGregor statue © Action Images What is now known as the English Premier League has its roots in an earlier

 league, called the Football League, which was originally founded in 1888.

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football. It was the top level football league in England from its foundation until 1992. Since 1995 it has had 72 clubs evenly divided into three divisions, which are currently known as The Championship, League One and League Two. Promotion and relegation between these divisions is a central feature of the League and is further extended to allow the top Championship clubs to exchange places with the lowest placed clubs in the Premier League. A director of Aston Villa, William McGregor, was the first to set out to bring some order to a chaotic world where clubs arranged their own fixtures. On March 2, 1888, he wrote to the committee of his own club, Aston Villa, as well as to those of Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion, suggesting the creation of a league competition that would provide a number of guaranteed fixtures for its member clubs each season.

The first meeting was held at Anderson's Hotel in London on March 23, 1888, on the eve of the FA Cup Final. The Football League was formally created and named in Manchester at a further meeting on April 17 at the Royal Hotel. In 1992, the First Division clubs resigned from the Football League to take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal and on May 27, 1992, the Premier League as we know it today was formed. This meant a break-up of the 104-year-old Football League that had operated until then with four divisions; the Premier League would operate with a single division and the Football League with three. There was no change in competition format; the same number of teams competed in the top flight, and promotion and relegation between the Premier League and the new First Division remained on the same terms as between the old First and Second Divisions.

The 22 inaugural members of the new Premier League were Arsenal, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest, Oldham Athletic, Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, and Wimbledon. A total of 43 clubs have played in the Premier League from its inception in 1992 until the end of the 2009/10 season. Two other clubs (Luton Town and Notts County) were signatories to the original agreement that created the Premier League, but were relegated prior to the inaugural Premier League season and have not subsequently returned to the top flight. Seven clubs have been members of the Premier League for every season since its inception. This group is composed of Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur. Due to insistence by Fifa that domestic leagues reduce the number of games clubs played, the number of clubs was reduced to 20 in 1995 when four teams were relegated from the league and only two teams promoted.

On June 8, 2006, Fifa requested that all major European leagues, including Italy's Serie A and Spain's La Liga be reduced to 18 teams by the start of the 2007/08 season. The Premier League responded by announcing their intention to resist such a reduction. Ultimately, the 2007/08 season kicked off again with 20 teams. The league changed its name from the FA Premier League to simply the Premier League in 2007. FOREIGN PLAYERS At the inception of the Premier League in 1992/93, just 11 players named in the starting line-ups for the first round of matches were 'foreign' (players hailing from outside of the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland). By 2000/01, the number of foreign players participating in the Premier League was 36 per cent. In the 2004/05 season the figure had increased to 45 per cent.

On December 26, 1999, Chelsea became the first Premier League side to field an entirely foreign starting line-up, and on February 14, 2005, Arsenal were the first to name a completely foreign 16-man squad for a match. No English manager has won the Premier League; the five managers to have won the title comprise two Scots (Alex Ferguson (Manchester United, 11 wins) and Kenny Dalglish (Blackburn Rovers, one win), a Frenchman (Arsène Wenger, Arsenal, three wins), an Italian (Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea, one win), and a Portuguese (José Mourinho, Chelsea, two wins). TRANSFER FEES The record transfer fee for a Premier League has been broken several times over the lifetime of the competition. Prior to the start of the first Premier League season, Alan Shearer became the first British player to command a transfer fee of more than £3 million. The record rose steadily in the Premier League's first few seasons, until Alan Shearer made a world record breaking £15 million move to Newcastle United in 1996.

This stood as a British record for four years until it was eclipsed by the £18 million Leeds paid West Ham for Rio Ferdinand. Manchester United subsequently broke the record three times by signing Ruud van Nistelrooy, Juan Sebastián Verón and Rio Ferdinand. Chelsea broke the record in May 2006, when they signed Andriy Shevchenko, from AC Milan. The exact figure of the transfer fee was not disclosed, but was reported as being around £30 million. This was eclipsed by Manchester City's transfer of Robinho from Real Madrid on September 1, 2008 for £32.5 million. The Robinho transfer remains the largest ever paid by a Premier League club. The record transfer in the sport's history had a Premier League club on the selling end, with Manchester United accepting an £80 million bid from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. RECORDS David James holds the record for the most Premier League appearances, overtaking the previous record held by Gary Speed of 535 appearances in February 2009.

The first ever Premier League goal was scored by Brian Deane of Sheffield United in a 2–1 win against Manchester United. SPONSORS The Premier League has been sponsored since 1993. The sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. The table below details who the sponsors have been and what they called the competition: YEARS Barclays Premier League TELEVISION Television has played a major role in the history of the Premier League. The money from television rights has been vital in helping to create excellence both on and off the field. The League's decision to assign broadcasting rights to BSkyB in 1992 was at the time a radical decision, but one that has paid off. At the time pay television was an almost untested proposition in the UK market, as was charging fans to watch live televised football. However, a combination of Sky's strategy, the quality of Premier League football and the public's appetite for the game has seen the value of the Premier League's TV rights soar. The Premier League sells its television rights on a collective basis.

This is in contrast to some European Leagues, including Serie A and La Liga, in which each club sells its rights individually, leading to a much higher share of the total income going to the top few clubs. The money is divided into three parts: half is divided equally between the clubs; one quarter is awarded on a merit basis based on final league position, the top club getting twenty times as much as the bottom club, and equal steps all the way down the table; the final quarter is paid out as facilities fees for games that are shown on television, with the top clubs generally receiving the largest shares of this. The income from overseas rights is divided equally between the twenty clubs. Sky's monopoly was broken from August 2006 when Setanta Sports was awarded rights to show two out of the six packages of matches available. This occurred following an insistence by the European Commission that exclusive rights should not be sold to one television company. Sky and Setanta paid a total of £1.7 billion, a two-thirds increase which took many commentators by surprise as it had been widely assumed that the value of the rights had levelled off following many years of rapid growth.

On 22 June 2009, due to the troubles encountered by Setanta Sports after it failed to meet a final deadline over a £30 million payment to the Premier League, ESPN was awarded the two packages of UK rights containing a total of 46 matches that were available for the 2009/10 season as well as a package of 23 matches per season from 2010/11 to 2012/13. MATCH BALLS For the inaugural season of the Premier League, clubs were obliged to supply their own match balls, which were usually provided by the clubs' kit manufacturers. In 1993, the Premier League came to an agreement with Mitre for them to supply the league's teams with their match balls. Mitre supplied balls to the Premier League for seven years, starting with the Mitre Pro Max (1993–1995) and then the Mitre Ultimax (1995–2000). The 2000/01 season saw Nike take over as match ball supplier, introducing the Nike Geo Merlin ball, which had been used in the UEFA Champions League.

The Geo Merlin was used for four seasons before being replaced by the Nike Total 90 Aerow, which ran for another two seasons. The 2004/05 season also saw the introduction of a yellow "Hi-Vis" ball for use in the winter months. Next came the Nike Total 90 Aerow II, which featured an asymmetrical design to help players judge the flight and spin of the ball. For the 2008/09 season, the official ball of the Premier League was the Nike Total 90 Omni, which featured yet another pattern in dark red and yellow and a modified panel design, and was replaced by the Nike T90 Ascente for the 2009/10 season, with blue, yellow and orange trim, and for 2010/11 by the T90 TRACER, and will be electric blue, black and white trim.

TOP SCORERS IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE (PREMIER LEAGUE ONLY) PLAYER MORE GOALS Manchester United became the first team to have scored 1 000 goals in the league after Cristiano Ronaldo scored in a 4–1 defeat of Middlesbrough in the 2005/06 season. Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool are the only other teams to have reached the 1 000-goal mark. The highest-scoring match to date in the Premier League occurred on September 29, 2007, when Portsmouth beat Reading 7–4. Five goals is the record individual scoring total for a player in a single Premier League game, and as of November 2009, only three players had achieved this feat, Andy Cole first, followed by Alan Shearer and then Jermain Defoe. Only Ryan Giggs of Manchester United has scored in all 18 Premier League seasons. Event Streaming My Football Facts & Stats | FA Cup Football Stats of the round by round progress of every club who entered the competition in 1871 to the formation of the Football League.

Football Stats of all the last 32 FA Cup places club by club for the inter-war period 1919-20 to 1938-39.Modern FA Cup Rounds started in 1925-26. Football Stats of all the last 32 FA Cup places club by club for the post-war years until Trevor Brooking's winner for West Ham against Arsenal in 1980. Football Stats of all the last 32 FA Cup places club by club from Ricky Villa's 1981 FA Cup Final with Spurs to the 2015-16 competition On July 20, 1871, in the offices of The Sportsman newspaper, C. W. Alcock proposed that "a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with the Association", giving birth to the FA Cup - the first competition in the history of World football. Four first-round matches were the first FA Cup games ever played – on November 11, 1871. The first Cup goal was scored by Clapham Rovers player Jarvis Kenrick in a 3-0 win over Upton Park (Kenrick scoring twice in the process).

The following year, on March 16, 1872, Wanderers became the first winners of the FA Cup , beating Royal Engineers 1-0 at The Oval. Fifteen clubs had entered, only twelve actually played, and there were thirteen games in total. The winning goal was scored by Morton Peto Betts, who played under the pseudonym of 'A.H. Chequer'. In 1873, Wanderers retained the title after receiving a bye to the final where they beat Oxford University to retain the Cup. The rules were changed for the following season, to help inspire teams to try and get to the final, instead of knowing who their opponents would be before they reached it. In 1876, Thomas Hughes was the first to score more than once in the final, in a replay match in which Wanderers defeated Old Etonians 3-0. In the same final, Alexander Bonsor from the losing side became the first to score in two consecutive finals (both of which his team lost). Lord Kinnaird won the Cup for a still record fifth time in 1882, three times with Wanderers and twice with the Old Etonians.

Earlier in 1877, he also scored the first own goal in the final with Wanderers defeating Oxford University 2-1. But in 1883 Blackburn Olympic broke the "old order of things" to defeat Old Etonians in the final to become the first professional club to win the trophy. The win marked a turning point in the culture of the game in England. In 1884 and 1885 Scottish side Queen's Park reached the final, the first time a non-English side had done so. They lost both times. (Scotland had had its own Scottish Cup since 1873). In 1886, Jimmy Brown of Blackburn Rovers became the first to score in three consecutive finals from 1884 to 1886 (winning all three). Blackburn Rovers also became the second club to win three consecutive FA Cups and remain the only club still in existence to win "three in a row" to this day, as Wanderers, who achieved the feat 6 years earlier, were disbanded in 1883.

The following year, Aston Villa legend Archie Hunter became the first player to score in every round of the FA Cup in Villa's victorious 1887 campaign (beginning from the second round, as Villa had a bye in the first). This feat was bettered in 1901 by Sandy Brown of Tottenham Hotspur , who scored in all rounds from the first. Spurs, then members of the Southern League, became the only non-Football League club to win the trophy. In 1888, West Bromwich Albion were the first club to win the FA Cup with a team made up of English born players. Only 3 other teams have since achieved the same feat - 1958 Bolton Wanderers, 1969 Manchester City, 1975 West Ham United.

The modern cup was beginning to be established by the 1888–89 season, when qualifying rounds were introduced, with clubs competing on regional basis until only one was left for the Fourth Qualifying Round, and in the same season, the 'magic of the cup' began when Warwick County became the first non-league side to beat a First Division club on October 6, 1888, winning 2-1 away at Stoke. The first and only game to be played on Christmas Day took place, Linfield Athletic beating Cliftonville 7-0. In 1889, Preston North End became the first club to achieve the double of winning the FA Cup (beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0) and the Football League Championship in the same season. This double was even more extraordinary in that the league was won without a single defeat. Equally impressive was that the cup was won without conceding a single goal. Such was the team's dominance that it was nicknamed "The Invincibles". William Townley scored the first hat trick in the history of the FA Cup final, in the 1890 match between Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday (6-1).

The record for most FA Cup wins by a player used to be five, jointly held by Charles Wollaston (Wanderers), Arthur Kinnaird (Wanderers & Old Etonians) and Jimmy Forrest (Blackburn Rovers). Arsenal & Chelsea's Ashley Cole won his seventh winners medal in 2012. Aston Villa's Bob Chatt scored the winner in the 1895 FA Cup Final after just 30 seconds and in 1897 the record score in an FA Cup tie was set when Preston North End defeated Hyde 26–0. Five companies have sponsored the FA Cup: Littlewoods (1994-1998) Preston North End FC History Preston North End FC History Posted: Mon 23 Jul 2012 Author: Ben Rhodes Image by: Preston North End can be traced back to 1863, but at that time it was linked with cricket and the first game of football was fifteen years away.

In the early 1860's cricket was the only organised game of note in the town and the normal venue for this activity was the Marsh, an irregular stop of land on the Ribble Estuary at Ashton and which today is the site for the GEC works. Cricket can be linked with Wellfield Road School. In that year there was a split amongst the club members when the majority opted for a move to Moor Park where the Corporation had opened a public Cricket ground, The newly formed club using Moor Park was named North End simply as an indication of the clubs base being in the north end of the town. The first President was George Howarth and subscriptions were 2d a week. The club fell on hard times and almost disbanded, but new members were recruited to ease the financial crisis and one of these new comers was William Sudell who became a member on 3rd August 1867 when he was 16-years-old, having lived in the town all his life. He was a good swimmer and cyclist, a keen cricketer and a very good rugby forward.

In spite of the financial problems not being resolved, the members made a memorable and courageous step on 21st January 1875 when they took a lease on a field at Deepdale, a field which was to be the home of the finest football team of the era. Playing cricket and dabbling in other games such as lacrosse and rounders were not financially viable and so in 1877 members turned to rugby. Unfortunately, this venture was a failure since the club could not compete with the Grasshoppers who were already a well-established force. On the 5th October 1878 North End played its first game under association rules against Eagley, the game was played at Deepdale and was lost 1-0. For the record the team that played this game were: - W Sudell, W Turner, J Sefton, T Charnley, T Wadeson, J Wadeson, C Miller, T Parkinson, JF Dodgson, R Green and H S Carmel (Cpt).

The success of other clubs in Lancashire who were playing soccer had not gone unnoticed at Deepdale and in May 1880 a resolution proposing the adoption of the association code was proposed by Mr Harry Carmel and seconded by William Charnley and was carried unanimously. In March of 1881 North End played Blackburn Rovers and were beaten 10-0. This reverse following a defeat in the Lancashire Cup versus Turton did not however diminish enthusiasm and the next big leap forward was in the summer of 1883 when William Sudell, having seen tactics employed by neighbouring clubs went north to Scotland and obtained the services of N J Ross from Heart of Midlothian, Ross became one of the best full backs of his time, other players who came from Scotland were Drummond, Russell and Gordon. Thus was formed the nucleus of the team which was to make North End so famous. In 1884 following a draw against Upton Park at Deepdale a protest was made to the FA about the eligibility of some Preston players, but the basic reason for the protest was that Preston were paying their players.

Sudell did not deny this so following expulsion from Cup competition he commenced his historical move to have professionalism legalised in that same year James Ross (younger brother of NJ) and Sam Thomson came down from Scotland and Robert Howarth, a local boy joined the club as fullback. The success which Sudell brought to Deepdale and the short time taken to achieve this is illustrated by the fact that from 22 August 1885 to 26 April 1886, North End were undefeated and during the season won 59 out of 64 matches, scoring 318 goals and conceding only 60. In 1886 Sudell completed his team building with the signing of a centre forward, John Goodall, and the Invincibles were on their way to making football history. Another season worthy of note was in the season 1887/88 when North End won 42 consecutive matches, but there was bitter disappointment when .as hot favourites they were beaten 2-1 in the Cup Final on 24 March 1888 by West Bromwich Albion.

However, next season 1888/89 not only were they founder members of the league but they won the FA Cup and were the first team to achieve the double, doing this at the first opportunity. In 1889/90 North End were again League Champions and were runners up in the following three seasons. A limited company was formed in 1893 which was the end of the Sudell reign but the genius of a man who could build such a team and which justly earned the name the Invincibles is fully recognised today. North End is the only club from the founder Members of the Football League who have played continuously on the same ground. Deepdale has been the venue for soccer for over a century. The period before the First World War is often referred to as yo-yo when North End were relegated to the Second Division on two occasions and immediately came back. In 1922 they once more reached the FA Cup Final but were beaten 1-0 by Huddersfield Town who scored from a penalty. 1924 saw the retirement of one of the Clubs great stalwarts, Joe McCall who had played at Deepdale for 20 seasons.

From September 1925 for four seasons Alex James was a favourite whose transfer to Arsenal in 1929 hit the football headlines when the fee involved was reported to be £9,000. Following the departure of James, relegation to the Third Division was twice narrowly avoided but what happened later with a Management Committee of four under the Chairmanship of the late JI Taylor was a modern football romance. Holdcroft, Lowe, Harper, Rowley, Tremelling, Shankly, Gallimore and Dougal were signed and promotion was gained in 1934. The two Beatties, Andy and Bobbie (unrelated), together with Mutch, Smith, Milne, Fagan and the O'Donnell brothers were among the many Scots who came to Deepdale. North End reached the Cup Final in 1937 when they lost to Sunderland and in 1938 when they reversed the result of the 1922 Final by beating Huddersfield town 1-0, the winning goal came from the first penalty awarded at Wembley, and was scored by George Mutch with the last kick of extra time.

After the war and until his retirement in 1960 the skill of Tom Finney was the most important aspect of football at Deepdale. His genius and gentlemanly conduct was and still is, and example for all footballers to follow and brought great credit, not just to the maestro but also to his home town of Preston. The honour of being made Freeman of the Borough and the award of the CBE for services to football was just reward for this footballing legend, Sadly North Ends defeat, 3-2 by Albion in the Cup Final of 1954, did not result in a Cup Winners Medal and another disappointment was in 1953 when the First Division Championship was lost to Arsenal on a goal average difference of one. As with so many other League Clubs the decline in the fortunes of North End started with the abolition of the maximum wage and with the concentration of successful clubs within the larger cities where stadiums could be filled by drawing on a relatively small percentage of the population. North End reached Wembley again in 1964 when they lost what is still considered to be a classic final against West ham United, the team included a young Howard Kendall.

North End is also proud to be linked with the footballing feats of goalkeeper Alan Kelly who joined the club in 1958 from Drumcondra and, until his enforced retirement, following a shoulder injury sustained in the game against Bristol City on 15 September 1973, gave sterling service, his record speaks for itself. He was first choice goalkeeper for 13 seasons and holds the Club record of 447 league appearances (keeping 126 clean sheets) and 47 caps for Eire. North End's most recent visit to Wembley came in the 1993/94 season when the team reached the third Division play-offs. Torquay United were the opponents for the first round, with the match being played at Plainmoor, Torquay won 2-0. The second round was played on Wednesday 18 May 1994 when memorable scenes were witnessed at Deepdale. North End went one goal up within the first ten minutes, only to see a two-goal advantage regained before half time, plus, Torquay gained the valuable away goal. The sending off of Torquay defender Darren Moore ten minutes before half time spurred Preston on.

They scored twice in the second half to take the game to extra time, Torquay looked like holding out and winning on the away goals rule until Paul Raynor scored with only four minutes let on the clock and so North End were to feature once more at Wembley. The team that played that night were Steve Woods, Andy Fensome, Ryan Kidd, Lee Cartwright, Stuart Hicks, David Moyes, Gareth Ainsworth, Neil Whalley, Paul Raynor, Tony Ellis, Ian Bryson, subs were Greg Challender and Richard Lucas. Preston played Wycombe Wanderers in the final and unfortunately lost 4-2 having been 2-1 up at half time. In 1996, however, everything went the way of North End and under the management of Gary Peters the club was promoted as champions of Division Three. During the championship season, the Sir Tom Finney Stand was opened, named in recognition of the maestro and representing the start of the redevelopment of Deepdale into a stadium for the 21st Century. The Sir Tom Finney Stand is the home of restaurants and a conference centre.

The stand seats between 7,000 and 8,000 fans and has match day facilities for spectators on concourses within the stand. The next stage of the ground redevelopment to be completed was the Bill Shankly Kop, which was formerly the Spion Kop Stand. The work started in December 1997 and was completed in June 1998. This stand now houses a fitness centre and football museum. After Gary Peters' resignation in January 1998, David Moyes took over as Manager and in his first full season in charge he led the club to its highest League finish since the 1980/81 season, only losing out to Gillingham in the play-offs. The following season, David went one better as he guided Preston to the Second Division title, and a place in the First Division for the first time in 20 years. In season 2000/01, Moyes excelled himself once again as he steered the side to a highly impressive fourth position in Division One. This meant the play-offs once again and, having beaten Birmingham on penalties in the semi final, North End travelled to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff to face Bolton Wanderers.

Although Bolton took a deserved lead in the first half, it was North End who had most of the play in the second period. Despite putting the opposition under substantial pressure, Preston could not get an equaliser and Bolton ensured victory with two late goals, the 3-0 scoreline an untrue reflection of the game. The following season was a year of departures, though the club did welcome the spectacular new Alan Kelly Town End stand, replacing the popular terrace that became so iconic of 'Old Deepdale'. In October, club chairman Bryan Gray ended a seven year tenure at North End and announced his resignation at the club's AGM. Deputy chairman Derek Shaw took over in the interim. Nine days in March saw the end of an era at North End as Jon Macken and David Moyes both departed the club. Macken left for Manchester City in a club record £5million deal while David Moyes moved to Premiership club Everton. Kelham O'Hanlon took over temporary charge of management matters and despite difficult circumstances guided the club to a creditable eighth position a whisker away from the play-offs. The close season saw a wind of change sweep through the Deepdale corridors.

The first big change saw former Scotland manager Craig Brown unveiled as new first team manager. Kelham O'Hanlon was rewarded for his good work by retaining his assistant managers role while former Motherwell boss Billy Davies was brought in as first team coach. The influx of new faces continued as Jamaican international Ricardo Fuller became the first signing of the new era. In late June, Baxi Partnership finally ended their association with PNE when their remaining shares were bought out by 'Friends of Preston North End' - a new company formed by club chairman Derek Shaw and Steve Jackson, the Managing Director of New Reg Ltd, the Club's official shirt sponsor. The 2002/03 season saw Tyrone Mears, Marlon Broomes, Eddie Lewis, Brian O'Neil, Simon Lynch, Jonathan Gould and George Koumantarakis complete the North End revolution, but despite so many players coming in the final placing was slightly disappointing as they finished the season in 12th place. The disappointment signalled the end for several experienced players, with Iain Anderson, Colin Murdock, Mark Rankine and Tepi Moilanen all leaving before the season kicked off.

But despite the changes the fortunes remained the same, finishing in 15th place. Callum Davidson, Youl Mawene and Gavin Ward all arrived in the summer of 2004 and gave the fans real hope for the new campaign, but things didn't quite go according to plan and with less than a month of the season gone, Craig Brown was relieved of his duties. In August 2004, Billy Davies was put in temporary charge and four wins in six games earned him the job on a permanent basis, Davies and his new Assistant David Kelly were unveiled on September 27th. The rest as they say is history and Davies led North End to fifth place in the table and a place in the Play Off Final at Cardiff, but in the end it proved to be a step too far as Bobby Zamora netted the only goal of the game. Davies and Kelly were rewarded for their success with new and improved contracts in June 2005 and repaid the board's faith by leading North End to the Play-Offs for the second year in succession. However, this time they were knocked out in the Semi Final stage by Leeds United.

In June 2006, Billy Davies left his post at Deepdale to become manager of Derby County and he was replaced by Paul Simpson, who signed a three year contract. In November 2006 Preston North End topped the Championship following the 1-1 draw at home to Coventry. It was the first time the Club had topped the second tier of English football since 1951. David Nugent became the first Preston player since Sir Tom Finney to represent England, when he came on as a substitute in the friendly against Andorra and scored in injury time to help England to a 3-0 win in March 2007. In June, Nugent was sold to Portsmouth for an initial fee of £6m, bringing his short but exciting Deepdale days to an end. In the immediate aftermath of Nugent's departure, Preston struggled for form, and this culminated in the departure of manager Paul Simpson after a 3-0 defeat at Hull City in November 2007. He was replaced by former Everton assistant manager Alan Irvine, who has steadily overseen an upturn in fortunes.

Alan Irvine steered the Club to Championship safety, completing the process when Richard Chaplow grabbed a late equaliser at Plymouth to guarantee North End's Championship status. During the summer of 2008 the finishing touches to the new Invincibles Pavilion were put in place and the new stand was officially opened on Saturday August 16th 2008 with PNE's first home Championship clash of the season against Crystal Palace. Deepdale's new capacity was moved up to 23,408 with more than 1,000 hospitality places and that extra seating proved useful when the Lilywhites drew Liverpool in the FA Cup Third Round. That game broke all records with 23,046 viewing the match inside the ground, the biggest crowd at Deepdale since the early 1970s. The game also saw record gate receipts and a TV viewing audience of 7.3m. North End made the Play-Offs again at the end of that season but succumbed to Sheff Utd over two legs in the semi-final to miss out on the chance of Premier League football.

In December 2009 Alan Irvine left the Club and was succeeded by the son of Sir Alex Ferguson, Darren. Ferguson only lasted 12 months however before being replaced by Phil Brown, but he was unable to keep the Lilywhites in the Championship and they were relegated to League One. In a scenario very similar to that of Ferguson’s reign, Brown was replaced at Deepdale after 12 months – the same 12 that his predecessor had overseen and Graham Westley arrived with a view to changing the Club’s fortunes around. After a huge squad overhaul in the summer of 2012, Westley was sacked in February 2013 after a disappointing tenure at Deepdale and he was replaced by former Huddersfield Town manager Simon Grayson. Grayson had an immediate impact on the Club and under his guidance, results improved with the Lilywhites securing a respectable mid-table finish by the end of the season. A rejuvenated North End in the 2013/14 season saw the club finish in the Play-Off places at the end of the last campaign, but Simon Grayson's side ultimately fell short of promotion losing to Rotherham in the Play-Off semi-finals.

It was during this season, that saw Preston North End lose its famous son with the death of Sir Tom Finney on the 14th February 2014. All Lilywhites concerned will be in hope that PNE can go one step better than last year going into the 2014/15 season as a fitting tribute to the 'Preston Plumber'. Roll Of Honour

Question: Who were the first ever winners of the English Football League in 1889?
Answer: Preston North End