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1893–94 in English football

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23rd season of competitive football in England

Football in England
Season1893–94
Men's football
First DivisionAston Villa
Second DivisionLiverpool
Northern LeagueMiddlesbrough
Midland LeagueBurton Wanderers
Bristol & District LeagueWarmley
FA CupNotts County
FA Amateur CupOld Carthusians
← 1892–93 England 1894–95 →

The 1893–94 season was the 23rd season of competitive football in England.

Events

Aston Villa won their first top-flight league title, beating Sunderland by 6 points. Villa's captain John Devey was the league's top-goal scorer with 20 goals.

The 1893–94 season saw four of the most famous teams in English footballing history join the Second Division: Liverpool, Newcastle United, Manchester City, and the first team based in London, Woolwich Arsenal (later Arsenal). Other teams to join the expanded Second Division of 15 teams were Middlesbrough Ironopolis and Rotherham Town. Middlesbrough Ironopolis disbanded at the end of the season, having only completed one season in the Football League.

Liverpool had the most successful season of all the new league clubs, winning the Second Division title and sealing promotion to the First Division by beating Newton Heath in the relegation/promotion test match.

National team

Ireland

England took a team of professionals to Belfast for the 1894 British Home Championship against Ireland on 3 March 1894.

Joe Reader (West Bromwich Albion) made his solitary England appearance in goal, whilst Henry Chippendale (Blackburn Rovers) earned his single cap at outside right, with his club team-mate Jimmy Whitehead earning his second, and last, cap alongside him. The other débutante was Jimmy Crabtree of Burnley at full-back, who went on to play a total of 14 games for England over the next 8 years. The remainder of the team were experienced internationals, including three members of Aston Villa's championship winning team (Jack Reynolds, John Devey and Dennis Hodgetts) and were expected to secure a comfortable victory.

Despite losing Robert Holmes with an injury after 20 minutes, England took a 2–0 lead by the 55th minute with goals from John Devey and Fred Spiksley. Ireland rallied, however, and with goals in the 70th and 87th minutes, pegged England back to a 2–2 draw.

Wales

For the match against Wales at Wrexham on 12 March 1894 the selectors decided to field a team consisting entirely of players with Corinthian connections, including three players making their international début. Lewis Vaughan Lodge (Cambridge University) made the first of five appearances at right back; Lodge was an accomplished county cricketer with Hampshire and Durham. Arthur Topham (Casuals), a schoolteacher who had gained a University of Oxford blue, made his solitary England appearance at left half, whilst his brother, Robert made his second, and final, appearance at outside right. The third débutante was John Veitch of Old Westminsters, who played at centre forward.

Wales opened the scoring after 10 minutes, but by half-time England had taken the lead with a goal from John Veitch and an own goal from Everton's Charlie Parry. Veitch scored again early in the second half and completed his hat-trick in the 80th minute, thus joining a select band to score a hat-trick on his début. The fifth goal came from Robert Cunliffe Gosling as England ran out comfortable 5–1 victors.

Scotland

The final match of the 1894 British Home Championship was against Scotland on 7 April 1894. England needed to secure a victory in order to retain the Championship for the fifth consecutive year. The match was played at Celtic Park, Glasgow and attracted a world record attendance for a full International of 45,107. The selectors chose an experienced eleven, with the only newcomer being Ernest Needham, the hard-tackling Sheffield United half back; "Nudger" Needham went on to make 16 England appearances over the next 8 years.

Scotland opened the scoring after 7 minutes, with a quick reply coming from John Goodall. England managed to keep the Scottish forwards at bay until the 75-minute, when Sandy McMahon was able to get through the England defence. (In 1901, McMahon was one of two players to put four goals past Ireland in an 11–0 victory for the Scots.) England equalized through Jack Reynolds with five minutes remaining and managed to hold on for a 2–2 draw.

The result meant that Scotland won the British Home Championship for the fifth time outright – plus two shared with England.

Date Venue Opponents Score* Comp England scorers
3 March 1894 Solitude, Belfast (A)  Ireland 2–2 BHC John Devey (Aston Villa) (43 mins) & Fred Spiksley (Sheffield Wednesday) (55 mins)
12 March 1894 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)  Wales 5–1 BHC John Veitch (Old Westminsters) (30, 55 & 80 mins), Charlie Parry (Own goal) (31 mins) and Robert Cunliffe Gosling (Old Etonians) (85 mins)
7 April 1894 Celtic Park, Glasgow (A)  Scotland 2–2 BHC John Goodall (Derby County) (12 mins) and Jack Reynolds (Aston Villa) (85 mins)

* England score given first

Key

Honours

Competition Winner
First Division Aston Villa (1)
Second Division Liverpool
FA Cup Notts County (1)
Home Championship  Scotland

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

League table

First Division

Main article: 1893–94 Football League § First Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Relegation
1 Aston Villa (C) 30 19 6 5 84 42 2.000 44
2 Sunderland 30 17 4 9 72 44 1.636 38
3 Derby County 30 16 4 10 73 62 1.177 36
4 Blackburn Rovers 30 16 2 12 69 53 1.302 34
5 Burnley 30 15 4 11 61 51 1.196 34
6 Everton 30 15 3 12 90 57 1.579 33
7 Nottingham Forest 30 14 4 12 57 48 1.188 32
8 West Bromwich Albion 30 14 4 12 66 59 1.119 32
9 Wolverhampton Wanderers 30 14 3 13 52 63 0.825 31
10 Sheffield United 30 13 5 12 47 61 0.770 31
11 Stoke 30 13 3 14 65 79 0.823 29
12 The Wednesday 30 9 8 13 48 57 0.842 26
13 Bolton Wanderers 30 10 4 16 38 52 0.731 24
14 Preston North End (O) 30 10 3 17 44 56 0.786 23 Qualification for test matches
15 Darwen (R) 30 7 5 18 37 83 0.446 19
16 Newton Heath (R) 30 6 2 22 36 72 0.500 14
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Second Division

Main article: 1893–94 Football League § Second Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Liverpool (C, O, P) 28 22 6 0 77 18 4.278 50 Qualification for test matches
2 Small Heath (O, P) 28 21 0 7 103 44 2.341 42
3 Notts County 28 18 3 7 70 31 2.258 39
4 Newcastle United 28 15 6 7 66 39 1.692 36
5 Grimsby Town 28 15 2 11 71 58 1.224 32
6 Burton Swifts 28 14 3 11 79 61 1.295 31
7 Burslem Port Vale 28 13 4 11 66 64 1.031 30
8 Lincoln City 28 11 6 11 59 58 1.017 28
9 Woolwich Arsenal 28 12 4 12 52 55 0.945 28
10 Walsall Town Swifts 28 10 3 15 51 61 0.836 23
11 Middlesbrough Ironopolis 28 8 4 16 37 72 0.514 20 Dissolved
12 Crewe Alexandra 28 6 7 15 42 73 0.575 19 Re-elected
13 Ardwick 28 8 2 18 47 71 0.662 18
14 Rotherham Town 28 6 3 19 44 91 0.484 15
15 Northwich Victoria 28 3 3 22 30 98 0.306 9 Resigned from league
Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted
Notes:
  1. Middlesbrough Ironopolis was liquidated at the end of the season.

Test Match results

Home Team Score Away Team Notes
Small Heath 3–1 Darwen Small Heath promoted, Darwen relegated.
Liverpool 2–0 Newton Heath Liverpool promoted, Newton Heath relegated.
Preston North End 4–0 Notts County Both teams remain in their respective divisions

Footnotes

  1. A timeline for Liverpool Football Club

References

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Seasons in English football
1870s
1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79
1880s
1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89
1890s
1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99
1900s
1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09
1910s
1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19
1920s
1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29
1930s
1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39
1940s
1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49
1950s
1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59
1960s
1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69
1970s
1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79
1980s
1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89
1990s
1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99
2000s
1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09
2010s
2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
2020s
2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Italics denote wartime and nationally suspended seasons.
1893–94 in English football
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