West Midlands

We cannot overlook the importance of what is now known as The West Midlands conurbation in the development of association football in Britain.
The Birmingham County Football Association was formed in December 1875. The original members were:  Calthorpe, Aston Unity, Wednesbury Town, Wednesbury Old Athletic, Stafford Road, Birmingham FC*, Saltley College, Aston Villa, Tipton, St George’s, and  West Bromwich (Dartmouth).

Aston Villa, in the person of William McGregor, were the leaders of the movement to form the Football League.
Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion were also founder members. Interestingly both clubs were also almost exclusively 'English' in the era when Scotch Professors were to the fore.

West Bromwich Albion 1888. Goalkeeper Roberts in England jersey.

Aston Villa in 1888 with the Birmingham Senior Cup

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1888- red and white stripes.

Here is a head-to head table from the 13 seasons that all 3 teams were in the top flight.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	p
Aston Villa	52	26	12	14	104	73	64
Wolverhampton Wanderers	52	19	15	18	85	87	53
West Bromwich Albion	52	15	9	28	78	105	39

Aston Villa were champions in the seasons 1893–94, 1895–96, 1896–97, 1898–99, and 1899–1900.

A look at the FA Cup Finals from the 1880s and 1890s is also revealing:

Season	Winners	Runners Up
1885–86		West Bromwich Albion
1886–87	Aston Villa	West Bromwich Albion
1887–88	West Bromwich Albion
1888–89		Wolverhampton Wanderers
1889–90
1890–91
1891–92	West Bromwich Albion	Aston Villa
1892–93	Wolverhampton Wanderers
1893–94
1894–95	Aston Villa	West Bromwich Albion
1895–96		Wolverhampton Wanderers
1896–97	Aston Villa

West Bromwich Albion were the first of the 3 to experience relegation at the end of the  1900-01 season. 

Wolverhampton Wanderers were in the top flight until 1905/06, and Aston Villa remained until 1935-36.


* Birmingham Football and Cricket Club existed from 1869-1884 and have no connection with the present Birmingham City or their predecessors, Small Heath.