The Great Victory

I have seen all the best sides in Football but I have never seen a side that compared to Preston North End at their best. We beat them but I do not pretend for a moment that we deserved to beat them.
Billy Bassett

The FA Cup Final, 1888. Preston North End were strong favourites to win the match. From September 1887 to March 17th 1888 they had won every game. On March 17th they had drawn 1-1 with Crewe Alexandra.

 In the eyes of  the FA president and match referee Major Marindin Preston North End were a Bad Thing- he disapproved of their supposed reliance on Scottish imports. Now the Preston players incensed him further by asking to have a team photograph with the cup before the match. 

Anecdotally West Bromwich Albion players refused to bet with their Preston North End counterparts on the outcome of the match. The team featured the majority of the players that would go on to feature in the Invincibles squad the following season. Add to that impressive pool of talent the name of  Nick Ross, probably the best defender of his era.

West Bromwich Albion		Preston North End
Bob Roberts	GK		R.H Mills-Roberts
Albert Aldridge	RB		Bob Howarth
Harry Green	LD		Nick Ross*
Ezra Horton	RH		Bob Holmes
Charlie Perry	CH		David Russell*
George Timmins	LH		Johnny Graham*
George Woodhall	OR		Jack Gordon*
Billy Bassett	IR		Jimmy Ross*
Jem Bayliss	CF		John Goodall
Joe Wilson	IL		Fred Dewhurst
Tom Pearson	OL		George Drummond*

* Scottish players. Mills-Roberts was Welsh. Mills-Roberts and Dewhurst were amateurs. The majority of the  West Bromwich players  were born in that town, with others from nearby Walsall, Tipton and Handsworth. 

Contemporary reports condemn the Preston forwards for their profligacy. Each of the 5 North End forwards was guilty of at least one serious error in front of goal, and Nick Ross was reported as having said at half time 'our forwards will cost us this match',

Preston North End

Bayliss put Albion ahead in the 20th minute, shooting home from a Bassett cross. Dewhurst equalised in a scramble 7 minutes into the second half, and after Jimmy Ross had hit the post West Brom got a winner with just over 10 minutes left to play. 

Modern references credit the winning goal to Woodhall, but most contemporary

newspaper reports I have read give the winning goal to Bayliss, heading in after Woodhall had shot against the post. Another account has a shot by Woodhall being deflected in off Bassett's knee. The Birmingham Daily Post infers that Woodhall was responsible for the goal.  Such was life before the action replay.

Bayliss

Woodhall

1891 Census- England

Here are the 1891 Census details on the England XI who lined up against Scotland at Ewood Park on 6th April 1891. Only 8 of the players can be positively identified in the Census records.  Interestingly, of those 8, 5 were living with their parents. Whereas only Billy Moon was actually an amateur (and he captained the team on this occasion), only 3 of the other 7 put their occupation down as professional footballer.

		Age	M?	Occupation	Circumstances
GK	(William Robert) Billy Moon (c) (Old Westminsters)	22	S	Solicitor	Moon was living with his widowed mother at  45 Portsdown Road, Paddington. His mother was described as 'living on her means'. Also at home were a 21 yr old brother who was a medical student, 3 teenage sisters, a housemaid and a cook.
RB	Bob Howarth  (Preston North End)	25	M	Solicitor's clerk	Howarth lived at The Cross Keys, Market Place Preston with his wife Elizabeth and their 2 sons aged 4 and 2.
LB	Bob Holmes (Preston North End)	23	S	Professional footballer	Lodging at The Grapes Inn, 42 Church Street Preston.
RH	Albert Smith (Nottingham Forest)	22	S	Clerk	Lived at   45 Hutchinson Street Nottingham with his shoemaker father, his mother (described as a parish visitor) and his 19 yr old sister who was a warehouse girl.
CH	Johnny Holt (Everton)	25	No conclusive evidence found.
LH	Alf Shelton    (Notts County)	23	S	Professional football player	He lived with his widower father and an elderly lodger at Castle Rd in Nottingham.
OR	Billy Bassett (West Bromwich Albion)	22	S	Writing clerk	William Isiah Basset appears in all censuses as William J or William Jas. Bassett. He was living with his parents at 28 Nichols Street West Bromwich. Contrary to what Wikipedia says he had an older brother. Bassett had 4 siblings living at home.
IR	John Goodall  (Derby County)	27	M	Tobacconist	Living with his wife and 3 infants. There was also a servant in the house, 34 Dexter Street in Litchurch, Derby.
CF	Fred Geary  (Everton)	23	absent from the 1891 census
IL	Edgar Chadwick    (Everton)	21	S	Professional footballer	The eldest of 7 children living at home with their baker/grocer parents in Blackburn.
OL	Alf Milward (Everton)	20	absent from the 1891 census

World Team of the Decade-1880s

Just a bit of fun to stimulate some debate. I'm going to select a team for every decade from the 1880s to the 1930s. The inspiration? In November 1905 The Daily Mail chose a World XI to challenge another planet at football. I came across this when reading about Leigh Richmond Roose. 
As yet I have not been able to track down that 1905 World XI.
A difficult selection, as the 1880s was probably the decade in which the most profound changes in football took place. In 1880 the game at the highest level would have been almost exclusively the preserve of the old boys and amateurs. 
Three key developments shaped the decade:
 The emergence of the professional teams of Lancashire and the midlands.
The influx of Scottish professionals and the influence they had on the way the game was played.
The legalization of professionalism. 
Anyway, my selection for the 1880s- lining up in the 2-3-5 formation:

	Player	Team	Country
GK	Herby Arthur	Blackburn Rovers	England
In the 1880s the FA Cup was the measure of success in the domestic game and Arthur won it 3 years in a row with Rovers. Another considered was James Trainer of Preston North End.
RB	Nick Ross	Preston North End/Everton	Scotland
A pioneer professional, considered the best defender in the country, reputedly paid £10 a month in 1888.
LB	Fergus Suter	Blackburn Rovers	Scotland
One of the earliest professional signings in the game when he joined Darwen. Caused a stir by moving to neighbours Blackburn Rovers. Others considered were Walter Arnott ( Queen’s Park/ Scotland ) and P.M Walters (Old Carthusians/ England).
RH	Arthur Fitzgerald Kinnaird	Old Etonians	Scotland
Lord Kinnaird’s physical approach to the game may have been a bit old school even at the end of his own playing days, but his achievements cannot be overlooked. He could play in any position.
CH	Norman Bailey	Clapham Rovers	England
The first man to have a protracted run as England captain and the first to reach the magical figure of ten caps. A solid performer.
LH	Jimmy Forrest	Blackburn Rovers	England
The first openly professional player to represent England. Won the FA Cup 5 times.
OR	Billy Bassett	West Bromwich Albion	England
1.65 m in an era of physicality, Bassett was a winger who also scored goals.
IR	Fred Dewhurst	Preston North End	England
The team of the decade would have to have some representative from Corinthian FC, but Fred Dewhurst wasn’t your typical Corinthian- he was the only amateur in the Preston Invincibles line up. A prolific scorer at international level.
CF	John Goodall	Preston North End	England
I chose Goodall as one of the earliest in a long line of professional centre forwards who have been England superstars. I gave consideration also to Tinsley Lindley (Cambridge University, Nottingham Forest/ England) and Archie Hunter (Aston Villa/ Scotland).
IL	Jimmy Ross	Preston North End	Scotland
The Little Demon scored a goal a game in the first two seasons of the Football League. In his time at Preston he scored 250 goals in 220 appearances.
OL	James Brown	Blackburn Rovers	England
Brown was another leading figure in the FA Cup dominance of Blackburn Rovers. Charlie Bambridge (Swifts/England) was a contender.

I expect some criticism for the lack of Scotsmen in the team, and would welcome readers to submit their alternative selections.