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. 

George Ramsay and Aston Villa

I can see now the little dapper, well-built laddie...getting hold of the ball on the extreme wing, well within his own territory, and going off like streaked lightning, wiggling, waggling past opponents one after another and finally landing the ball between the sticks.
William McGregor


George Ramsay had a 52 year association with Aston Villa.

He entered the world of Villa when that world was still very young. Ramsay moved to Birmingham from Glasgow in 1874, and it was during that that very year  that the football club had been formed. Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel cricket team had decided to arrange some winter activity and 4 members (Jack Hughes, Frederick Matthews, Walter Price and William Scattergood) established the football club, inspired by seeing others play at Heathfield Road. Ramsay came across the Chapel boys playing in  Aston Park. He joined in and impressed- so much so that he was invited to join the club and soon took over the captaincy. 
Ramsay's influence on Aston Villa's formative years was so great that his tombstone records him as being 'a founder of Aston Villa'. 
 Ramsay played for Villa  for 8 years (1874–1882) before a serious injury ended his career.He introduced the Scottish passing style of play to the club and was instrumental in securing the services of  former Third Lanark forward Archie Hunter. The club's first enclosed ground at Perry Bar was acquired in 1876 under his guidance and he captained Villa to their first ever trophy win- the 1879–80 Birmingham Senior Cup, first entering the FA Cup in the same season. 

Ramsay took on the role of secretary/ manger in 1884 and remarkably remained in charge until 1926. 
Under Ramsay Aston Villa won the FA Cup 6 times (1887, 1895, 1897, 1905, 1913, 1920) and the Football League championship 6 times (1893–94, 1895–96, 1896–97, 1898–99, 1899–1900, 1909–10), in 1897 they became the second team to 'do the double'.

A talented man in every position...

Having being elected to the Football League for the 1890–91 season, Sunderland topped the First Division on three occasions in four seasons (1891-92, 1892-93 and 1894-95, separated by a runner-up spot in 1893-94).  In  1892–93 they became the first side to score 100 goals in a League season.
Their League record during these 4 seasons was:

P	W	D	L	F	A	PTS
116	81	13	22	345	153	175

This included just one home defeat!
On an individual level, Johnny Campbell scored a total of 83 goals in just 81 games in the three season in which the team won the League.
Tom Watson's  Sunderland team of this period of success are generally referred to as The Team of All the Talents. In  fact the name was coined  quite specifically in response to one match*.

On September 17th  1892 Tom Watson and Sunderland Association Football Club traveled to Perry Barr to play Aston Villa .  There were 12000 people present.  Hughie Wilson scored one goal, Jimmy Hannah scored 2 goals, Johnny Campbell scored 2 goals and John Harvie scored one goal. Sunderland beat Aston Villa  6-1. The Villa president, William McGregor (the founder of the Football League), was impressed with Sunderland's display and commented that they had a talented man in every position. The Sunderland team had ten Scottish players. Tom Porteous was an Englishman from Newcastle, but he had played in Scotland for Kilmarnock and Heart of Midlothian. 

GK	Ned Doig
RB	Tom Porteous
LB	Robert Smellie
RH	Hughie Wilson
CH	John Auld
LH	Will Gibson
OR	James Gillespie
IR	John Harvie
CF	Johnny Campbell
IL	Davy Hannah
OR	Jimmy Hannah

*Some sources state that this occurred after Sunderland's 7-2 home win over Villa in a friendly on 05.04.90, but this is not the case. 

William Shillcock

The McGregor Boot and the McGregor Ball, manufactured and indeed 'invented' by Birmingham's Mr William Shillcock, were named after the founder of the Football League, William McGregor.  McGregor himself had been involved in the supply of sporting goods- his draper's shop stocked football jerseys.
 Shillcock was a personal friend of McGregor and had connections with Aston Villa. When Villa won the FA Cup in 1895 they loaned it to Mr Shillcock who put it on display in his shop window.  On the night of 10th-11th September the trophy was stolen from the shop, and never recovered.

This combination might be known as the Association Football Union...

William McGregor, a Scottish draper who had settled in Birmingham,  wrote the following letter on 2nd March 1888 to the committees of  Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion, and Aston Villa (his own club):

Every year it is becoming more and more difficult for football clubs of any standing to meet their friendly engagements and even arrange friendly matches. The consequence is that at the last moment, through cup-tie interference, clubs are compelled to take on teams who will not attract the public.
I beg to tender the following suggestion as a means of getting over the difficulty: that ten or twelve of the most prominent clubs in England combine to arrange home-and-away fixtures each season, the said fixtures to be arranged at a friendly conference about the same time as the International Conference.
This combination might be known as the Association Football Union, and could be managed by representative from each club. Of course, this is in no way to interfere with the National Association; even the suggested matches might be played under cup-tie rules. However, this is a detail.
My object in writing to you at present is merely to draw your attention to the subject, and to suggest a friendly conference to discuss the matter more fully. I would take it as a favour if you would kindly think the matter over, and make whatever suggestions you deem necessary. I am only writing to the following – Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion, and Aston Villa, and would like to hear what other clubs you would suggest.
I am, yours very truly, William McGregor (Aston Villa F.C.)
P.S. How would Friday, 23 March 1888, suit for the friendly conference at Anderton's Hotel, London?