Invincibles - John Goodall & Jimmy Ross

In the first ever season of the Football League John Goodall was the leading scorer, with 20 goals in 21 games for Preston North End.
He scored 2 hat tricks

Jimmy Ross was Preston's next highest scorer, with 19 goals in 21 games.

Our Leading Football Players,1888

The term Football was used in the Victorian press to refer to both Association and Rugby, sometimes creating the impression that the differences in the codes were negligible and that the games retained a common flavour.  In fact the South Wales and Yorkshire  press, though reporting almost exclusively on the handling code, hardly ever used the word Rugby in their columns. So , when the Boy's Own Annual featured a picture spread of Leading Football Players both codes were represented. I've italicized the Rugby players.  

 1  P.M Walters  (Old Carthusians, Oxford University & England)

 2  D Drummond - the only Drummond I could identify as playing top class Association or Rugby in 1888 was George "Geordie" Drummond of Preston North End.
 3  Sam Thompson (Preston North End & Scotland)

 4  J.R Dewhurst (St.Thomas's Hospital & England)
 5  Rawson Robertshaw (Bradford & England) 
 6  G.L Jeffery (Blackheath & England) 

 7  W.N 'Nuts' Cobbold  (Old Carthusians,  Cambridge University & England)

 8  T.W Blenkiron (Old Carthusians, Cambridge University) 

 9  H Springmann (Liverpool & England) 
10  E Wilkinson Bradford 
11  A. E Stoddart (Blackheath, England & The British Isles)

12    A.M Walters  (Old Carthusians, Cambridge University & England)

13  L Owen- I have been unable to identify this player. I can find no L Owen  playing for any of the major  Rugby teams listed in 1888 or thereabouts.  Association players of the era included G. Owen of Bolton Wanderers. and the brothers Billy and George Owen of Chirk and Wales. 

14  Fred Dewhurst  (Preston North End & England)

15  John Forbes  (Vale Of Leven, Blackburn Rovers & Scotland)

16  George Haworth (Accrington & England)

17  Patrick Hamilton Don-Wauchope (Fettes Lorettonian & Scotland) 

18  John Goodall (Preston North End & England)

19  W.F Holms (Edinburgh Wanderers & Scotland) 
20  H.B Tristram (Richmond & England)

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

Glossop (North End)

Glossop North End currently play in the North West Counties League Premier Division. founded in 1886, they played in the Combination and Midlands League before joining the Football League in 1898–99. 
They were promoted to Division One after just one season, but lasted just one season in the top flight.
On being promoted they dropped the North End from their name. Glossop is the smallest town ever to boast a league club. A remarkable statistic is that the population of the town in the 1910s was about 21,000- and in 1914 10,700 turned up at North Road to see an FA cup tie against Preston North End. 
The club were financed by local cotton magnate and Member of Parliament, Samuel Hill-Wood.



Among the big names to turn out for the club were John Goodall (34 games 1900-03) , Fred Spiksley (5 games 1904-05), Archie Goodall (30 games 1904-05) and Bob Jack (64 games, 1902-03).

season	League	FA Cup
1898-99	Div.2 2nd	R1	Promoted as runners up
1899-1900	Div.1 18th	Q3	Finished bottom, 9 points adrift, with only 4 wins
1900-01	Div.2 5th	IR
1901-02	Div.2 8th	R1
1902-03	Div.2 11th	R1
1903-04	Div.2 17th
1904-05	Div.2 12th	Q4
1905-06	Div.2 16th	Q4
1906-07	Div.2 15th	R1
1907-08	Div.2 17th	R4
1908-09	Div.2 8th	R4
1909-10	Div.2 6th	R1
1910-11	Div.2  14th	R1
1911-12	Div.2 18th	R1
1912-13	Div.2 18th	R1
1913-14	Div.2  17th	R2
1914-15	Div.2  20th	R1	A goal difference of -56 and just 6 wins saw Glossop finish bottom and fail to be re elected.

Here are the club colours...

Hibernians, Champions of the World.

Hibernians (pre 1892 there was a pluralizing s at the end) were victims of their own success.
 Formed in 1875 as a club for Edinburgh's Irish community by Catholic priest Canon Edward Hannan, Hibernians were the model for a similar venture in Glasgow. When brother Walfrid  formed Celtic in 1888 they initially loaned a number of Hibernians players, many of whom later moved permanently to the Glasgow club. 
Initially the Scottish Football Association refused Hibernians membership because they were Irish, not Scottish. 
After this bit of foolishness had been rectified Hibernians won the Scottish Cup in 1887.
The week before the clash with Preston North End, Hibernians defeated Stoke 2-1. The origin of the World Championship billing is unclear. Preston North End might well have been one of the foremost clubs in England, but they were not, as is often stated, the FA Cup holders when this match took place.  
The Glasgow Herald report of the match makes no reference whatsoever to a world championship billing, stating that the famous professional combination the Preston North End were, as in the previous year, opening their season with a tour of Scotland (see below). The Herald points out that Preston were weakened by absences, but had drafted in Trainer (Bolton Wanderers) Weir (Halliwell) and the newcomers Ferguson and the Goodall brothers.

McGhee put the home side in front in the tenth minute. In the second half McLaren doubled the lead with a swift low shot.After hitting the bar with a sitter, Archie Goodall pulled one back with a header. Hibs had a third goal disallowed for offside.

Hibernians: Tobin,  Lundie*, McLaughlin, Gallagher, McGinn, McLaren*, Clarke, Dunbar*, McGhee*, Groves*, Smith. 
* Scottish Internationals

A Hibernians line up featuring several of the players who faced Preston. A James McGhee,B Peter McGinn,C Phil Clarke,D John Tobin,E James McLaren,F Willie Groves,G James Lundie,

H George Smith. 

 Preston North End 

All four home nations were represented:

Trainer (Wales), Nick Ross (Scotland), Drummond (Scotland), Weir (England),  Ferguson (Scotland) Robertson (Scotland), Archie Goodall ( Ireland ), Dewhurst (England), John Goodall (England), Gordon (Scotland), Jimmy Ross (Scotland).

Preston North End tour 1887
13.8.87 Hibernians 2-1 Preston North End
18.8.87 Dundee Strathmore 2-16 Preston North End 
19.8.87 Arbroath 0-2 Preston North End 
20.8.87 Glasgow Rangers 1-8 Preston North End

The  following week Preston entertained Scottish visitors at Deepdale:
27.8.87 Preston North End 6-1 Third Lanark RV

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.