Centenary Celebrations: The Football League 1987-88
The Football League began its Centenary celebrations in the 1987-88 season. After a hundred eventful years, there were ninety-two clubs in four national divisions. The 1980s had been a turbulent decade of falling attendances, financial crises and high-profile tragedies, but the League was determined to celebrate a century in style. Secretary Graham Kelly saw the…
Play-Off Facts & Figures 1987-2023 – Appendix
The 2023 play-offs were the 37th time the end-of-season fixtures have been played since the system was (re)introduced in 1987. In that time, a number of clubs, managers and players have set notable records. This post gathers a few of the Football League play-off facts and figures over the past five decades. In 2023, Salford…
The Play-Offs (Part Two): 1987-1992
The play-offs were re-introduced to the Football League almost a century after the ‘test matches’ of the 1890s. The measure was agreed at a League meeting in December 1985 as part of a package of compromise measures to prevent a ‘Super League’ breakaway of the First Division clubs. Initially the play-offs were proposed to run…
Foreign Players in the Football League: Introduction
The Football League was made in England and founded by a Scot, William McGregor. The world’s first professional league flourished from 1888 with the contribution of Scottish, Welsh and Irish talent. While Britain exported the game worldwide, for much of its history foreign players in the Football League were a rarity. That changed permanently in…
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