29 August 1987 - The Football League's Mystery Milestone

On 29 August 1987, somebody scored the English Football League's 400,000th goal. But nobody knows who it was.



Established in 1888, the Football League governed the top four tiers of English football until 1992, when the uppermost division broke away to form the Premier League. It is believed that the league's first goal was scored by Aston Villa full back Gershom Cox, who put the ball into his own net in the 30th minute of a match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 8 September 1888. The other contender for the honor, though, is Fred Dewhurst, who netted from Preston North End in the third minute of their match against Burnley on the same day. Although Preston's match started after Villa's, lack of precision in the exact start times makes it impossible to say with certainty which goal came first.



Similarly, lack of details in match timing makes it impossible to say who scored the 400,000th goal. The records only make clear that it came on 29 August 1987. The day's 43 matches provided a total of 110 goals, with only four scoreless draws among them.



The day's highest score came from Division Three's Gillingham, who beat Southend United 8-1, while the highest tally in the top flight was Arsenal's 6-0 victory over Portsmouth. Darlington came close to that in Division Four, beating Hartlepool United 2-5. Sheffield United delivered the top score of the Second Division with a relatively modest 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers.



It took almost nine years for the league to reach 500,000 goals, with Huddersfield's Gary Taylor-Fletcher collecting the honor with a strike against Rotherham United.

5 October 1929 - The Mystery Milestone

On 5 October 1929, somebody scored the English Football League's 100,000th goal. But nobody is quite sure who it was.

The milestone goal was the 65th one scored that day, just over 41 years after Aston Villa's Gershom Cox scored the League's first goal on 8 September 1888. Unfortunately, it is impossible to identify the responsible individual because no records exist to indicate the timing of the scores.

In all, 44 matches were played that day in the four League divisions, delivering a grand total of 150 goals. Division Three (South) delivered the most with 50, including the day's highest tally - a 6-3 victory by Swindon Town over visiting Merthyr Town.

In Division One that day, the high-water mark was 6, set by Sheffield Wednesday's 2-4 win at Burnley. Division Two matched that number with Blackpool's 2-4 win at Barnsley and Notts County's 3-3 home draw with Stoke City. Division Three (North) followed with 5, set by Darlington's 3-2 home win over Halifax Town and Crewe Alexandra's away win over Stockport County.

Of the 44 matches played that day, only three finished as scoreless draws.

2 December 1907 - Manchester Unites

On 2 December 1907, a group of professional footballers including Manchester United's Charlie Roberts and Billy Meredith (pictured) organized the first meeting of the Association of Football Players' and Trainers' Union at the Imperial Hotel in Manchester. Operating today as the Professional Footballers' Association, it is the oldest professional players association in the world.

The group was motivated in opposition to the Football League's setting of a £4 per week maximum wage for players. Although the group successfully negotiated bonus payments to supplement the wage, the Football League continued to impose a maximum wage until the 1960s.

Today, the PFA supports community outreach, scholarship, and education programs. It also awards three yearly honors - the Players' Player of the Year, the Young Player of the Year, and the Fans' Player of the Year.

8 September 1888 - And We're Off!

On 8 September 1888, Aston Villa's Gershom Cox (pictured in back, third from the right) scored the Football League's first goal when he found the net in the 30th minute of Villa's opening-day match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Unfortunately for Cox and Villa, however, the net was his own.

On the same day, Preston North End captain Fred Dewhurst scored in the 3rd minute against Burnley (a match Preston went on to win 5-2). Athough records from that time are sparse, it is believed that Villa-Wolves kicked off at 3:00 p.m., while the Preston-Burnley match started at 3:50 p.m. So Cox's goal came at 3:30 and Dewhurst's goal came at 3:52.

Fortunately for Cox, his own goal was not the game-winner for Wolves, as Villa's Tom Green scored an equalizer to end the match at 1-1.

17 July 1991 - From The Seeds Of Dissention, A Great League Is Born

On 17 July 1991, the 22 clubs in England's First Division executed the Founder Members Agreement, in which they each agreed to set up a new league that would be separate and apart from the existing Football League. The new league, called the Premier League, replaced the First Division as the top tier of English football.

The move was driven by five clubs in particular—Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur—amid concerns about the organization of the 90-member Football League. In particular, the breakaway clubs were unhappy with the fact that each of the 90 clubs in the First through Fourth Divisions of the League had an equal voice in League decisions. They also believed that the League was not taking full advantage of the revenue available from television contracts. Indeed, one of the "basic principles" set forth in the Founder Member Agreement concerned the division of television revenue, with 50% divided equally among the member clubs, 25% shared among the on the basis of league position at the end of the season, and the remaining 25% to be divided equally between the home and visiting teams of each televised match.

The agreement also provided that the system of relegation and promotion would continue as if the new Premier League were the top tier of the Football League, with Premier League teams also eligible to participate in the League Cup and FA Cup competitions. The split has led to some confusion in naming, however, as the former Second through Fourth Divisions are now known as the Championship, League One, and League Two, respectively.

While the founders' original intent was to operate the new Premier League under the authority of the English Football Association, they soon decided to break from the FA as well and, on 22 May 1992, formed a new company as the Football Association Premier League Limited.

The new Premier League began play with the start of the 1992-93 season with 22 members: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest, Oldham Athletic, Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, and Wimbledon.

Manchester United claimed the first Premier League title. Since then, only four clubs have won it: Manchester United (11 titles total), Arsenal (3), Chelsea (2), and Blackburn Rovers (1).

6 June 1955 - The Golden Boy Gets Banned

On 6 June 1955, the English Football Association banned forward Wilf Mannion for life.

Mannion, nicknamed "the Golden Boy" due to his blonde hair, was born in Middlesbrough and joined Middlesbrough F.C. in 1936 at the age of 18. He went on the become one of the club's greatest players, making 368 appearances and scoring 110 goals for Boro before moving to Hull City in 1954.

He was capped 26 times for England between 1946 and 1951, scoring 11 goals for the national team, including three in his national team debut (a 7-2 win against Northern Ireland) and two in England's 6-1 win in the 1947 "Match of the Century" against a Rest of the World XI.

Mannion's football career was interrupted by World War II, in which he spent six years with the British Army's Green Howards regiment. He served in Europe and the Middle East and was one of the servicemen evacuated at Dunkirk.

Throughout his career, Mannion was frustrated by the league's wage structure, which set a maximum salary of £10 per week. In 1954, Mannion gave a series of newspaper interviews claiming that several players were receiving illegal payments. The F.A. challenged him to provide evidence, but he refused. As a result, he received a lifetime ban from League football.

The F.A. lifted the ban in 1957, but Mannion, who had been playing with non-League side Cambridge United, decided to stay there until his retirement in 1959.

Mannion died on 14 April 200 at the age of 81.

22 March 1888 - Thank You, Mr. McGregor

On 22 March 1888, the Football League was founded by Scotsman William McGregor, then director of Aston Villa. The original twelve members were Accrington, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke, West Bromwich Albion, and Wolverhampton Wanderers. The league's first season began a few months later on 8 September 1888.

Prior to the formation of the Football League, the individual clubs in England scheduled their own fixtures. With the League, however, each club played the other clubs two times - once home and once away - earning two points for a win and one point for a draw. Preston North End claimed the first league title.

Today, the Football League oversees levels two through four in the English pyramid - the Coca-Cola Championship, League One, and League Two. Teams promoted from the Championship enter the Premier League, while teams relegated from League Two compete in the Football Conference.