England First Division : 1888 to 1992 Quiz

Answer: Preston North End

Preston North End (nicknamed The Lilywhites), were one of the founder members of The Football League and won the Divison One title of the first football league season in 1888-89. They went through the season unbeaten and retained the title the following season.

Preston North End were founded in 1880 and have been at their ground Deepdale, since 1875. The biggest attendance was 42,684 for a Division One match with Arsenal in 1938 but the capacity was reduced after reconstruction work. Outside the ground is a statue of their most famous player Tom Finney, who is known as "The Splash". They have played in all four divisions of the Football League.

Answer: Sunderland

Sunderland (nicknamed The Black Cats) were the first team to win the Division One Championship three times. They won it in the 1891-92, 1892-93 season and then in 1894-95. Sunderland were founded in 1879 as Sunderland and District Teachers. Their home ground from 1898 to 1997 was Roker Park and the biggest attendance there was 75,118. They moved to the Stadium Of Light in 1997.

An event, possibly the first of its kind, happened in 1949. Sunderland paid £18,000 for Carlisle United's Ivor Broadis. Broadis also happened to be Carlisle's manager at the time, so in fact the player transferred himself.

Answer: Aston Villa

Astion Villa (nicknamed The Villa or The Claret & Blue Army) were founded in 1874. Villa won the Division One championship five times in the 19th century: 1893-94, 1895-96, 1896-97, 1898-99 and 1899-00. They then had to wait 10 years until they won it again in the 1909-10 season. They had even longer to wait before their next win, when they won the Division One championship 71 years later in the 1980-81 season.

In 1995 Savo Milosevic was bought by Villa but the manager, Brian Little, had never seen him play live, he decided to buy the player after watching him on video.

Answer: Manchester United

Manchester United (nicknamed The Red Devils) finished bottom of Division One in the 1893-94 season and were relegated to Division Two, after they lost the play-off ("Test Match") against Liverpool, the Division Two champions. The other two play-offs saw the two team above them win, and avoid relegation. They remained in Division Two until the 1905-06 season when they finished second and were promoted to Division One.

Division Two was formed for the 1892-93 season with 12 teams. This increased to 15 for the 1893-94 season and increased again to 16 for the 1895-96 season. It remained at 16 until the 1898-99 season when it increased to 18 teams.

One of Man. Utd's best players was a Man, City player when he was a youngster. I think Manchester City regret parting with Ryan Giggs.

Answer: Everton

Everton (nicknamed The Blues or The Toffees) won the Division One championship in 1914-15 and again in 1938-39. The 1939-40 season did start and Blackpool were leading Division One with six points but the rest of the season was abandoned after war was declared. Everton also won the Division One Championship twice between the two world wars in 1927-28 and 1931-32.

Everton were founded in 1878 and used to play at (what became Liverpool's ground) Anfield but moved to Goodison Park (less than a mile away) in 1892 after a disagreement with the landlord about rent. This allowed their fiercest rivals Liverpool, to come into existence. Liverpool were formed in 1892.

Answer: Huddersfield Town

Huddesfield Town (nicknamed The Terriers) became the fist team to win a hat-trick of Division One Championships when they won the title in the 1923-24, 1924-25 and 1925-26 seasons. Huddersfield finished second in the following two seasons: 1926-27 and 1927-28. They won the FA Cup in 1922 and were runners-up in the 1928 and 1930. They were definitely the 1920s equivalent of the Liverpool of the 1970s and 1980s and the Manchester United of the 1990s.

One of the greatest managers of the era was Huddersfield's manager for their first two Championship wins, Herbert Chapman. He left before they completed their hat-trick of titles. He went to Arsenal and won the championship title with them in the 1930-31 season.

Answer: Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hostspur (nicknamed Spurs or The Lilywhites) won the Divison Two championship in 1949-50 season and upon promotion won the Division One championship in 1950-51. In the 1960-61 season, not only did they win the Division One championship, they also won the FA Cup and became the first team to win the Double in the 20th century.

Tottenham Hotspur were founded in 1882 as Hotspur F. C. They played at White Hart Lane from 1899 to 2017 when the stadium was demolished to make way for the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. In 1899 as a tribute to Preston North End, the most successful team of that era, Tottenham Hostspur changed their strip to white shirts and blue shorts.

Answer: West Ham United

West Ham United (nicknamed The Hammers or The Irons) provided those three key players for the 1966 World Cup final. Bobby Moore (Captain of West Ham and England), Geoff Hurst (the first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final) and Martin Peters who scored the second goal in the 4-2 England victory over Germany.

West Ham United were founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks and were wound-up in June 1900, but were reformed as a new entity in the following month as West Ham United. They played at the Boleyn Ground from 1904 to 2016 when they moved to the London Stadium, formerly the Olympic Stadium built in 2012 for the Summer Olympics. Before Thames Ironworks closed in 1900, some of their players had helped to build the first British ironclad warship, HMS Warrior.

Answer: Liverpool

Liverpool (nicknamed The Reds) won the Divison One championship in 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1985-86, 1987-88 and 1989-90. They would have to wait 30 years for their next Championship win, and their first in the Premier League, in the 2019-20 season. Liverpool also finished second, in 1984-85 and 1986-87 to their local rivals Everton and again in 1988-89 to Arsenal. Liverpool had also won the Division One championship five times in the 1970s.

On 22nd August 1964 Liverpool beat Arsenal 3-2. The highlights of the game were shown on the first edition of "Match of the Day" on BBC Two.

Answer: Leeds United

Leeds United (nicknamed The Whites or The Peacocks) won the last Division One Championship in 1991-92 season. They finished in 17th of 22 teams in the first season of the Premier League in 1992-93 (they did not win an away game). Leeds United were formed in 1919 after Leeds City were dissolved by the Football League due to financial irregularities. Leeds United played at the same ground, Elland Road.

Unfortunately the club had a history of financial difficulty. In the first decade of the 21st century they took out loans they could not repay, essentially because they failed to qualify for the Champion's League in successive seasons and board members, managers and players came and went. In the 2003-04 season Leeds were relegated from the Premier League. In the 2019-20 they won the League Championship title and were promoted to the Premier League, after an absence of 16 years.

The Spion Cop at the Elland Road ground was named after a Sourh African hill, on which 322 British soldiers perished on the 23-24 January 1900, during the second Boer War.