Two founding clubs enter the Football League.

Rivals before the league even existed; they finished second and third in the very first season.
When William McGregor proposed the formation of the Football League in 1888, both Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers were among the twelve founding members. Villa, established in 1874 by members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel cricket team, and Wolves, founded in 1877 as St. Luke's FC, had already been competing against each other in friendlies and cup ties throughout the 1880s. That inaugural league season set the tone: Villa finished second, Wolves third. The proximity and competitiveness were baked in from the start.














