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Accrington F.C.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Accrington
Full nameAccrington Football Club
Founded1878
Dissolved1896
GroundThorneyholme Road, Accrington
LeagueLancashire Combination
1895–96Record expunged

Accrington Football Club was a football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. They were one of the founder members of the Football League.

History

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The 1886 Accrington squad
Graph showing Accrington's performance from the first season of the English Football League in 1888–89 to 1892–93 when they resigned from the league

Accrington Football Club was formed following a meeting at a local public house in 1878.[1] The Owd Reds played at Accrington Cricket Club's ground in Thorneyholme Road, which is still in use for that sport today.[2]

The club was part of the revolt against the Football Association in 1884 over professionalism, after being expelled from the FA the previous year for paying a player. They were one of the original twelve clubs that formed the Football League on 17 April 1888. Accrington's best season was in 1889–90, when the club finished sixth in the table. However, in the 1892–93 season they finished fifteenth (of 16) and were relegated after losing a test match 1–0 against Sheffield United at Trent Bridge. Accrington then resigned from the league rather than play in the Second Division, becoming the first of the founding Football League clubs to leave the League permanently (Stoke had failed to be re-elected in 1890, but rejoined the league a year later).

After its first season in the Lancashire League, Accrington unsuccessfully applied for re-election to the Football League.[3] Shortly afterwards, Accrington F.C. suffered financial problems, which eventually led to its demise. The club continued outside the league until 1896, when they finally folded following a 12–0 defeat on 14 January against Darwen in the Lancashire Senior Cup.

Accrington did not have a Football League club again until in 1921–22 the Lancashire Combination league's Accrington Stanley (formerly a local rival), became a member as part of a major expansion of the league.

League and Cup history

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Season Division Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P FA Cup Notes
1881–82 No leagues in existence Second round
1882–83 First round
1883–84 Second round Disqualified[a]
1884–85 First round Disqualified[b]
1885–86 Second round
1886–87 First round
1887–88 Third round
1888–89 Football League 7 22 6 8 8 48 48 20 First round
1889–90 Football League 6 22 9 6 7 53 56 24 Second round
1890–91 Football League 10 22 6 4 12 28 50 16 Second round
1891–92 Football League 11 26 8 4 14 40 78 20 Second round
1892–93 First Division 15 30 6 11 13 57 81 23 Second round Relegated[c]
1893–94 Lancashire League 4 22 11 4 7 51 39 26 First round
1894–95 Lancashire League 12 26 10 2 14 62 63 22
1895–96 Lancashire Combination Record expunged Folded in January
All-time League results:[d] 123 35 33 55 226 314 103
All-time FA Cup results:[e] 14 5 2 7 24 29

International players

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During its short existence the club had three players selected for the England national team:[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ Accrington defeated Blackburn Park Road 3–2, but both clubs were disqualified
  2. ^ Accrington defeated Southport Central 3–0, but was disqualified
  3. ^ Relegated after Test Match (Sheffield United 1 Accrington 0) / Resigned from Football League
  4. ^ Includes Test match against Sheffield United (Sheffield United 1 Accrington 0 on 22 April 1893)
  5. ^ Not included match against West Bromwich Albion (Accrington 3 West Bromwich Albion 1 on 18 January 1890) that was declared void

References

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  1. ^ BRFC Supporters – The Original Accrington Club
  2. ^ Early Days (1846–1890) Accrington Cricket Club
  3. ^ "Football League Division 2 table 1893/94". Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  4. ^ England Players' Club Affiliations – Accrington
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