EFL Started 133 years ago today.

[KB1862]

On this day in 1888, the first ever Football League fixtures took place with 10 of the 12 founding clubs facing off against eachother. 

Although the 1888-89 season wasn't a particularly great one for Notts. 

Biggest Home Win - Aston Villa 9-1 Notts County 

Biggest Away Win - Notts County 0-7 Preston 

Highest Scoring Game - Notts County 3-7 Bolton Wanderers 

Finishing second bottom on "goal average" had it been based on goal difference we would of finished bottom rather than Stoke City. 

Things slowly got better for Notts though. 

[liampie]

somethings never changes with notts does it

[RetroPie]

Things can only get better, well it hasn't but Notts are part of the foundation of English football.

[KB1862]

@RetroPie as I always say to my mates, we're just given everyone else a chance. We founded the league with a few others and we're the oldest professional club in the world so we're paving the way for others to have an opportunity

[DangerousSausage]

Am I right in thinking we didn't actually play on the first day? That our opening fixture against Everton was delayed for some reason?

There was less fanfare than we imagine today - on a poster reproduced in Darrin Foss' book, a League game is given lesser billing than a cup match and a friendly. By the 1880s fixture lists had grown pretty long, and each one had to be arranged individually. This was a bit of a bind, so having a league of the best teams where you play each other twice was an easier way of organising things. Of course, the founders had no idea what the League would grow into...

[KB1862]

@DangerousSausage that's some pretty good knowledge right there and interesting. It's amazing that something so basic as a league like this being introduced would create multiple leagues on a large scale like it has done. 

[Chris]

In 1988, football still wasn't considered to be a serious sport. The foundation of the Football League was a huge start to this, as it was when players first commanded a respectable wage. Those founding teams are clubs who have traditional roots.

Some teams like Notts got stuck in their ways with this 'traditional' view, however, we can always say we helped form the professional side of the game.

Including some key fundamentals of the current game in motion and off the field.

[DangerousSausage]

4 hours ago, Chris said:

In 1988, football still wasn't considered to be a serious sport. The foundation of the Football League was a huge start to this, as it was when players first commanded a respectable wage. Those founding teams are clubs who have traditional roots.

Some teams like Notts got stuck in their ways with this 'traditional' view, however, we can always say we helped form the professional side of the game.

Including some key fundamentals of the current game in motion and off the field.

I'd say the teams that got stuck in their ways are the ones who refused to go along with professionalism and stayed amateur - Sheffield and the university teams, which were previously giants of the game. Notts went from really struggling against Sheffield in our annual fixtures to absolutely hammering them in the years just prior to the FL, and then of course we went our separate ways. Our problems were much more recent and nothing to do with traditionalism. I'd say that our "strategy" of sacking multiple managers per season was very modern

Going off on a slight tangent, Notts helped bring about the penalty kick in 1891 thanks to a deliberate handball on the goal line against Stoke. Our opponents missed the resulting free kick and the penalty kick was invented just months later.