1892–93 in English football

Events

The Football League and the Football Alliance formally merged, and so the Football League Second Division was formed, consisting mostly of Football Alliance clubs. The existing League clubs, minus Darwen (who were relegated) plus three of the strongest Alliance clubs (Nottingham Forest, Newton Heath and The Wednesday, who would later be renamed Sheffield Wednesday), comprised the Football League First Division.

The Second Division comprised the remaining Football Alliance teams, plus Northwich Victoria, Burslem Port Vale and Sheffield United.

Liverpool, formed in March 1892 by Anfield landlord John Houlding after Everton's exit to Goodison Park, join the Lancashire League. They would be elected to the Football League Second Division after one season in the Lancashire League.

Ireland

England's opening international game of the season took place in Birmingham on 25 February against Ireland, with the selectors choosing a team consisting mainly of players with connections to the Corinthians, of which seven were making their England débuts. Chris Charsley of Small Heath, who later went on to be Chief Constable of Coventry, made his solitary England appearance in goal. Alban Harrison (Old Westminsters) and Fred Pelly (Old Foresters) made their débuts as the two full-backs and Norman Cooper (Cambridge University) made his solitary appearance at centre-half. Robert Topham, an amateur player with Wolverhampton Wanderers, who had previously declined an invitation to play for Wales following his selection in 1885, made the first of his two appearances at outside right, with Walter Gilliat of Old Carthusians making his solitary appearance at inside right. Gilliat, an excellent dribbler of the ball, would probably have made more England appearances but for his religious beliefs, and went on to become the vicar of Iver and the rector of Sevenoaks.

The most notable débutante was Gilbert Oswald Smith of Oxford University, who went on to represent his country on 20 occasions in a career spanning 8 years (scoring 11 goals) and was captain 16 times. He was considered by many to be the world's best player of the 19th Century.

England totally dominated the match itself with Walter Gilliat scoring three times in the first 30 minutes, although Ireland had levelled the scores shortly after England's first goal. Further goals from G.O. Smith, William Winckworth and Rupert Sandilands enabled England to run out convincing 6–1 victors. Gilliat thus became one of only five players to have scored a hat-trick in his only appearance in an England shirt.

Wales

For the match against Wales at Stoke-on-Trent two weeks later, the selectors chose a team consisting entirely of professional players, of which 4 were making their début. In goal they selected John Willie Sutcliffe of Bolton Wanderers, for the first of his 5 appearances; Sutcliffe had previously made an appearance for the English rugby union side. Jimmy Turner (Bolton Wanderers) and Jimmy Whitehead (Blackburn Rovers) made their débuts at left half and inside right respectively. The fourth débutante was Fred Spiksley of The Wednesday who made the first of 7 England appearances at outside left, from where he scored 5 goals during his England career, including a brace on his debut.

Once again, England were comfortable victors, with further goals from Billy Bassett, John Goodall, Jack Reynolds and Joe Schofield as England easily defeated the Welsh 6–0.

Scotland

England's final international match of the season came at Richmond Athletic Ground on 1 April against Scotland who were hoping to avenge their defeat in each of the two previous seasons. England selected a strong eleven, with only Leslie Gay of Old Brightonians making his début in goal. Gay later played Test cricket for England.

England ultimately enjoyed another comfortable victory; Gosling scored after 10 minutes, but Scotland went ahead with goals after 25 minutes and early in the second half. A goal from captain George Cotterill brought England level after 58 minutes. Fred Spiksley then scored twice in two minutes and Jack Reynolds wrapped the game up with the fifth England goal after 75 minutes, thus enabling England to continue their fine run against the Scots.

Note – the official attendance for this match was 16,000; the crowd was so large that it was forced to stand in front of the journalists who were therefore prevented from seeing all of the action. Consequently, there is some dispute over the goal-scorers and several sources claim that Fred Spiksley actually scored a hat-trick, although this is not credited in any of the official references.

As a result, England were the winners of the British Home Championship for the third consecutive season.

* England score given first

Key

Honours

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

Second Division

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points