On September 8th, 1888, Everton, and 9 other teams, played their first ever league game. Everton’s first opponents were Accrington FC (not to be confused with Accrington Stanley – the teams are not related). Before the season started, Everton had three friendlies: a 4-1 win over Padiham (two goals from George Farmer, one from Edgar Chadwick and an own goal); a 1-2 defeat to Blackburn Olympic (Edgar Chadwick scored Everton’s only goal); and a 2-1 win over Halliwell Jubilee (one goal each for Edgar Chadwick and George Farmer).

An OK preseason with Edgar Chadwick and George Farmer catching the eyes of Evertonians and opposing fans alike ahead of the club’s meeting with Accrington.

The line-ups were:

(The Liverpool Mercury did not note who Accrington’s captain was.)

A 2-3-5 formation (commonly known as the pyramid formation) for both teams. An unusual formation for us but it was a very common formation from the 1880s to the 1940s.

The match was expected to kick off at 4pm. However, for some reason, Accrington turned up late, so the match had to be kicked off at 4:25pm. 12,000 patient fans were in attendance at Anfield, expecting to watch a historic match. William Lewis had Everton’s first ever kick in the Football League by having the honour of starting Everton’s season.

Everton had the first chance of the game following good passing from Dave Waugh and George Fleming, which led to George Farmer taking a shot at the Accrington goal but was denied as his shot was saved by the Accrington goalkeeper Johnny Horne, who parried it away for a corner. However, the corner came to nothing, with the Liverpool Mercury saying it was “badly taken.”

End-to-end action proceeded as Accrington’s Joe Lofthouse had a chance to shoot before George Dobson stopped him and eventually gave William Lewis a chance to shoot, but to no avail after an interception from John Stevenson. The game was still end-to-end, both teams had an equal chance of scoring the first goal of the game, and it was Everton who came closest after Dave Waugh hit the bar.

Everton kept on pushing for a goal but were continuously denied after Johnny Horne saved shots from William Lewis, George Dobson and Edgar Chadwick in quick succession. Accrington then had a chance themselves (the Liverpool Mercury describing it as a “stunner”) after Robert Smalley prevented Joe Lofthouse from breaking the deadlock. The game ended the first half goalless, although Everton could have had a penalty after Johnny Horne pushed George Fleming when he was about to shoot at goal. But the referee appeared to have ignored it.

After an enthralling first half, the second half started off in a similar way: end-to-end action, Johnny Horne still stopping shots left, right and centre, and both teams defending solidly. But on the 55th minute, the deadlock was finally broken. Joe Lofthouse had the ball for Accrington, however he was stopped in his stracks by George Dobson. Dobson then passed the ball to Dave Waugh, who then passed it to George Farmer. Farmer lobbed the ball towards George Fleming, who then became part of Everton history by scoring their first ever league goal – the former bank clerk scored by heading the ball past the seemingly unbeatable Johnny Horne.

Accrington then pushed for an equaliser, but the defence remained solid, with the Liverpool Mercury praising Alec Dick in particular:

Dick was the hero of the finest bit of back play seen on Everton ground for some considerable time, keeping his lines clear in grand style.

When Johnny Horne appeared to be invincible, he soon proved to be human after not only conceding a goal, but also breaking a rib. He broke his rib after clearing Edgar Chadwick’s shot. His game was over, and as football didn’t have substitutes in those days, one of the Accrington outfielders had to take his place, and John McLellan was the player chosen. He didn’t repeat Horne’s heroics though as Everton scored again thanks to another goal by George Fleming, set up once again by George Farmer.

Accrington refused to give up and were rewarded by cutting the deficit to one after J. Holden scored from a free kick moments after hitting the bar. Everton tried to regain the two-goal lead and Accrington attempted to find an equaliser, but neither happened.

Final score: Everton 2-1 Accrington.

Everton were rewarded with two points after a solid defensive performance and an equally aggressive attacking performance. The attendance of around 12,000 was reported by the Liverpool Mercury to be the most-watched game of the day. A perfect start to the inaugural Football League season.