The City Ground

TEST MATCHES

The current Playoff system between the top teams just outside of the automatic promotion spots was introduced in 1986. Prior to that, for 6 seasons in 1890s there were Test-Matches which, in the language of the kids in the 1890's was just another word for...playoffs.

History of the early Football League and the Test-Matches
After its foundation in 1888, the Football League was, for the first four years, made up just one division of 12 teams.
In 1893, following the dissolution of the short-lived Football Alliance (which Forest competed in for its three-year lifespan), those 12 Alliance teams were invited to join the Football League, which was expanded to a top flight of 16 teams and the Second division increased from 12 to 16 in the next two seasons.

The question then was what to do at the end of the season? Well, play more football, obviously, so the concept of Test Matches was born.

It was almost the same as it is now, except that the bottom two (or three) teams in the First Division were invited to play the top two (or three) teams in the Second Divison for the privilege of either staying in the First Division or (politely) being invited to join the Second Division..

SUMMARY
The Test Matches lasted for 6 seasons, from 1892/93 to 1897/98, (before being replaced by automatic promotion and relegation) and, during that time, 17 of the 41 league teams took part in them. Notts County and Newton Heath (Manchester United) were involved in four of the six seasons with Newton Heath and Burnley playing most games (8 games each).

Here's a summary of how each of the Test Match teams did each season.

Club	#	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	1892-93	1893-94	1894-95	1895-96	1896-97	1897-98*
Newton Heath	4	8	2	2	4	9	13	-4	Stayed in Div 1	Relegated	Stayed in Div 2		Stayed in Div 2
Notts County	4	7	2	2	3	6	10	-4	Relegated	Stayed in Div 2	Stayed in Div 2		Promoted
Small Heath	3	7	1	1	4	6	22	-16	Stayed in Div 2	Promoted		Relegated
Liverpool	3	6	3	1	2	8	3	5		Promoted	Relegated	Promoted
Burnley	2	8	3	3	3	8	7	1					Relegated	Promoted
Stoke	2	5	3	3	1	7	2	5			Stayed in Div 1			Stayed in Div 1
Darwen	2	2	1	1	1	4	5	-1	Promoted	Relegated
Blackburn Rovers	1	4	1	1	3	5	12	-7						Relegated
Manchester City	1	4	2	2	1	13	7	6				Stayed in Div 2
Newcastle United	1	4	2	2	2	9	6	3						Stayed in Div 2
Sunderland	1	4	1	1	1	3	2	1					Stayed in Div 1
West Browich Albion	1	4	2	2	1	9	4	5				Stayed in Div 1
Accrington	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	Relegated
Bury	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	1			Promoted
Derby County	1	1	1	1	0	2	1	1			Stayed in Div 1
Preston North End	1	1	1	1	0	4	0	4		Stayed in Div 1
Sheffield United	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	1	Promoted

*1897-98 - All four teams ended up in Division One after the league was expanded

ALL THE RESULTS

Here's the full set of Test Match results over the six seasons that they were played in.

1892-93

The first season, 1892-93, saw a one-off set of games between the bottom three teams of the First Division and the top three of the Second Division.

Second-division teams Darwen and Sheffield United beat First-division Notts County and Accrington respectively to gain promotion, and cause Accrington to resign from the league.
In the third game, Birmingham City (now Birmingham City) drew with Manchester United (now Manchester United). The replay was won by Newton Heath to keep their top-flight status and keep Small Heath in Division 2.

END OF SEASON TABLES

FIRST DIVISION (Tier 1) - 1892-93

SEASON END TABLE								Home					Away								Results
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Result	Home	Away
1	Sunderland	30	22	4	4	100	36	13	2	0	58	17	9	2	4	42	19	64	48	Champions	0-5	0-1
2	Preston North End	30	17	3	10	57	39	11	2	2	34	10	6	1	8	23	29	18	37		1-2	0-1
3	Everton	30	16	4	10	74	51	9	3	3	44	17	7	1	7	30	34	23	36		2-1	2-2
4	Aston Villa	30	16	3	11	73	62	12	1	2	50	24	4	2	9	23	38	11	35		4-5	0-1
5	Bolton Wanderers	30	13	6	11	56	55	12	1	2	43	21	1	5	9	13	34	1	32		2-0	1-3
6	Burnley	30	13	4	13	51	44	10	2	3	37	15	3	2	10	14	29	7	30		2-2	1-1
7	Stoke	30	12	5	13	58	48	8	2	5	33	16	4	3	8	25	32	10	29		3-4	0-3
8	West Bromwich Albion	30	12	5	13	58	69	9	2	4	35	17	3	3	9	23	52	-11	29		3-4	2-2
9	Blackburn Rovers	30	8	13	9	47	56	5	8	2	29	24	3	5	7	18	32	-9	29		0-1	1-0
10	Nottingham Forest	30	10	8	12	48	52	7	2	6	30	27	3	6	6	18	25	-4	28
11	Wolverhampton Wanderers	30	12	4	14	47	68	11	2	2	32	17	1	2	12	15	51	-21	28	FA Cup Winners	3-1	2-2
12	The Wednesday	30	12	3	15	55	65	8	2	5	34	28	4	1	10	21	37	-10	27		2-0	2-2
13	Derby County	30	9	9	12	52	64	5	6	4	30	28	4	3	8	22	36	-12	27		1-0	3-2
14	Notts County	30	10	4	16	53	61	8	3	4	34	15	2	1	12	19	46	-8	24	Relegated after test-match playoffs	3-1	0-3
15	Accrington Stanley	30	6	11	13	57	81	5	5	5	29	34	1	6	8	28	47	-24	23	Resigned from League	3-0	1-1
16	Newton Heath	30	6	6	18	50	85	6	3	6	39	35	0	3	12	11	50	-35	18	Remained in 1st Div after test-match playoffs	1-1	3-1

SECOND DIVISION (Tier 2) - 1892-93

SEASON END TABLE								Home					Away
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Result
1	Small Heath	22	17	2	3	90	35	10	1	0	57	16	7	1	3	33	19	55	36	Lost in playoffs
2	Sheffield United	22	16	3	3	62	19	10	1	0	35	8	6	2	3	27	11	43	35	Promoted after test-match playoffs
3	Darwen	22	14	2	6	60	36	10	0	1	43	15	4	2	5	17	21	24	30	Promoted after test-match playoffs
4	Grimsby Town	22	11	1	10	42	41	8	1	2	25	7	3	0	8	17	34	1	23
5	Ardwick	22	9	3	10	45	40	6	3	2	27	14	3	0	8	18	26	5	21
6	Burton Swifts	22	9	2	11	47	47	7	1	3	30	18	2	1	8	17	29	0	20
7	Northwich Victoria	22	9	2	11	42	58	7	0	4	25	26	2	2	7	17	32	-16	20
8	Bootle	22	8	3	11	49	63	8	1	2	35	20	0	2	9	14	43	-14	19	Disbanded at end of season
9	Lincoln City	22	7	3	12	45	51	6	2	3	30	18	1	1	9	15	33	-6	17
10	Crewe Alexandra	22	6	3	13	42	69	6	1	4	30	24	0	2	9	12	45	-27	15
11	Burslem Port Vale	22	6	3	13	30	57	4	1	6	16	23	2	2	7	14	34	-27	15
12	Walsall Town Swifts	22	5	3	14	37	75	4	3	4	25	24	1	0	10	12	51	-38	13

TEST-MATCH GAMES

Date	Team (Division)	Score	Team (Division)
Sat Apr 22, 1893	Darwen (2)	3-2	Notts County (1)
Sat Apr 22, 1893	Sheffield United (2)	1-0	Accrington Stanley (1)
Sat Apr 22, 1893	Small Heath (2)	1-1	Newton Heath (1)
Replay
Thu Apr 27, 1893	Newton Heath (1)	5-2	Small Heath (2)

1893-94

1893-94 again had a one-off set of games between the bottom teams of First Division and the top three of the Second Division.
Second Division champions Liverpool beat Newton Heath (Manchester United) while Small Heath (now Birmingham City) beat First Division Darwen to give them both promotion to the top tier. First Division Preston North End won their test-match against Notts County to stay in the top flight for another year.

END OF SEASON TABLES

FIRST DIVISION (Tier 1) - 1893-94

SEASON END TABLE								Home					Away								Results
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Result	Home	Away
1	Aston Villa	30	19	6	5	84	42	12	2	1	49	13	7	4	4	35	29	42	44	Champions	1-2	1-3
2	Sunderland	30	17	4	9	72	44	11	3	1	46	14	6	1	8	26	30	28	38		1-2	0-2
3	Derby County	30	16	4	10	73	62	9	2	4	47	32	7	2	6	26	30	11	36		4-2	4-3
4	Blackburn Rovers	30	16	2	12	69	53	13	0	2	48	15	3	2	10	21	38	16	34		0-0	1-6
5	Burnley	30	15	4	11	61	51	13	0	2	43	17	2	4	9	18	34	10	34		5-0	1-3
6	Everton	30	15	3	12	90	57	11	1	3	63	23	4	2	9	27	34	33	33		3-2	0-4
7	Nottingham Forest	30	14	4	12	57	48	10	2	3	38	16	4	2	9	19	32	9	32
8	West Bromwich Albion	30	14	4	12	66	59	8	4	3	35	23	6	0	9	31	36	7	32		2-3	0-3
9	Wolverhampton Wanderers	30	14	3	13	52	63	11	1	3	34	24	3	2	10	18	39	-11	31		7-1	1-3
10	Sheffield United	30	13	5	12	47	61	8	3	4	26	22	5	2	8	21	39	-14	31		1-1	2-0
11	Stoke	30	13	3	14	65	79	13	1	1	45	17	0	2	13	20	62	-14	29		2-0	1-2
12	The Wednesday	30	9	8	13	48	57	7	3	5	32	21	2	5	8	16	36	-9	26		1-0	0-1
13	Bolton Wanderers	30	10	4	16	38	52	7	3	5	18	14	3	1	11	20	38	-14	24		1-0	1-1
14	Preston North End	30	10	3	17	44	56	7	1	7	25	24	3	2	10	19	32	-12	23	Remained after test-match playoffs	4-2	2-0
15	Darwen	30	7	5	18	37	83	6	4	5	25	28	1	1	13	12	55	-46	19	Relegated after test-match playoffs	4-1	4-0
16	Newton Heath	30	6	2	22	36	72	5	2	8	29	33	1	0	14	7	39	-36	14	Relegated after test-match playoffs	2-0	1-1

SECOND DIVISION (Tier 2) - 1893-94

SEASON END TABLE								Home					Away
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Result
1	Liverpool	28	22	6	0	77	18	14	0	0	46	6	8	6	0	31	12	59	50	Promoted after test-match playoffs
2	Small Heath	28	21	0	7	103	44	12	0	2	68	19	9	0	5	35	25	59	42	Promoted after test-match playoffs
3	Notts County	28	18	3	7	70	31	12	1	1	55	14	6	2	6	15	17	39	39	Remained in second division after test-match playoffs
4	Newcastle United	28	15	6	7	66	39	12	1	1	44	10	3	5	6	22	29	27	36
5	Grimsby Town	28	15	2	11	71	58	11	1	2	47	16	4	1	9	24	42	13	32
6	Burton Swifts	28	14	3	11	79	61	9	1	4	52	26	5	2	7	27	35	18	31
7	Burslem Port Vale	28	13	4	11	66	64	10	2	2	43	20	3	2	9	23	44	2	30
8	Lincoln City	28	11	6	11	59	58	5	4	5	31	22	6	2	6	28	36	1	28
9	Woolwich Arsenal	28	12	4	12	52	55	9	1	4	33	19	3	3	8	19	36	-3	28
10	Walsall Town Swifts	28	10	3	15	51	61	8	1	5	36	23	2	2	10	15	38	-10	23
11	Middlesbrough Ironopolis	28	8	4	16	37	72	7	4	3	27	20	1	0	13	10	52	-35	20	Folded at the end of the season for financial reasons
12	Crewe Alexandra	28	6	7	15	42	73	3	7	4	22	22	3	0	11	20	51	-31	19
13	Manchester City	28	8	2	18	47	71	6	1	7	32	20	2	1	11	15	51	-24	18
14	Rotherham Town	28	6	3	19	44	91	5	1	8	28	42	1	2	11	16	49	-47	15
15	Northwich Victoria	28	3	3	22	30	98	3	3	8	17	34	0	0	14	13	64	-68	9	Resigned from the Football League to play regional football

TEST-MATCH GAMES

Date	Team (Division)	Score	Team (Division)
Sat Apr 28, 1894	Liverpool (2)	2-0	Newton Heath (1)
Sat Apr 28, 1894	Preston North End (1)	4-0	Notts County (2)
Sat Apr 28, 1894	Small Heath (2)	3-1	Darwen (1)

1894-95

1894-95 again (but for the final time) had a one-off set of games between the bottom three teams of First Division and the top three of the Second Division.
Second Division champions Bury beat Liverpool to gain a promotion. Both Derby County and Stoke (of the First Division) won their games to remain in the top flight.

END OF SEASON TABLES

FIRST DIVISION (Tier 1) - 1894-95

SEASON END TABLE								Home					Away								Results
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Result	Home	Away
1	Sunderland	30	21	5	4	80	37	13	2	0	51	14	8	3	4	29	23	43	47	Champions	2-1	2-2
2	Everton	30	18	6	6	82	50	12	2	1	47	18	6	4	5	35	32	32	42		2-3	1-6
3	Aston Villa	30	17	5	8	82	43	12	2	1	51	12	5	3	7	31	31	39	39		2-1	1-4
4	Preston North End	30	15	5	10	62	46	9	3	3	32	14	6	2	7	30	32	16	35		0-2	1-3
5	Blackburn Rovers	30	11	10	9	59	49	9	5	1	40	15	2	5	8	19	34	10	32		2-3	0-0
6	Sheffield United	30	14	4	12	57	55	10	2	3	33	17	4	2	9	24	38	2	32		3-0	2-3
7	Nottingham Forest	30	13	5	12	50	56	10	1	4	33	22	3	4	8	17	34	-6	31
8	The Wednesday	30	12	4	14	50	55	10	2	3	36	19	2	2	11	14	36	-5	28		2-1	0-0
9	Burnley	30	11	4	15	44	56	8	2	5	28	24	3	2	10	16	32	-12	26		2-1	1-0
10	Bolton Wanderers	30	9	7	14	61	62	8	3	4	45	23	1	4	10	16	39	-1	25		3-3	1-4
11	Wolverhampton Wanderers	30	9	7	14	43	63	7	4	4	24	25	2	3	10	19	38	-20	25		0-2	1-1
12	Small Heath	30	9	7	14	50	74	6	6	3	35	28	3	1	11	15	46	-24	25		2-0	2-1
13	West Bromwich Albion	30	10	4	16	51	66	9	2	4	38	21	1	2	12	13	45	-15	24		5-3	0-1
14	Stoke	30	9	6	15	50	67	7	3	5	35	25	2	3	10	15	42	-17	24	Remained after test-match playoffs	3-1	3-0
15	Derby County	30	7	9	14	45	68	4	5	6	23	23	3	4	8	22	45	-23	23	Remained after test-match playoffs	2-1	2-4
16	Liverpool	30	7	8	15	51	70	6	4	5	38	28	1	4	10	13	42	-19	22	Relegated after test-match playoffs	3-0	0-5

SECOND DIVISION (Tier 2) - 1894-95

SEASON END TABLE								Home					Away
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Result
1	Bury	30	23	2	5	78	33	15	0	0	48	11	8	2	5	30	22	45	48	Promoted after test-match playoffs
2	Notts County	30	17	5	8	75	45	12	2	1	50	15	5	3	7	25	30	30	39	Lost in playoffs
3	Newton Heath	30	15	8	7	78	44	9	6	0	52	18	6	2	7	26	26	34	38	Lost in playoffs
4	Leicester Fosse	30	15	8	7	72	53	11	2	2	45	20	4	6	5	27	33	19	38
5	Grimsby Town	30	18	1	11	79	52	14	0	1	51	16	4	1	10	28	36	27	37
6	Darwen	30	16	4	10	74	43	13	1	1	53	10	3	3	9	21	33	31	36
7	Burton Wanderers	30	14	7	9	67	39	10	3	2	49	9	4	4	7	18	30	28	35
8	Woolwich Arsenal	30	14	6	10	75	58	11	3	1	54	20	3	3	9	21	38	17	34
9	Manchester City	30	14	3	13	82	72	9	3	3	56	28	5	0	10	26	44	10	31
10	Newcastle United	30	12	3	15	72	84	11	1	3	51	28	1	2	12	21	56	-12	27
11	Burton Swifts	30	11	3	16	52	74	9	2	4	34	20	2	1	12	18	54	-22	25
12	Rotherham Town	30	11	2	17	55	62	10	0	5	37	22	1	2	12	18	40	-7	24
13	Lincoln City	30	10	0	20	52	92	8	0	7	32	27	2	0	13	20	65	-40	20
14	Walsall Town Swifts	30	10	0	20	47	92	8	0	7	35	25	2	0	13	12	67	-45	20	Failed re-election and resigned from Football League
15	Burslem Port Vale	30	7	4	19	39	77	6	3	6	30	23	1	1	13	9	54	-38	18
16	Crewe Alexandra	30	3	4	23	26	103	3	4	8	20	34	0	0	15	6	69	-77	10

TEST-MATCH GAMES

Date	Team (Division)	Score	Team (Division)
Sat Apr 27, 1895	Bury (2)	1-0	Liverpool (1)
Sat Apr 27, 1895	Derby County (1)	2-1	Notts County (2)
Sat Apr 27, 1895	Stoke (1)	3-0	Newton Heath (2)

1895-96

1895-96 was the first year of teams playing in a Test Match league. Two teams from each division made the playoffs, with the two First Division teams playing both of the Second Division teams over two-legs (home and away). The final table decied the lucky winners and this season saw Liverpool gain promotion up from the lower tier and West Bromwich Albion stay where they were. Small Heath were relegated, and Manchester City failed to get out of Division Two.

END OF SEASON TABLES

FIRST DIVISION (Tier 1) - 1895-96

SEASON END TABLE								Home					Away								Results
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Result	Home	Away
1	Aston Villa	30	20	5	5	78	45	14	1	0	47	17	6	4	5	31	28	33	45	Champions	0-2	1-3
2	Derby County	30	17	7	6	68	35	12	2	1	42	13	5	5	5	26	22	33	41		2-5	0-4
3	Everton	30	16	7	7	66	43	10	4	1	40	17	6	3	6	26	26	23	39		2-1	2-6
4	Bolton Wanderers	30	16	5	9	49	37	12	2	1	34	14	4	3	8	15	23	12	37		0-0	1-2
5	Sunderland	30	15	7	8	52	41	10	5	0	36	14	5	2	8	16	27	11	37		3-1	1-1
6	Stoke	30	15	0	15	56	47	12	0	3	43	11	3	0	12	13	36	9	30		4-0	0-1
7	The Wednesday	30	12	5	13	44	53	10	2	3	31	18	2	3	10	13	35	-9	29		1-0	0-3
8	Blackburn Rovers	30	12	5	13	40	50	10	1	4	26	18	2	4	9	14	32	-10	29		4-2	0-2
9	Preston North End	30	11	6	13	44	48	8	5	2	31	18	3	1	11	13	30	-4	28		0-1	0-6
10	Burnley	30	10	7	13	48	44	8	5	2	33	11	2	2	11	15	33	4	27		2-1	0-0
11	Bury	30	12	3	15	50	54	7	1	7	32	24	5	2	8	18	30	-4	27		5-0	0-1
12	Sheffield United	30	10	6	14	40	50	9	4	2	28	12	1	2	12	12	38	-10	26		3-1	1-2
13	Nottingham Forest	30	11	3	16	42	57	11	1	3	34	16	0	2	13	8	41	-15	25
14	Wolverhampton Wanderers	30	10	1	19	61	65	10	0	5	43	18	0	1	14	18	47	-4	21		3-2	1-6
15	Small Heath	30	8	4	18	39	79	7	2	6	22	24	1	2	12	17	55	-40	20	Relegated after playoffs	3-0	0-1
16	West Bromwich Albion	30	6	7	17	30	59	5	4	6	18	22	1	3	11	12	37	-29	19	Remained in 1st Div after playoffs	2-0	1-3

SECOND DIVISION (Tier 2) - 1895-96

SEASON END TABLE								Home					Away
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Result
1	Liverpool	30	22	2	6	106	32	14	1	0	65	11	8	1	6	41	21	74	46	Promoted after playoffs
2	Manchester City	30	21	4	5	63	38	12	3	0	37	9	9	1	5	26	29	25	46	Lost in playoffs
3	Grimsby Town	30	20	2	8	82	38	14	1	0	51	9	6	1	8	31	29	44	42
4	Burton Wanderers	30	19	4	7	69	40	12	1	2	43	15	7	3	5	26	25	29	42
5	Newcastle United	30	16	2	12	73	50	14	0	1	57	14	2	2	11	16	36	23	34
6	Newton Heath	30	15	3	12	66	57	12	2	1	48	15	3	1	11	18	42	9	33
7	Woolwich Arsenal	30	14	4	12	58	42	11	1	3	42	11	3	3	9	16	31	16	32
8	Leicester Fosse	30	14	4	12	57	44	10	0	5	40	16	4	4	7	17	28	13	32
9	Darwen	30	12	6	12	72	67	9	4	2	55	22	3	2	10	17	45	5	30
10	Notts County	30	12	2	16	57	54	8	1	6	41	22	4	1	10	16	32	3	26
11	Burton Swifts	30	10	4	16	39	69	7	2	6	24	26	3	2	10	15	43	-30	24
12	Loughborough	30	9	5	16	40	66	7	3	5	32	25	2	2	11	8	41	-26	23
13	Lincoln City	30	9	4	17	53	75	7	1	7	36	24	2	3	10	17	51	-22	22
14	Burslem Port Vale	30	7	4	19	43	78	6	4	5	25	24	1	0	14	18	54	-35	18	Failed re-election
15	Rotherham Town	30	7	3	20	34	97	7	2	6	27	26	0	1	14	7	71	-63	17	Failed re-election
16	Crewe Alexandra	30	5	3	22	30	95	5	2	8	22	28	0	1	14	8	67	-65	13	Failed re-election

TEST-MATCH GAMES

Date	Leg	Team (Division)	Score	Team (Division)
First Round
Sat Apr 18, 1896	1	Liverpool (2)	4-0	Small Heath (1)
Sat Apr 18, 1896	1	Manchester City (2)	1-1	West Bromwich Albion (1)
Mon Apr 20, 1896	2	Small Heath (1)	0-0	Liverpool (2)
Mon Apr 20, 1896	2	West Bromwich Albion (1)	6-1	Manchester City (2)
Second Round
Sat Apr 25, 1896	1	Liverpool (2)	2-0	West Bromwich Albion (1)
Sat Apr 25, 1896	1	Manchester City (2)	3-0	Small Heath (1)
Mon Apr 27, 1896	2	Small Heath (1)	0-8	Manchester City (2)
Mon Apr 27, 1896	2	West Bromwich Albion (1)	2-0	Liverpool (2)

Final table

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Liverpool	4	2	1	1	6	2	4	5	Promoted to Division One
2	West Bromwich Albion	4	2	1	1	9	4	5	5	Remained in Division One
3	Small Heath	4	1	1	2	8	7	1	3	Relegated to Division Two
4	Manchester City	4	1	1	2	5	15	-10	3	Remained in Division Two

1896-97

1895-96 again saw four teams playing in a Test Match league. Two teams from each division made the playoffs, with the two First Division teams playing both of the Second Division teams over two-legs (home and away). The final table decided the lucky winners and this season saw Notts County gain promotion up from the lower tier and Sunderland stay where they were. Burnley were relegated, and Newton Heath failed to get out of Division Two.

END OF SEASON TABLES

FIRST DIVISION (Tier 1) - 1896-97

SEASON END TABLE								Home					Away								Results
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Result	Home	Away
1	Aston Villa	30	21	5	4	73	38	10	3	2	36	16	11	2	2	37	22	35	47	Champions	2-4	2-3
2	Sheffield United	30	13	10	7	42	29	6	4	5	22	16	7	6	2	20	13	13	36		2-2	3-0
3	Derby County	30	16	4	10	70	50	10	2	3	45	22	6	2	7	25	28	20	36		1-2	1-1
4	Preston North End	30	11	12	7	55	40	8	4	3	35	21	3	8	4	20	19	15	34		0-0	2-3
5	Liverpool	30	12	9	9	46	38	7	6	2	25	10	5	3	7	21	28	8	33		2-0	0-3
6	The Wednesday	30	10	11	9	42	37	9	4	2	29	11	1	7	7	13	26	5	31		2-2	0-3
7	Everton	30	14	3	13	62	57	8	1	6	42	29	6	2	7	20	28	5	31		3-0	1-3
8	Bolton Wanderers	30	12	6	12	40	43	7	3	5	22	18	5	3	7	18	25	-3	30		2-0	0-0
9	Bury	30	10	10	10	39	44	7	5	3	25	15	3	5	7	14	29	-5	30		3-0	0-2
10	Wolverhampton Wanderers	30	11	6	13	45	41	6	4	5	26	14	5	2	8	19	27	4	28		1-2	1-4
11	Nottingham Forest	30	9	8	13	44	49	8	3	4	30	16	1	5	9	14	33	-5	26
12	West Bromwich Albion	30	10	6	14	33	56	7	2	6	18	16	3	4	8	15	40	-23	26		0-1	0-4
13	Stoke	30	11	3	16	48	59	8	3	4	30	18	3	0	12	18	41	-11	25		4-0	0-3
14	Blackburn Rovers	30	11	3	16	35	62	8	1	6	27	25	3	2	10	8	37	-27	25		2-1	0-0
15	Sunderland	30	7	9	14	34	47	4	6	5	21	21	3	3	9	13	26	-13	23	Remained in 1st Div after playoffs	2-1	2-2
16	Burnley	30	6	7	17	43	61	4	5	6	25	25	2	2	11	18	36	-18	19	Relegated after playoffs	4-1	2-2

SECOND DIVISION (Tier 2) - 1896-97

SEASON END TABLE								Home					Away
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Result
1	Notts County	30	19	4	7	92	43	12	1	2	60	18	7	3	5	32	25	49	42	Promoted after playoffs
2	Newton Heath	30	17	5	8	56	34	11	4	0	37	10	6	1	8	19	24	22	39	Lost in playoffs
3	Grimsby Town	30	17	4	9	66	45	12	2	1	44	15	5	2	8	22	30	21	38
4	Small Heath	30	16	5	9	69	47	8	3	4	36	23	8	2	5	33	24	22	37
5	Newcastle United	30	17	1	12	56	52	13	1	1	42	13	4	0	11	14	39	4	35
6	Manchester City	30	12	8	10	58	50	10	3	2	39	15	2	5	8	19	35	8	32
7	Gainsborough Trinity	30	12	7	11	50	47	10	2	3	35	16	2	5	8	15	31	3	31
8	Blackpool	30	13	5	12	59	56	11	3	1	39	16	2	2	11	20	40	3	31
9	Leicester Fosse	30	13	4	13	59	57	11	2	2	44	20	2	2	11	15	37	2	30
10	Woolwich Arsenal	30	13	4	13	68	70	10	1	4	42	20	3	3	9	26	50	-2	30
11	Darwen	30	14	0	16	67	61	13	0	2	54	16	1	0	14	13	45	6	28
12	Walsall	30	11	4	15	54	69	8	2	5	37	25	3	2	10	17	44	-15	26
13	Loughborough	30	12	1	17	50	64	10	0	5	37	14	2	1	12	13	50	-14	25
14	Burton Swifts	30	9	6	15	46	61	7	4	4	33	20	2	2	11	13	41	-15	24	Re-elected
15	Burton Wanderers	30	9	2	19	31	67	8	1	6	22	22	1	1	13	9	45	-36	20	Failed re-election
16	Lincoln City	30	5	2	23	27	85	4	2	9	17	27	1	0	14	10	58	-58	12	Re-elected

TEST-MATCH GAMES

Date	Leg	Team (Division)	Score	Team (Division)
First Round
Sat Apr 17, 1897	1	Notts County (2)	1-0	Sunderland (1)
Mon Apr 19, 1897	1	Burnley (1)	2-0	Newton Heath (2)
Mon Apr 19, 1897	2	Sunderland (1)	0-0	Notts County (2)
Wed Apr 21, 1897	2	Newton Heath (2)	2-0	Burnley (1)
Second Round
Sat Apr 24, 1897	1	Burnley (1)	0-1	Notts County (2)
Sat Apr 24, 1897	1	Newton Heath (2)	1-1	Sunderland (1)
Mon Apr 26, 1897	2	Notts County (2)	1-1	Burnley (1)
Mon Apr 26, 1897	2	Sunderland (1)	2-0	Newton Heath (2)

Final table

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Notts County	4	2	2	0	3	1	2	6	Promoted to Division One
2	Sunderland	4	1	2	1	3	2	1	4	Remained in Division One
3	Burnley	4	1	1	2	3	4	-1	3	Relegated to Division Two
4	Newton Heath	4	1	1	2	3	5	-2	3	Remained in Division Two

1897-98

1897-98 was the final year of the Test Matches and again saw four teams playing in a Test Match league. Two teams from each division made the playoffs, with the two First Division teams playing both of the Second Division teams over two-legs (home and away). This season saw all four teams end up in Division 1 after the decision to expand the top flight from 12 to 18 teams. Initially Stoke kept their place in Division One and Burnely won poromtion while Blackburn Rovers were relegated to Division to join Newcastle United, but this was all for nothing after the league decided to add more teams.

END OF SEASON TABLES

FIRST DIVISION (Tier 1) - 1897-98

SEASON END TABLE								Home					Away								Results
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Result	Home	Away
1	Sheffield United	30	17	8	5	56	31	9	4	2	27	14	8	4	3	29	17	25	42	Champions	1-1	1-1
2	Sunderland	30	16	5	9	43	30	12	2	1	27	8	4	3	8	16	22	13	37		1-1	0-4
3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	30	14	7	9	57	41	10	4	1	36	14	4	3	8	21	27	16	35		1-1	0-0
4	Everton	30	13	9	8	48	39	11	3	1	33	12	2	6	7	15	27	9	35		2-2	0-2
5	The Wednesday	30	15	3	12	51	42	12	0	3	39	15	3	3	9	12	27	9	33		1-0	6-3
6	Aston Villa	30	14	5	11	61	51	12	1	2	47	21	2	4	9	14	30	10	33		3-1	0-2
7	West Bromwich Albion	30	11	10	9	44	45	8	5	2	25	16	3	5	7	19	29	-1	32		0-1	0-2
8	Nottingham Forest	30	11	9	10	47	49	7	5	3	30	19	4	4	7	17	30	-2	31
9	Liverpool	30	11	6	13	48	45	7	4	4	27	16	4	2	9	21	29	3	28		2-3	2-1
10	Derby County	30	11	6	13	57	61	10	3	2	40	19	1	3	11	17	42	-4	28		3-4	0-5
11	Bolton Wanderers	30	11	4	15	28	41	9	2	4	18	13	2	2	11	10	28	-13	26		2-0	0-2
12	Preston North End	30	8	8	14	35	43	7	5	3	26	15	1	3	11	9	28	-8	24		4-1	0-3
13	Notts County	30	8	8	14	36	46	4	6	5	23	23	4	2	9	13	23	-10	24		1-1	3-1
14	Bury	30	8	8	14	39	51	8	3	4	25	19	0	5	10	14	32	-12	24		3-1	2-2
15	Blackburn Rovers	30	7	10	13	39	54	4	7	4	20	22	3	3	9	19	32	-15	24	Remained in 1st Div after league expansion	3-1	1-1
16	Stoke	30	8	8	14	35	55	8	3	4	21	14	0	5	10	14	41	-20	24	Remained in 1st Div after playoffs	3-1	2-1

SECOND DIVISION (Tier 2) - 1897-98

SEASON END TABLE								Home					Away
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Result
1	Burnley	30	20	8	2	80	24	14	1	0	64	13	6	7	2	16	11	56	48	Promoted after playoffs
2	Newcastle United	30	21	3	6	64	32	14	0	1	43	10	7	3	5	21	22	32	45	Promoted to 1st Div after league expansion
3	Manchester City	30	15	9	6	66	36	10	4	1	45	15	5	5	5	21	21	30	39
4	Newton Heath	30	16	6	8	64	35	11	2	2	42	10	5	4	6	22	25	29	38
5	Woolwich Arsenal	30	16	5	9	69	49	10	4	1	41	14	6	1	8	28	35	20	37
6	Small Heath	30	16	4	10	58	50	11	1	3	37	18	5	3	7	21	32	8	36
7	Leicester Fosse	30	13	7	10	46	35	8	5	2	26	11	5	2	8	20	24	11	33
8	Luton Town	30	13	4	13	68	50	10	2	3	50	13	3	2	10	18	37	18	30
9	Gainsborough Trinity	30	12	6	12	50	54	10	4	1	30	12	2	2	11	20	42	-4	30
10	Walsall	30	12	5	13	58	58	9	3	3	42	15	3	2	10	16	43	0	29
11	Blackpool	30	10	5	15	49	61	8	4	3	32	15	2	1	12	17	46	-12	25
12	Grimsby Town	30	10	4	16	52	62	9	1	5	44	24	1	3	11	8	38	-10	24
13	Burton Swifts	30	8	5	17	38	69	7	3	5	25	21	1	2	12	13	48	-31	21
14	Lincoln City	30	6	5	19	43	82	6	3	6	27	27	0	2	13	16	55	-39	17	Re-elected
15	Darwen	30	6	2	22	31	76	4	1	10	21	32	2	1	12	10	44	-45	14	Re-elected
16	Loughborough	30	6	2	22	24	87	5	2	8	15	26	1	0	14	9	61	-63	14	Re-elected

TEST-MATCH GAMES

Date	Leg	Team (Division)	Score	Team (Division)
First Round
Thu Apr 20, 1989	1	Newcastle United (2)	2-1	Stoke (1)
Fri Apr 21, 1989	1	Blackburn Rovers (1)	1-3	Burnley (2)
Sun Apr 23, 1989	2	Burnley (2)	2-0	Blackburn Rovers (1)
Sun Apr 23, 1989	2	Stoke (1)	1-0	Newcastle United (2)
Second Round
Wed Apr 26, 1989	1	Burnley (2)	0-2	Stoke (1)
Fri Apr 28, 1989	1	Blackburn Rovers (1)	4-3	Newcastle United (2)
Sun Apr 30, 1989	2	Newcastle United (2)	4-0	Blackburn Rovers (1)
Sun Apr 30, 1989	2	Stoke (1)	0-0	Burnley (2)

Final table (and initial results that were made irrelevant after expansion)

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Stoke City	4	2	1	1	4	2	2	5	Remained in Division One
2	Burnley	4	2	1	1	5	3	2	5	Promoted to Division One
3	Newcastle United	4	2	0	2	9	6	3	4	Remained in Division Two
4	Blackburn Rovers	4	1	0	3	5	12	-7	2	Relegated to Division Two