The Full Story
The Football League began in 1888, founded by William McGregor, a Scottish draper and Aston Villa committee man in Birmingham. The 12 founding clubs were nearly all from the industrial Midlands and Lancashire: Preston North End, Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion, Accrington, Everton, Burnley, Derby County, Notts County, and Stoke.
These weren't aristocratic clubs. They were rooted in working-class communities. Preston North End were called 'the Invincibles' when they won the first league without losing a match. Their players were professionals, working men paid to play.
The southern gentlemen who controlled the Football Association had tried to keep the game amateur. They wanted football played for love, not money. In practice, that meant only rich men who didn't need wages could compete.
The northern clubs broke that model. They paid players. They built stadiums. They created competition structures that drew crowds of thousands. Football became the people's game: owned by communities, supported by working families, reflecting local pride.
The professional league that McGregor founded spread worldwide. But it started in the textile towns of Lancashire and the factories of the Black Country, working-class places creating working-class entertainment.
Why This Matters
The Football League shows working-class communities creating their own culture. The FA's rules of 1863 came from the public schools and universities, but the professional game, the league, the stadiums and the crowds were organised from below.