Football League

Football League, English football league instituted in 1888. It was the idea of William McGregor, an Aston Villa official, who called the first meeting of interested clubs to Anderton's Hotel, Fleet Street, London on March 22, 1888. The first formal meeting took place the following April at the Royal Hotel, Manchester. Here, 12 members, all from the Midlands or North of England, agreed to form the Football League. The first matches were played in September. A Second Division was created in 1892 when most members of the old Football Alliance joined the league, and a Third Division was added in 1920. When 20 northern clubs joined the League in 1921 the Third Division was split into Northern and Southern sections. The complement of 92 clubs was reached in 1950 and in 1958 the divided Third Division was split into the Third and Fourth Divisions.

In 1992, the 22 clubs comprising the First Division of the Football League broke away to form the Football Association (FA) Premier League, thus reducing the Football League to three divisions (First, Second, and Third). Further changes took place prior to the 2004-2005 season with the First Division being retitled “The Championship” and Divisions Two and Three becoming League One and League Two respectively.