| Season: | 1888–89 |
| League Result: | 7th (20 Points) |
| Cup1 Result: | First Round |
| League Topscorer: | Billy Barbour (13) |
| Pattern B1: | _collar_buttons_2 |
| Leftarm1: | ff0000 |
| Body1: | ff0000 |
| Rightarm1: | ff0000 |
| Shorts1: | 000066 |
| Socks1: | ff0000 |
| Nextseason: | 1889–90 |
The 1888–89 season was Accrington's first season in the Football League which had just been founded. Because of this Accrington became one of the founder members of the Football League. They finished in 7th position level on points with Everton.
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preston North End | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 74 | 15 | 4.933 | 40 | |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 61 | 43 | 1.419 | 29 | |
| 3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 50 | 37 | 1.351 | 28 | |
| 4 | Blackburn Rovers | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 66 | 45 | 1.467 | 26 | |
| 5 | Bolton Wanderers | 22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 63 | 59 | 1.068 | 22 | |
| 6 | West Bromwich Albion | 22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 40 | 46 | 0.870 | 22 | |
| 7 | Accrington | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 48 | 48 | 1.000 | 20 | |
| 8 | Everton | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 35 | 46 | 0.761 | 20 | |
| 9 | Burnley | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 42 | 62 | 0.677 | 17 | |
| 10 | Derby County | 22 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 41 | 61 | 0.672 | 16 | |
| 11 | Notts County | 22 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 40 | 73 | 0.548 | 12 | |
| 12 | Stoke | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 26 | 51 | 0.510 | 12 |
Accrington's score comes first
| Win | Draw | Loss |
See main article: 1888–89 Football League.
| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 September 1888 | Everton | A | 1 – 2 | 8,000 | Holden | |
| 2 | 15 September 1888 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 5 – 5 | 4,000 | Kirkham (2), Holden, Chippendale, Southworth (o.g.) | |
| 3 | 22 September 1888 | Derby County | A | 1 – 1 | 3,000 | Brand | |
| 4 | 29 September 1888 | Stoke | A | 4 – 2 | 3,000 | Brand (2), Barbour, Holden | |
| 5 | 6 October 1888 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 4 – 4 | 3,000 | Barbour (2), Brand, Holden | |
| 6 | 13 October 1888 | Derby County | H | 6 – 2 | 3,000 | Brand (3), Kirkham (2), Barbour | |
| 7 | 20 October 1888 | Preston North End | H | 0 – 0 | 6,000 | ||
| 8 | 27 October 1888 | Aston Villa | A | 3 – 4 | 6,000 | Barbour, Brand, Kirkham | |
| 9 | 3 November 1888 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 2 – 2 | 1,000 | Barbour (2) | |
| 10 | 10 November 1888 | Notts County | A | 3 – 3 | 8,000 | Barbour (2), Lofhouse | |
| 11 | 17 November 1888 | Preston North End | A | 0 – 2 | 7,000 | ||
| 12 | 24 November 1888 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 2 – 1 | 2,000 | Kirkham, Barbour | |
| 13 | 1 December 1888 | Burnley | H | 5 – 1 | 3,000 | Kirkham, Barbour (2), Brand (2) | |
| 14 | 8 December 1888 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 0 – 4 | 3,000 | ||
| 15 | 15 December 1888 | Aston Villa | H | 1 – 1 | 2,000 | Kirkham | |
| 16 | 22 December 1888 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1 – 4 | 5,000 | Bullough (o.g.) | |
| 17 | 29 December 1888 | Everton | H | 3 – 1 | 3,000 | Brand, Haworth, Lofhouse | |
| 18 | 12 January 1889 | Burnley | A | 2 – 2 | 6,000 | Kirkham, A Wilkinson | |
| 19 | 19 January 1889 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 0 – 2 | 4,000 | ||
| 20 | 26 January 1889 | Notts County | H | 1 – 2 | 5,000 | Kirkham | |
| 21 | 23 March 1889 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 2 – 3 | 3,000 | Kirkham (2) | |
| 22 | 20 April 1889 | Stoke | H | 2 – 0 | 2,000 | Gallocher, Barbour |
See main article: 1888–89 FA Cup.
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | 2 February 1889 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 1 – 1 | 3,000 | A Wilkinson | |
| R1 Replay | 9 February 1889 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 0 – 5 | 8,000 |
| Pos. | Name | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| FW | Billy Barbour | 19 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 13 |
| FW | Jim Bonar | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| FW | Bob Brand | 16 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 11 |
| HB | Peter Chippendale | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| FW | Hugh Galbraith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Pat Gallocher | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| HB | George Haworth | 21 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 1 |
| FW | J. Holden | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| GK | Johnny Horne | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| FW | John Kirkham | 19 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 12 |
| FW | Joe Lofthouse | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 2 |
| FW | Robert Macbeth | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FB | John McLellan | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| HB | Henry Parkinson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| HB | Luther Pemberton | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| FW | J. Robertson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FB | Stephen Smith-Singleton | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FB | John Stevenson | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| HB | James Tattersall | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| FW | Arthur Wilkinson | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| HB | Jonathan Wilkinson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| HB | J. Woods | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |