| Season: | 1888–89 |
| Mgrtitle: | Club secretary |
| League Result: | 3rd |
| League Topscorer: | Harry Wood (13) |
| Season Topscorer: | Harry Wood (14) |
| Highest Attendance: | 10,000 (vs The Wednesday, 2 March 1889) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 2,000 (vs Bolton, 10 November 1888) |
| Average Attendance: | 4,545 (league only) |
| Pattern La1: | _wolverhampton_88_89 |
| Pattern B1: | _wolverhampton_88_89 |
| Pattern Ra1: | _wolverhampton_88_89 |
| Pattern Sh1: | _whitesides |
| Shorts1: | 000000 |
| Socks1: | 000000 |
| Nextseason: | 1889–90 |
The 1888–89 season was the first season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played in the inaugural season of the newly formed Football League. The club finished in third place in the league, and as runners-up in the FA Cup.
The team scored the first goal in Football League history when they took the lead against Aston Villa on the league's opening day. This match, as with all other home games for Wolves, was staged at Dudley Road in Wolverhampton, the only league campaign in which the club have not been based at Molineux.
See also: 1888–89 Football League. A total of twelve teams competed in the inaugural Football League in the 1888 - 89 season. Each team would play every other team twice, once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Two points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats.
| width=30 | Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preston North End | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 74 | 15 | 4.93 | 40 | |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 61 | 43 | 1.42 | 29 | |
| 3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 51 | 37 | 1.38 | 28 | |
| 4 | Blackburn Rovers | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 66 | 45 | 1.47 | 26 | |
See also: 1888–89 FA Cup.
| Pos. | Name | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| HB | Harry Allen | 22 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 28 | 1 |
| FW | Nick Anderson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FB | Dickie Baugh | 22 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| GK | Jack Baynton | 18 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| HB | John Benton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | John Brodie | 18 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 12 |
| HB | Alec Cannon | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| FW | Joe Cooper | 21 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 6 |
| HB | R. Dudley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| HB | Albert Fletcher | 16 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 22 | 2 |
| FW | Tommy Hunter | 20 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 26 | 6 |
| FW | Tommy Knight | 17 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 23 | 12 |
| HB | Arthur Lowder | 18 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 24 | 2 |
| FB | Charlie Mason | 20 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 26 | 1 |
| GK | William Rose | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FW | T. Tomkyes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Walter White | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| FW | Harry Wood | 17 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 23 | 14 |
| FW | David Wykes | 18 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 24 | 7 |
Book: Brown, Tony. The Football League Match by Match 1888-89 to 1892-93. 2010. SoccerData. 978-1-899468-44-7.