Preston North End: The story of the original English ‘Invincibles’
In the 2003/04 season, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal did the unthinkable and went a whole season unbeaten in the Premier League to claim the English top-flight title and write a small piece of history.
It was a massive achievement for the club from north London and earned the Gunners the nickname ‘The Invincibles’. While it was an impressive feat to achieve, it wasn’t the first time a team had achieved something as outstanding in the English top flight.
In fact, the Gunners were not the first English team to earn the nickname ‘The Invincibles’ either. Here is the story of the original English ‘Invincibles’:
Who were the original ‘Invincibles’ of the English game?
The original ‘Invincibles’ of the English game were Preston North End in season 1888/89. The term ‘The Invincibles’ was actually used before Preston’s unbeaten season and even before the inaugural Football League competition.
It was initially a derogatory term for North End that was first used in 1883 because Preston was a club with professional status, as it was one of the first English clubs to pay their players, which at the time was considered slightly underhand.
In fact, Preston’s professional status worked against them in the 1894 FA Cup, as opponents West Ham lodged an official complaint that North End shouldn’t be in the competition due to their status. The FA agreed with the Hammers’ argument, and Preston were thrown out of the competition.
The inaugural winners of the Football League
The view of the club from Lancashire slightly changed in the inaugural Football League season, as they became the first winners of the 12-team top flight. They also won the FA Cup, completing the first double in the history of the English game.
North End is the only club in English football history to have done the top-flight and FA Cup double while remaining undefeated.
The phrase ‘The Invincibles’ returned as a more positive acknowledgement of Preston’s achievements during the campaign than the derisory one previously used in the years before the establishment of the Football League.
In total, Preston played 27 games in season 1888/89, remaining unbeaten in all of them. They won 18, drew four of their 22 league games, and won all five of their FA Cup matches.
Not only did Preston have the most potent attack in the English top flight, scoring a highly impressive 74 goals, but they also conceded just 15 times. No team even came close to their defensive record, as the team with the next best record was third-place Wolverhampton Wanderers, who conceded 37 goals.
They even stretched their unbeaten run into the first game of the following season. However, they suffered their first-ever league defeat in their second game of that campaign, losing 5-3 against Aston Villa.
However, Preston retained the English top-flight crown that season. They finished as runners-up in the subsequent three campaigns. The 1889/90 season saw the Lilywhites win their last-ever English top-flight title.
The team and club went into a decline, and the north west outfit has failed to recapture the magic of the success in the Football League’s inaugural campaigns.
Preston North End have spent recent decades outside of the top-flight
While they made an illustrious start to life in the Football League, Preston has spent much of the last half a century outside of the English top flight. Competition from other local giants of football has also meant that North End has suffered when it has come to attendance at their home games at Deepdale.
The once-great club has become a shadow of itself, but in recent years, things have looked slightly brighter for North End, as they have established themselves as a regular in the English second tier.
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The club’s ultimate aim would be to return to their former glories. However, football and the world have changed since Preston were the kings of the English game.
Even if North End never return to its former glories, then the north west club will always have a place in English folklore as one of the country’s most historic clubs. Hopefully, their legend will never be forgotten with the sands of time, and they will be talked about for some time to come.