Final League Table
Pn Team Pd W D L     F     A W D L     F     A   Pts Res
1 Preston North E. 22 10 1 0 39 7 8 3 0 35 8 40
2 Aston Villa 22 10 0 1 44 16 2 5 4 17 27 29
3 Wolverhampton W. 22 8 2 1 30 14 4 2 5 20 23 28
4 Blackburn Rovers 22 7 4 0 44 22 3 2 6 22 23 26
5 Bolton Wanderers 22 6 0 5 35 30 4 2 5 28 29 22
6 West Bromwich A. 22 6 2 3 25 24 4 0 7 15 22 22
7 Accrington 22 5 3 3 26 17 1 5 5 22 31 20
8 Everton 22 8 0 3 24 17 1 2 8 11 29 20
9 Burnley 22 6 3 2 21 19 1 0 10 21 43 17
10 Derby County 22 5 1 5 22 20 2 1 8 19 41 16
11 Notts. County 22 4 2 5 25 32 1 0 10 15 41 12
12 Stoke 22 3 4 4 15 18 1 0 10 11 33 12
The first league in the world, the Football League, started this season, but Sunderland were not invited to join it initially. During the season, they regularly proved more than a match for league teams in friendlies, and applied for entry for 1889-90; however they were turned down after receiving only 2 votes from member clubs in the election process.
  SAFC Record vs League Teams
Pd W D L     F     A W D L     F     A   Pts
Sunderland 9 6 2 0 26 22 0 0 1 1 10 14