Events

• February 1 - Royal Arsenal
  Arsenal F.C.
  Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
  
   move to Manor Ground
  Manor Ground, Plumstead
  The Manor Ground in Plumstead, south east London was a football stadium which, between 1888 & 1890, and 1893 & 1913, was the home of the football club formerly known as Royal Arsenal, renamed Woolwich Arsenal in 1893, and later simply Arsenal F.C...
  
  , their first permanent stadium, playing their first match there, against Millwall Rovers
  Millwall F.C.
  Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
  
  .
• March 23 - A meeting of 12 clubs at Anderson's Hotel in London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
   on the eve of the FA Cup Final, convened by Aston Villa
  Aston Villa F.C.
  Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
  
  's William McGregor, discusses the possibility of a national football league competition.
• April 17 - A further meeting at Manchester
  Manchester
  Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
  
  's Royal Hotel leads to the competition being named The Football League
  The Football League
  The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
  
  .
• September 8 - The first Football League matches are played.

Clubs founded in 1888

• Barnet
  Barnet F.C.
  Barnet Football Club is an English football team from High Barnet, London, England, currently playing in Football League Two. The ground is in the town of Barnet within the London Borough of Barnet....
  
  
• Celtic
  Celtic F.C.
  Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
  
  
• Dartford
  Dartford F.C.
  Dartford F.C. are an English football club based in Dartford, Kent. After finishing as champions of the Isthmian League Division One North in the 2007–08 season, they compete in the Isthmian League Premier Division. They finished in 8th position in their first season...
  
  
• Sparta Rotterdam
  Sparta Rotterdam
  Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands, established on April 1, 1888. Sparta is one of three professional football clubs from Rotterdam, the others being Excelsior and Feyenoord , the latter playing in the Eredivisie.-History:Sparta was first founded in 1887....
  
  
• Walsall
  Walsall F.C.
  Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...
  
  

Winners club national championship

• No national leagues existed prior to 1888, when the English Football League was founded. The first champions, Preston North End
  Preston North End F.C.
  Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
  
  , emerged in the spring of 1889.

International tournaments

• 1888 British Home Championship
  1888 British Home Championship
  The 1888 British Home Championship was the fifth edition of the annual international football tournament played between the British Home Nations...
  
  (February 4 – April 7, 1888)