Where are they now - founder members Burnley back in the big time, but what about rest of the debut

26 May 2009 14:52
Burnley were promoted to the Barclays Premier League playing proper football - a style befitting one of the founding members of The Football League. In 1888 the club joined Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion, Everton, Wolves, Notts County, Derby County, Stoke and Accrington to form the world's first football league competition. The system of two points for a win and one for a draw remained for nearly a century and paved the way for domestic leagues around the globe. Since the opening day on September 8, 1888, just one of the original members, Accrington, has gone out of business, seven clubs will play top-flight football next season and three more will compete for the Championship. Notts County, who finished 19th in League Two last season, are the lowliest representatives of the founding members. After a 33-year absence, Burnley, the Division One Champions of 1920-21 and 1959-60, are back in the big time. But what about the rest of the original dozen? Here is Sportsmail's guide to where the founders of The Football League are now. Burnley The Clarets have come a long way from their opening day 5-2 loss against Preston North End in 1888. The club enjoyed a vintage season in 2008-09, reaching the semi-finals of the Carling Cup, the last 16 of the FA Cup and winning promotion to the Premier League with a 1-0 play-off victory over Sheffield United. Manager Owen Coyle will be linked with every high profile vacancy for the foreseeable future but Burnley's mix of youth and experience, penchant for playing attractive football and £60million Premier League pay day means the future's bright at Turf Moor. 2009-10: Premier League Aston Villa Villa's Gershom Cox, a full-back, was credited with scoring the first goal in League history. Unfortunately it was an own goal in a match away to Wolverhampton Wanderers - the only fixture to kick off at 3pm on September 8, 1888. The Midlands club, now managed by Martin O'Neill, will once again attempt to challenge the Premier League's 'Big Four' next season and will take their place in the Europa League after finishing sixth in 2008-09. 2009-10: Premier League Blackburn Rovers Rovers are the only founding member of The Football League to have won the Premier League (in 1995). The club was also one of the founding members (along with Everton and Aston Villa) to play in the first Premier League in 1992-93, when Rovers finished fourth after being promoted the previous season. Now managed by Sam Allardyce, the club had an indifferent season in 2008-09 after recovering from a dreadful start under Paul Ince to finish 15th in the top flight. The Burnley-Blackburn derby next season is sure to be a feisty encounter... 2009-10: Premier League Bolton Wanderers The Trotters, who have never been crowned English champions, finished 13th in the Premier League last season. Managed by Gary Megson (right), Bolton have been in the top flight since 2001 after gaining promotion thanks to a 3-0 win over Preston in the play-off final. 2009-10: Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers The First Division Champions of 1953-54, 1957-58, 1958-59 are back in the Premier League after a five-year absence. Mick McCarthy's 2008-09 Championship winners will be anxious to avoid a repeat of their last foray into the top flight, when Wolves lasted just a season and finished bottom. 2009-10: Premier League Everton David Moyes guided the Toffees to fifth place in the Premier League, Europa League qualification and an FA Cup Final clash with Chelsea in 2008-09. Everton have been in the Premier League since it began in 1992 and, after flirting with relegation in 2000-01 and 2003-04, are now firmly established as a top six team. 2009-10: Premier League Stoke The club's tenure in The Football League did not start well. Stoke finished bottom in the first season, had to be re-elected to the League and were then thrashed 10-0 by Preston on the opening day of the 1889-90 season. The result is still the club's record League defeat. Stoke, who were established in 1863, are the oldest club in the Premier League and adopted the name Stoke City in 1928. Tony Pulis' side surprised the pundits by ensuring survival in 2008-09 as their no-nonsense style of football took them to 12th place. 2009-10: Premier League Preston North End The original 'Invincibles', Preston went through the inaugural Football League season unbeaten and became the first club to do the Double with a 3-0 win over Bolton Wanderers in the 1889 FA Cup final. Alan Irvine's Preston finished sixth in the Championship this season and sneaked into the play-offs ahead of Cardiff City on the last day of the season, having scored one more goal than the Welsh side. A 2-1 aggregate score against Sheffield United in the semi-finals ended Preston's campaign in 2008-09. 2009-10: Championship Derby County The Division One champions of 1971-72 and 74-75 finished 18th in the Championship last season after Nigel Clough guided the Rams to safety. Derby County also reached the semi-finals of the Carling Cup, beating Manchester United 1-0 at Pride Park before losing 4-2 in the second leg at Old Trafford. 2009-10: Championship West Bromwich Albion The Division One champions of 1919-20 repeated the feat in 2007-08, although the Championship was by then the second tier of English football. Promotion to the promised land of the Premier League followed, but Tony Mowbray's side finished bottom with 32 points and were relegated alongside Middlesbrough and Newcastle. 2009-10: Championship Notts County The oldest football League club in the world, Notts County were formed in 1862 but were restricted to friendly matches until 1888. Some 121 years later the Magpies, who have never been crowned Champions of England, are playing in the fourth tier of English football. Ian McParland's side finished 19th in League Two last season. 2009-10: League Two Accrington Accrington resigned from The Football League in 1893 after finishing second from bottom, losing a play-off against Sheffield United and deciding they would rather not play in the Second Division. The club continued to play friendlies and cup competitions until a 12-0 defeat in the Lancashire Senior Cup on January 14 1896 triggered Accrington's demise and it folded owing to financial difficulties. Accrington are not to be confused with Accrington Stanley, who began life as Stanley Villa and took the Accrington part of their name after the town's original club collapsed. 2009-10: N/A

Source: Daily_Mail