English Football League (EFL) Replica Trophy 1:1 Full size

■Size: 43cm (17 inch)

■Weight: 4.5kg

■Scale : 1: 1

■Color: Sterling Silve

■Material: Resin 100% Brand New

After four years of debate, the Football Association finally permitted professionalism on 20 July 1885. Before that date many clubs made payments to "professional" players to boost the competitiveness of their teams, breaking FA rules and arousing the contempt of those clubs abiding by the laws of the amateur Football Association code.[citation needed] As more and more clubs became professional the ad-hoc fixture list of FA Cup, inter-county, and ordinary matches was seen by many as an unreliable stream of revenue, and ways were considered of ensuring a consistent income. A Scottish director of Birmingham-based Aston Villa, William McGregor, was the first to set out to bring some order to a chaotic world where clubs arranged their own fixtures, along with various cup competitions.[8] On 22 March 1888, he wrote to the committee of his own club, Aston Villa, as well as to those of Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End, Stoke and West Bromwich Albion; suggesting the creation of a league competition that would provide a number of guaranteed fixtures for its member clubs each season. His idea might have been based upon a description of a proposal for an early American college football league, publicised in the English media in 1887 which stated: "measures would be taken to form a new football league ... [consisting of] a schedule containing two championship games between every two colleges composing the league". The first meeting was held at Anderton's Hotel in London on 23 March 1888 on the eve of the FA Cup Final.[12] The Football League was formally created and named in Manchester at a further meeting on 17 April at the Royal Hotel.[12] The name "Association Football Union" was proposed by McGregor but this was felt too close to "Rugby Football Union". Instead, "The Football League" was proposed by Major William Sudell, representing Preston, and quickly agreed upon.[8] Although the Royal Hotel is long gone, the site is marked with a commemorative red plaque on the Royal Buildings in Market Street. The first season of the Football League began a few months later on 8 September with twelve member clubs from the Midlands and north of England: Accrington, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke (renamed Stoke City in 1926),[13] West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Each club played the others twice, once at home and once away, and two points were awarded for a win and one for a draw. This points system was not agreed upon until after the season had started; the alternative proposal was one point for a win only. Preston won the first league title without losing a game and completed the first league?cup double by also taking the FA Cup. Teams finishing at the bottom of the table were required to reapply for their position in the league for the following year in a process called "re-election". In 1890, Stoke was not re-elected to the league and was replaced for the 1890?91 season by Sunderland, who won it in their second, third, and fifth year. Stoke was re-elected for the 1891?92 season, along with Darwen, to take the league to fourteen clubs. Preston North End, Aston Villa, and Sunderland dominated the early years of the game. In the first ten seasons, the only other clubs to win (single) league titles were Everton and Sheffield United.