1987–88 Football League

Final league tables and results

The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website, with home and away statistics separated.

First Division

17th English title Portsmouth Watford Oxford United (26 goals) Liverpool won the league title by nine points, and with only two defeats all season. Second in the league were Manchester United.

The automatically relegated sides were Watford, Oxford United and Portsmouth. Chelsea were subsequently relegated as well after losing to Middlesbrough in the playoff final.

Final table

First Division results

Managerial changes

First Division maps

Arsenal Charlton Athletic Chelsea Tottenham Queens Park Rangers Watford West Ham Wimbledon

Arsenal Charlton Chelsea Coventry Derby County Everton Liverpool Luton Town Manchester United Newcastle Norwich City Nottingham Forest Oxford Portsmouth QPR Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Tottenham Watford West Ham Wimbledon

Second Division

Aston Villa Middlesbrough Reading Huddersfield Town (7 November 1987) (7 November 1987) (2 January 1988) Millwall lifted the Second Division championship trophy and gained promotion to the First Division for the first time in their history. Runners-up were Aston Villa, and Middlesbrough won promotion via play-offs.

Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United were relegated.

Second Division play-offs

The team fourth from bottom of the First Division played off for one place in that division with the teams finishing third, fourth and fifth in the Second Division. In the semi-final, Chelsea of the First Division beat fifth-placed Blackburn Rovers 6–1 on aggregate, and third-placed Middlesbrough beat Bradford City 3–2 on aggregate. The final was also played over two legs. Playing at their Ayresome Park ground in front of a crowd of 25,531, Middlesbrough duly won the first leg 2–0 with goals from Bernie Slaven and Trevor Senior. In the second leg at Stamford Bridge, which was marred by violence perpetrated by some of the 40,550 spectators, Chelsea's Gordon Durie scored the only goal. Thus Middlesbrough won 2–1 on aggregate and were promoted to the First Division for 1988–89, while Chelsea were relegated to the Second.

1st leg – 25 May; 2nd leg – 28 May 1988 | score-width=30px | team-width=200px | RD1-seed1=5 | RD1-team1=Blackburn Rovers | RD1-score1-1=0 | RD1-score1-2=1 | RD1-score1-3=1 | RD1-seed2=1D | RD1-team2=Chelsea | RD1-score2-1=2 | RD1-score2-2=4 | RD1-score2-3=6 | RD1-seed3=4 | RD1-team3=Bradford City | RD1-score3-1=2 | RD1-score3-2=0 | RD1-score3-3=2 | RD1-seed4=3 | RD1-team4=Middlesbrough | RD1-score4-1=1 | RD1-score4-2=2 | RD1-score4-3=3 | RD2-seed1=1D | RD2-team1=Chelsea | RD2-score1-1=0 | RD2-score1-2=1 | RD2-score1-3=1 | RD2-seed2=3 | RD2-team2=Middlesbrough | RD2-score2-1=2 | RD2-score2-2=0 | RD2-score2-3=2

Source:

Second Division results

Third Division

Brighton & Hove Albion Walsall Grimsby Town York City Doncaster Rovers Sunderland won the Third Division and went back up to the Second Division. They were joined by runners-up Brighton & Hove Albion and playoff winners Walsall. The automatic relegation places were occupied by Grimsby Town, York City and Doncaster Rovers, with Rotherham United relegated after play-offs.

Third Division play-offs

1st leg – 25 May; 2nd leg – 28 May 1988 | score-width=30px | team-width=200px | RD1-seed1=21st | RD1-team1=Sheffield United (Div 2) | RD1-score1-1=0 | RD1-score1-2=1 | RD1-score1-3=1 | RD1-seed2=5th | RD1-team2=**Bristol City ** | RD1-score2-1=1 | RD1-score2-2=1 | RD1-score2-3=2 | RD1-seed3=3rd | RD1-team3=Walsall | RD1-score3-1=3 | RD1-score3-2=1 | RD1-score3-3=4 | RD1-seed4=4th | RD1-team4=Notts County | RD1-score4-1=1 | RD1-score4-2=1 | RD1-score4-3=2 | RD2-seed1=3rd | RD2-team1=Walsall | RD2-score1-1=3 | RD2-score1-2=0 | RD2-score1-3=3 | RD2-seed2=5th | RD2-team2=Bristol City | RD2-score2-1=1 | RD2-score2-2=2 | RD2-score2-3=3

;Replay

Third Division results

|match_ALD_B&HA=1-4

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|name_B&HA=Brighton & Hove Albion |match_B&HA_ALD=1-1 |match_B&HA_BLP=1-3 |match_B&HA_BRE=2-1 |match_B&HA_BRC=3-2 |match_B&HA_BRR=2-1 |match_B&HA_BRY=2-1 |match_B&HA_CHE=1-0 |match_B&HA_CHF=2-2 |match_B&HA_DON=2-0 |match_B&HA_FUL=2-0 |match_B&HA_GIL=2-0 |match_B&HA_GRI=0-0 |match_B&HA_MAN=3-1 |match_B&HA_NOR=3-0 |match_B&HA_NTC=1-1 |match_B&HA_PTV=2-0 |match_B&HA_PNE=0-0 |match_B&HA_ROT=1-1 |match_B&HA_STD=0-0 |match_B&HA_SUN=3-1 |match_B&HA_WAL=2-1 |match_B&HA_WIG=1-0 |match_B&HA_YOR=1-0

|match_BRC_B&HA=5-2

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|match_DON_B&HA=0-2

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[[Football League Fourth Division|Fourth Division]]

Wolves ended their two-year tenure in the Fourth Division by finishing top of the table and winning promotion to the Third Division. They also won the Sherpa Van Trophy final by defeating Burnley at Wembley.

Bolton Wanderers, Cardiff City and Swansea City were also promoted.

Newport County were relegated for the second successive season. They were replaced in the Football League by Lincoln City.

Bolton Wanderers Swansea City

[[Football League Two|Fourth Division play-offs]]

Main article: Football League Two play-offs#1988

1st leg – 25 May; 2nd leg – 28 May 1988 | score-width=30px | team-width=200px | RD1-seed1=21st | RD1-team1=Rotherham United (Div 3) | RD1-score1-1=0 | RD1-score1-2=1 | RD1-score1-3=1 | RD1-seed2=6th | RD1-team2=Swansea City | RD1-score2-1=1 | RD1-score2-2=1 | RD1-score2-3=2 | RD1-seed3=4th | RD1-team3=Scunthorpe United | RD1-score3-1=1 | RD1-score3-2=1 | RD1-score3-3=2 | RD1-seed4=5th | RD1-team4=Torquay United | RD1-score4-1=2 | RD1-score4-2=1 | RD1-score4-3=3 | RD2-seed1=6th | RD2-team1=Swansea City | RD2-score1-1=2 | RD2-score1-2=3 | RD2-score1-3=5 | RD2-seed2=5th | RD2-team2= Torquay United | RD2-score2-1=1 | RD2-score2-2=3 | RD2-score2-3=4

Fourth Division results

Goalscorers

The top goalscorers in each division were:

• Division 1 - John Aldridge (26)
• Division 2 - David Currie (28)
• Division 3 - David Crown (26)
• Division 4 - Steve Bull (34)

Attendances

Sources:

First Division

!#!!Football club!!Home games!!Average attendance |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Liverpool FC || 20 || 39,683 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Manchester United || 20 || 39,105 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Arsenal FC || 20 || 29,903 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Everton FC || 20 || 27,782 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Tottenham Hotspur || 20 || 25,921 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Newcastle United || 20 || 21,038 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Chelsea FC || 20 || 20,427 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || West Ham United || 20 || 19,822 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Sheffield Wednesday || 20 || 19,797 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Nottingham Forest || 20 || 19,273 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Coventry City || 20 || 17,508 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Derby County || 20 || 17,280 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Portsmouth FC || 20 || 15,909 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Norwich City || 20 || 15,763 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Watford FC || 20 || 14,536 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Southampton FC || 20 || 14,536 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Queens Park Rangers || 20 || 13,141 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Charlton Athletic || 20 || 8,681 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Oxford United || 20 || 8,388 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Luton Town || 20 || 8,157 |- | style"text-align:center;"| _row_count || Wimbledon FC || 20 || 8,016 |- |} }}

Second Division

References

References

1. "England 1987–88". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
2. "English League Leading Goalscorers".
3. English teams were [[Heysel Disaster#Teams affected by the ban. banned by UEFA from its competitions]] from season 1985–86 until 1990–91 because of the [[Heysel Disaster]].
4. English teams were [[Heysel Disaster#Teams affected by the ban. banned by UEFA from its competitions]] from season 1985–86 until 1990–91 because of the [[Heysel Disaster]].
5. English teams were [[Heysel Disaster#Teams affected by the ban. banned by UEFA from its competitions]] from season 1985–86 until 1990–91 because of the [[Heysel Disaster]].
6. English teams were [[Heysel Disaster#Teams affected by the ban. banned by UEFA from its competitions]] from season 1985–86 until 1990–91 because of the [[Heysel Disaster]].
7. Felton, Paul. "Season 1987–88". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF).
8. "Chelsea Football Club Match Results Season 1987–1988".
9. Barley, Sophie. (3 August 2015). "'The Battle of Stamford Bridge': Violent scenes on a victorious day for Boro". The Gazette.
10. "English Division One–Two (old) Play-Offs 1987–1988". Statto.
11. "Season 1987-88".
12. James M Ross. (15 July 2011). "Football League Div 1 & 2 Leading Goalscorers 1947-92".
13. James M Ross. (15 July 2011). "Football League Div 3 & 4 Leading Goalscorers 1947-92".
14. https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/eng/aveeng1988.htm
15. "Premier League 1987/1988 - Attendance".