1987–88 Football League

89th season of the Football League November 2020 September 2012 The Football League 1987–88 Liverpool Newport County New club in League Scarborough 1986–87 1988–89 The 1987–88 season was the 89th completed season of The 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,https://www.rsssf.org/engpaul/FLA/1987-88.html England 1987–88 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation 2010-02-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20100127122453/http://www.rsssf.com/engpaul/FLA/1987-88.html 27 January 2010 live with home and away statistics separated. First Division First Division 1987–88 Liverpool17th English title ChelseaPortsmouthWatfordOxford United John Aldridge(26 goals)https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engtops.html English League Leading Goalscorers RSSSF 2010-10-31 420 1049 1986–87 1988–89 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 main WDL First Division World Football LIV, MUN, NFO, EVE, QPR, ARS, WIM, NEW, LUT, COV, SHW, SOU, TOT, NOR, DER, WHU, CHA, CHE, POR, WAT, OXF EXEC CENEXUC CEN CEN CEN CEN EXCWC CEN EXUC RPO REL REL REL complete 18 12 10 58 39 9 15 16 38 52 9 15 16 50 68 13 14 13 46 53 10 13 17 35 45 19 13 8 53 27 26 12 2 87 24 14 11 15 57 58 23 12 5 71 38 14 14 12 55 53 12 9 19 40 52 20 13 7 67 39 6 13 21 44 80 7 14 19 36 66 19 10 11 48 38 15 8 17 52 66 12 14 14 49 53 12 11 17 38 48 7 11 22 27 51 9 15 16 40 52 14 15 11 58 47 C R R R R Arsenal Charlton Athletic Chelsea Coventry City Derby County Everton Liverpool Luton Town Manchester United Newcastle United Norwich City Nottingham Forest Oxford United Portsmouth Queens Park Rangers Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Tottenham Hotspur Watford West Ham United Wimbledon 5 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored QR green1 Qualified for the Football League Centenary Trophy and disqualified from the European CupEnglish teams were banned by UEFA from its competitions from season 1985–86 until 1990–91 because of the Heysel Disaster. green1 Qualified for the Football League Centenary Trophy and disqualified from the European Cup Winners' Cup white Disqualified from the UEFA Cup green1 Qualified for the Football League Centenary Trophy and disqualified from UEFA Cup green1 Qualified for the Football League Centenary Trophy red2 Qualified for Second Division play-offs red1 Relegated to Second Division Wimbledon would have qualified as FA Cup winners. Luton Town would have qualified as League Cup winners. Results main FBR grey ARS CHA CHE COV DER EVE LIV LUT MUN NEW NWC NOT OXF POR QPR SHW SOU TOT WAT WHU WDN Arsenal 4–0 3–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–2 2–1 1–2 1–1 2–0 0–2 2–0 6–0 0–0 3–1 0–1 2–1 0–1 1–0 3–0 Charlton Athletic 0–3 2–2 2–2 0–1 0–0 0–2 1–0 1–3 2–0 2–0 1–2 0–0 2–1 0–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 3–0 1–1 Chelsea 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 3–0 1–2 2–2 1–0 4–3 2–1 0–0 1–1 2–1 0–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 Coventry City 0–0 0–0 3–3 0–3 1–2 1–4 4–0 0–0 1–3 0–0 0–3 1–0 1–0 0–0 3–0 2–3 2–1 1–0 0–0 3–3 Derby County 0–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–2 2–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–2 2–2 2–0 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–1 Everton 1–2 1–1 4–1 1–2 3–0 1–0 2–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 2–1 2–0 4–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 3–1 2–2 Liverpool 2–0 3–2 2–1 4–0 4–0 2–0 1–1 3–3 4–0 0–0 5–0 2–0 4–0 4–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 4–0 0–0 2–1 Luton Town 1–1 1–0 3–0 0–1 1–0 2–1 0–1 1–1 4–0 1–2 1–1 7–4 4–1 2–1 2–2 2–2 2–0 2–1 2–2 2–0 Manchester United 0–0 0–0 3–1 1–0 4–1 2–1 1–1 3–0 2–2 2–1 2–2 3–1 4–1 2–1 4–1 0–2 1–0 2–0 3–1 2–1 Newcastle United 0–1 2–1 3–1 2–2 0–0 1–1 1–4 4–0 1–0 1–3 0–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–0 3–0 2–1 1–2 Norwich City 2–4 2–0 3–0 3–1 1–2 0–3 0–0 2–2 1–0 1–1 0–2 4–2 0–1 1–1 0–3 0–1 2–1 0–0 4–1 0–1 Nottingham Forest 0–1 2–2 3–2 4–1 2–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–2 2–0 5–3 5–0 4–0 3–0 3–3 3–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 Oxford United 0–0 2–1 4–4 1–0 0–0 1–1 0–3 2–5 0–2 1–3 3–0 0–2 4–2 2–0 0–3 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–2 2–5 Portsmouth 1–1 1–1 0–3 0–0 2–1 0–1 0–2 3–1 1–2 1–2 2–2 0–1 2–2 0–1 1–2 2–2 0–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 Queens Park Rangers 2–0 2–0 3–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 3–0 2–1 3–2 2–1 1–1 3–0 2–0 0–0 0–1 1–0 Sheffield Wednesday 3–3 2–0 3–0 0–3 2–1 1–0 1–5 0–2 2–4 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 3–1 2–1 0–3 2–3 2–1 1–0 Southampton 4–2 0–1 3–0 1–2 1–2 0–4 2–2 1–1 2–2 1–1 0–0 1–1 3–0 0–2 0–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–2 Tottenham Hotspur 1–2 0–1 1–0 2–2 0–0 2–1 0–2 2–1 1–1 3–1 1–3 1–1 3–0 0–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 0–3 Watford 2–0 2–1 0–3 0–1 1–1 1–2 1–4 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–0 3–0 0–0 0–1 1–3 0–1 1–1 1–2 1–0 West Ham United 0–1 1–1 4–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–0 3–2 1–1 1–1 0–3 0–1 2–1 0–1 1–0 1–2 Wimbledon 3–1 4–1 2–2 1–2 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–1 2–0 3–0 1–2 1–1 complete Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment Watford ENG Graham Taylor Signed by Aston Villa 27 May 1987 Pre-season ENG Dave Bassett 18 June 1987 Everton ENG Howard Kendall Signed by Athletic Bilbao 18 June 1987 ENG Colin Harvey 18 June 1987 Wimbledon ENG Dave Bassett Signed by Watford 18 June 1987 ENG Bobby Gould 25 June 1987 Luton Town SCO John Moore Resigned 20 June 1987 ENG Ray Harford 22 June 1987 Tottenham Hotspur ENG David Pleat 23 October 1987 7th ENG Trevor Hartley (caretaker) 23 October 1987 Norwich City ENG Ken Brown Sacked 9 November 1987 19th ENG Dave Stringer 9 November 1987 Tottenham Hotspur ENG Trevor Hartley End of caretaker spell 28 November 1987 11th ENG Terry Venables 28 November 1987 Watford ENG Dave Bassett Sacked 11 January 1988 21st ENG Steve Harrison 15 January 1988 Chelsea ENG John Hollins 6 March 1988 16th ENG Bobby Campbell 6 March 1988 Oxford United ENG Maurice Evans Resigned 18 March 1988 20th IRE Mark Lawrenson 19 March 1988 First Division maps Greater London right 369 Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1987–1988 Greater London 51.558 -0.103 right Greater London 51.486 0.036 right Greater London 51.482 -0.191 right Greater London 51.603 -0.066 right Greater London 51.509 -0.232 right Greater London 51.650 -0.401 right Greater London 51.532 0.039 right Greater London 51.43 -0.19 right Arsenal Charlton Athletic Chelsea Tottenham Queens Park Rangers Watford West Ham Wimbledon England none 400 Locations of the Football League First Division 1987–1988 teams England 51.56 -0.10 right England 51.47 0.07 right England 51.50 -0.19 right England 52.41 -1.51 right England 52.92 -1.476 right England 53.47 -2.97 right England 53.53 -2.99 right England 51.9 -0.433 right England 53.47 -2.30 right England 54.98 -1.62 right England 52.63 1.30 right England 53.01 -1.137 right England 51.72 -1.21 right England 50.80 -1.06 right England 51.54 -0.26 right England 53.41 -1.50 right England 50.91 -1.39 right England 51.63 -0.063 right England 51.65 -0.40 right England 51.54 0.040 right England 51.43 -0.19 right 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 Second Division 1987–88 Millwall MillwallAston VillaMiddlesbrough Sheffield UnitedReadingHuddersfield Town Manchester City 10–1 Huddersfield Town(7 November 1987) Manchester City 10–1 Huddersfield Town(7 November 1987) Sheffield United 0–5 Oldham Athletic(2 January 1988) 506 1389 1986–87 1988–89 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. main WDL Second Division MIL, AVL, MID, BRA, BLA, CRY, LEE, IPS, MCI, OLD, STK, SWI, LEI, BAR, HUL, PLY, BOU, SHR, BIR, WBA, SHU, REA, HUD PRO PRO PPO PPO PPO RPO REL REL complete 22 12 10 68 41 15 12 17 61 62 11 15 18 41 66 21 14 9 68 52 13 10 21 56 68 22 11 11 74 54 22 9 13 86 59 6 10 28 41 100 14 15 15 54 60 19 9 16 61 52 19 12 13 61 51 16 11 17 62 61 19 8 17 80 60 22 12 10 63 36 25 7 12 72 52 18 11 15 72 64 16 8 20 65 67 10 12 22 44 70 13 7 24 45 74 11 16 17 42 54 17 11 16 50 57 16 11 17 73 60 12 11 21 50 69 C, P P O, P R R R Aston Villa Barnsley Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bournemouth Bradford City Crystal Palace Huddersfield Town Hull City Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Manchester City Middlesbrough Millwall Oldham Athletic Plymouth Argyle Reading Sheffield United Shrewsbury Town Stoke City Swindon Town West Bromwich Albion 5 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored R green1 Promotion to the First Division yellow1 Qualification for the Second Division play-offs red2 Qualification for the Third Division play-offs red1 Relegation to the Third Division 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.http://www.rsssf.com/engpaul/fla/1987-88.html https://web.archive.org/web/20010502035637/http://www.rsssf.com/engpaul/FLA/1987-88.html dead 2 May 2001 Season 1987–88 Paul Felton Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) 26 May 2016http://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/Results/1987.htm Chelsea Football Club Match Results Season 1987–1988 bounder.friardale.co.uk 26 May 2016http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/the-battle-stamford-bridge-violent-9783533 'The Battle of Stamford Bridge': Violent scenes on a victorious day for Boro Sophie Barley The Gazette Middlesbrough 3 August 2015 26 May 2016 Semi-finals1st leg – 15 May; 2nd leg – 18 May 1988 Final1st leg – 25 May; 2nd leg – 28 May 1988 30px 200px 5 Blackburn Rovers 0 1 1 1D Chelsea 2 4 6 4 Bradford City 2 0 2 3 Middlesbrough 1 2 3 1D Chelsea 0 1 1 3 Middlesbrough 2 0 2 Source:http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/division-one-two-old-play-offs English Division One–Two (old) Play-Offs 1987–1988 Statto 26 May 2016 Second Division results main FBR grey AST BAR BIR BLB BOU BRA CRY HUD HUL IPS LEE LEI MCI MID MIL OLD PLY REA SHU SHR STK SWI WBA Aston Villa 0–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 4–1 1–1 5–0 1–0 1–2 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–2 1–2 5–2 2–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 2–1 0–0 Barnsley 1–3 2–2 0–1 2–1 3–0 2–1 1–0 1–3 2–3 1–1 1–1 3–1 0–3 4–1 1–1 2–1 5–2 1–2 2–1 5–2 0–1 3–1 Birmingham City 1–2 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–6 2–0 1–1 1–0 0–0 2–2 0–3 0–0 1–0 1–3 0–1 2–2 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–1 0–1 Blackburn Rovers 3–2 0–1 2–0 3–1 1–1 2–0 2–2 2–1 1–0 1–1 3–3 2–1 0–2 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 4–1 2–2 2–0 0–0 3–1 Bournemouth 1–2 1–2 4–2 1–1 2–0 2–3 0–2 6–2 1–1 0–0 2–3 0–2 0–0 1–2 2–2 2–2 3–0 1–2 2–0 0–0 2–0 3–2 Bradford City 2–4 1–1 4–0 2–1 2–0 2–0 0–1 2–0 2–3 0–0 4–1 2–4 2–0 3–1 5–3 3–1 3–0 2–0 1–1 1–4 2–0 4–1 Crystal Palace 1–1 3–2 3–0 2–0 3–0 1–1 2–1 2–2 1–2 3–0 2–1 2–0 3–1 1–0 3–1 5–1 2–3 2–1 1–2 2–0 2–1 4–1 Huddersfield Town 0–1 2–2 2–2 1–2 1–2 1–2 2–2 0–2 1–2 0–0 1–0 1–0 1–4 2–1 2–2 2–1 0–2 0–2 0–0 0–3 0–3 1–3 Hull City 2–1 1–2 2–0 2–2 2–1 0–0 2–1 4–0 1–0 3–1 2–2 3–1 0–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–1 0–0 1–4 1–0 Ipswich Town 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–2 1–2 4–0 2–3 3–0 2–0 1–0 0–2 3–0 4–0 1–1 2–0 1–2 2–1 1–0 2–0 2–0 3–2 1–1 Leeds United 1–3 0–2 4–1 2–2 3–2 2–0 1–0 3–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–0 5–0 2–1 0–0 4–2 1–0 Leicester City 0–2 0–0 2–0 1–2 0–1 0–2 4–4 3–0 2–1 1–1 3–2 1–0 0–0 1–0 4–1 4–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 3–2 3–0 Manchester City 0–2 1–1 3–0 1–2 2–0 2–2 1–3 10–1 2–0 2–0 1–2 4–2 1–1 4–0 1–2 2–1 2–0 2–3 1–3 3–0 1–1 4–2 Middlesbrough 2–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 3–0 1–2 2–1 2–0 1–0 3–1 2–0 1–2 2–1 1–1 1–0 3–1 0–0 6–0 4–0 2–0 2–3 2–1 Millwall 2–1 3–1 3–1 1–4 1–2 0–1 1–1 4–1 2–0 2–1 3–1 1–0 0–1 2–1 1–1 3–2 3–0 3–1 4–1 2–0 2–2 2–0 Oldham Athletic 0–1 1–0 1–2 4–2 2–0 0–2 1–0 3–2 1–2 3–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 3–1 0–0 0–1 4–2 3–2 2–2 5–87 4–3 2–1 Plymouth Argyle 1–3 0–0 1–1 3–0 1–2 2–1 1–3 6–1 3–1 0–0 6–3 4–0 3–2 0–1 1–2 1–0 1–3 1–0 2–0 3–0 1–0 3–3 Reading 0–2 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 1–1 2–3 3–2 0–0 1–1 0–1 1–2 0–2 0–0 2–3 3–0 0–1 2–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–2 Sheffield United 1–1 1–0 0–2 3–1 0–1 1–2 1–1 2–2 2–1 4–1 2–2 2–1 1–2 0–2 1–2 0–5 1–0 4–1 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–0 Shrewsbury Town 1–2 1–1 0–0 1–2 2–1 2–2 2–0 3–1 2–2 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 2–3 2–1 0–1 2–0 0–3 2–1 0–1 Stoke City 0–0 3–1 3–1 2–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 2–1 2–1 1–3 1–0 1–2 2–2 1–0 4–2 1–0 1–1 1–0 3–0 Swindon Town 0–0 3–0 0–2 1–2 4–2 2–2 2–2 4–1 0–0 4–2 1–2 3–2 3–4 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–1 4–0 2–0 1–1 3–0 2–0 West Bromwich Albion 0–2 2–2 3–1 0–1 3–0 0–1 1–0 3–2 1–1 2–2 1–4 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–4 0–0 1–0 0–1 4–0 2–1 2–0 1–2 complete Third Division Third Division 1987–88 Sunderland SunderlandBrighton & Hove AlbionWalsall Rotherham UnitedGrimsby TownYork CityDoncaster Rovers 552 1986–87 1988–89 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.Edward Ackers Season 1987-88 http://www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk/final/f1987-88.html English Football League Tables 6 August 2019 main WDL Third Division SUN, BHA, WAL, NTC, BRC, NHT, WIG, BRV, FUL, BLP, PVL, BRE, GIL, BRY, CHS, PNE, SND, CHF, MAN, ALD, ROT, GRI, YOR, DON PRO PRO PPO PPO PPO RPO REL REL REL complete 15 8 23 64 74 17 14 15 71 62 16 14 16 53 59 23 15 8 69 47 21 12 13 77 62 18 12 16 68 56 15 14 17 58 57 14 16 16 51 62 15 10 21 41 70 8 9 29 40 84 19 9 18 69 60 14 17 15 77 61 12 14 20 48 58 14 12 20 48 59 18 19 9 70 51 23 12 11 82 49 18 11 17 58 56 15 13 18 48 59 12 16 18 50 66 14 13 19 65 83 27 12 7 92 48 23 13 10 68 50 20 12 14 70 61 8 9 29 48 91 C, P P O, P R R R R Aldershot Blackpool Brentford Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol City Bristol Rovers Bury Chester City Chesterfield Doncaster Rovers Fulham Gillingham Grimsby Town Mansfield Town Northampton Town Notts County Port Vale Preston North End Rotherham United Southend United Sunderland Walsall Wigan Athletic York City 5 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored R green1 Promotion to the Second Division yellow1 Qualification for the Third Division play-offs red2 Qualification for the Fourth Division play-offs red1 Relegation to the Fourth Division Third Division play-offs Semi-finals1st leg – 15 May; 2nd leg – 18 May 1988 Final1st leg – 25 May; 2nd leg – 28 May 1988 30px 200px 21st Sheffield United (Div 2) 0 1 1 5th Bristol City 1 1 2 3rd Walsall 3 1 4 4th Notts County 1 1 2 3rd Walsall 3 0 3 5th Bristol City 1 2 3 Replay 30 May 1988 Walsall 4–0 Report/Soccerbase Bristol City Fellows Park, Walsall 13,007 Third Division results main FBR grey ALD BLP BRE B&HA BRC BRR BRY CHE CHF DON FUL GIL GRI MAN NOR NTC PTV PNE ROT STD SUN WAL WIG YOR Aldershot 0-0 4-1 1-4 2-1 3-0 0-2 4-1 2-0 2-1 0-3 6-0 3-2 3-0 4-4 0-2 3-0 0-0 1-3 0-1 3-2 1-1 3-2 1-2 Blackpool 3-2 0-1 1-3 4-2 2-1 5-1 0-1 1-0 4-2 2-1 3-3 3-0 2-0 3-1 1-1 1-2 3-0 3-0 1-1 0-2 1-2 0-0 2-1 Brentford 3-0 2-1 1-1 0-2 1-1 0-3 1-1 2-0 1-1 3-1 2-2 0-2 2-2 0-1 1-0 1-0 2-0 1-1 1-0 0-1 0-0 2-1 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 1-3 2-1 3-2 2-1 2-1 1-0 2-2 2-0 2-0 2-0 0-0 3-1 3-0 1-1 2-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 3-1 2-1 1-0 1-0 Bristol City 2-0 2-1 2-3 5-2 3-3 3-2 2-2 2-1 1-0 4-0 3-3 1-1 1-2 2-2 2-1 1-0 3-1 2-0 3-2 0-1 0-0 4-1 3-2 Bristol Rovers 3-1 2-0 0-0 1-2 1-0 0-0 2-2 2-0 4-0 3-1 2-0 4-2 2-1 0-2 1-1 1-0 1-2 3-1 0-0 4-0 3-0 2-3 2-1 Bury 1-0 3-1 2-2 2-1 1-1 4-1 0-1 2-0 2-1 1-1 2-1 0-2 1-0 0-0 0-1 0-1 4-0 2-2 2-2 2-3 2-2 0-2 0-1 Chester City 4-1 1-1 2-2 1-1 1-0 0-3 4-4 1-1 1-1 1-2 3-1 1-0 0-2 0-5 1-2 1-0 1-0 1-0 1-1 1-2 1-1 1-0 1-0 Chesterfield 1-0 1-1 2-1 0-0 1-4 0-1 1-0 0-0 0-1 1-0 1-4 0-3 3-1 0-2 2-0 1-3 0-0 3-2 3-1 1-1 2-1 0-1 2-1 Doncaster Rovers 0-0 2-1 0-1 0-2 1-2 0-1 1-2 2-2 1-0 2-2 4-2 1-0 0-2 0-2 0-1 1-1 3-2 2-2 0-1 0-2 0-4 3-4 2-0 Fulham 1-2 3-1 2-2 1-2 0-0 3-1 0-1 1-0 1-3 4-0 0-2 5-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-2 0-1 3-1 3-1 0-2 2-0 3-2 3-1 Gillingham 2-1 0-0 0-1 1-1 1-1 3-0 3-3 0-1 10-0 3-1 2-2 1-1 0-0 1-2 3-1 0-0 4-0 0-2 8-1 0-0 0-1 0-1 3-1 Grimsby Town 1-1 1-1 0-1 0-1 1-4 0-0 2-0 2-1 1-1 0-0 0-2 2-0 2-3 2-2 0-0 3-1 0-1 2-1 1-3 0-1 0-2 0-2 5-1 Mansfield Town 1-0 0-0 2-1 1-1 2-0 1-0 0-0 1-2 0-1 2-0 0-2 2-2 1-0 3-1 2-2 4-0 0-0 0-1 1-0 0-4 1-3 0-1 2-1 Northampton Town 1-1 3-3 2-1 1-1 3-0 2-1 0-0 2-0 4-0 1-0 3-2 2-1 2-1 2-0 0-1 1-0 0-1 0-0 4-0 0-2 2-2 1-1 0-0 Notts County 2-1 2-3 3-0 1-2 0-1 1-1 3-0 1-0 2-0 2-0 5-1 0-1 0-0 1-1 3-1 1-2 4-2 4-0 6-2 2-1 3-1 4-4 3-0 Port Vale 4-2 0-0 1-0 2-0 1-1 2-1 1-0 1-1 0-1 5-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 1-1 1-1 1-3 3-2 0-0 4-1 0-1 2-1 2-1 2-1 Preston North End 0-2 2-1 1-2 3-0 2-0 3-1 1-0 1-1 0-1 1-2 2-1 1-1 1-3 1-0 0-0 1-2 3-2 0-0 1-1 2-2 1-0 0-1 3-0 Rotherham United 1-0 0-1 2-0 1-0 4-1 1-1 0-1 5-2 1-1 1-0 0-2 1-2 0-0 2-1 2-2 1-1 1-0 2-2 1-1 1-4 0-1 1-1 0-1 Southend United 0-1 4-0 2-3 2-1 2-0 4-2 1-0 2-2 3-0 4-1 0-2 0-0 1-3 2-1 1-1 1-2 3-3 1-2 1-1 1-4 1-1 3-2 3-1 Sunderland 3-1 2-2 2-0 1-0 0-1 1-1 1-1 0-2 3-2 3-1 2-0 2-1 1-1 4-1 3-1 1-1 2-1 1-1 3-0 7-0 1-1 4-1 4-2 Walsall 2-0 3-2 4-2 1-1 1-1 0-0 2-1 1-0 0-0 2-1 0-1 0-0 3-2 2-1 1-0 2-1 2-1 1-0 5-2 2-1 2-2 1-2 2-1 Wigan Athletic 4-0 0-0 1-1 3-3 1-1 1-0 0-2 1-0 1-2 2-1 1-3 1-1 0-1 2-1 2-2 2-1 2-0 2-0 3-0 1-0 2-2 3-1 1-1 York City 2-2 1-3 1-1 0-2 0-1 0-4 1-1 2-0 1-0 1-1 1-3 0-2 0-2 2-2 2-2 3-5 2-3 1-1 1-2 0-3 2-1 1-3 3-1 complete December 2020 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. Football LeagueFourth Division 1987–88 Wolverhampton Wanderers Promoted Cardiff CityBolton WanderersSwansea City Relegated Newport County New team in League Scarborough 552 1986–87 1988–89 main WDL Fourth Division PR 5 WOL Wolverhampton Wanderers CAR Cardiff City BOL Bolton Wanderers SCU Scunthorpe United TOR Torquay United SWA Swansea City PET Peterborough United LEY Leyton Orient COL Colchester United BUR Burnley WRE Wrexham SCA Scarborough DAR Darlington TRA Tranmere Rovers CAM Cambridge United HAR Hartlepool United CRE Crewe Alexandra HAL Halifax Town HER Hereford United STP Stockport County ROC Rochdale EXE Exeter City CRL Carlisle United NPC Newport County 27 9 10 82 43 24 13 9 66 41 22 12 12 66 42 20 17 9 76 51 21 14 11 66 41 20 10 16 62 56 20 10 16 52 53 19 12 15 85 63 19 10 17 47 51 20 7 19 57 62 20 6 20 69 58 17 14 15 56 48 18 11 17 71 69 19 9 18 61 53 -2 16 13 17 50 52 15 14 17 50 57 13 19 14 57 53 14 14 18 54 59 -1 14 12 20 41 59 12 15 19 44 58 11 15 20 47 76 11 13 22 53 68 12 8 26 57 86 6 7 33 35 105 CP P P OP R Tranmere Rovers were deducted two points. Halifax Town were deducted one point. green1 Cup Winners' Cup first round and promotion to the Third Division WC green1 Promotion to the Third Division P P yellow1 Qualification for the Fourth Division play-offs PP PP PP red1 Relegation to the Football Conference R complete Fourth Division play-offs Football League Two play-offs#1988 Semi-finals1st leg – 15 May; 2nd leg – 18 May 1988 Finals1st leg – 25 May; 2nd leg – 28 May 1988 30px 200px 21st Rotherham United (Div 3) 0 1 1 6th Swansea City 1 1 2 4th Scunthorpe United 1 1 2 5th Torquay United 2 1 3 6th Swansea City 2 3 5 5th Torquay United 1 3 4 Fourth Division results main FBR grey BOL BUR CAM CAR CRL COL CRE DAR EXE HAL HAR HER LEY NPC PET ROC SCA SCU STP SWA TOR TRA WOL WRE Bolton Wanderers 2-1 2-2 1-0 5-0 4-0 1-1 1-1 1-0 2-0 1-2 1-0 1-0 6-0 2-0 0-0 3-1 0-0 2-1 1-1 1-2 2-0 1-0 2-0 Burnley 2-1 0-2 1-2 4-3 0-3 0-0 2-1 3-0 3-1 1-0 0-0 2-0 2-0 1-2 4-0 0-1 1-1 1-1 1-0 1-0 1-1 0-3 1-0 Cambridge United 2-2 2-0 0-0 1-2 0-1 4-1 1-0 2-1 2-1 1-1 0-1 2-0 4-0 1-3 1-2 1-0 3-3 2-0 0-3 1-0 1-1 1-1 0-1 Cardiff City 1-0 2-1 4-0 4-2 1-0 2-0 3-1 3-2 0-0 1-1 0-1 1-1 4-0 0-0 1-0 2-0 0-1 0-0 1-0 2-1 3-0 3-2 1-1 Carlisle United 0-2 3-4 2-1 0-0 4-0 0-1 3-3 0-0 1-1 1-3 3-1 1-2 3-1 0-2 2-0 4-0 3-1 2-0 0-1 3-3 3-2 0-1 0-4 Colchester United 3-0 0-1 0-0 2-1 1-0 1-4 2-1 0-2 2-1 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 4-1 1-0 1-3 0-3 2-0 2-1 0-1 0-0 0-1 1-2 Crewe Alexandra 2-1 0-1 0-0 0-0 4-1 0-0 3-1 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 3-3 2-1 0-1 0-1 1-0 2-2 3-1 2-2 0-1 0-0 0-2 2-0 Darlington 1-0 4-2 0-1 0-0 2-1 2-0 1-0 4-1 4-1 1-1 3-1 2-2 0-2 2-1 2-1 2-1 1-4 1-2 2-0 1-1 0-0 2-2 2-1 Exeter City 1-1 1-2 3-0 0-2 1-1 0-2 3-1 4-1 1-2 1-0 2-2 2-3 3-0 0-1 1-1 1-0 1-1 2-1 3-1 0-1 0-1 2-4 1-1 Halifax Town 0-0 2-1 1-1 1-1 0-1 1-2 1-2 2-2 2-0 3-1 2-1 1-0 3-1 0-0 1-2 2-2 2-2 2-0 3-1 2-3 2-1 2-1 2-0 Hartlepool United 0-0 2-1 2-1 0-1 0-0 3-1 2-1 2-5 3-1 2-1 1-2 2-2 0-0 0-1 1-1 1-0 1-0 1-3 0-2 0-0 1-2 0-0 1-0 Hereford United 0-3 2-1 1-0 1-2 2-0 1-0 1-1 1-0 1-1 2-1 4-2 0-3 4-2 0-1 0-0 1-1 2-3 0-1 0-0 0-0 1-1 1-2 0-2 Leyton Orient 1-2 4-1 0-2 4-1 4-1 0-0 1-1 4-3 2-3 4-1 0-2 4-0 4-1 2-0 8-0 3-1 1-1 1-1 3-0 0-2 3-1 0-2 2-1 Newport County 0-1 0-1 0-0 1-2 1-2 1-2 1-2 2-1 1-1 1-0 2-3 0-0 0-0 0-4 0-1 0-4 1-1 1-2 1-2 3-1 0-3 1-3 2-0 Peterborough United 0-4 5-0 1-0 4-3 1-0 2-0 0-4 1-2 2-1 1-0 0-1 1-2 1-2 3-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-1 0-2 2-1 1-1 1-0 Rochdale 2-2 2-1 2-1 2-2 1-2 1-4 2-2 1-3 0-0 0-0 0-2 3-1 1-3 3-0 1-1 1-1 2-1 0-1 2-3 1-1 0-0 0-1 1-2 Scarborough 4-0 1-0 0-0 1-1 3-1 3-1 2-0 0-1 3-1 1-1 1-1 2-1 3-1 3-1 1-1 2-1 0-0 1-1 2-0 1-2 2-0 2-2 0-2 Scunthorpe United 1-1 1-1 3-2 2-1 1-0 2-2 2-1 1-0 1-1 1-0 3-0 3-0 3-2 3-1 5-0 1-0 0-1 0-0 1-2 2-3 3-0 0-1 3-1 Stockport County 1-2 2-0 0-2 0-1 3-0 1-1 1-1 1-1 2-1 1-0 1-0 0-2 1-2 5-1 0-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 0-2 2–1 1-2 0-2 1-1 Swansea City 1-0 0-0 1-1 2-2 3-1 1-2 2-4 3-0 0-2 1-1 2-1 3-0 3-0 1-2 2-1 0-3 3-0 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-2 1-2 2-1 Torquay United 2-1 1-3 0-1 2-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-1 1-2 1-1 1-0 1-1 6-1 0-0 5-0 0-1 1-2 3-0 0-1 1-0 0-0 6-1 Tranmere Rovers 2-0 0-1 0-1 0-1 3-0 0-2 2-2 2-1 2-1 2-0 3-1 0-1 2-1 4-0 3-1 6-1 1-0 1-3 4-0 1-2 1-1 3-0 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0 3-0 3-0 1-4 3-1 2-0 2-2 5-3 3-0 0-1 2-0 2-0 2-0 2-1 0-1 2-0 0-0 4-1 1-1 2-0 1-2 3-0 0-2 Wrexham 0-1 1-3 3-0 3-0 4-0 0-1 2-1 0-1 3-0 2-2 2-1 0-0 2-2 4-1 3-1 2-3 1-0 2-1 2-1 1-2 2-3 3-0 4-2 complete December 2020 Goalscorers The top goalscorers in each division were: Division 1 - John Aldridge (26) Division 2 - David Currie (28)https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engtops.html Football League Div 1 & 2 Leading Goalscorers 1947-92 James M Ross 15 July 2011 RSSSF 21 January 2012 Division 3 - David Crown (26)https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engtops.html Football League Div 3 & 4 Leading Goalscorers 1947-92 James M Ross 15 July 2011 RSSSF 21 January 2012 Division 4 - Steve Bull (34) Attendances Sources:https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/eng/aveeng1988.htm Historical attendances European-football-statistics.co.uk 21 July 2026https://www.worldfootball.net/competition/co91/se4721/attendance/ Premier League 1987/1988 - Attendance Worldfootball.net First Division { class"wikitable sortable" !#!!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 #Football clubHome gamesAverage attendance _row_count Leeds United 23 20,272 _row_count Manchester City 23 19,472 _row_count Aston Villa 23 18,342 _row_count Middlesbrough FC 23 14,509 _row_count Bradford City 23 12,906 _row_count Ipswich Town 23 11,807 _row_count Plymouth Argyle 23 10,280 _row_count Sheffield United 23 10,207 _row_count Leicester City 23 10,157 _row_count West Bromwich Albion 23 10,107 _row_count Crystal Palace 23 9,746 _row_count Stoke City 23 9,607 _row_count Swindon Town 23 9,542 _row_count Blackburn Rovers 23 9,503 _row_count Birmingham City 23 8,579 _row_count Millwall 23 8,417 _row_count Hull City 23 8,135 _row_count AFC Bournemouth 23 7,873 _row_count Barnsley FC 23 7,683 _row_count Reading FC 23 6,945 _row_count Oldham Athletic 23 6,907 _row_count Huddersfield Town 23 6,841 _row_count Shrewsbury Town 23 4,945 See also 1987–88 in English football References 1987–88 1–4