Football League First Division

The Football League First Division is a former division of the Football League and from 1888 to 1992, it was the top tier division in the English football league system. Following the creation of the Premier League, the name was given to the second tier division (which was rebranded as the Football League Championship in 2004 and in 2016 adopted its current name of the EFL Championship.)

The Football League was founded in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor. It originally consisted of a single division of 12 clubs (Accrington, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke (now Stoke City), West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers), known as The Football League. When the League admitted additional members from the rival Football Alliance in 1892, it was split into two divisions.

For the next 100 years, the First Division was the top professional league in English football. Then, in 1992 the 22 clubs making up the First Division elected to resign from the Football League and set up the Premier League. The Football League was consequently re-organised, with the Second, Third and Fourth Divisions now renamed the First, Second and Third respectively. Thus, the First Division, while still the top level of the Football League, now became the second level of the entire English football league system.

The First Division was renamed as the Football League Championship prior to the start of the 2004–05 season, as part of a league-wide rebrand. The Football League rebranded itself as the English Football League prior to the 2016–17 season, with its top level becoming the EFL Champions

#	Club	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Leeds United	42	22	16	4	37	82
2	Manchester United	42	21	15	6	30	78
3	Sheffield Wednesday	42	21	12	9	13	75
4	Arsenal	42	19	15	8	35	72
5	Manchester City	42	20	10	12	13	70
6	Liverpool	42	16	16	10	7	64
7	Aston Villa	42	17	9	16	4	60
8	Nottingham Forest	42	16	11	15	2	59
9	Sheffield United	42	16	9	17	2	57
10	Crystal Palace	42	14	15	13	-8	57
11	Queens Park Rangers	42	12	18	12	1	54
12	Everton	42	13	14	15	1	53
13	Wimbledon FC	42	13	14	15	0	53
14	Chelsea	42	13	14	15	-10	53
15	Tottenham Hotspur	42	15	7	20	-5	52
16	Southampton	42	14	10	18	-16	52
17	Oldham Athletic	42	14	9	19	-4	51
18	Norwich City	42	11	12	19	-16	45
19	Coventry City	42	11	11	20	-9	44
20	Luton Town	42	10	12	20	-33	42
21	Notts County	42	10	10	22	-22	40
22	West Ham United	42	9	11	22	-22	38

Tables are available for selected soccer competitions and seasons only. No positions are estimated.