The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at the website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics separated. Beginning with the season 1894–95, clubs finishing level on points were separated according to goal average, or more properly put, goal ratio. In case one or more teams had the same goal difference, this system favoured those teams who had scored fewer goals. The goal average system was eventually scrapped beginning with the 1976–77 season. Since the goal average was used for this purpose for such a long time, it is presented in the tables below even for the seasons prior to 1894–95, and since the goal difference is a more informative piece of information for a modern reader than the goal average, the goal difference is added in this presentation after the goal average. During the first five seasons of the league, that is until this season, 1893–94, re-election process concerned the clubs which finished in the bottom four of the league. Match results are drawn from website and Rothmans for the First Division and from Rothmans for the Second Division. The result of the match on 25 November1893 between Wolves and Stoke is given in many newspapers as a win for Wolves by 4-2, which is the result included in these tables and in the book published by the Football League in 1937-38. Most subsequent lists of scores depend on that publication. The Times on Monday, 27th gives the score as 5-2 and local Midland newspapers also show 5-2, listing the five goal scorers. This curious discrepancy has never been explained. The Second Division was expanded from twelve to fifteen teams, with the election of Liverpool, Middlesbrough Ironopolis, Newcastle United, Rotherham Town and Woolwich Arsenal and the resignation of Accrington and Bootle. Woolwich Arsenal became the first teamfrom the south of England to participate in the Football League.
The Football League test matches were a set of play-offs, in which the bottom First Division teams faced the top Second Division teams. The First Division teams, if coming out as winners, would retain their places in the division. If a Second Division team won, it would be considered for First Division membership through an election process at the expense of a losing First Division team. Losing Second Division teams would stay in the Second Division.
