Considering the Football League has been on the go since 1888-89 and then the Premier League/Football League on the go since 1992-93 you’d have thought more clubs would have done it, that is go the whole season without losing a league match. Who has done it then? Well, just two clubs, those being today’s visitors Preston in that first 1888-89 campaign, along with Arsenal in 2003-04, although North End certainly trump the Gunners as they remarkably also won all their five FA Cup games in their season to win the trophy, with all those five victories coming with clean sheets too.
Understandably christened The Invincibles on the back of it, quite a lot of the Preston players actually came from further north than Carlisle, with North End taking on many ‘Scotch Professors’ as they were known, players who had come down from the amateur game in Scotland to take advantage of the money on offer in the professional game in England between 1885 when professionalism was established down here, and 1893 when professionals finally become established up there.
One of their imports was Jimmy Ross, who remarkably scored over 250 goals in only 220 games for the club, along with seven goals in Preston’s 26-0 FA Cup first round thrashing of Hyde, a competition record which still stands to this day. Other men coming down from Scotland to play for North End being Jimmy’s older brother Nick, who died of consumption at the age of just 31 in 1894, John Goodall, who was born in London before moving north at an early age, John Gordon, John Graham, David Russell and Samuel Thompson.
That inaugural 1888-89 Football League season was the one that it all really ticked into place for the Lilywhites though as they went unbeaten through all 22 games in a 12-team First Division, with half of the sides coming from Lancashire in Accrington, Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley, Everton (Liverpool was part of Lancashire in those days) and Preston in the time of the cotton mill strongholds. Meanwhile, the other half of the clubs were dotted around the Midlands in Aston Villa, Derby, Notts County, Stoke, West Brom and Wolves. Preston’s 18 wins and four draws seeing them win the title, on two points for a win, by a hefty 11 points from Aston Villa.
Just 115 years later then and it was Arsenal’s turn to become only the second ever Invincibles, and you’d have to say their feat was even better bearing in mind they made it through a 38 game Premiership season without losing a match, their record of 26 wins and 12 draws seeing them only claim the title by 11 points from Chelsea. The Blues gaining their revenge though with a 3-2 aggregate win in the Champion’s League quarter-finals, while the Gunners were unable to emulate Preston’s unbeaten FA Cup and League double as they went down 1-0 in the FA Cup semi-finals against Manchester United.
The mind then begins to wander as to who could be the third club in this country to manage an unbeaten league season, particularly with eyes moving across Europe and settling upon a 2011-12 campaign that saw Juventus remain undefeated, the first time that had happened in Serie A since AC Milan did it back in the 1991-92 season. You have to think though that the Football League is just miles too competitive for a club ever to make it through 46 league games unbeaten now and, like Arsenal and Preston before them it can only be the top tier where such a feat occurs again.
With the way money has taken over even more at the top of the game in this country though you’d have to think it might take quite a while, Manchester United for example going down the pan on that front after just one game this season. Chelsea, in 2004-05 though coming that close the season after Arsenal had gone through their Invincible campaign, the Blues falling at the ninth hurdle with a 1-0 defeat at Manchester City, thanks to, of all people a penalty from Nicolas Anelka. Not that bothered them too much as Chelsea went on to win 23 and draw six of their remaining 29 games, which is enough of a feat in itself.