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A memorial is set to be unveiled to honour former Whites player Kenny Davenport — the first league goal scorer in world football.
The blue plaque will be put up in the Pikes Lane area, the scene of Mr Davenport’s goal in the Whites’ 6-3 loss to Derby County on September 8, 1888.
The club were playing at Pikes Lane as they had no permanent home at the time — hence the name “Wanderers.”
It had originally been thought that the league’s first goal had been scored by Aston Villa’s Gershom Cox — who put through his own goal after 30 minutes of his club’s 1-1 draw with Wolves.
But in 2013, painstaking research by sports writer Mark Metcalf and his pal Robert Boyling revealed that the Villa game had kicked off at 3.30pm rather than 3pm — making the Wanderers player the league’s first scorer.
As the Football League was the world’s first league, the discovery means he was not only the first league goal scorer in English football history — but the first in the world.
Since he made the startling discovery, Mr Metcalf has been on a mission to make sure Mr Davenport gets the recognition deserved for such an important feat in the history of the game.
After meeting with Wanderers club chaplain Phil Mason, the club has now agreed to fund a blue plaque to mark the event.
The club are in the process of purchasing the plaque and securing the permission of either Pikes Lane Primary School or health centre, which are the suggested sites for displaying it.
Mr Metcalf said: “I am really glad that Phil Mason and the club have made this progress because it is right and proper that the man who scored the first league goal in world football is honoured in his home town.
“You don’t get a more important goal than the first league goal — it revolutionised football and changed the face of sport as competitions developed.”
“He added: “Me and my mate Robert spent about 400 hours finding out the information and I am exceptionally delighted that Kenny will get this recognition.”
Mr Mason said: “The plaque is fully designed and when we get the right permissions we will order it, so we expect it to happen in the next couple of months.
“It is quite something to be the first club to score a league goal and with us also having the first goal scored at Wembley we have a pretty good history.”
“It is important that we mark the great history of our club.”
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The blue plaque will be put up in the Pikes Lane area, the scene of Mr Davenport’s goal in the Whites’ 6-3 loss to Derby County on September 8, 1888.
The club were playing at Pikes Lane as they had no permanent home at the time — hence the name “Wanderers.”
It had originally been thought that the league’s first goal had been scored by Aston Villa’s Gershom Cox — who put through his own goal after 30 minutes of his club’s 1-1 draw with Wolves.
But in 2013, painstaking research by sports writer Mark Metcalf and his pal Robert Boyling revealed that the Villa game had kicked off at 3.30pm rather than 3pm — making the Wanderers player the league’s first scorer.
As the Football League was the world’s first league, the discovery means he was not only the first league goal scorer in English football history — but the first in the world.
Since he made the startling discovery, Mr Metcalf has been on a mission to make sure Mr Davenport gets the recognition deserved for such an important feat in the history of the game.
After meeting with Wanderers club chaplain Phil Mason, the club has now agreed to fund a blue plaque to mark the event.
The club are in the process of purchasing the plaque and securing the permission of either Pikes Lane Primary School or health centre, which are the suggested sites for displaying it.
Mr Metcalf said: “I am really glad that Phil Mason and the club have made this progress because it is right and proper that the man who scored the first league goal in world football is honoured in his home town.
“You don’t get a more important goal than the first league goal — it revolutionised football and changed the face of sport as competitions developed.”
“He added: “Me and my mate Robert spent about 400 hours finding out the information and I am exceptionally delighted that Kenny will get this recognition.”
Mr Mason said: “The plaque is fully designed and when we get the right permissions we will order it, so we expect it to happen in the next couple of months.
“It is quite something to be the first club to score a league goal and with us also having the first goal scored at Wembley we have a pretty good history.”
“It is important that we mark the great history of our club.”
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]