Help!

This site is divided into a few distinct sections:

• quick search
• advanced search
• player names
• team then surname
• team then season
• league tables

Please note: The database is updated regularly to provide accurate data throughout the history of the Football League from 1888 to matches played this week. The latest update information can be found in the ''News'' section below the main menu on the left.

Quick Search

Current season only.

Here you can get instant results on searches by entering single words into a box such as Surname, Forename, team name or parts of. E.G. jame, will, city.

Another way is to select a team from the drop down list box provided.

After the results have been displayed you can click on any data to get further information on specific players.

Advanced Search

Allows searches on seasons 2001 to the present day. Match statistics are updated weekly.

This is a form. You fill the form in and then click the submit button. The search engine then gathers all the information entered and attempts to construct and execute a search.

Please note: If you don't fill in all parts of the form logically the search will fail. i.e. If you enter ''Smith'' as a name to search for but leave the ''Where to look'' list with ''Division'' selected the search will fail.

The search engine is not intelligent, it will only do what you tell it to. It won't be able to find a division called "Smith"!

After the results have been displayed you can click on any data to get further information on specific players.

An example search:

Select year 2003-04

Enter ''Smith''

Select ''Surname'' in the ''Where to look'' list

Select the fields you want to display in the ''Displayed fields:'' list. Make sure to select ''League Apps'' and ''League Goals''.

Select the ''LIKE' radio button

Select ''League Apps'' in the ''Sort by:'' list

Select ''Desc''

Select ''League Goals'' in the ''Then by:'' list

Select ''Desc''

Click ''Submit Search''

This will list all players with a surname like Smith who played in the 2003-04 season, displaying the fields you chose and ordering the results by descending league appearances (most at the top). If two or more players have the same amount of league appearances they are subsequently ordered by descending league goals (highest goalscorer first).

For those who know SQL the query would look something like:

SELECT <Displayed fields> FROM 2003-04 WHERE Surname LIKE Smith ORDER BY League Apps DESC, League Goals DESC

This can be a powerful method of searching the database if used with imagination :)

Please note search results are limited to 100 entries and text searches must be at least 3 chars long. Numeric searches can be from 0 up.

player names

This section allows you to enter the surname of any player who has played in the Football League since 1888. It is possible to search for a full name such as "Smith", in which case make sure the "exact match" box is selected. Searches are performed quicker this way. If you are not sure of the speeling of a name it is possible to enter a partial value such as "smi". In this case make sure the "exact match" box is not selected. The search will be performed on the database in this case looking for all occurrences of "smi" in all surnames in the database. It will find all "Smiths" as well as "Goldsmith" etc. The search results are limited to 50 so you can refine your search by selecting a team from the drop-down listbox provided.

team then surname

Here you can select a team from the drop-down listbox provided and then a letter from the alphabet to show all players who have played for your selected team whos surname begins with the letter you selected.

team then season

This section allows you to find all players who played for your selected team in the season you select. First pick the team and all available seasons for that team will then be displayed.

league tables

As it suggests, simply enter the year you are interested in and then pick the division from the list offered to you.