Derby, are the only Americans in the employ of Francis Ley, in order to allow them to play for Derby. 8 August - Morton Betts, Secretary of the National League of Baseball of Great Britain issues a statement, in response to continued “incorrect statements” given to regional press by Francis Ley, on events leading up to Derby Baseball Club ‘retiring‘ from the National League. It is stated that on the 9 July Francis Ley agreed to only use his professional American pitchers in games versus Aston Villa, that under this new arrangement Derby lost four out of their six matches, harming their championship prospects to the degree that Francis Ley broke a number of bye-laws under threat of his Derby club withdrawing from the league, including refusing to field a nine on 6 August and giving the League Board no option but to erase the National League record of Derby. 11 August - The Birmingham Daily Post claims that three of the four National League clubs are being financed by Spalding Bros, whereby Derby Baseball Club are financed by Francis Ley, leading to various financial disagreements. 15 August - The Derby Daily Telegraph publishes an article claiming that the Derby Baseball Club have actually won the National League, under Section 21 of the league constitution, under which it is said the club with the highest win percentage will be the winner of the pennant. The club claim that up until their ‘withdrawal’ from the National League, 5 August, they would have a win percentage that would have been unachievable for the remaining clubs, based on their completed season stats to that date. 3 September - Aston Villa and Preston North End Baseball Club are both accused of cheating during the season. 12 November - Preston North End Baseball Club reflect on being crowned winners of the Amateur League. It is reported that attendances of the Preston North End National League had exceeded 5,000 per game. Champions National League: Aston Villa Amateur League: Preston Amateurs National League final standings Derby Baseball Club expelled from the National League championship mid-season, record expunged. Rosters Aston Villa Frank Barr William Barr (player-manager) Arthur Brown James Cowan Fred Dawson Abel Devey John Devey Harry Devey Will Devey H. E. Simon (player-coach) Joey Simmonds Frank Stevenson Harry Widdowson Derby Baseball Club Dan Allsopp H. Bates Edwin Booth William C. Bryan Sim Bullas James Mellors H. M.