 1888–89 was the first season of the newly formed Football League; Albion were one of the twelve founder members and travelled to Wilson's former club Stoke on 8 September 1888 for their first league fixture.In the final five minutes of the match, Wilson scored Albion's first ever league goal, which helped his team to achieve a 2–0 victory.Joe Wilson missed two of the "Throstles" 22 Football League matches and scored four goals in season 1888-89 and was part of a midfield that achieved a big (three goals or more) League win on two separate occasions.