| In the season that Sheffield United came into existence Wednesday continued their rise. Having withdrawn from Sheffield Association competitions Wednesday gained victory in the Gainsborough News Charity Cup with a victory over Burton Swifts at Olive Grove. This season saw Wednesday knock in over 150 goals in all competitions, including 13-0 against Park Grange, 11-0 against Ecclesfield, 10-1 against Sheffield Club and 10-0 against Doncaster in the GNCC. There were more troubles amongst the troops as Ingram went on strike against Sunderland over payments. Wednesday refused to budge and Ingram quickly returned to the team. |
| P | W | D | L | F | A | |
| Friendlies | 41 | 29 | 3 | 9 | 139 | 51 |
| FA Cup | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| GNCC | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 1 |
| Total | 49 | 35 | 4 | 10 | 168 | 59 |
| 1888-89 | |||||||
| venue | att | score | h.t. | ||||
| GNCC | |||||||
| 19-Jan | Doncaster Rovers | Olive Grove | 2500 | 10-0 | W | 7-0 | Supposed to be previous Monday but Rovers couldn't raise a team. |
| 26-Jan | Gainsborough Trinity | Olive Grove | 4000 | 4-0 | W | Late start because G.T. caught an excursion train. | |
| 25-Feb | Grimsby Humber | Olive Grove | 1500 | 4-0 | W | 2-0 | |
| 1-Apr | Burton Swifts | Olive Grove | 4-1 | W | 2-1 | Cups and medals presented by Alf Kirk of Gainsborough Trinity | |
| FA Cup | |||||||
| 2-Feb | Notts Rangers | Meadow Hall | 4000 | 1-1 | D | ||
| 9-Feb | Notts Rangers | Olive Grove | 6000 | 3-1 | W | ||
| 16-Feb | Notts County | Olive Grove | 7000 | 3-2 | W | ||
| 2-Mar | Wolves | Dudley Road | 6000 | 0-3 | L | ||
| Friendly | |||||||
| 2-Sep | Birmingham St George's | Cape Hill | 1000 | 4-9 | L | ||
| 8-Sep | Notts Forest | Olive Grove | large | 2-2 | D | ||
| 12-Sep | Doncaster Rovers | The Intake Ground | 3-1 | W | |||
| 15-Sep | Witton | Olive Grove | 3000 | 5-2 | W | ||
| 29-Sep | Derby Junction | Olive Grove | 3000 | 3-1 | W | ||
| 1-Oct | Park Grange | Sheaf House | meagre | 13-0 | W | ||
| 6-Oct | Sunderland | Newcastle Road | 9000 | 1-2 | L | ||
| 13-Oct | Leeds Association | Olive Grove | 6000 | 6-0 | W | ||
| 20-Oct | Notts Forest | Gregory Ground | f.large | 3-1 | W | ||
| 22-Oct | Halliwell | Olive Grove | good | 0-1 | L | ||
| 27-Oct | Notts Rangers | Olive Grove | 3000 | 8-0 | W | ||
| 3-Nov | Ecclesfield | Olive Grove | 400 | 11-0 | W | ||
| 5-Nov | Sheffield | Olive Grove | 400 | 10-1 | W | ||
| 10-Nov | Lincoln City | John O'Gaunt | fair | 6-1 | W | ||
| 17-Nov | Derby Junction | Derby | not bad | 0-1 | L | ||
| 19-Nov | Heeley | Olive Grove | large | 2-0 | W | ||
| 24-Nov | Birmingham St George's | Olive Grove | large | 5-2 | W | ||
| 8-Dec | Derby St lukes | Olive Grove | large | 4-0 | W | ||
| 10-Dec | Preston | Olive Grove | 2-1 | W | |||
| 22-Dec | Gainsborough Trinity | Northolme | 1200 | 1-1 | D | ||
| 24-Dec | Lincoln City | Olive Grove | 2000 | 5-0 | W | ||
| 27-Dec | Staveley | Olive Grove | 1-3 | L | 0-3 | Higgins/Ferguson of Derby County. Only 1 hour because of rain | |
| 29-Dec | Newcastle West End | Newcastle | 1-0 | W | 1-0 | ||
| 31-Dec | Clyde, Glasgow | Olive Grove | 1-2 | L | |||
| 2-Jan | Halliwell | Halliwell | 3-2 | W | 2-1 | no details | |
| 3-Jan | Hearts | Olive Grove | 3-0 | W | |||
| 5-Jan | Gainsborough Trinity | Olive Grove | 1000 | 1-0 | W | 35min each way because of dense fog | |
| 12-Jan | Newton Heath | Olive Grove | 2-1 | W | |||
| 4-Feb | Sheffield | 3-1 | W | ||||
| 23-Feb | Sunderland | Olive Grove | 3000 | 1-2 | L | Ingram goes on strike for more money. | |
| 5-Mar | Aston Villa | Olive Grove | 3000 | 2-1 | W | Ingram cheered onto the pitch | |
| 18-Mar | Heeley | Heeley | 1500 | 3-0 | W | 2-0 | J.Hunter played for Heeley on a visit from Blackburn. |
| 23-Mar | Witton | Witton | 1-0 | W | |||
| 1-Apr | Burnley | Olive Grove | 1500 | 3-1 | W | 2-1 | Wednesday charged 6d |
| 1-Apr | Blackburn Rovers | Olive Grove | 1-1 | D | |||
| 6-Apr | Heeley | Olive Grove | 1500 | 9-1 | W | 1-6 | White/Parkin(reserves) - Heeley played with 10 men for last 20 minutes. |
| 19-Apr | Preston | Preston | 0-2 | L | |||
| 20-Apr | Newton Heath | Newton Heath | 6000 | 2-1 | W | ||
| 22-Apr | Crewe | Olive Grove | large | 5-2 | W | ||
| 23-Apr | Staveley | Olive Grove | 2000 | 3-0 | W | 3-0 | For the benefit of the Wednesday Pro's |
| 27-Apr | Burnley | Burnley | 0-5 | L | 0-0 | Dungworth so ill he had to retire at half time |