Football Alliance

Football Alliance
Country	England
Founded	1889
Folded	1892
Number of teams	12

The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92.

It was formed by 12 clubs as a rival to the Football League, which had begun in the 1888–89 season, also with 12 member clubs. The Alliance covered a similar area to the League, stretching from the English Midlands to the North West, but also further east in Sheffield, Grimsby and Sunderland. Some of the clubs which originally founded the Alliance had played in The Combination the year before, but that league collapsed as a result of the disarray and lack of organization. The president of the Football Alliance was John Holmes, also the president of The Wednesday who were the first champions winning fifteen games out of twenty-two.

At the end of the Alliance's first season, when Stoke dropped out of the Football League, the Alliance accepted them as a new member. The following year, Stoke and Darwen, another Alliance club, were accepted into the League, taking its membership to 14 clubs.

In 1892 it was decided to formally merge the two leagues, and so the Football League Second Division was formed, consisting mostly of Football Alliance clubs. The existing League clubs, plus three of the strongest Alliance clubs, comprised the Football League First Division.

Member clubs

Club	Admitted	Resigned
Ardwick !Ardwick	000000001891-01-01-00001891	000000001892-01-01-00001892²
Birmingham St George's !Birmingham St George's	000000001889-01-01-00001889	000000001892-01-01-00001892
Bootle !Bootle	000000001889-01-01-00001889	000000001892-01-01-00001892²
Burton Swifts !Burton Swifts	000000001891-01-01-00001891	000000001892-01-01-00001892²
Crewe Alexandra !Crewe Alexandra	000000001889-01-01-00001889	000000001892-01-01-00001892²
Darwen !Darwen	000000001889-01-01-00001889	000000001891-01-01-00001891¹
Grimsby Town !Grimsby Town	000000001889-01-01-00001889	000000001892-01-01-00001892²
Lincoln City !Lincoln City	000000001891-01-01-00001891	000000001892-01-01-00001892²
Long Eaton Rangers !Long Eaton Rangers	000000001889-01-01-00001889	000000001890-01-01-00001890
Newton Heath !Newton Heath	000000001889-01-01-00001889	000000001892-01-01-00001892¹
Nottingham Forest !Nottingham Forest	000000001889-01-01-00001889	000000001892-01-01-00001892¹
Small Heath !Small Heath	000000001889-01-01-00001889	000000001892-01-01-00001892²
Stoke !Stoke	000000001890-01-01-00001890	000000001891-01-01-00001891¹
Sunderland Albion !Sunderland Albion	000000001889-01-01-00001889	000000001891-01-01-00001891
The Wednesday !The Wednesday	000000001889-01-01-00001889	000000001892-01-01-00001892¹
Walsall Town Swifts !Walsall Town Swifts	000000001889-01-01-00001889	000000001892-01-01-00001892²

Notes

¹ Elected to Football League First Division
² Elected to Football League Second Division

Football Alliance champions

Season	Winners
1889–90	The Wednesday
1890–91	Stoke
1891–92	Nottingham Forest

References

Football Alliance seasons

1889–90 1890–91 1891–92

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