1889–90_Football_Alliance

1889–90 Football Alliance

1889–90 Football Alliance

Football league season

The 1889–90 Football Alliance was the first season of the Football Alliance, an association football league which was set up in England as an alternative to The Football League, which had begun in the 1888–89 season. A proposal that the Football League be expanded to 24 teams was rejected, so a new league was formed to cater for those excluded. Twelve clubs were accepted for membership,[1] the same number as in the Football League, and they were drawn from a similar geographical area, stretching from the Midlands to the North West, but also further east in Sheffield, Grimsby and Sunderland.[2]

Quick Facts Season, Champions ...

Two points were awarded for a win and one point for a draw, each team played every other team once at home and once away from home. The Wednesday were the first champions; after hitting an eight-match winning run which started in November, they found themselves at the top of the league by the end of December, and remained there for the rest of the season. Long Eaton Rangers finished last of the 12 clubs and dropped out to join the Midland Football League.[2]

Final league table

More information Pos, Team ...
Source: [3]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average.
Notes:
  1. Sunderland Albion's point total includes two points awarded after Birmingham St George's refused to fulfil a fixture against them which had been ordered to be replayed by the management committee.
  2. Dropped out of the Football Alliance to join the Midland League.

Results

More information Home \ Away, BSG ...
Source: [4]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. When this match was originally played, Birmingham St George's beat Sunderland Albion 5–3. However, the Alliance ruled that the referee had not been properly appointed and ordered the match to be replayed. St George's refused, and the two points were awarded to Sunderland Albion.

Stadia and locations

Locations of the 1889–90 Football Alliance teams
More information Team, Location ...

Team kits

These were the kits worn by the teams that season.

Birmingham St George's
Bootle
Crewe Alexandra
Darwen
Grimsby Town
Newton Heath
Nottingham Forest
Small Heath
Sunderland Albion
Walsall Town Swifts
The Wednesday
Long Eaton Rangers

The Football League election process

At the Football League election meeting no vote was taken, but it was agreed that Burnley and Notts County were re-elected to the Football League and that Sunderland was elected to join the League in place of Stoke, who would play in the Football Alliance the following season.

The applications of Football Alliance sides Bootle, Darwen, Grimsby Town, Newton Heath and Sunderland Albion to join the League were rejected.[3]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    'Cover-point' (14 May 1889). "Cricket & Football Notes". Sheffield & Rotherham Independent. p. 8. The rejected applicants for admission to the Football League did not lose much time in making other arrangements, which have resulted in the formation of another league under the title of the Football Alliance. This entirely destroys the badly managed Football Combination of last season, and also seriously interferes with the proposed organisation of the Northern and Midland Counties Leagues.
  2. [2]
    "1889–90". The Owl Football Historian. Andrew Drake. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012.
  3. [3]
    "Football Alliance 1889/90". footballsite.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  4. [4]
    Blakeman, Mick; Brown, Tony; Warsop, Keith, eds. (2009). The Football Alliance Match by Match: 1889/90 to 1891/92. Nottingham: SoccerData. pp. 15–27. ISBN 978-1-905891-19-1.
  5. [5]
    Baggs, A.P.; Baugh, G.C. & Johnston, D.A. (1976). "Smethwick: Social life". In Greenslade, M.W. (ed.). A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 17: Offlow hundred (part). Victoria County History. pp. 134–136. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013.
  6. [6]
    Inglis, Simon (1996) [1985]. Football Grounds of Britain (3rd ed.). London: CollinsWillow. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-00-218426-7.
  7. [7]
    "Barley Bank". Darwen F.C. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  8. [8]
    Inglis, p. 176.
  9. [9]
    Inglis, p. 273.
  10. [10]
    Inglis, p. 44.
  11. [11]
    Inglis, p. 350.
  12. [12]
    Inglis, p. 376.
  13. [13]
    Inglis, p. 326.
  14. [14]
    "The Football Alliance. Long Eaton Rangers v. Crewe Alexandra". The Sheffield & Rotherham Independent. 23 September 1889. p. 7.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 1889–90_Football_Alliance, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.