The Football Alliance 1889-92

After the demise of the Combination the clubs who were not yet members of the exclusive Football League continued to look for a means of ensuring their survival. So the Football Alliance came into being. The Football Alliance owed it's relative success to the close resemblance it bore to the Football League. As we have seen, the Combination faltered because it did not go to the lengths that the League did to ensure fixity of fixtures.Those running the Alliance had learned from both the failure of the Combination and from the success of the League. 12 members meant a manageable season of home and away fixtures (just like the League). The catchment area was wider than that of the League, but the clubs were all from the midlands and the north.
10 of the 12 clubs involved in the first season of the Alliance had played in the Combination the previous year.
Final table- 1889-90:

		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	The Wednesday	22	15	2	5	70	39	32
2	Bootle	22	13	2	7	66	39	28
3	Sunderland Albion	22	13	2	7	64	39	28
4	Grimsby Town	22	12	2	8	58	47	26
5	Crewe Alexandra	22	11	2	9	68	59	24
6	Darwen	22	10	2	10	70	75	22
7	Birmingham St George's	22	9	3	10	62	49	21
8	Newton Heath	22	9	2	11	40	44	20
9	Walsall Town Swifts	22	8	3	11	44	59	19
10	Small Heath	22	6	5	11	44	67	17
11	Nottingham Forest	22	6	5	11	31	62	17
12	Long Eaton Rangers	22	4	2	16	35	73	10

The Wednesday reached  the FA Cup final but were trounced by Blackburn Rovers.
Players winning international honours whilst in the Alliance (1889-90)
England- Tinsley Lindley (Nottingham Forest)  
Wales- Dr. Alfred Owen Davies, Richard Owen Jones, William Lewis (Crewe Alexandra)
Joseph Davies John Doughty (Newton Heath) 
Walter Gwynne Evans (Bootle)

A traffic developed between the Alliance and the League. During it's 3 year existence the Alliance was a de facto second division of the League.

At the end of the 1888-89 season the bottom 4 clubs in the Football League had all applied successfully for re election  (Burnley, Derby County, Notts County and Stoke) and no new clubs were admitted.
In 1889-90 when Stoke finished bottom of the  Football League they moved into the Alliance, when they won the Alliance in 1890-91 they were rewarded with 'promotion' back to The Football League.
Final Table 1890-91- the previous season's top  2 occupied the bottom 2 places:

		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Stoke	22	13	7	2	57	39	33
2	Sunderland Albion	22	12	6	4	69	28	30
3	Grimsby Town	22	11	5	6	43	27	27
4	Birmingham St George's	22	12	2	8	64	62	26
5	Nottingham Forest	22	9	7	6	66	39	23*
6	Darwen	22	10	3	9	64	59	23
7	Walsall Town Swifts	22	9	3	10	34	61	21
8	Crewe Alexandra	22	8	4	10	59	67	20
9	Newton Heath	22	7	3	12	37	55	17
10	Small Heath	22	7	2	13	58	66	16
11	Bootle	22	3	7	12	40	61	13
12	The Wednesday	22	4	5	13	39	66	13
Nottingham Forest  deducted 2 points

Players winning international honours whilst in the Alliance (1890-91):
England- Tinsley Lindley , Albert Smith (Nottingham Forest), Joseph Marsden (Darwen) 
Wales- William Hughes (Bootle), William Lewis (Crewe Alexandra)

The Wednesday 1891-92

When, in preparation for the 1892–93 season the Football League was expanded to 2 divisions there was an almost blanket movement of clubs from the Alliance:

Football Alliance 1891–92
1	Nottingham Forest	Elected to Football League First Division
2	Newton Heath
3	Small Heath	Elected to Football League Second Division
4	The Wednesday	Elected to Football League First Division
5	Burton Swifts	Elected to Football League Second Division
6	Grimsby Town
7	Crewe Alexandra
8	Ardwick
9	Bootle
10	Lincoln City
11	Walsall Town Swifts
12	Birmingham St George's	Disbanded

Forest reached the semi final of the FA Cup, taking West Bromwich Albion to a second replay before being beaten 6-2. 

Players winning international honours whilst in the Alliance (1891-92):

England-Jackie Pearson (Crewe Alexandra)

Wales- Smart Arridge, William Hughes (Bootle), Caesar  Jenkyns (Small Heath), William Lewis, Benjamin Lewis (Crewe Alexandra), John Owen (Newton Heath)