1890–91 Football Alliance
The 1890–1891 Football Alliance was the second 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.
Stoke joined the Alliance in this season after dropping out of the Football League at the end of the previous season and were crowned champions after the penultimate round of fixtures on 4 April. Last season's champions The Wednesday finished bottom after losing thirteen games in a dreadful season. Even a 4–2 win (3–0 at half time) at home to runners up Sunderland Albion on the last day of the season failed to lift Wednesday off the foot of the table.[1]
At the end of the season Stoke were elected back to the Football League along with 6th placed Darwen, whilst Sunderland Albion left in order to join the Northern League.[1]
Final league table
| Season | 1890–91 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Stoke |
| Matches played | 132 |
| Goals scored | 630 (4.77 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | ? |
| Biggest home win | Sunderland Albion - Walsall Town Swifts 11-1 |
| Biggest away win | Crewe Alexandra - Nottingham Forest 0-7 |
| Highest scoring | Sunderland Albion - Walsall Town Swifts 11-1 |
| Longest winning run | ? |
| Longest unbeaten run | ? |
| Longest losing run | ? |
| Highest attendance | ? |
| Lowest attendance | ? |
| Average attendance | ? |
|
← 1889–90 1891–92 → | |
| Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stoke[2] | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 57 | 39 | +18 | 33 |
| 2 | Sunderland Albion[3] | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 69 | 28 | +41 | 30 |
| 3 | Grimsby Town | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 43 | 27 | +16 | 27 |
| 4 | Birmingham St George's | 22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 64 | 62 | +2 | 26 |
| 5 | Nottingham Forest | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 66 | 39 | +27 | 25 |
| 6 | Darwen[2] | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 64 | 59 | +5 | 23 |
| 7 | Walsall Town Swifts | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 34 | 61 | −27 | 21 |
| 8 | Crewe Alexandra | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 59 | 67 | −8 | 20 |
| 9 | Newton Heath | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 37 | 55 | −18 | 17 |
| 10 | Small Heath | 22 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 58 | 66 | −8 | 16 |
| 11 | Bootle | 22 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 40 | 61 | −21 | 13 |
| 12 | The Wednesday | 22 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 39 | 66 | −27 | 13 |
Source: [1]
Rules for classification:
1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
| Key | |
|---|---|
| Football Alliance Champions, elected to Football League | |
| Elected to Football League (see Stoke and Darwen) | |
| New club in the Alliance (see Stoke) | |
| Disbanded (none) or left the league |
Results
Additional sources for The Wednesday,[1] Newton Heath,[4] Small Heath,[5] Stoke City and Nottingham Forest.
| Home \ Away[1] | BSG | BOO | CRE | DRW | GRI | NWH | NOT | SMH | STK | SUA | WAL | WED |
| Birmingham St George's | 5–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 6–1 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 5–2 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 5–3 | |
| Bootle | 4–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 1–5 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 6–1 | 5–0 | |
| Crewe Alexandra | 1–4 | 8–3 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 0–1 | 0–7 | 6–2 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | |
| Darwen | 5–2 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–4 | 5–3 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 9–0 | 7–1 | |
| Grimsby Town | 5–2 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | |
| Newton Heath | 1–3 | 2–1 | 6–3 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 1–1 | |
| Nottingham Forest | 4–0 | 7–0 | 5–2 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 8–2 | 4–5 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | |
| Small Heath | 1–4 | 7–1 | 4–3 | 3–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 5–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 7–1 | |
| Stoke | 6–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 6–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | |
| Sunderland Albion | 8–0 | 4–1 | 7–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 11–1 | 3–1 | |
| Walsall Town Swifts | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–6 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 5–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | |
| The Wednesday | 4–0 | 1–1 | 4–6 | 7–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 2–2 |
Source: [1]
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Election to the Football League
The number of clubs in the Football League was to be increased by two for the 1891–92 season. In addition to the four League sides seeking re-election, six non-league clubs (five of them from the Football Alliance) also sought League membership. The voting went as follows:[6]
| Team | Votes | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Accrington | 8 | Re-elected to the League |
| Aston Villa | 8 | Re-elected to the League |
| Darwen | 7 | Elected to the League |
| Stoke | 7 | Elected to the League |
| Derby County | 6 | Re-elected to the League |
| West Bromwich Albion | 6 | Re-elected to the League |
| Ardwick | 4 | Not elected to the League |
| Nottingham Forest | 1 | Not elected to the League |
| Sunderland Albion | 1 | Not elected to the League |
| Newton Heath | 0 | Not elected to the League |
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "1889–90". The Owl Football Historian. Andrew Drake. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012.
- 1 2 Elected to the Football League.
- ↑ Left to join the Northern League.
- ↑ footballsite.co.uk Archived 9 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ footballsite.co.uk Archived 9 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ footballsite.co.uk Archived 14 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine.