1891–92 Football Alliance

Football Alliance
Season1891–92
ChampionsNottingham Forest
DisbandedBirmingham St George's
Matches played132
Goals scored569 (4.31 per match)

The 1891–92 Football Alliance was the third and final 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.

Three new clubs joined the Football Alliance, following the expansion of the Football League to 14 teams, and the defection of Sunderland Albion to the Northern League. These new teams were Ardwick (later Manchester City), Burton Swifts and Lincoln City.[1][2]

At the end of the season the Football Alliance was disbanded and merged with the Football League, which was expanded to two divisions. Champions Nottingham Forest together with Newton Heath and The Wednesday were elected to the enlarged sixteen-team First Division. The remaining teams were joined by Northwich Victoria, Burslem Port Vale and Sheffield United to form a twelve-team Second Division. However, Birmingham St George's disbanded at the end of the season due to financial problems.[1][2]

Final league table

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Locations of the 1891–92 Football Alliance teams
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Nottingham Forest 22 14 5 3 59 22 2.682 33 Football Alliance Champions, elected to Football League First Division
2 Newton Heath 22 12 7 3 69 33 2.091 31 Elected to Football League First Division
3 Small Heath 22 12 5 5 53 36 1.472 29 Elected to Football League Second Division
4 The Wednesday 22 12 4 6 65 35 1.857 28 Elected to Football League First Division
5 Burton Swifts[a] 22 12 2 8 54 52 1.038 26 Elected to Football League Second Division
6 Crewe Alexandra 22 7 4 11 44 49 0.898 18
7 Ardwick[a] 22 6 6 10 39 51 0.765 18
8 Bootle 22 8 2 12 42 64 0.656 18
9 Lincoln City[a] 22 6 5 11 37 65 0.569 17
10 Grimsby Town 22 6 6 10 40 39 1.026 16[b]
11 Walsall Town Swifts 22 6 3 13 33 59 0.559 15
12 Birmingham St George's 22 5 3 14 34 64 0.531 11[b] Disbanded[c]
Source: [3]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average.
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c New club in the Alliance
  2. ^ a b Two points deducted from Birmingham St George's and Grimsby Town for fielding ineligible players
  3. ^ Disbanded at the end of the season due to financial problems


Results

Home \ Away ARD BSG BOO BRS CRE GRI LIN NWH NOT SMH WAL WED
Ardwick 4–3 3–3 1–0 4–0 3–1 2–3 2–2 1–3 2–2 6–0 0–4
Birmingham St George's 0–1 4–1 2–2 3–1 0–0 2–4 1–3 1–2 1–0 6–1 2–4
Bootle 2–1 4–2 0–2 4–3 6–1 3–2 1–1 1–4 0–1 3–0 3–2
Burton Swifts 4–4 3–1 5–1 0–4 2–1 6–1 3–2 1–3 6–3 4–0 4–3
Crewe Alexandra 2–2 11–1 4–3 2–4 1–0 3–0 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–1 2–1
Grimsby Town 4–0 5–0 4–1 0–1 1–1 6–1 2–2 1–1 1–2 2–0 1–0
Lincoln City 3–0 5–0 1–3 4–0 1–1 3–2 1–6 1–4 1–1 1–1 2–2
Newton Heath 3–1 3–0 4–0 3–1 5–3 3–3 10–1 1–1 3–3 5–0 1–1
Nottingham Forest 4–0 3–0 5–1 7–0 5–0 3–3 0–0 3–0 2–0 5–1 1–1
Small Heath 4–0 2–2 4–1 3–1 3–1 3–0 4–0 3–2 1–2 4–1 1–1
Walsall Town Swifts 2–2 1–3 7–0 2–3 3–1 2–0 2–0 1–4 3–0 3–4 2–1
The Wednesday 2–0 4–0 4–1 5–2 4–1 4–2 7–2 2–4 3–1 6–3 4–0
Source: [3]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Election to the Football League

Two new clubs were elected to the Football League in the re-election process. West Bromwich Albion, although finishing in the bottom four teams of the Football League, were not required to seek re-election as they were the FA Cup holders. Two of the other three teams were duly re-elected. As a result, three new teams were elected to the League. The voting went as follows:[4]

When a second division was later added to the league, Darwen were elected to participate, along with the remaining Football Alliance teams except for Birmingham St George's (who disbanded due to financial problems).

Team Votes Result
The Wednesday 10 Elected to the League
Nottingham Forest 9 Elected to the League
Accrington 7 Re-elected to the League
Stoke 6 Re-elected to the League
Newton Heath 6 Elected to the League
Sheffield United 5 Not elected to the League
Darwen 4 Not re-elected to the League
Burton Swifts 1 Not elected to the League
Newcastle East End 1 Not elected to the League
Middlesbrough / Middlesbrough Ironopolis (combined) 1 Not elected to the League
Liverpool Caledonian 0 Not elected to the League

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "1891–92". The Owl. Andrew Drake. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  2. ^ a b Abbink, Dinant (23 July 2006). "England – Football Alliance". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Archived from the original on 14 March 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  3. ^ a b Blakeman, Mick; Brown, Tony; Warsop, Keith, eds. (2009). The Football Alliance Match by Match: 1889/90 to 1891/92. Nottingham: SoccerData. pp. 41–53. ISBN 978-1-905891-19-1.
  4. ^ "Football Alliance 1891/92". footballsite.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2021.