The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92.
Manchester United Football Club was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath. The team initially played games against other departments and rail companies at their home ground at North Road, but by 1888 the club had become a founding member of The Combination, a regional football league. However, following the league's dissolution before the end of its first season, Newton Heath joined the newly formed Football Alliance, which ran for three seasons before being merged with The Football League. This resulted in the club starting the 1892–93 season in the First Division, by which time it had become independent of the rail company, dropped the "LYR" from its name and moved to a new ground at Bank Street. After just two seasons, the club was relegated to the Second Division.
Long Eaton Rangers Football Club was a football club based in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, England, which, for a brief period in the 1880s, had a legitimate claim to being one of the best teams in the country. They were founding members of the second ever league, The Combination, in 1888, and when that folded, the Football Alliance in 1889.
The Combination was a league during the early days of English football. It had two incarnations; the first ran only for the 1888–89 season for teams across Northern England and the Midlands, and was disbanded before completion. The second was created for the 1890–91 season, but persisted until it was defunct in 1911. The league comprised teams primarily from North West England and later Wales.
The 1892–93 Football League season, was the fifth season of Football League. This season saw the introduction of the Second Division.
The 1893–94 season was the sixth season of The Football League.
The 1896–97 season was the ninth season of The Football League.
The 1898–99 season was the 11th season of The Football League. Two teams were able to win the First Division title going into the final day of the season: Aston Villa and Liverpool; second-placed Liverpool travelled to Villa Park for the final match, needing a win to overtake Villa and win the title, but Villa won 5–0 to win their fourth First Division title.
The 1887–88 season was Newton Heath LYR's final season before entering into league football. They only entered one competitive cup competition during the season, the Manchester and District Challenge Cup. They won the tournament, beating Denton 7–1 in the final at Whalley Range.
John Powell was a Welsh association footballer who played as a full-back for Newton Heath in the late 1880s.
James Warner was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Aston Villa and Newton Heath in the late 19th century. He helped Aston Villa win the FA Cup in 1887.
William Tait was a Scottish professional association footballer who played as an inside forward. After playing for Glasgow Parkside, Glasgow Pilgrims and Third Lanark, he moved to England in 1887 to play for Newton Heath, the club that would later become Manchester United. The club had not yet entered league football, but Tait made 10 appearances in friendlies during the 1886–87 season, scoring two goals. He made a further 22 appearances in 1887–88, scoring 15 goals. His final appearance came on 3 March 1888 against Blackburn Olympic before a move to Burnley ahead of the inaugural season of The Football League in 1888–89. He made his debut in the opening game of the season against Preston North End on 8 September 1888; Burnley lost 5–2, and it was reported that Tait and Burnley colleague Fred Poland got into a fight with two of the Preston players. The following week, Tait scored Burnley's first goal at home to Bolton Wanderers, his first in the Football League; he then also scored Burnley's third and fourth goals in a 4–3 win, which made him the first player to score a Football League hat-trick. After the match, Tait got drunk celebrating and was suspended by the club for their next game. He returned for the next three games, scoring two goals, but then failed to turn up for the away game at Stoke on 20 October 1888 and the following week a local newspaper reported that he was "no longer a Burnley player".
Birmingham City Football Club, an English association football club based in the city of Birmingham, was founded in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance. For their first thirteen years, there was no league football, so matches were arranged on an occasional basis, supplemented by cup competitions organised at both local and national level. In 1888, Small Heath joined the Combination, a league set up to provide organised football for those clubs not invited to join the Football League which was to start the same year. However, the Combination was not well organised, and folded in April 1889 with many fixtures still outstanding. Small Heath were founder members of the Football Alliance in 1889, and three years later were elected to the newly formed Second Division of the Football League. They topped the table in their first season, though failed to win promotion via the test match system then in operation, but reached the top flight for the first time in 1894. Since that time, they have not fallen below the third tier of the English football league system, and were promoted to the Premier League for the first time for the 2002–03 season.
Charles Edwin Harrison was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers.
Arsenal Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Holloway, London. The club was formed in Woolwich in 1886 as Royal Arsenal before it was renamed Woolwich Arsenal in 1893. They became the first southern member admitted into the Football League in 1893, having spent their first four seasons solely participating in cup tournaments and friendlies. The club's name was shortened to Arsenal in 1914, a year after moving to Highbury. In spite of finishing fifth in the Second Division in 1915, Arsenal rejoined the First Division at the expense of local rivals Tottenham Hotspur when football resumed after the First World War. Since that time, they have not fallen below the first tier of the English football league system and hold the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the top flight. The club remained in the Football League until 1992, when its First Division was superseded as English football's top level by the newly formed Premier League, of which they were an inaugural member. In 2003–04, Arsenal completed a league season without a single defeat, something achieved only once before in English football, by Preston North End in 1888–89.
John Mitchell was a footballer who played as a full-back with Doncaster Rovers, Newton Heath LYR and Bolton Wanderers in the late 19th century. He played in Doncaster's first match in 1879, and for Bolton on the first day of the inaugural season of The Football League in 1888. He was born in Doncaster, probably in 1861, and died on 22 July 1938, also in Doncaster, from burns sustained at his home.
Preston North End Football Club, an English association football club based in the Deepdale area of Preston, Lancashire, was founded in 1880. For their first eight years, there was no league football, so matches were arranged on an occasional basis, supplemented by cup competitions organised at both local and national level. In 1888, Preston participated in the inaugural Football League. They won the first top-flight league title and of the 22 matches they won 18 and drew the other four, therefore they remained undefeated thus being labelled "The Invincibles". They were the only team to be known by this nickname for 115 years until Arsenal completed their 2003–04 season without a defeat. Since then the club has remained in the Football League although it has competed in its various divisions.
Port Vale Football Club, an English association football club based in the town of Burslem, in Stoke-on-Trent, was founded in the late 1870s. In the club's early history, there was no league football, so matches were arranged on an occasional basis, supplemented by cup competitions organised at both local and national level. The club changed its name to Burslem Port Vale in 1884. In 1888, Burslem Port Vale joined the Combination, a league set up to provide organised football for those clubs not invited to join the Football League which was to start the same year. However, the Combination was not well organised, and folded in April 1889 with many fixtures still outstanding. Burslem Port Vale were founder members of the Midland League in 1890, and two years later were elected to the newly formed Second Division of the Football League. They failed re-election in 1896 and spent two seasons in the Midland League, before winning re-election back into the Football League Second Division. However, they continued to struggle and folded in 1907. At this stage, North Staffordshire Church League champions Cobridge Church sought permission from the Football Association to change the club's name to Port Vale and bought the old club's ground. This was the start of a 12-year process that saw the newly formed club work its way through the North Staffordshire Federation League, North Staffordshire & District League and The Central League, to secure election into the Football League in October 1919. The club have remained in the Football League since that time, winning the Third Division North in 1929–30 and 1953–54 seasons and the Fourth Division title in 1958–59.
