# 1890–91 Football Alliance

The 1890–91 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.
At the end of the season, Stoke were elected back to the Football League along with sixth-placed Darwen, while Sunderland Albion left to join the Northern League.

## Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Stoke (E) | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 57 | 39 | 1.462 | 33 | Football Alliance Champions, elected to Football League |
| 2 | Sunderland Albion | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 69 | 28 | 2.464 | 30 | Left to join the Northern League |
| 3 | Grimsby Town | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 43 | 27 | 1.593 | 27 | |
| 4 | Birmingham St George's | 22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 64 | 62 | 1.032 | 26 | |
| 5 | Nottingham Forest | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 66 | 39 | 1.692 | 23 | |
| 6 | Darwen (E) | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 64 | 59 | 1.085 | 23 | Elected to Football League |
| 7 | Walsall Town Swifts | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 34 | 61 | 0.557 | 21 | |
| 8 | Crewe Alexandra | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 59 | 67 | 0.881 | 20 | |
| 9 | Newton Heath | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 37 | 55 | 0.673 | 17 | |
| 10 | Small Heath | 22 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 58 | 66 | 0.879 | 16 | |
| 11 | Bootle | 22 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 40 | 61 | 0.656 | 13 | |
| 12 | The Wednesday | 22 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 39 | 66 | 0.591 | 13 | |
* ↑ New club in the Alliance
* ↑ Left to join the Northern League
* ↑ Two points deducted for fielding an unregistered player

## Results

| Home \ Away | 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 | |

## 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:
| 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 |