The AFU was formed in response to the introduction by the Football League of the "retain and transfer" system which restricted the movement of players from one club to another, and proposals to introduce a maximum wage of £4 per week.
The need for regular fixtures to earn sufficient revenue to afford player wages led to the formation of the Football League in 1888.
As the Football League grew in popularity, the leading players of the day were in great demand, and commanded ever-increasing wages.
They feared that bigger clubs would dominate the league as a consequence of being able to pay higher salaries.
It applied even if the player's annual contract with the club holding his registration was not renewed after it expired.
Faced with such a situation, a player had the following stark choices: In September, 1893, Derby County proposed that the Football League should impose a maximum wage of £4 a week.
In February 1898, at a meeting in Liverpool, some of the top players of the day announced the formation of the AFU.
Other leading players involved in the formation of the AFU or who took a leading role included Bob Holmes and Jimmy Ross of Burnley, John Devey of Aston Villa, John Somerville of Bolton Wanderers, Hugh McNeill of Sunderland, Harry Wood of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tom Bradshaw and Abe Hartley of Liverpool, James McNaught of Newton Heath, Billy Meredith of Manchester City and Johnny Holt and David Storrier of Everton.
An example of this was Steve Bloomer of Derby County, who, in the 1890s, was also employed at the foundry near to the club's ground as a striker.
Only when he was earning a significant figure as an international player and Derby regular was he able to forgo his other employment and play football full-time.
However, many of them, including members of the AFU committee, subsequently moved to clubs in the Southern League or the Scottish League, such as: Charles Saer, who replaced John Cameron as secretary of the AFU, resigned in December 1898, "as his scholastic duties precluded the possibility of his devoting the necessary time to the office".