However, while the Football League quickly proved a success, the Combination lacked central organisation, with poor planning and unfulfilled fixtures, and failed to complete its first season, finishing in April 1889 without a winner.
The Alliance covered a similar area to the League, stretching from the English Midlands to the North West, but also further east in Sheffield, Grimsby and Sunderland.
Crewe Alexandra, Nottingham Forest, and Walsall Town Swifts were elected in the ballot, with Long Eaton Rangers, Halliwell, and Witton missing out.
[6] The clubs attended a meeting at the Midland Hotel in Derby in May 1889 to arrange fixtures, but, as Sunderland did not attend, it was assumed Sunderland did not intend to play; and Witton, South Shore, Burslem Port Vale, Derby Midland, Halliwell, and Long Eaton Rangers applied to join in its place.
To fill the three vacancies, eight clubs applied; Ardwick, Bury, Burton Swifts, Gainsborough Trinity, Middlesbrough,[12] Northwich Victoria, Lincoln City, and Sheffield United.