[6] This caused problems for the club in competitions, because it was effectively barred from fielding its best players, as professionals were banned from them until 1885 and after then residency requirements sometimes stopped them from taking part.

[7] This enabled the club to field a first-class eleven in friendlies, but many of the players were ineligible for Cup competitions.

Halliwell lost in the first round of the FA Cup, in a considerable surprise, to Lower Darwen F.C.

; amongst Halliwell's earlier results that season was a 20–0 win at Southport, on the same day as Lower Darwen were losing 5–0 to Preston Zingari.

[11] In the 1885-86 FA Cup, the club was drawn against Fishwick Ramblers of Preston in the first round, and was initially suspended from the competition for fielding an Astley Bridge player in a friendly match without permission.

Rather than attend the replay, Hurst scratched,[15] but it was a stay of execution for the Halliwellians, as a side which "consisted almost entirely of second eleven youngsters" lost 6–1 to South Shore F.C., in front of a "mere handful" of spectators.

Halliwell, forced to drop six of their best players because of the regulations, scratched from the tie,[17] and played the match as a friendly instead.

Halliwell beat Liverpool Stanley in the first round, going in at half-time 1–0 down, but a tactical switch for the second half - left-winger Weir swapping places with centre-forward Mullin, which forced Stanley to withdraw midfielder Goodall to cover him - saw Halliwell rattle in five without reply.

Technically, this meant that the Preston-Halliwell tie was also a nullity, and the FA sent a telegram to Deepdale before the match stating that the game should be a friendly, but Sudell of Preston arranged with the FA that the match should still stand as a Cup tie, with Preston willing to play Bolton Wanderers should the Bolton protest be upheld.

[24] Halliwell therefore became one of the members of The Combination, although that attempt at a league struggled, with confusion over the fixtures, and the season fizzled out uncompleted.

[30] With league football proving to be a success around the country, the club was a founder member of the Lancashire Combination in 1891.

[42] The club donned a new set of yellow and black jerseys in January 1887, which gave the side the appearance of "bilious spiders".