User:Fishingforboots/sandbox

First Division
For 1892, the Football League decided to increase the number of clubs in the First Division from 14 to 16, and to create a Second Division. West Bromwich Albion were excused from having to seek re-election as they had just won the FA Cup, leaving 3 Football League sides (Accrington, Stoke and Darwen) to compete with new applicants for 5 places in the First Division.

Liverpool's application was rejected because "they did not comply with regulations".

Second Division
Following the completion of elections to the First Division, elections were undertook for places in the new Second Division. Darwen, who had failed re-election to Division One, joined the applicants for a place in the Second Division. The Middlesbrough proposal did not apply for election, and there is no known record of the names of any other applicants, or how many votes were received by each team.


 * A.Newton Heath would change their name to Manchester United in 1902.
 * B.Small Heath Alliance would change their name to Birmingham F.C. in 1905, and then again to Birmingham City F.C. in 1943.
 * C.Ardwick would change their name to Manchester City in 1894.

1893
Division Two was expanded from 12 to 14 clubs for 1893. 4 teams faced re-election, along with 2 new applicants, meaning all 6 teams were successful, and no voting figures were recorded

Shortly after this vote, it was agreed to advertise for two more clubs to ensure that both divisions would have an equal number - 16 clubs. The successful applicants were chosen by the Management Committee "on the following Wednesday". This vote was a turning point for the Football League - prior to this second vote, the furthest south the League stretched was Birmingham and the Midlands (represented by Small Heath, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers). By electing Woolwich Arsenal, the Football League took its first foray into the South, admitting a team from London. This was also a lifeline for Woolwich Arsenal, who were facing a bleak future - many of the amateur clubs in the South frowned upon their move to professionalism, resulting in a ban from local competition by the London Football Association.

Liverpool also saw success at entry into the Football League at the second hurdle. The team were formed after a split within Everton F.C. ,and after failing election in 1892, entered the Lancashire League, fielding a team predominately made up of Scottish players. With the increased number of vacancies caused by the creation of the Second Division, Liverpool were elected for the 1893-94 season.

In August of 1893, Accrington resigned from the League, and were replaced. Bootle also resigned shortly after, but weren't replaced.

1947
With the first election since the end of the Second World War, a dearth of clubs saw the opportunity to enter the League at the first opening since 1939. 27 applicants challenged the 4 incumbents for a record 31 candidates for just 4 league positions. The League Secretary pointed out that the two clubs being relegated into Division 3 were both southern, and that if "geographically unsuitable" clubs were elected, it would create an even greater imbalance in Division Three, which was split into North and South divisions. He suggested that the four incumbent sides should be re-elected en bloc, and no vote took place.

1950
In 1950, the Football League took the decision to increase its numbers from 88 to 92 clubs. As a result, no re-election was needed for the four sides who finished bottom of the Third Division (Halifax Town and York City in the Third Division North; Newport County & Millwall in the Third Division South). The ballot was subsequently divided into Northern and Southern regions, with 2 clubs being elected to each regional Third Division.

North
In the Northern region, Shrewsbury Town were comfortably elected. However, a tie (between Wigan Athletic and Workington) forced a second round of votes. These two sides, along with Scunthorpe United and Nelson (the only other sides to gain more than 1 vote) saw a second vote produce another tie, this time between Scunthorpe United and Wigan Athletic. Despite getting more first-ballot votes than Scunthorpe, Workington were eliminated from the process, with a head-to-head resulting in Scunthorpe United being elected at the 7th attempt.

South
The Southern vote was much simpler, requiring only one round of votes.