After an endorsement by League president and chairman of Liverpool John McKenna on account of their longer membership of the League, Arsenal won the vote by eighteen votes to Spurs' eight (Barnsley got five, Wolves four, Nottingham Forest three, Birmingham two and Hull City one) and were thus elected to the First Division. The decision infuriated Tottenham and their supporters. It has been frequently alleged that Arsenal chairman Sir Henry Norris used underhand dealings in order to bring this about, although nothing has been proven. Tottenham themselves had been elected to join the Football League Second Division eleven years prior after finishing 7th in the 1907–08 Southern League, but it involved entirely separate leagues that did not have automatic right to move between them. Tottenham were initially unsuccessful in their attempt to join the Football League, and only narrowly won election to the Second Division after Stoke resigned from the league for financial reasons.