In 1890, after an unsuccessful application (they received only one vote) to join the Football League, Newton Heath and 11 other clubs not in the League formed an organisation known as the Football Alliance, in which they finished eighth in the first season. After three further applications, the club joined the Football League when it merged with the Football Alliance in 1892 and Newton Heath was elected to the First Division. In their final season in the Football Alliance, the club finished second to Nottingham Forest, who joined them in the First Division. By this time, the club had severed its formal ties with the railway company and had dropped the "LYR" from their name, although most players were still employees of the railway company. The club had also become a limited company, raising £2000 of share capital (at £1 each) via an application form which was returned to club secretary A.H.Albut, the club's first full-time official, who also assumed managerial duties.