 During the first five seasons of the league, that is until the season 1893–94 re-election process concerned the clubs which finished in the bottom four of the league.At the Football League election meeting no vote was taken, and it was agreed that Burnley and Notts County were re-elected and that Sunderland was elected in place of Stoke, who played in the Football Alliance the following season but returned to the Football League after a year's absence.The applications of Football Alliance sides Bootle, Darwen, Grimsby Town, Newton Heath and Sunderland Albion were rejected.