The Liverpool team won by a single goal. The season ended with the final of the Warwickshire Association's senior cup competition. Small Heath were exempted until the semi-final, in which they beat Unity Gas Department. Their opponents in the final were Warwick County, and the match was played at that club's home ground, the County Cricket Ground. The match was drawn, and the second half was marred by a fight for which one player from each side was sent off. Small Heath finished tenth in the inaugural season of the Football Alliance, and were re-elected for 1890–91. Among regular first-team players to leave the club were Walter Gittins, Eddy Stanley, and Chris Charsley. Gittins, who partnered Fred Speller at full-back throughout the season, moved on to Stafford Rangers. Stanley had been with the club for nine years before injury forced his retirement. During that time he scored 14 times in 22 FA Cup matches, contributed two goals and an assist as Small Heath won their first trophy, the 1883 Walsall Cup, and scored 5 goals from 13 games in the Football Alliance campaign. Goalkeeper Charsley, a serving police officer, announced his retirement. In June, he was honoured with a dinner at which he was presented with the proceeds of his benefit, some of which had been spent on a piano, and there was £40 left over. The "Birmingham Daily Post" suggested the club "were hardly likely ever to find so good a man again". New arrivals included forward Charlie Short, who had played one match for Small Heath in March before finishing the season with Unity Gas, full-back Tom Bayley from Walsall Town Swifts, and goalkeeper Charles Partridge from Wednesbury Old Athletic. The club decided to change to a new kit – a plain royal blue shirt and stockings with white knickerbockers – because the black kit had proved difficult to see for players and spectators alike. For consistency, attendances and goalscorers' names in the Football Alliance and FA Cup match details are sourced from Matthews (2010). Information in contemporary newspaper reports could, and often did, differ. Apart from those detailed below, Small Heath also played non-competitive fixtures against a Small Heath past players XI, Burton Swifts, and two other matches against Aston Villa. One of these matches was held as a benefit for the long-serving Eddy Stanley, and raised £15 10s. General  Specific