The Football League

The Football League is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. It was founded in 1888 and it's the oldest such competition in world football.

History
Note: The history is the same until 1904. The first expansion would happen during the 1908-09 season where the two divisions expanded to twenty teams in the division with the two teams to be promoted for that season being Bradford City and Middlesbrough

Champions
Note: The champions are the same in this TL up until 1904 with OTL. League and FA Cup Double winners are highlighted in bold.

1892–1920
In 1892 the Football League absorbed 11 of the 12 clubs in the rival Football Alliance after it folded, meaning the League now had enough clubs to form another division. The existing division was renamed the First Division and the new division was called the Second Division.

1920–1921
In 1920 the Football League admitted the clubs from the first division of the Southern League (the Southern League continued with its remaining clubs) and Grimsby Town, who had failed to be re-elected to the Second Division the season before and been replaced by Cardiff City (of the Southern League). The clubs were placed in the new Third Division:

1921–1950
After just one season under the old format, the League expanded again. This time it admitted a number of clubs from the north of England to balance things out, as the last expansion brought mainly clubs from the south. The existing Third Division was renamed the Third Division South, and the new division was named the Third Division North. Grimsby Town transferred to the new northern division. Both divisions ran in parallel, with clubs from both Third Divisions being promoted to the national Second Division at the end of each season:

1950–
For the beginning of the 1950–51 season, the third division regional was split into the renamed Third and Fourth Division: