On 25th April 1892 Liverpool Football Club was granted membership of the Football Association after Everton officials opposed it due to a disagreement regarding fittings at the Anfield ground.

The fallout from the rent dispute that led to Everton quitting Anfield and John Houlding (below right) setting up his own club was a bitter one. Houlding had invested a lot of his own money into ground improvements and felt if Everton were leaving, then they had no right to take anything with them. On 11th April 1892 Houlding obtained an injunction at the Chancery Court of Lancashire preventing the Everton committee removing any of the fittings, pending a resolution.

At the FA hearing Houlding made submissions for his new club Liverpool to be accepted as members of the FA, but there was an objection from new Everton chairman George Mahon (below left). He stated that although Everton weren’t against Houlding’s club, there remained a dispute over the fixtures and fittings at the Anfield ground.  The Liverpool Mercury reported on 26th April that : ‘After a long discussion the committee arrived at the following decision – “The new club to pay Everton the sum of £250 for the whole of the fixtures on the present ground.” The club was then affiliated as the Liverpool club and the dispute settled.