Even though the club was pushing for the Alliance title towards the end of the season - in mid-March, the Dragons were second in the table, seven points behind Stoke, but with three games in hand - the club's crowds were poor. The crowd for the home game with Darwen attracted "exceptionally few" spectators, just 800 watched the penultimate home game with Crewe Alexandra, and the highest home crowd was a mere 2,000 for the derbies with Walsall and Small Heath; no side had a lower average attendance. The club's falling away towards the end of the season was in part due to leading scorer Jack Devey signing for Aston Villa, news of which broke in February, which led to Devey being abused by the home support - the Dragons refused to play him in the final Alliance matches. Devey was absent for the club's loss in the semi-final of the Staffordshire Cup to Aston Villa, and the club played the match in effect with ten men, as McVickers was injured in the early stages and a passenger for the remainder.
