 Despite finishing fourth in the league, the cost of maintaining a professional football club became too high for the Tower's owners, and the club was disbanded in the summer of 1901.Following the folding of the New Tower club, Cunliffe returned to Portsmouth for the 1901–02 season, in which he helped the south coast team take the Southern League title for the first time, by a margin of five points over Tottenham Hotspur, as well as retaining their Western League title.Cunliffe remained at Portsmouth until May 1906, when he signed for New Brompton.