1904–05 Small Heath F.C. season

The 1904–05 Football League season was Small Heath Football Club's 13th in the Football League and their 5th in the First Division. In third position in the 18-team league, only one point behind the leaders, with eight matches remaining, they gained only four points from the sixteen available, and finished seventh. They also took part in the 1904–05 FA Cup, entering at the first round proper and losing to Portsmouth in that round. In locally organised competition, they won the Birmingham Senior Cup for the first time, defeating West Bromwich Albion by seven goals to two. After this season, the club entered a primarily reserve team for this competition, which had previously not been permitted.

Small Heath F.C.
1904–05 season
ChairmanWalter W. Hart
Secretary-managerAlf Jones
GroundCoventry Road
Football League First Division7th
FA CupFirst round (eliminated by Portsmouth)
Birmingham Senior CupWinner
Top goalscorerLeague: Billy Jones (16)
All: Billy Jones (16)
Highest home attendance32,000 vs Aston Villa, 25 February 1905
Lowest home attendance8,000 vs Nottingham Forest, 11 March 1905
Average home league attendance14,647
Team colours

Nineteen players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were nine different goalscorers. Goalkeeper Nat Robinson, full-back Frank Stokes and forward Benny Green were all ever-present over the 35-match season. Billy Jones was leading scorer with 16 goals, all of which came in the league.

At an Extraordinary General Meeting held in March 1905, it was proposed that, Small Heath being the only major football club in the city[2] since Birmingham St George's had folded in 1892, the club should be renamed Birmingham City F.C. The shareholders were not in favour, though they were prepared to go as far as plain Birmingham Football Club instead. Even this was a step too far for some; one reporter referred to "the Small Heath club now masquerading as Birmingham".[3]

Events surrounding the February 1905 match with Aston Villa highlighted the Coventry Road ground's inadequacies. The official attendance was given as 28,000,[4] though with the gates closed before kick-off, thousands scaled walls or forced entrances in order to gain admission, and the actual attendance was estimated at anything up to 35,000.[5][6] The Birmingham Daily Mail reported "a constant stream of vehicles to the ground, while the trams were disgorging their freights at Muntz Street every two or three minutes."[4] Inside, "the swaying of the mass of spectators rendered the placing of additional supports against the barriers a necessary precaution", and children were passed overhead and placed on the pitch for their own safety.[4] The following Monday the same newspaper commented that had space been available, another ten or fifteen thousand spectators might well have attended, as "hundreds of people found the doors closed against them, and probably there were thousands who would not go to the ground in view of the inevitable crush."[7] The club's landlords would neither sell the freehold of the ground nor allow its expansion, so the directors began planning to move to a new home.[6]

Football League First Division

edit
Date League
position
Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance
3 September 1904 12th Manchester City A L 1–2 Green pen 24,000
10 September 1904 17th Notts County H L 1–2 Beer pen 15,000
17 September 1904 17th Sheffield United A L 1–2 Beer pen 14,000
24 September 1904 16th Newcastle United H W 2–1 W.H. Jones 2 13,000
1 October 1904 17th Preston North End A D 2–2 Wilcox, McRoberts 10,000
8 October 1904 14th Middlesbrough H W 1–2 Field, Beer pen 10,000
15 October 1904 11th Wolverhampton Wanderers A W 1–0 Wilcox 8,000
22 October 1904 8th Bury H W 5–0 Wilcox, Field, Green 2, McRoberts 15,000
29 October 1904 11th Aston Villa A L 1–2 Wilcox 40,000
5 November 1904 8th Blackburn Rovers H W 2–0 Wigmore, Green 15,000
12 November 1904 8th Nottingham Forest A W 2–0 McRoberts, W.H. Jones 8,000
19 November 1904 4th Sheffield Wednesday H W 2–1 W.H. Jones, Green 15,000
26 November 1904 4th Sunderland A W 4–1 Wilcox, W.H. Jones 2, Green 12,000
3 December 1904 2nd Woolwich Arsenal H W 2–1 Dougherty, W.H. Jones 12,000
10 December 1904 5th Derby County A L 0–3 6,000
17 December 1904 7th Everton H L 1–2 W.H. Jones 18,000
26 December 1904 5th Middlesbrough A W 1–0 McRoberts 10,000
31 December 1904 5th Manchester City H W 3–1 W.H. Jones 2, Wilcox 15,000
2 January 1905 5th Bury A D 1–1 Green 9,000
7 January 1905 5th Notts County A D 0–0 8,000
14 January 1905 5th Sheffield United H W 2–0 W.H. Jones, Wilcox 12,000
21 January 1905 5th Newcastle United A W 1–0 Tickle 24,000
28 January 1905 3rd Preston North End H W 2–0 Wilcox 2 15,000
11 February 1905 2nd Wolverhampton Wanderers H W 4–1 Wilcox 3, Green 15,000
25 February 1905 4th Aston Villa H L 0–3 32,000
4 March 1905 3rd Blackburn Rovers A W 4–1 W.H. Jones 2 (1 pen), Field, Beer 5,000
11 March 1905 4th Nottingham Forest H L 1–2 Field 8,000
18 March 1905 5th Sheffield Wednesday A L 1–3 Green 12,000
25 March 1905 5th Sunderland H D 1–1 W.H. Jones 12,000
1 April 1905 5th Woolwich Arsenal A D 1–1 W.H. Jones 18,000
8 April 1905 5th Derby County H W 2–0 Green, W.H. Jones 12,000
15 April 1905 5th Everton A L 1–2 Hartwell 20,000
22 April 1905 5th Stoke H L 0–1 15,000
29 April 1905 7th Stoke A L 0–1 2,000

League table (part)

edit
Final First Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
5th Sunderland 34 16 8 10 60 44 1.36 40
6th Sheffield United 34 19 2 13 64 56 1.14 40
7th Small Heath 34 17 5 12 59 38 1.42 39
8th Preston North End 34 13 10 11 52 47 1.14 36
9th Sheffield Wednesday 34 14 5 15 61 57 1.07 33
Key Pos = League position; Pld = Matches played;
W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost;
F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points
Source [8]

FA Cup

edit
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance
First round 4 February 1905 Portsmouth H L 0–2 25,000

Appearances and goals

edit
This table includes appearances and goals in nationally organised competitive matches – the Football League and FA Cup – only.
For a description of the playing positions, see Formation (association football)#2–3–5 (Pyramid).
Players' appearances and goals by competition
Name Position League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Nat Robinson Goalkeeper 34 0 1 0 35 0
John Glover Full back 24 0 1 0 25 0
Ambrose Hartwell Full back 15 1 0 0 15 1
Frank Stokes Full back 34 0 1 0 35 0
Billy Beer Half back 31 4 0 0 31 4
Jack Bird Half back 0 0 1 0 1 0
Jim Dougherty Half back 25 1 1 0 26 1
Harry Howard Half back 13 0 0 0 13 0
Alfred Sellman Half back 1 0 0 0 1 0
Walter Wigmore Half back 28 1 1 0 29 1
Charlie Athersmith Forward 5 0 0 0 0 0
Oakey Field Forward 30 4 0 0 30 4
Benny Green Forward 34 10 1 0 35 10
Charles Harvey Forward 1 0 0 0 1 0
Billy Jones Forward 30 16 1 0 31 16
Thomas Jones Forward 2 0 1 0 3 0
Bob McRoberts Forward 14 4 0 0 14 4
Charlie Tickle Forward 16 1 1 0 17 1
Freddie Wilcox Forward 27 12 1 0 28 12
Jimmy Windridge Forward 10 0 0 0 10 0

See also

edit

References

edit

General

  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Breedon Books (Derby). ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  • Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. DB Publishing (Derby). ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
  • Source for match dates and results: "Birmingham City 1904–1905: Results". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 254–55. Note that attendance figures are estimated.
  • Source for kit: "Birmingham City". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

Specific

  1. ^ "History Of Aston – early period". Birmingham City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  2. ^ Aston Villa were based in the municipal borough of Aston Manor, which was not added to the county borough of Birmingham until 1911.[1]
  3. ^ Matthews (1995), Complete Record, p. 12.
  4. ^ a b c This Day's Matches. Birmingham Daily Mail. 25 February 1905. p. 4.
  5. ^ Matthews (1995), Complete Record. p. 57.
  6. ^ a b Inglis, Simon (1996). Football Grounds of Britain (3rd ed.) London: CollinsWillow. p. 44. ISBN 0-00-218426-5.
  7. ^ 'Linesman' (27 February 1905). Football Notes. Birmingham Daily Mail. p. 4.
  8. ^ "Birmingham City 1904–1905: English Division One (old) Table" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 22 May 2012.