1915–16 Sheffield United F.C. season

The 1915–16 season was the 27th season in existence for Sheffield United. Following the outbreak of World War I the English Football League and cup competitions were suspended, instead the team played in two regional competitions competing in the Midland section. With players away on active service or engaged in the war effort the first team squad was augmented by a series of guest players. These players were usually local born footballers who were home on leave from the army or had returned to the city to take up their former professions. Some were former Blades players whilst others would go on to sign for the club after the end of the war.[1]

Sheffield United
1915–16 season
ChairmanTom Bott
ManagerNone
(John Nicholson acted as club secretary)
StadiumBramall Lane
Midland Section2nd
Midland Division2nd
Top goalscorerLeague: Kitchen (13)
All: Kitchen (13)
Highest home attendance16,000
(vs The Wednesday)
Lowest home attendance3,000
(vs Lincoln City)

At this time the club did not employ a manager, with the team being selected by the Football Committee although the club secretary, John Nicholson, undertook many of the duties now associated with a team manager.

Players

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Squad

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK   ENG Ernest Blackwell
DF   ENG Bill Brelsford
DF   ENG Bill Cook
DF   ENG Jack English
MF   ENG Robert Evans
FW   ENG Stan Fazackerley
FW   EIR Billy Gillespie
GK   ENG Harold Gough
FW   ENG Harry Hall
DF   ENG Fred Hawley
No. Pos. Nation Player
GK   ENG Ted Hufton
FW   ENG Joe Kitchen
FW   ENG Wally Masterman
MF   ENG Harry Pantling
MF   ENG Jimmy Revill
DF   ENG Tom Richardson
MF   ENG Jimmy Simmons
MF   ENG Albert Sturgess
FW   ENG Jack Thompson
MF   ENG George Utley (captain)

Wartime guest players

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
MF   ENG Richard Allott
MF   ENG Fred Brown
FW   ENG Harold Buddery
FW   ENG Fred Charles
MF   ENG Bert Cook
DF   ENG Ellis Hall
FW   ENG Harry Johnson
MF   ENG Harry Kay
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW   ENG Dicky Leafe
GK   ENG C.L. Needham
DF   ENG John Poole
MF   ENG Arthur Robins
FW   ENG Ben Shearman
MF   ENG Oliver Tummon
FW   ENG J. Whiting
DF   ENG Alf Wilson

Transfers

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Squad # Position Player Transferred to Fee Date Source
FW   David Davies Released 31 May 1915 [2]
FW   Harry Hall Released 30 September 1915 [3]

Squad statistics

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As of the end of the season[1]
No. Pos Nat Player Total Midland Section Midland Division
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   ENG Ernest Blackwell 2 0 2 0 0 0
DF   ENG Bill Brelsford 29 0 21 0 8 0
DF   ENG Bill Cook 10 0 7 0 3 0
DF   ENG Jack English 4 0 3 0 1 0
MF   ENG Robert Evans 0 0 0 0 0 0
FW   ENG Stan Fazackerley 10 4 10 4 0 0
FW   EIR Billy Gillespie 30 10 20 5 10 5
GK   ENG Harold Gough 22 0 12 0 10 0
DF   ENG Harry Hall 1 0 1 0 0 0
DF   ENG Fred Hawley 18 0 16 0 2 0
GK   ENG Ted Hufton 11 0 11 0 0 0
FW   ENG Joe Kitchen 13 13 13 13 0 0
FW   ENG Wally Masterman 5 2 2 0 3 2
MF   ENG Harry Pantling 26 0 17 0 9 0
MF   ENG Jimmy Revill 3 0 3 0 0 0
DF   ENG Tom Richardson 5 0 4 0 1 0
FW   ENG Jimmy Simmons 26 10 19 8 7 2
MF   ENG Albert Sturgess 34 1 24 1 10 0
MF   ENG Jack Thompson 0 0 0 0 0 0
MF   ENG George Utley 33 4 23 3 10 1
Guest players:
MF   ENG Richard Allott 1 0 1 0 0 0
MF   ENG Fred Brown 5 2 2 1 3 1
FW   ENG Harold Buddery 15 5 10 3 5 2
FW   ENG Fred Charles 4 1 3 1 1 0
MF   ENG Bert Cook 2 0 1 0 1 0
DF   ENG Ellis Hall 1 0 1 0 0 0
FW   ENG Harry Johnson 2 0 0 0 2 0
MF   ENG Harry Kay 11 7 4 4 7 3
FW   ENG Dicky Leafe 3 0 3 0 0 0
GK   ENG C.L. Needham 1 0 1 0 0 0
DF   ENG John Poole 11 0 6 0 5 0
MF   ENG Arthur Robins 3 0 3 0 0 0
FW   ENG Ben Shearman 25 3 23 3 2 0
MF   ENG Oliver Tummon 22 6 14 5 8 1
FW   ENG J. Whiting 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW   ENG Alf Wilson 7 0 7 0 0 0

League tables

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Matches

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Midland Section

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4 September 1915 Lincoln City 7–3 Sheffield United Sincil Bank
Kitchen   ?', ?', ?' Attendance: 5,000
11 September 1915 Sheffield United 0–1 Bradford City Bramall Lane
Attendance: 8,500
18 September 1915 Huddersfield Town 2–2 Sheffield United Leeds Road
Kitchen   ?'
Fazakerley  ?'
Attendance: 3,500
25 September 1915 Sheffield United 6–1 Grimsby Town Bramall Lane
Kitchen   ?', ?', ?'
Gillespie   ?'
Utley   ?'
Shearman   ?'
Attendance: 7,000
2 October 1915 Notts County 3–0 Sheffield United Meadow Lane
Attendance: 3,000
9 October 1915 Sheffield United 2–0 Derby County Bramall Lane
Kitchen   ?'
Fazakerley   ?'
Attendance: 5,500
16 October 1915 The Wednesday 0–0 Sheffield United Hillsborough
Attendance: 10,500
23 October 1915 Sheffield United 2–2 Bradford Park Avenue Bramall Lane
Gillespie   ?'
Tummon   ?'
Attendance: 5,500
6 November 1915 Sheffield United 3–0 Hull City Bramall Lane
Fazackerley   ?', ?'
Kitchen   ?'
Attendance: 5,000
13 November 1915 Nottingham Forest 2–0 Sheffield United City Ground
Attendance: 4,000
20 November 1915 Sheffield United 1–0 Barnsley Bramall Lane
Tummon   ?' Attendance: 7,700
27 November 1915 Leicester Fosse 2–5 Sheffield United Filbert Street
Gillespie   ?', ?'
Kitchen   ?', ?'
Shearman   ?'
Attendance: 3,500
4 December 1915 Sheffield United 4–1 Lincoln City Bramall Lane
Kitchen   ?', ?'
Simmons   ?' (pen.)
Tummon   ?'
Attendance: 3,000
11 December 1915 Bradford City 1–2 Sheffield United Valley Parade
Simmons   ?', ?' Attendance: 450
18 December 1915 Sheffield United 5–1 Lincoln City Bramall Lane
Simmons   ?', ?', ?'
Utley   ?'
Gillespie   ?'
Attendance: 5,500
25 December 1915 Grimsby Town 2–1 Sheffield United Blundell Park
Kay   ?' Attendance: 5,000
27 December 1915 Leeds City 2-3 Sheffield United Elland Road
Kay   ?', ?'
Charles   ?'
Attendance: 5,000
1 January 1916 Sheffield United 1–1 Notts County Bramall Lane
Kay   ?' Attendance: 7,500
8 January 1916 Derby County 2–1 Sheffield United Baseball Ground
Kay   ?' Attendance: 3,000
15 January 1916 Sheffield United 1–1 The Wednesday Bramall Lane
Tummon   ?' Attendance: 16,000
22 January 1916 Bradford Park Avenue 0–1 Sheffield United Park Avenue
Brown   ?' Attendance: 3,000
29 January 1916 Sheffield United 4–1 Leeds City Bramall Lane
Buddery   ?', ?', ?'
Utley   ?' (pen.)
Attendance: 8,000
5 February 1916 Hull City 2–1 Sheffield United Anlaby Road
Brown   ?' Attendance: 4,000
12 February 1916 Sheffield United 3–1 Nottingham Forest Bramall Lane
Tummon   ?'
Shearman   ?'
Simmons   ?'
Attendance: 8,000
19 February 1916 Barnsley 0–0 Sheffield United Oakwell
Attendance: 4,756
25 April 1916 Sheffield United 1–1 Leicester Fosse Bramall Lane
Wally Masterman   ?' Attendance: 7,000

Midland Division (subsidiary competition)

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4 March 1916 Hull City 5–2 Sheffield United Anlaby Road
Gillespie   ?'
Tummon   ?'
Attendance: 3,000
11 March 1916 Sheffield United 2–3 Rotherham County Bramall Lane
Buddery   ?'
Utley   ?'
Attendance: 4,500
18 March 1916 Sheffield United 7–0 Lincoln City Bramall Lane
Gillespie   ?', ?'
Kay   ?', ?'
Simmons   ?', ?'
Brown   ?'
Attendance: 4,000
25 March 1916 Grimsby Town 0–1 Sheffield United Blundell Park
Gillespie   ?' Attendance: 2,000
1 April 1916 Sheffield United 1–1 The Wednesday Bramall Lane
Simmons   ?' Attendance: 15,000
8 April 1916 Sheffield United 2–0 Hull City Bramall Lane
Buddery   ?'
Gillespie   ?'
Attendance: 5,000
15 April 1916 Rotherham County 1–0 Sheffield United Millmoor
Attendance: 8,000
22 April 1916 Lincoln City 1–1 Sheffield United Sincil Bank
Masterman   ?' Attendance: 3,500
24 April 1916 The Wednesday 0–1 Sheffield United Hillsborough Stadium
Masterman   ?' Attendance: 14,500
29 April 1916 Sheffield United 0–0 Grimsby Town Bramall Lane
Attendance: 6,000

Friendlies

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6 May 1916 Sheffield United 3–0 The Wednesday Bramall Lane
Gillespie   ?'
Whiting   ?'
Tummon   ?'
Attendance: 6,000

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Denis Clarebrough & Andrew Kirkham (1999). A Complete Record of Sheffield United Football Club 1889-1999. Sheffield United. pp. 122–123. ISBN 0-9508588-2-X.
  2. ^ Denis Clarebrough & Andrew Kirkham (2008). Sheffield United Who's Who. Hallamshire Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-874718-69-7.
  3. ^ Denis Clarebrough & Andrew Kirkham (2008). Sheffield United Who's Who. Hallamshire Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-874718-69-7.