1927–28 Nelson F.C. season

For the 1927–28 season, Nelson Football Club played as a professional outfit in the Football League for the seventh consecutive campaign. Nelson finished last out of 22 teams in the Third Division North, with a record of 10 wins, 6 draws and 26 defeats, corresponding to a tally of 26 points. As a result, the club was forced to apply for re-election to the League at the end of the season. The application was successful, with Nelson retaining their berth in place of Durham City. Due to the departure of Percy Smith to Bury, Nelson did not have a manager installed during the entire season. The team played inconsistently throughout the campaign from the outset, losing the opening two matches before winning four consecutive games during September 1927. Nelson suffered several comprehensive defeats during the 1927–28 season, including a 1–9 defeat to Bradford City, a 0–8 loss away at Stockport County and a 1–7 reverse against Accrington Stanley. In total, the team conceded 136 goals in 42 league matches, one of the highest totals in Football League history.

Nelson
1927–28 season
ManagerNone
Football League Third Division North22nd (re-elected)
FA CupFirst Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Bernard Radford (17)
All: Bernard Radford (17)
Highest home attendance9,000 (vs Bradford (Park Avenue), 26 November 1927)
Lowest home attendance1,126 (vs Tranmere Rovers, 24 April 1928)
Average home league attendance4,193

Outside of league competition, Nelson entered the FA Cup but were knocked out in the First Round following a 0–3 defeat to Bradford Park Avenue at Seedhill. They also competed in the Lancashire Senior Cup, but suffered a 2–10 loss to Second Division side Manchester City. Nelson used 33 different players during the season. Many of these were new arrivals at the club; a number of the professional staff from the previous campaign had been released due to the club's increasing debts. Forward Jimmy Hampson, the top goalscorer in 1926–27, was sold to Blackpool in October 1927 for a transfer fee of £1,250 and went on to become an England international. His replacement, Bernard Radford, was Nelson's highest scorer in the 1927–28 campaign with 17 league goals. Scottish striker Buchanan Sharp was the only other player to reach double figures with his tally of 11. Only one player, Joe Halliwell appeared in all 43 competitive matches; former England international George Wilson appeared in 40 of the games. Many squad members were bit-part players, with more than half of the team making fewer than 10 competitive appearances.

The highest attendance of the season at Nelson's Seedhill stadium was around 9,000 for the FA Cup tie against Bradford Park Avenue, while the lowest gate was 1,126 (the club's lowest ever Football League attendance) for the 3–5 home defeat to Tranmere Rovers on 24 April 1928.

Football League Third Division North

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Match results

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Date Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
27 August 1927 Accrington Stanley (H) 1–4 Sharp 8,007
3 September 1927 Rochdale (A) 0–1 9,869
10 September 1927 Rotherham United (H) 6–1 Bottrill, Hampson (2), Sharp, White (2) 4,881
12 September 1927 Barrow (H) 4–0 Bedford, Bottrill, White (2) 4,928
17 September 1927 Southport (A) 2–1 Bedford, Hampson 5,406
24 September 1927 Durham City (H) 2–1 Hampson (2) 5,495
29 September 1927 Barrow (A) 1–3 Bedford 4,306
1 October 1927 Wrexham (A) 2–5 White (2) 4,828
8 October 1927 Chesterfield (H) 3–3 Hampson, Sharp, White 4,659
15 October 1927 Bradford Park Avenue (A) 2–3 Bottrill, Sharp 14,833
22 October 1927 New Brighton (H) 0–3 2,698
29 October 1927 Lincoln City (A) 0–0 7,956
5 November 1927 Hartlepools United (H) 4–2 Sharp (3), Spence 2,001
12 November 1927 Bradford City (A) 1–9 Cochrane 15,638
19 November 1927 Halifax Town (H) 3–2 Bottrill, Cochrane, Sharp 3,862
3 December 1927 Ashington (H) 1–5 Spence 2,936
10 December 1927 Wigan Borough (A) 2–4 McGuire, Ruffell 2,736
17 December 1927 Doncaster Rovers (H) 0–1 3,410
27 December 1927 Tranmere Rovers (A) 1–1 Bedford 8,946
31 December 1927 Accrington Stanley (A) 1–7 Ruffell 4,207
2 January 1928 Crewe Alexandra (A) 1–6 Wilson 2,430
7 January 1928 Rochdale (H) 6–3 McClure, McGuire, Radford (3), Taylor 2,539
14 January 1928 Halifax Town (A) 1–5 Radford 3,119
21 January 1928 Rotherham United (A) 3–4 Sharp, Taylor (2) 4,505
4 February 1928 Durham City (A) 0–3 1,537
11 February 1928 Wrexham (H) 4–0 Radford (4) 2,721
18 February 1928 Chesterfield (A) 0–6 3,804
25 February 1928 Bradford Park Avenue (H) 1–2 Wilson 8,096
3 March 1928 New Brighton (A) 0–4 4,290
10 March 1928 Lincoln City (H) 1–3 Bottrill 3,422
17 March 1928 Hartlepools United (A) 5–4 Bottrill, Radford (2), Sharp, Slack 2,972
20 March 1928 Southport (H) 1–1 Bottrill 3,583
24 March 1928 Bradford City (H) 0–3 5,085
6 April 1928 Stockport County (A) 0–8 8,430
7 April 1928 Darlington (H) 4–0 Hayes (2), Sharp, Taylor 3,816
9 April 1928 Stockport County (H) 0–4 5,441
14 April 1928 Ashington (A) 1–5 Slack 1,410
16 April 1928 Darlington (A) 1–4 Hayes 1,003
21 April 1928 Crewe Alexandra (H) 3–3 Radford, Sharp, Slack 2,349
24 April 1928 Tranmere Rovers (H) 3–5 Hayes, Radford (2) 1,126
28 April 1928 Doncaster Rovers (A) 2–4 Hayes, Radford 4,117
5 May 1928 Wigan Borough (H) 3–3 Radford (2), Wilson 2,183

Final league position

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Promotion or relegation
18 Ashington 42 11 11 20 77 103 0.748 33
19 Barrow 42 10 11 21 54 102 0.529 31
20 Wigan Borough 42 10 10 22 56 97 0.577 30
21 Durham City 42 11 7 24 53 100 0.530 29 Failed re-election
22 Nelson 42 10 6 26 76 136 0.559 26 Re-elected
Source: rsssf.com

FA Cup

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Match results

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Round Date Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
First round 26 November 1927 Bradford Park Avenue (H) 0–3 9,000

Player statistics

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Key to positions
Statistics
Nat. Position Player Third Division North FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
  OF Lewis Bedford 18 3 0 0 18 3
  GK William Bossons 4 0 1 0 5 0
  IF Billy Bottrill 35 7 1 0 36 7
  FB Jimmy Broadhead 1 0 0 0 1 0
  HB Alfred Brown 2 0 0 0 2 0
  CF David Cochrane 2 2 1 0 3 2
  IF James Dargan 2 0 0 0 2 0
  OF Jack Fletcher 4 0 1 0 5 0
  IF Richard Gaskell 3 0 0 0 3 0
  HB Joe Halliwell 42 0 1 0 43 0
  CF Jimmy Hampson 9 6 0 0 9 6
  HB Ambrose Harris 8 0 0 0 8 0
  CF George Hayes 9 5 0 0 9 5
  HB Arthur Hepworth 10 0 0 0 10 0
  FB Arthur Jones 1 0 0 0 1 0
  FB Jack Jones 12 0 1 0 13 0
  GK James Mangham 1 0 0 0 1 0
  FB David McClure 28 1 0 0 28 1
  IF John McGuire 20 2 0 0 20 2
  FB James Pearson 7 0 1 0 8 0
  CF Bernard Radford 20 17 0 0 20 17
  HB Dennis Ridge 8 0 0 0 8 0
  FB Clem Rigg 32 0 0 0 32 0
  IF Bill Ruffell 12 3 0 0 12 3
  IF Buchanan Sharp 37 11 1 0 38 11
  HB Edwin Simpson 15 0 0 0 15 0
  OF Bill Slack 10 3 0 0 10 3
  OF George Spence 13 2 1 0 14 2
  GK John Stoneham 6 0 1 0 7 0
  OF Harold Taylor 12 4 0 0 12 4
  GK Sam Warhurst 31 0 0 0 31 0
  IF Henry White 9 7 0 0 9 7
  HB George Wilson 39 3 1 0 40 3

See also

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References

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  • Dykes, Garth (2009). Nelson FC in the Football League. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-905891-29-0.