1905–06 Birmingham F.C. season

Birmingham City F.C.
1905–06 season
ChairmanWalter W. Hart
Secretary-managerAlf Jones
GroundCoventry Road
Football League First Division7th
FA CupFourth round (eliminated by Newcastle United)
Top goalscorerLeague: Billy Jones (22)
All: Billy Jones (24)
Highest home attendance30,000 vs Aston Villa, 16 September 1905
Lowest home attendance3,000 vs Manchester City, 28 April 1906
Average home league attendance12,526
Team colours

The 1905–06 Football League season was Birmingham Football Club's 14th in the Football League, their 6th in the First Division, and their first season under the Birmingham name, having previously played as Small Heath. They finished in seventh place in the 20-team league. They also took part in the 1905–06 FA Cup, entering at the first round proper and losing to Newcastle United in the fourth round (quarter-final) after a replay.

Twenty-three players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were twelve different goalscorers. Goalkeeper Nat Robinson was ever-present over the 44-match season; among outfield players, forwards Benny Green (footballer) and Billy Jones missed two and three matches respectively. Billy Jones was leading scorer with 24 goals, of which 22 came in the league.

The Coventry Road ground, by then surrounded by tightly-packed housing, had more than once proved too small to accommodate those wishing to attend. Against Aston Villa last season, "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",[1] and attendance at the FA Cup fourth-round tie against Newcastle was restricted to 27,000 with "probably 60,000 people anxious to attend".[2] The landlords had raised the rent, but refused either to sell the freehold or to allow further expansion to the ground, and the directors estimated that remaining at Coventry Road was losing the club as much as £2,000 a year in revenue.[3] Club director Harry Morris identified a site three-quarters of a mile (1 km) nearer the city centre, on the site of a disused brickworks in the Bordesley district, where a new ground could be built. The directors signed a 21-year lease and work began on what would become St Andrew's Ground.[3]

Football League First Division

Main article: 1905–06 Football League
Date League
position		 Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
2 September 1905 9th Preston North End H D 1–1 W.H. Jones 25,000
9 September 1905 10th Newcastle United A D 2–2 Green, Wilcox 28,000
16 September 1905 7th Aston Villa H W 2–0 W.H. Jones, Mounteney 30,000
23 September 1905 9th Liverpool A L 0–2 24,000
30 September 1905 8th Sheffield United H W 2–0 Wilcox, Mounteney 18,000
7 October 1905 9th Notts County A D 0–0 15,000
14 October 1905 7th Stoke H W 2–0 W.H. Jones 2 8,000
21 October 1905 5th Bolton Wanderers A W 1–0 W.H. Jones 20,000
28 October 1905 4th Woolwich Arsenal H W 2–1 Beer, W.H. Jones 15,000
4 November 1905 5th Blackburn Rovers A L 1–5 Cornan 8,000
11 November 1905 5th Sunderland H W 3–0 Anderson, W.H. Jones, Tickle 15,000
18 November 1905 4th Wolverhampton Wanderers A D 0–0 5,000
25 November 1905 3rd Everton A W 2–1 W.H. Jones, Anderson 10,000
2 December 1905 2nd Derby County H W 3–1 Tickle, Mounteney, Wigmore 18,000
9 December 1905 4th Sheffield Wednesday A L 2–4 Tickle, W.H. Jones 8,000
16 December 1905 3rd Nottingham Forest H W 5–0 Wilcox 3, Harper, W.H. Jones 12,000
23 December 1905 4th Manchester City A L 1–4 Green 15,000
25 December 1905 5th Middlesbrough A L 0–1 18,000
26 December 1905 4th Middlesbrough H W 7–0 Green 5, W.H. Jones, Williamson og 15,000
28 December 1905 4th Sheffield United A L 0–3 4,000
30 December 1905 6th Preston North End A L 0–3 8,000
1 January 1906 9th Bury A L 0–1 12,000
6 January 1906 11th Newcastle United A L 0–1 8,000
20 January 1906 8th Aston Villa A W 3–1 Mounteney, W.H. Jones, Dougherty 40,000
27 January 1906 7th Liverpool H W 1–0 Mounteney 20,000
10 February 1906 5th Notts County H W 4–2 Mounteney, Green, W.H. Jones 2 8,000
17 February 1906 4th Stoke A D 2–2 W.H. Jones 5,000
3 March 1906 6th Woolwich Arsenal A L 0–5 20,000
17 March 1906 8th Sunderland A L 1–3 Anderson 15,000
24 March 1906 10th Wolverhampton Wanderers H D 3–3 Mounteney, W.H. Jones 2 5,000
26 March 1906 11th Bolton Wanderers H L 2–5 Mounteney, Tickle 10,000
7 April 1906 11th Derby County A D 0–0 4,000
9 April 1906 8th Everton H W 1–0 Mounteney 10,000
14 April 1906 7th Sheffield Wednesday H W 5–1 Tickle 3, W.H. Jones 2 8,000
16 April 1906 10th Bury H L 0–3 8,000
21 April 1906 10th Nottingham Forest A L 1–2 W.H. Jones 8,000
23 April 1906 8th Blackburn Rovers H W 3–0 Mounteney, Smith, Green 10,000
28 April 1906 7th Manchester City H W 3–2 Green, W.H. Jones, Edmondson og 3,000

League table (part)

Final First Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
5th Manchester City 38 19 5 14 73 54 1.31 43
6th Bolton Wanderers 38 17 7 14 81 67 1.25 41
7th Birmingham 38 17 7 14 65 59 1.10 41
8th Aston Villa 38 17 6 15 72 56 1.29 40
9th Blackburn Rovers 38 16 8 14 54 52 1.04 40
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 [4]

FA Cup

Main article: 1905–06 FA Cup
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
First round 13 January 1906 Preston North End H W 1–0 Beer 10,000
Second round 3 February 1906 Stoke A W 1–0 W.H. Jones 15,000
Third round 24 February 1906 Tottenham Hotspur A D 1–1 Harper 28,000
Third round replay 28 February 1906 Tottenham Hotspur H W 2–0
a.e.t		 Green, Mounteney 34,000
Fourth round 10 March 1906 Newcastle United H D 2–2 Green, W.H. Jones 27,000
Fourth round replay 14 March 1906 Newcastle United A L 0–3 39,059

Appearances and goals

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 marked † left the club during the playing season.
Players' appearances and goals by competition
Name Position League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Nat Robinson Goalkeeper 38 0 6 0 44 0
Bill Bidmead Full back 2 0 0 0 2 0
John Glover Full back 32 0 6 0 38 0
Ambrose Hartwell Full back 19 0 0 0 19 0
Frank Stokes Full back 31 0 6 0 37 0
Billy Beer Half back 26 1 6 1 32 2
Frank Cornan Half back 15 1 5 0 20 1
Jim Dougherty Half back 31 1 2 0 33 1
Harry Howard Half back 3 0 0 0 3 0
John Kearns Half back 2 0 0 0 2 0
Jack Shufflebotham Half back 1 0 0 0 1 0
Walter Wigmore Half back 28 1 6 0 34 1
George Anderson Forward 23 3 5 0 28 3
Oakey Field Forward 7 0 0 0 7 0
Benny Green Forward 36 10 6 2 42 12
Roly Harper Forward 15 1 6 1 21 2
Aaron Jones Forward 4 0 0 0 4 0
Billy Jones Forward 35 22 6 2 41 24
Arthur Mounteney Forward 25 10 5 1 30 11
Jack Smith Forward 3 1 0 0 3 1
George Southall Forward 5 0 0 0 5 0
Charlie Tickle Forward 20 7 0 0 20 7
Freddie Wilcox † Forward 17 5 1 0 18 5

See also

References

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 1905–1906: Results". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 256–57. Note that attendance figures are estimated.
  • Source for kit: "Birmingham City". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

Specific

  1. ^ 'Linesman' (27 February 1905). "Football Notes". Birmingham Daily Mail. p. 4.
  2. ^ "Cup Memories. When Small Heath Alliance Made History". Birmingham Mail. 27 February 1931. p. 13.
  3. ^ a b Inglis, Simon (1996). Football Grounds of Britain (3rd ed.) London: CollinsWillow. p. 44. ISBN 0-00-218426-5.
  4. ^ "Birmingham City 1905–1906: English Division One (old) Table" Archived 15 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 22 May 2012.