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Nelson F.C.
1923–24 season
Manager	David Wilson
Football League Second Division	21st (relegated)
FA Cup	Fifth Qualifying Round
Top goalscorer	League: Joe Eddleston (14); All: Joe Eddleston (14)
Highest home attendance	12,000 (vs Clapton Orient, 25 August 1923)
Lowest home attendance	4,000 (vs Wigan Borough, 5 December 1923)
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1922–23 1924–25 →

The 1923–24 season was the 43rd season in the history of Nelson F.C. and their third as a professional club in the Football League. The team competed in the Second Division of the Football League for the first time, having won promotion as champions of the Third Division North in the previous campaign. Nelson struggled against more established opponents in the higher league, and were relegated at the end of the season, finishing second-bottom of the division just a point behind Fulham, who avoided relegation. Despite achieving a 1–0 victory away against Manchester United, Nelson suffered several heavy defeats during the campaign, including a 0–6 loss to Derby County, and at one point went six matches without scoring a goal. Nelson ended the season on 33 points, with a record of 10 wins, 13 draws and 19 defeats in 42 matches.

Nelson entered the FA Cup in the Fifth Qualifying Round, and were knocked out in a replay at that stage by Wigan Borough, having drawn the original tie. A total of 30 players were used by Nelson throughout their 44 first-team matches. The majority of the championship-winning team remained with Nelson. New signings included defender Jack Newnes, who went on to become a Wales international, Billy Caulfield and Eddie Cameron. With 14 goals in 42 appearances, Joe Eddleston was the team's top goalscorer for the third season in succession, and also played the highest number of matches of all the first-team squad. The highest attendance of the season at the club's Seedhill stadium was 12,000 on two occasions, the first of these the opening day game against Clapton Orient on 26 August 1923. The lowest attendance in the league was 7,000 for three different matches, while the FA Cup replay against Wigan Borough attracted a crowd of only 4,000 spectators.

Background

In the 1922–23 season, Nelson had been crowned champions of the Football League Third Division North after winning 24 of their 38 league fixtures.^[1] In May 1923, the club embarked on a pre-season tour of Spain. Six matches were played during the trip, two each against Real Madrid, Racing de Santander and Real Oviedo. On 15 May 1923, Nelson achieved a 4–2 victory against Real Madrid at the Campo de Ciudad Lineal,^[2]^[3] two of the goals coming from Dick Crawshaw, who had been signed towards the end of the previous campaign.^[4] In doing so, Nelson became the first English club to defeat Real Madrid at their home ground.^[5]

Football League Second Division

Match results

Key

In Result column, Nelson's score shown first
H = Home match
A = Away match

— = Attendance not known
o.g. = Own goal

Results

Date	Opponents	Result	Goalscorers	Attendance
25 August 1923	Clapton Orient (H)	1–1	McCulloch	12,000
27 August 1923	Stockport County (A)	0–1		11,000
1 September 1923	Clapton Orient (A)	1–5	Eddleston	20,000
3 September 1923	Stockport County (H)	1–1	Wolstenholme	10,000
8 September 1923	Hull City (A)	1–2	Eddleston	9,000
11 September 1923	Southampton (H)	0–0		12,000
15 September 1923	Hull City (H)	1–1	Eddleston	11,000
22 September 1923	Stoke (A)	0–4		14,000
29 September 1923	Stoke (H)	2–0	Newnes, Eddleston	10,000
6 October 1923	Crystal Palace (A)	1–1	Roseboom	10,000
13 October 1923	Crystal Palace (H)	4–2	Crawshaw (3), Hoad	10,000
20 October 1923	Sheffield Wednesday (H)	1–1	Crawshaw	—
27 October 1923	Sheffield Wednesday (A)	0–5		10,000
3 November 1923	Coventry City (H)	3–0	Caulfield (2), Eddleston	6,000
10 November 1923	Coventry City (A)	0–4		12,000
17 November 1923	Bristol City (A)	0–1		8,000
24 November 1923	Bristol City (H)	2–1	Eddleston (2)	8,000
8 December 1923	Southampton (A)	0–3		11,000
15 December 1923	Fulham (A)	0–0		13,000
22 December 1923	Fulham (H)	1–1	Braidwood	6,000
25 December 1923	Derby County (H)	2–1	Newnes, Hoad	10,000
26 December 1923	Derby County (A)	0–6		16,000
29 December 1923	Blackpool (A)	1–1	Eddleston	15,000
5 January 1924	Blackpool (H)	2–3	Caulfield, Wolstenholme	10,000
19 January 1924	Oldham Athletic (H)	2–1	Newnes, Eddleston	9,000
26 January 1924	Oldham Athletic (A)	0–1		12,000
2 February 1924	South Shields (H)	0–2		7,000
9 February 1924	South Shields (A)	0–3		8,000
16 February 1924	Bury (H)	0–5		8,500
23 February 1924	Bury (A)	0–2		8,000
1 March 1924	Manchester United (H)	0–2		7,000
8 March 1924	Manchester United (A)	1–0	Crawshaw	18,000
15 March 1924	Barnsley (A)	0–0		8,000
22 March 1924	Barnsley (H)	4–3	Caulfield (2), Eddleston, Hoad	7,000
29 March 1924	Bradford City (A)	2–0	Cameron, Eddleston	10,000
5 April 1924	Bradford City (H)	1–1	Cameron	8,000
12 April 1924	Port Vale (H)	1–3	Cameron	7,000
19 April 1924	Port Vale (A)	0–0		8,000
21 April 1924	Leicester City (H)	1–1	Eddleston	10,000
22 April 1924	Leicester City (A)	1–3	McCulloch	14,000
26 April 1924	Leeds United (A)	0–1		20,000
3 May 1924	Leeds United (H)	3–1	Eddleston (2), Chadwick	10,000

Final league position

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Promotion or relegation
18	Bradford City	42	11	15	16	35	48	0.729	37
19	Coventry City	42	11	13	18	52	68	0.765	35
20	Fulham	42	10	14	18	45	56	0.804	34
21	Nelson	42	10	13	19	40	74	0.541	33	Relegated
22	Bristol City	42	7	15	20	32	65	0.492	29	Relegated

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

FA Cup

Match results

Round	Date	Opponents	Result	Goalscorers	Attendance
Q5	1 December 1923	Wigan Borough (A)	1–1	Ward (o.g.)	12,650
Q5r	5 December 1923	Wigan Borough (H)	0–1		4,000

Appearances and goals

Key to positions

Statistics

Nat.	Position	Player	Third Division North		FA Cup		Total
Nat.	Position	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	Harry Abbott	34	0	2	0	36	0
	GK	Joseph Birds	4	0	0	0	4	0
	OF	John Black	6	0	0	0	6	0
	DF	Ernie Braidwood	31	1	2	0	33	1
	DF	Jimmy Broadhead	21	0	0	0	21	0
	OF	Eddie Cameron	8	3	0	0	8	3
	IF	Billy Caulfield	18	5	0	0	18	5
	IF	Edgar Chadwick	3	1	0	0	3	1
	DF	Leigh Collins	13	0	2	0	15	0
	IF	Dick Crawshaw	19	5	2	0	21	5
	CF	Joe Eddleston	40	14	2	0	42	14
	OF	Ernest Gillibrand	2	0	0	0	2	0
	IF	Harry Higginbotham	4	0	0	0	4	0
	OF	Sid Hoad	26	3	2	0	28	3
	OF	Duggie Humphrey	8	0	0	0	8	0
	OF	Bob Hutchinson	22	0	2	0	24	0
	CF	Sam Kennedy	6	0	0	0	6	0
	FB	William Lammus	8	0	0	0	8	0
	FB	Bob Lilley	5	0	0	0	5	0
	FB	Tom Lilley	14	0	0	0	14	0
	IF	Mike McCulloch	21	2	0	0	21	2
	DF	Jack Newnes	37	3	2	0	39	3
	GK	Harry Nutter	2	0	0	0	2	0
	FB	Clement Rigg	37	0	2	0	39	0
	IF	Teddy Roseboom	12	1	0	0	12	1
	FB	John Steel	1	0	0	0	1	0
	GK	Jim Thomson	2	0	0	0	2	0
	IF	Ted Ward	2	0	0	0	2	0
	DF	David Wilson	31	0	2	0	33	0
	IF	Arthur Wolstenholme	25	2	0	0	25	2

References

General

Dykes, Garth (2009). Nelson FC in the Football League. Nottingham: SoccerData. ISBN 978-1-905891-29-0.
Robinson, Michael, ed. (2006). Football League Tables 1888–2006. Soccer Books. ISBN 978-1-86223-143-6.

Specific

^ Robinson, p. 17
^ Torre, Raúl (3 January 2008). "International Friendlies of Real Madrid CF 1902–1939". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
^ Dykes, p. 6
^ Dykes, p. 30
^ Wallace, Sam (22 February 2006). "Real Madrid 0 Arsenal 1: Henry dazzles Real's galacticos". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2010.