1929/30 SEASON REVIEW
The City board announced profits of £1,080 from the previous season but there were no notable additions to the City squad as they kicked off the new season with a jittery 2-2 draw against Burnley at Maine Road. However three days later they put up a much better performance in front of their own fans beating big spenders Arsenal 3-1, but as is The Citizens’ inconsistency they then lost 5-2 at Sunderland.
Arsenal gained an early revenge on City as they beat the Blues 3-2 at Highbury, City then going on to beat Bolton 2-0 at Maine Road.
Midfielder Alf Horne had played less than 15 games in the last two seasons and was allowed to leave for Preston North End.
City then won a further three consecutive games, 3-2 at Everton, 3-0 at home to Derby and 3-1 against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
A 2-2 draw at Portsmouth followed which saw City move into 4th place in the league just three points behind leaders Leeds with a game in hand.
City were playing some great football and with a quarter of the season gone they moved into second place in the league with a 4-3 win at home to West Ham and a sensational 6-1 win against Liverpool at Anfield.
Another win, 3-1 at home to Middlesbrough saw them two points off Leeds, still with a game in hand.
The Blues then drew 2-2 at Grimsby and moved to the summit of Division One with a 3-0 win against Newcastle at Maine Road.
City kept their lofty position with a 2-1 win at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United, and then for the first time in the season The Blues failed to score more than one goal in a game as they drew 1-1 against Huddersfield at Maine Road.
After twelve games unbeaten it was unlucky thirteen as City lost 3-0 at Birmingham.
Back to winning ways and The Blues moved into the festive period with two more wins, 3-2 against Leicester at Maine Road and 3-1 against Blackburn at Ewood Park.
Christmas Day brought a third win on the trot, 2-0 at Aston Villa, however 1929 finished with two defeats, 2-0 at home to Aston Villa on Boxing Day and then two days later 4-2 at Burnley, which saw City lose their position as leaders of Division 1 to Sheffield Wednesday.
New Years Day brought the clash of championship rivals as leaders Sheffield Wednesday drew 3-3 at second placed City. The Blues were now on 31 points the same as Wednesday, however the Sheffield club had a game in hand.
It was to be a busy January with City playing seven games without defeat.
A further draw on 4th January saw City slip a point behind Wednesday with a 2-2 draw at home to Sunderland.
Respite from the league came in the shape of the FA Cup and after a 2-2 draw in the 3rd Round against Tottenham at White Hart Lane, City moved into the 4th round beating Tottenham 4-1 in the replay at Maine Road.
Back in the league The Blues kept up the pressure at the top of the league with a 2-1 win at Bolton.
The FA Cup 4th Round tie against Swindon at The County Ground brought another replay as City drew 1-1. The replay at Maine Road was an historic victory as Swindon were put to the sword, City winning 10-1.
After a successful January, February couldn’t have been more the opposite as City lost five games on the trot. Derby won 4-2 at The Baseball Ground then Everton won 2-1 at Maine Road. Out of favour centre forward Charles Broadhurst was allowed to move to Blackpool.
Manchester United fans gaind the City’s bragging rights with a 1-0 win at Maine Road and then in the FA Cup fifth round Hull sprung a surprise wih a 2-1 win in Manchester.
A further league defeat, 3-0 at West Ham saw City fall to third in the league with a quarter of the season left.
A first league win of the year at home, 5-2 against Portsmouth saw the Blues keeping their name in the hat for Division One champions (just).
March started with an entertaining 4-3 win over Liverpool at Maine Road which saw City move to within two points of leaders Sheffield Wednesday, however ‘The Owls’ still had three games in hand. To give an extra boost to a championship challenge City brought in 18 year old centre half Fred Gregory from Doncaster Rovers for £2,000. However the fans were unhappy with the departure of Tommy Johnson who moved to Everton for a fee of £6,000 after over 300 appearances for the Citizens. City signed a rookie new forward, Foster Hedley from third Division Nelson and defenders Sid Cann and Fred Corbett from Torquay, together with midfielder Paddy Wrightson from Darlington for a fee of £2,000, and forward Bill Ridding from Tranmere for £3,500.
Although City then lost 1-0 at Middlesbrough, they beat Grimsby 3-1 at home, drew 2-2 at Newcastle and then won 2-1 at Maine Road against Sheffield United to end March in second place in the league, just one point behind leaders Wednesday who had four games in hand.
City then blew their chances of catching Sheffield Wednesday as they drew 1-1 at Huddersfield and lost 4-1 at home to Birmingham and 3-1 at Leicester. With just four games left to play The Blues were seven points adrift of The Owls, who also had two games in hand. City would have to win all their games and hope Wednesday lost all theirs.
Feint hope was ressurrected as City beat Leeds 4-1 at Maine Road and Wednesday lost to Derby, however The Blues then lost 3-2 at Leeds, drew 1-1 at home to Blackburn and on the last day of the season lost 5-1 at champions Sheffield Wednesday.
Prior to the game with Sheffield Wednesday City played two friendlies on the South Coast, they lost 2-1 at Portsmouth and won 3-1 at Torquay.
City finished third in Division One on 47 points.