1927/28 Season Review
After missing out on promotion by the smallest of margins possible last season, City were the bookies favourites this campaign to gain promotion to Division 1, and they got off to a good start with a 2-2 draw at Wolves and then at Maine Road they beat Swansea 7-4 and Port Vale 1-0. Then despite a first defeat, another free scoring game against Swansea, at The Vetch Field, in which the Welsh side triumphed 5-3. City went on a five match winning streak, winning 1-0 at South Shields, 2-1 at home to Leeds, 5-4 at Nottingham Forest, 3-1 at home to Oldham, a game which took The Blues to the top of the league and there they stayed with a 2-1 victory over Hull at Maine Road. City lost the leadership with a 1-0 defeat at Preston. A 2-2 draw at Blackpool meant that with a quarter of the season gone The Blues were second in Division 2 with 16 points, one point behind leaders Chelsea. A 4-1 win at home to Reading and a surprising 4-1 defeat at Grimsby saw City now three points behind the leaders who they entertained next at Maine Road, Chelsea triumphed 1-0 and The Citizens moved down to fourth in Division 2. City got back to their promotion push beating Clapton Orient 2-0 at Millfields Road and Stoke 4-0 at Maine Road. December brought a 2-0 defeat at Bristol City, then a 3-1 win at home to West Brom followed by a 1-1 draw at Southampton as The Blues entered The Festive period. It was to be a fantastic Christmas for the City fans as The Blues went into the new year with three wins, 3-1 at Maine Road against Notts County on Christmas Eve, 3-0 at Barnsley on Boxing Day and 3-0 on New Years Eve at home to Wolves. the first game of 1928 saw City then hit the summit of Division 2 with an impressive 7-3 win over Barnsley at Maine Road, they then won 2-1 at Port Vale. In the FA Cup City beat Leeds 1-0 in the 3rd Round at Maine Road. Back in the league and again at home South Shields were beaten 3-0. City had won six league games on the trot and despite still being top of Division 2 with 37 points from 25 games, the chase for promotion was tight, Chelsea were just a point behind with a game in hand and both Leeds and Stoke were on 34 points. A tough FA Cup tie at Roker Park saw City beat Sunderland 2-1 in the 4th Round. Back in the league and The Blues faltered drawing 3-3 at home to Nottingham Forest and losing 3-2 at Oldham, they were then knocked out of the FA Cup losing 1-0 at home to Stoke. February finished with a 2-2 draw against Preston at Maine Road. City were now second in the league on equal points with Leeds and Preston, Chelsea were one point ahead at the summit with a quarter of the season left. In an effort to capture one of the important two promotion places City brought in inside forward Bobby Marshall from Sunderland, Marshall made his debut in an impressive 4-1 win over Blackpool at Maine Road. City then brought in Scottish forward Tommy Tait from third division Southport. Marshall scored his first goal in a 1-1 draw at Reading. Then City showed the rest of the league that they meant business, by bringing in three further forwards, they paid Barnsley £6,000 for the services of Fred Tilson and Eric Brook, and they brought in Alf Horne from Southend. The new signings seemed to work as City beat Grimsby 2-0 at Maine Road, then against leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge The Citizens put up a great display to beat The Pensioners 1-0 and then thrashed Clapton Orient 5-3 at Maine Road. Promotion was now between Leeds, Chelsea, Preston and City, all four clubs were on 48 points however The Citizens had two games in hand on their three rivals. Easter brought a mixed bag for City, they won 2-1 at Maine Road against Fulham, lost 2-0 at Stoke and drew 1-1 at Fulham. The table was tight, Chelsea were top with 52 points from 38 games, Leeds were second wiith 51 points from 37 games and City were third with 51 points from 36 games, so promotion was totally in the hands of the Blues. City then beat Bristol City 4-2 at Maine Road, then despite two draws, 0-0 at Hull and 1-1 at West Brom, promotion was very much still in their hands, Leeds were top of the table with 57 points from 40 games, City second with 55 points from 39 games and Chelsea 52 points from 40 games. City then beat already promoted Leeds 1-0 at Elland Road which meant after two seasons in the wilderness The Blues were guaranteed a return to Division 1, the question was would it be Leeds or City who would be Division 2 champions. City took pole position moving two points ahead of Leeds as they beat Southampton 6-1 at Maine Road in their game in hand. The Blues lost their last game of the season 2-1 at Notts County but thry were still Champions as Leeds also were defeated in their last game. City finished the season on 59 points.