1930/31 SEASON REVIEW
During the pre-season City brought in a new goalkeeper, Len Langford from Nottingham Forest. The board announced some excellent financial results with a profit of £8,429, they had a mortgage of £69,221 against assets of £127,253. It wasn’t a great start to the first campaign of the 30’s. City managed a 3-3 draw at Sunderland before two defeats at Maine Road, 4-2 against Blackpool and 2-0 against Leicester. Things were to get worse as the Blues lost 4-2 at Leeds and 3-2 at Birmingham. The early League Division 1 table saw City second from bottom with just one point, neighbours United were bottom having lost all their opening five games. An Eric Brook penalty gave City their first win as they beat Leeds 1-0 at Maine Road. However the Blues lost again at Maine Road, 4-0 against Sheffield United, before a slight improvement, as they drew 1-1 with Derby at The Baseball Ground and then a 4-1 win against bottom of the table Manchester United at Maine Road. Prior to the next home game at Maine Road two minutes silence was held for the victims of the R101 airship disaster, City’s form continued to slide and they lost 3-1 to Portsmouth. A 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday followed and so with just over a quarter of the season gone City were third from bottom of division 1 on seven points, one point above Sunderland and seven points above Manchester United, who after eleven games still had no points. Things were to improve as Grimsby were beaten 1-0 at Maine Road and then a first win away from Manchester as Liverpool were beaten 2-0 at Anfield. A third win on the trot followed as City beat Middlesbrough 4-2 at Maine Road, the Blues shot up the league to thirteenth place with a third of the season gone. City’s mini revival was brought to an end at Stamford Bridge where they were beaten 2-0 by Chelsea. The Blues then brought in David Halliday, paying Arsenal £5,700 for the Scottish striker, and he was an instant success scoring a brace on his debut as City beat Bolton 3-0 at Maine Road. The Blues then drew 1-1 at Huddersfield, beat Newcastle 2-0 at Maine Road, lost 2-0 at West Ham and then at home beat Aston Villa 3-1, moving into the Festive period The Blues had moved into an acceptable ninth place in Division 1, nine points behind leaders Sheffield Wednesday, however just six points above the relegation zone. Over Christmas City played three games in three days, against Arsenal at Maine Road on Christmas Day The Gunners were victors in a 4-1 win and in the return game at Highbury on Boxing Day Arsenal chalked up a double over The Blues with a 3-1 win, the next day at Maine Road City beat Sunderland 2-0. New Years Day 1931 saw a good 1-0 win at Blackburn, however City then lost 3-2 at Leicester, and this prompted another signing as City brought in outside left John Payne from Brentford. Any chance of winning a trophy was quashed at Turf Moor as Burnley beat City 3-0 in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup. Back in the league and City began to put together a good run of results; they beat Birmingham 4-2 at Maine Road, drew 2-2 at Sheffield United, won 4-3 at home to Derby and at Old Trafford beat rivals United 3-1 to move up to sixth in the league. The Blues went on to make it eight games on the trot without defeat, drawing 1-1 at Portsmouth, beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 at Maine Road and Grimsby Town 5-3 at Blundell Park and drawing 1-1 at home to Liverpool, City were now in fifth place but were eleven points adrift of leaders Arsenal. Mixed results brought a 4-1 defeat at Middlesbrough, a 2-0 win against Chelsea at Maine Road and a 1-1 draw at Bolton. Good Friday saw a good 3-0 win over Blackburn but Easter Saturday brought a 1-0 defeat against Huddersfield, both games played in Moss Side. City then beat Newcastle 1-0 at St James’ Park before a 3-0 victory at Doncaster in a friendly. On the day Arsenal clinched the title The Blues drew 1-1 at Maine Road against West Ham and in the penultimte game of the season they lost 4-2 at Aston Villa. A quick trip to Ireland and City beat Linfield 4-1 in another friendly match. The final game of the season was drawn 2-2 at Blackpool, City finished in 8th position on 46 points. In June City’s financial results showed a loss of £1,750, despite gate receipts of £8,333. there was a deficit on transfers and £3,210 had to be found for mortgage interest payments.