SEASON REVIEW 1937/38
City would start the season as Champions of England. There were no additions at Maine Road and although the board knew the senior squad was beginning to look old they were confident that youngsters coming through the ranks would save them from entering into the transfer market.
Maine Road’s pitch would look slightly different this season as the League announced that a semi circle should be added to the 18 yard box to ensure that all players would be 10 yards from the ball when a penalty was taken.
The defence of the title started badly for City as they lost 3-1 against Wolves at Molineux, however at Maine Road things were different as the blues beat Everton 2-0 and Leicester 3-0.
Away day problems were still a concern however, as City lost 4-1 at Everton and 3-1 at Sunderland .
Maine Road was still a fortress for the Blues as they beat Huddersfield 3-2 and Derby 6-1. September finished with City gaining their first away point of the season, drawing 2-2 at Portsmouth .
In an effort to try and win their first away game the players were taken on a short break on the Isle of Wight, prior to the visit to Highbury, however the plan failed as Arsenal won 2-1.
City kept up there 100% home record with a 2-1 win over Blackpool .
The Blues then signed 19 year old Billy Wardle from Southport for £2,200, he was seen as a future replacement for Eric Brook when he ended his career.
City dropped their first point at home in a 0-0 draw against Stoke , then a Northern Ireland v England game ‘robbed’ City of Barkas, Brook and Doherty and Middlesbrough took advantage beating the Blues 4-0 at Ayresome Park.
City ended October with a 2-0 win at Maine Road against Birmingham , after 13 games they were mid table on 14 points, but only 4 points behind leaders, Brentford.
City had home advantage for the Charity Shield and won the trophy for the first time, beating FA Cup holders Sunderland 2-0.
The chances of defending the league title seemed to be getting more unlikely as the Blues drew 2-2 at Preston , lost 3-1 at home to Liverpool and drew 2-2 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
At Maine Road City beat Grimsby 3-1 in the last game of November and were now 10th in the league only five points behind leaders Brentford.
Heavy snow meant that City’s game at West Brom was postponed.
The rest of December City lost all their games, 2-1 at Leeds , leaders Brentford won 2-0 at Maine Road on Christmas Day and then two days later at Griffin Park Brentford won again 2-1.
January 1938 started very much the same way as 1937 ended with a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Wolves in Manchester.
A break from the league was welcome, and a visit to the Den in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup ended 2-2 against Millwall. In the replay at Maine Road Millwall were beaten 3-1.
Back to the league and a very inexperienced City team missing Barkas, Herd, Bray, Marshall and Tilson faired well against Leicester at Filbert Street winning 4-1, a victory that moved City from a perilous 20th position in the league to 16th, however the Division was very condensed and the Blues were only two points off bottom place.
The winning momentum continued in the 4th round of the FA Cup as nearly 72,000 fans, paying over £4,500 saw City beat Bury 3-1 at Maine Road.
In the league City gained a famous 7-1 win at Derby ,they were now 8th from bottom in Division 1, however only two points separated all bottom eight teams.
February started with two games at Maine Road, a 0-0 draw against Sunderland and a 2-1 against Portsmouth , and City moved up to 12th however amazingly only four points from bottom club Blackpool.
The Blues took their better form into the FA Cup and beat Luton 3-1 at Kenilworth Road in the 5th Round.
City were unlucky in their next league game as Frank Swift left the field for nearly a quarter of an hour due to an injury to his arm and for the rest of the game he could only use one upper limb as Arsenal won 2-1 at Maine Road.
Another defeat, 2-1 at fellow strugglers Blackpool saw a dip into the transfer market as City purchased striker Jack Milsom from Bolton.
Milsom made his debut at The Victoria Ground as City were beaten 3-2 by Stoke and were now 5th from bottom of the league, albeit, with two games in hand of the majority of teams around them.
Things worsened for the Citizens as Aston Villa beat City 3-2 in the Quarter Final of the FA Cup at Villa Park and then the Blues were taken apart at Maine Road as Middlesbrough won 6-1.
The Blues were certainly now in a relegation battle and surprisingly swopped Tilson, McCullough and Rodger for Third Division Northampton’s winger Maurice Dunkley, was panic setting in?
Dunkley didn’t play against Birmingham at St Andrews where the teams drew 2-2. City then made another signing, bringing in Les McDowall from Sunderland for a fee of £8,000.
Both Dunkley and McDowall played at West Brom where City gained another point in a 1-1 draw. However they slipped to bottom of the league with a 2-1 defeat to Preston at Maine Road and a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.
City then rallied, Pritchard scored his first goal for The Blues in a 1-0 win over Chelsea, and he scored again as Charlton were beaten 5-3, both games at Maine Road. City were now 16th, three points off bottom place with seven games to play.
It was nip and tuck at the bottom of the league as City then lost two on the trot, 3-1 at Grimsby and 2-1 at home to Bolton , however The Blues then put up a great display at Maine Road beating West Brom 7-1. However they then lost 2-1 at Bolton .
With three games left to play City were third from bottom on 33 points, however mathematically fourteen teams were still in the relegation ‘hat’.
It was to be one of the closest relegation battles ever as City drew 0-0 at Charlton and beat Leeds 6-2 at Maine Road in the Blues’ penultimate game of the season.
Bottom club Huddersfield had 35 points and Grimsby, West Brom, Portsmouth, Birmingham, Stoke and City all had 36 points, The Blues had the best goal average but Huddersfield, West Brom and Stoke still had two games to play.
Huddersfield won their game in hand and Stoke and West Brom lost theirs, therefore seven clubs were fighting against relegation on the last day of the season, and City were playiing at fellow strugglers, Huddersfield.
City lost 1-0 to Huddersfield at Leeds Road and suffered the Ignominy of being the first Champions to be relegated, indeed amazingly they scored more goals than the new Division 1 Champions, maybe this was the season that the Citizens truly earned the name ‘typical City’
Maine Road’s pitch would look slightly different this season as the League announced that a semi circle should be added to the 18 yard box to ensure that all players would be 10 yards from the ball when a penalty was taken.
The defence of the title started badly for City as they lost 3-1 against Wolves at Molineux, however at Maine Road things were different as the blues beat Everton 2-0 and Leicester 3-0.
Away day problems were still a concern however, as City lost 4-1 at Everton and 3-1 at Sunderland .
Maine Road was still a fortress for the Blues as they beat Huddersfield 3-2 and Derby 6-1. September finished with City gaining their first away point of the season, drawing 2-2 at Portsmouth .
In an effort to try and win their first away game the players were taken on a short break on the Isle of Wight, prior to the visit to Highbury, however the plan failed as Arsenal won 2-1.
City kept up there 100% home record with a 2-1 win over Blackpool .
The Blues then signed 19 year old Billy Wardle from Southport for £2,200, he was seen as a future replacement for Eric Brook when he ended his career.
City dropped their first point at home in a 0-0 draw against Stoke , then a Northern Ireland v England game ‘robbed’ City of Barkas, Brook and Doherty and Middlesbrough took advantage beating the Blues 4-0 at Ayresome Park.
City ended October with a 2-0 win at Maine Road against Birmingham , after 13 games they were mid table on 14 points, but only 4 points behind leaders, Brentford.
City had home advantage for the Charity Shield and won the trophy for the first time, beating FA Cup holders Sunderland 2-0.
The chances of defending the league title seemed to be getting more unlikely as the Blues drew 2-2 at Preston , lost 3-1 at home to Liverpool and drew 2-2 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
At Maine Road City beat Grimsby 3-1 in the last game of November and were now 10th in the league only five points behind leaders Brentford.
Heavy snow meant that City’s game at West Brom was postponed.
The rest of December City lost all their games, 2-1 at Leeds , leaders Brentford won 2-0 at Maine Road on Christmas Day and then two days later at Griffin Park Brentford won again 2-1.
January 1938 started very much the same way as 1937 ended with a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Wolves in Manchester.
A break from the league was welcome, and a visit to the Den in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup ended 2-2 against Millwall. In the replay at Maine Road Millwall were beaten 3-1.
Back to the league and a very inexperienced City team missing Barkas, Herd, Bray, Marshall and Tilson faired well against Leicester at Filbert Street winning 4-1, a victory that moved City from a perilous 20th position in the league to 16th, however the Division was very condensed and the Blues were only two points off bottom place.
The winning momentum continued in the 4th round of the FA Cup as nearly 72,000 fans, paying over £4,500 saw City beat Bury 3-1 at Maine Road.
In the league City gained a famous 7-1 win at Derby ,they were now 8th from bottom in Division 1, however only two points separated all bottom eight teams.
February started with two games at Maine Road, a 0-0 draw against Sunderland and a 2-1 against Portsmouth , and City moved up to 12th however amazingly only four points from bottom club Blackpool.
The Blues took their better form into the FA Cup and beat Luton 3-1 at Kenilworth Road in the 5th Round.
City were unlucky in their next league game as Frank Swift left the field for nearly a quarter of an hour due to an injury to his arm and for the rest of the game he could only use one upper limb as Arsenal won 2-1 at Maine Road.
Another defeat, 2-1 at fellow strugglers Blackpool saw a dip into the transfer market as City purchased striker Jack Milsom from Bolton.
Milsom made his debut at The Victoria Ground as City were beaten 3-2 by Stoke and were now 5th from bottom of the league, albeit, with two games in hand of the majority of teams around them.
Things worsened for the Citizens as Aston Villa beat City 3-2 in the Quarter Final of the FA Cup at Villa Park and then the Blues were taken apart at Maine Road as Middlesbrough won 6-1.
The Blues were certainly now in a relegation battle and surprisingly swopped Tilson, McCullough and Rodger for Third Division Northampton’s winger Maurice Dunkley, was panic setting in?
Dunkley didn’t play against Birmingham at St Andrews where the teams drew 2-2. City then made another signing, bringing in Les McDowall from Sunderland for a fee of £8,000.
Both Dunkley and McDowall played at West Brom where City gained another point in a 1-1 draw. However they slipped to bottom of the league with a 2-1 defeat to Preston at Maine Road and a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.
City then rallied, Pritchard scored his first goal for The Blues in a 1-0 win over Chelsea, and he scored again as Charlton were beaten 5-3, both games at Maine Road. City were now 16th, three points off bottom place with seven games to play.
It was nip and tuck at the bottom of the league as City then lost two on the trot, 3-1 at Grimsby and 2-1 at home to Bolton , however The Blues then put up a great display at Maine Road beating West Brom 7-1. However they then lost 2-1 at Bolton .
With three games left to play City were third from bottom on 33 points, however mathematically fourteen teams were still in the relegation ‘hat’.
It was to be one of the closest relegation battles ever as City drew 0-0 at Charlton and beat Leeds 6-2 at Maine Road in the Blues’ penultimate game of the season.
Bottom club Huddersfield had 35 points and Grimsby, West Brom, Portsmouth, Birmingham, Stoke and City all had 36 points, The Blues had the best goal average but Huddersfield, West Brom and Stoke still had two games to play.
Huddersfield won their game in hand and Stoke and West Brom lost theirs, therefore seven clubs were fighting against relegation on the last day of the season, and City were playiing at fellow strugglers, Huddersfield.
City lost 1-0 to Huddersfield at Leeds Road and suffered the Ignominy of being the first Champions to be relegated, indeed amazingly they scored more goals than the new Division 1 Champions, maybe this was the season that the Citizens truly earned the name ‘typical City’