1909/10 SEASON REVIEW
Following the decision in 1906 to ban all City players at that time from ever playing for the club again, The Council of the Football Association agreed at the start of the 1909/10 season to lift this ban, albeit all those players were either now retired or currently now at other clubs, the lifelong ban on City officials however would continue.
In the summer half back Frank Buckley was transferred to Birmingham and new players at Hyde Road were Willie Gould from Bradford City and George Furr from Watford
City played one pre-season friendly, beating a local Amateur XI 5-1 at Hyde Road
It was a mixed start to the season as City lost 2-1 at home to Blackpool on the opening day, but then beat Leicester Fosse 3-1 at Filbert Street and Lincoln City 6-2 at Hyde Road before losing 3-2 at Clapton Orient and finished September with a 0-0 draw at Blackpool, a game in which ‘keeper Jack Lyall made his debut after his transfer from Sheffield Wednesday a few days before..
October started better with a 2-1 victory at Hull, then further victories, 2-1 at home to Derby and 2-1 at Stockport. With a quarter of the season gone City were now in the mix for promotion the 2nd Division table showed City in 7th position on 11 points, just three points behind leaders West Brom.
City then let Elias ‘Patsy’ Henderson, who was also a first class County cricketer with Middlesex, move to Coventry City after making just two appearances for The Blues.
City continued their unbeaten run in October with a 3-3 draw against Glossop at Hyde Road then a 3-1 win at Gainsborough Trinity. City were now just one point away from new Division 2 leaders Hull.
The Citizens then lost some ground in the league as they drew 1-1 at Birmingham, beat West Brom 3-2 at Hyde Road and lost 1-0 at Oldham. An hour before City’s next game against Barnsley, Hyde Road was enshrouded in fog, however the referee controversially allowed the game to go ahead, and with the score at 1-1 half way through the second half the game had to be abandoned.
November finished with a 1-1 draw at Fulham.
City continued their promotion push into December with three straight wins, 4-0 at home to Burnley, 3-1 at Leeds and 6-0 against Wolves at Hyde Road.
Moving into the Festive period The Blues lost 2-0 on Christmas Day at Bradford Park Avenue but two days later beat Grimsby 2-0 at Hyde Road.
On New Years Day 1910 City beat Bradford Park Avenue 3-1 in Manchester and it was to be the start of an excellent few months for Harry Newbould’s side.
At Hyde Road City beat Leicester Fosse 2-0 and then in the FA Cup City were drawn away at Workington but offered them £250 to move the tie to Hyde Road, an offer that was declined. The Blues taking the tie very seriously sent the team to Southport the week before the game for special training.
The brisk coastal training camp seemed to work as they scraped through beating non-league Workington 2-1 at Borough Park.
A further win in the league followed, 2-0 at Lincoln, and then the game against Clapton Orient was postponed due a frozen Hyde Road pitch.
February saw a great 5-0 win at Southampton in the FA Cup 2nd round, followed by a 3-0 win in the league against Hull at Hyde Road and then in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup they put up a great performance at Aston Villa where the Villains had bean unbeaten all season City beat them 2-1.
Back in the league and The Blues moved to the top of Division 2 for the first time with their ninth victory on the trot beating Stockport 2-1 at Hyde Road.
The Blues’ first defeat in 1910 came in the FA Cup as they were knocked out in the 4th Round losing 2-0 at Swindon.
Back in the league at Hyde Road Barnsley drew 0-0 and Birmingham were beaten 3-0, however at promotion rivals Derby, City were beaten 3-1.
A 0-0 draw at West Brom, a 1-0 win at Grimsby and a 2-0 home defeat against Oldham left City in the all important second promotion spot, with eight games to play they were on 42 points, four points behind leaders Derby and two points ahead of Leicester who had a game in hand on The Blues.
City hit form just at the right tme however, as they beat Gainsborough Trinity 3-1 at Hyde Road, then despite a 1-1 draw at Barnsley they won three games on the trot, 3-0 at Glossop then at Hyde Road, 3-1 against Fulham and 2-1 against Clapton Orient. Promotion was looking very likely, The Blues were top of Division 2 with 51 points and three games to play, Derby were second with 49 points with four games to play and Hull were third with 47 points also with four games to play.
City drew 3-3 at Burnley. The team then played a friendly, drawing 4-4 against a combined Chirk and Wrexham side, then back to the league and in the penultimate game of the season they beat Leeds City 3-0 at Hyde Road. Promotion still wasn’t mathematically certain however and it seemed The Blues needed to avoid defeat in their last game to ensure a return to Division 1, however Derby lost their game in hand which meant City were promoted without kicking a ball.
As it was, The Blues lost their last match, 3-2 at Wolves but were still crowned Champions finishing on 54 points one ahead of Oldham who were also promoted.
Mr Wilkinson, City’s Chairman summed the season up as a trying one for everyone interested in the club and particularly for the players… “Every club seemed to think it would be a feather in their cap to beat the “City,” and every club seemed to go into special training for the occasion.”
In the close season City secured the signature of William Nairn from Accrington Stanley. But James Blair moved away from Hyde Road, joining Bradford City. Before the team embarked on a European tour. Starting in Germany, they played Hamburg and won 3-0. Then off to Denmark and a 3-2 against a combined Danish XI. Two days later they played the Danish XI again but lost 5-2. Finally it was off to Sweden where they beat Gothenburg 3-2 and two days later won 6-0 again against Gothenburg.
THE TEAM SET OFF FOR CITY’S FIRST EVER OVERSEAS TOUR
