1896–97 Manchester City F.C. season

The 1896–97 season was Manchester City F.C.'s sixth season of league football and fifth season in the Football League.

Manchester City F.C.

1896–97 season
Manager	Sam Ormerod
Football League	6th
FA Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Meredith (10 goals) All: Meredith (10 goals)
Highest home attendance	20,000 vs Newton Heath (3 October 1896)
Lowest home attendance	1,000 vs Lincoln City (13 February 1897) 1,000 vs Leicester Fosse (12 April 1897)
← 1895–96 1897–98 →

Team Kit

Football League Second Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
4	Small Heath	30	16	5	9	69	47	1.468	37
5	Newcastle United	30	17	1	12	56	52	1.077	35
6	Manchester City	30	12	8	10	58	50	1.160	32
7	Gainsborough Trinity	30	12	7	11	50	47	1.064	31
8	Blackpool	30	13	5	12	59	56	1.054	31

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
30	12	8	10	58	50	1.16	32	5	5	5	25	27	15	7	3	5	33	23	17

Source: rsssf.com

Reports

Date	Opponents	H / A	Venue	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
5 September 1896	Woolwich Arsenal	H	Hyde Road	1 – 1	Finnerhan	8,000
12 September 1896	Gainsborough Trinity	H	Hyde Road	1 – 1	Sharples	4,000
19 September 1896	Darwen	H	Hyde Road	4 – 1	Mann (2), Ditchfield, Lewis	10,000
21 September 1896	Lincoln City	A	Sincil Bank	3 – 0	Finnerhan, Lewis, Sharples	3,000
26 September 1896	Blackpool	A	Athletic Grounds	2 – 2	Mann, Hill	5,000
3 October 1896	Newton Heath	H	Hyde Road	0 – 0		20,000
10 October 1896	Notts County	A	Trent Bridge	3 – 3	Meredith, Hill, Robinson	7,000
17 October 1896	Newcastle United	H	Hyde Road	1 – 2	Robinson	10,000
24 October 1896	Grimsby Town	H	Hyde Road	1 – 3	Sharples	3,000
31 October 1896	Notts County	H	Hyde Road	1 – 4	Meredith	12,000
7 November 1896	Blackpool	H	Hyde Road	4 – 2	Banner, Meredith, Sharples, Lewis	4,000
14 November 1896	Burton Swifts	A	Peel Croft	3 – 1	Tait (2), Gunn	4,000
23 November 1896	Walsall	H	Hyde Road	2 – 3	Finnerhan, Mann	3,000
28 November 1896	Burton Wanderers	H	Hyde Road	2 – 1	F. Williams, Gunn	2,000
19 December 1896	Grimsby Town	A	Abbey Park	3 – 1	Meredith, Gunn, F. Williams	12,000
25 December 1896	Newton Heath	A	Bank Street	1 – 2	Hill	18,000
26 December 1896	Burton Swifts	H	Hyde Road	0 – 5		6,000
1 January 1897	Small Heath	H	Hyde Road	3 – 0	Bannister, Gunn, Sharples	16,000
6 January 1897	Walsall	A	Hillary Street	5 – 0	Ray, Mann, Meredith, Lewis, Sharples	500
9 January 1897	Darwen	A	Barley Bank	1 – 3	Gillespie	1,000
6 February 1897	Newcastle United	A	St James' Park	0 – 3		4,000
13 February 1897	Lincoln City	H	Hyde Road	1 – 0	Gillespie	1,000
27 February 1897	Gainsborough Trinity	A	The Northolme	4 – 1	Gillespie, F. Williams (2), Meredith	9,000
6 March 1897	Burton Wanderers	A	Derby Turn	1 – 1	Read	3,000
13 March 1897	Leicester Fosse	A	Filbert Street	4 – 0	Holmes, Meredith, Gillespie, F. Williams	6,000
17 March 1897	Loughborough	A	Athletic Ground	0 – 2		2,000
12 April 1897	Leicester Fosse	H	Hyde Road	3 – 3	Meredith (2), ? (o.g.)	1,000
16 April 1897	Loughborough	H	Hyde Road	1 – 1	Foster	2,000
19 April 1897	Small Heath	A	Muntz Street	1 – 3	Meredith	500
28 April 1897	Woolwich Arsenal	A	Manor Ground	2 – 1	Hill (2)	2,000

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Venue	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
30 January 1897	First round	Preston North End	A	Deepdale	0 – 6		6,000

Squad statistics

Squad

Appearances for competitive matches only

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Charlie Williams	30	0	1	0	31	0
DF	Dick Ray	30	1	1	0	31	1
MF	James McBride	28	0	1	0	29	0
FW	Walter Bowman	2	0	0	0	2	0
FW	Pat Finnerhan	25	3	0	0	25	3
FW	Billie Gillespie	11	4	0	0	11	4
FW	Frank Hesham	2	0	0	0	2	0
FW	Billy Meredith	27	10	1	0	28	10
FW	William Townley	3	0	0	0	3	0
FW	Fred Williams	11	5	0	0	11	5
--	Charlie Bannister	18	2	0	0	18	2
--	John Ditchfield	10	1	0	0	10	1
--	H. Foster	6	1	1	0	7	1
--	John Gunn	21	4	1	0	22	4
--	James Harper	10	0	1	0	11	0
--	Robert Hill	12	5	0	0	12	5
--	Billy Holmes	12	1	1	0	13	1
--	Billy Lewis	12	4	1	0	13	4
--	Alex McConnell	2	0	0	0	2	0
--	George Mann	18	5	1	0	19	5
--	Bobby Moffatt	8	0	0	0	8	0
--	J. Moffatt	3	0	0	0	3	0
--	William Patterson	1	0	0	0	1	0
--	J. Platt	1	0	0	0	1	0
--	Thomas Read	8	1	0	0	8	1
--	L. Robinson	3	2	0	0	3	2
--	James Sharples	10	6	1	0	11	6
--	David Tait	4	2	0	0	4	2
--	Tonge	2	0	0	0	2	0

Scorers

All Scorer Goals Billy Meredith 10 James Sharples 6 Robert Hill 5 George Mann Fred Williams Billie Gillespie 4 John Gunn Billy Lewis Pat Finnerhan 3 Charlie Bannister 2 L. Robinson David Tait John Ditchfield 1 H. Foster Billy Holmes Dick Ray Thomas Read

League Scorer Goals Billy Meredith 10 James Sharples 6 Robert Hill 5 George Mann Fred Williams Billie Gillespie 4 John Gunn Billy Lewis Pat Finnerhan 3 Charlie Bannister 2 L. Robinson David Tait John Ditchfield 1 H. Foster Billy Holmes Dick Ray Thomas Read

See also

• Manchester City F.C. seasons