1922–23 Nelson F.C. season

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David Wilson
Football League Third Division North1st (champions)
FA CupFifth Qualifying Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Joe Eddleston (22)
All: Joe Eddleston (23)
Highest home attendance12,000 (vs Chesterfield, 10 March 1923)
Lowest home attendance3,000 (vs Darlington, 23 December 1922)

The 1922–23 season was the 42nd season in the history of

Wrexham
on 24 April 1923. Nelson ended the season on 51 points, with a record of 24 wins, three draws and 11 defeats in 38 matches.

Nelson entered the FA Cup in the Fourth Qualifying Round, in which they defeated Rochdale. However, they were knocked out by Stalybridge Celtic in the next round. A total of 19 players were used by Nelson in their 40 first-team matches, only six of whom had played for the club in the previous season. Bob Hutchinson and Ernie Braidwood, both new signings, played every league and cup match. With 23 goals in 36 appearances, Joe Eddleston was the team's top goalscorer for the second season in succession. The highest attendance of the season at the club's Seedhill stadium was 12,000 on two occasions, the first of these the win over Chesterfield on 10 March 1923.

Background

See also: 1921–22 Nelson F.C. season
Goalkeeper Joseph Birds was a new signing from Stockport County

In the 1921–22 season, Nelson had played as a professional club in the Football League for the first time, following the restructuring of the league to introduce North and South divisions.

friendly matches, meaning that the team's last competitive match was the 0–0 draw with Tranmere Rovers on 6 May 1921.[3] The only warm-up for the campaign was a practice match between two teams made up of Nelson players. The Nelson Leader reported that this match was satisfying, and hoped that it could be "the precursor of fine sport in the coming season".[4] Before the 1922–23 season, Nelson's only previous title-winning campaign was their Lancashire League championship in 1895–96.[5]

There were a number of first-team personnel changes from the previous campaign, with only six first-team players staying at the club. Centre forward

Harold Andrews, who joined Bury,[6] and Irish international inside forward Billy Halligan, who retired from professional football.[nb 1] Goalkeepers Harry Heyes and Robert Bruce both moved on in the close season, so Stockport County custodian Joseph Birds was signed as a replacement in June 1922.[7] In an attempt to improve the attacking prowess at the club, Wilson signed experienced inside forward Arthur Wolstenholme on a free transfer from Darlington in May 1922,[8] and Scottish forward Mike McCulloch arrived from Heart of Midlothian for a transfer fee of £150.[9] Wilson also added to the defensive ranks with the signings of his former Oldham Athletic team-mate Ernie Braidwood, and of Jimmy Broadhead on a free transfer from Scunthorpe & Lindsey United.[10]

Transfers

Football League Third Division North

David Wilson
led Nelson to the Third Division North title

Nelson's league campaign started on 26 August 1922 with an away fixture at

clean sheet of the month.[13]

October began with a 1–3 defeat away at

John Black's first goal in a Nelson jersey. The team failed to score for only the second time in the season in the 0–1 away defeat to Barrow on 4 November. Despite conceding at Seedhill for the first time in the campaign, Nelson atoned for the loss seven days later with a 2–1 victory as a result of strikes from Eddleston and Wolstenholme. Nelson did not play another league match for two weeks, when they faced Rochdale at home. A first Nelson goal for defender Ernie Braidwood could not prevent the side succumbing to a 1–2 reverse, not helped by first-team regulars Wilson and Wolstenholme missing the match due to injury, forcing inexperienced inside-right William Bennett to make his league debut.[15]

In spite of suffering their second defeat of November, Nelson remained top of the league going into December.

Hartlepools United, to whom they had conceded 10 goals in two matches in the previous season.[3] Wolstenholme netted for the third game in succession as Nelson claimed their first ever win against the club. However, in the first match of 1923, Hartlepools United won the return fixture 5–1. Nelson achieved their first win of the new year on 13 January, a 3–0 triumph against Rochdale courtesy of an Eddleston hat-trick. Nelson lost 0–1 to Lincoln City the following week, the first time they had failed to score in a league fixture for over two months. January came to a conclusion with a 2–1 win over the same team, goals from Eddleston and McCulloch giving Nelson the victory.[13]

The Nelson team that won the Third Division North: Birds, Black, Broadhead, Braidwood, Crawshaw, Eddleston, Hoad, Hutchinson, McCulloch, Rigg, Wolstenholme

Nelson attained a first ever win against Durham City on 3 February 1923, and this was followed by a 4–0 win over the same side. The win saw Sid Hoad and Bob Hutchinson each net their first of the campaign, and striker Eddleston increase his tally for the season to 19. A goal by Black was not enough to prevent Nelson's winning streak come to an end on 17 February with a 1–3 defeat away at Wigan Borough. Nelson made up for the loss the following week, exacting a 1–0 win over Wigan, with new signing Dick Crawshaw scoring on his Nelson debut.[17] At the beginning of March, Nelson achieved back-to-back victories against Chesterfield, the second a 4–0 win which saw a second goal in three games for Crawshaw and two goals from utility man Black, who was playing in an unfamiliar centre-forward role.[13] Nelson took only one point from the next two matches against Crewe Alexandra. The team failed to score in both games, the only time in the season they did so in successive matches. Entering the Easter period, Eddleston's 20th league goal of the campaign earned Nelson a 1–1 draw with Grimsby Town at Seedhill on 31 March.

Nelson's winless streak extended to four games when they lost 1–2 away to

David Wilson claimed he was "the happiest man in Nelson" as his side gained promotion to the Second Division for the first time in their history.[18] The win was followed by a team procession around the town, and the celebrations continued into the next match as the team claimed a third consecutive clean sheet with a 3–0 win at home to Walsall. However, the season ended disappointingly for Nelson as they suffered their heaviest defeat of the season, a 0–5 loss to Walsall, on 5 May 1923.[13]

Match results

Key
Results
Date Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
26 August 1922
Bradford Park Avenue
(A) 		2–6 Eddleston, Howie (o.g.) 10,000
2 September 1922
Bradford Park Avenue
(H) 		1–0 McCulloch 7,000
9 September 1922 Stalybridge Celtic (H) 1–0 Eddleston 5,000
12 September 1922 Halifax Town (H) 2–0 Eddleston (2) 5,000
16 September 1922 Stalybridge Celtic (A) 0–2 —
23 September 1922 Southport (H) 2–0 McCulloch (2) 7,500
30 September 1922 Southport (A) 1–0 Eddleston 5,000
7 October 1922 Ashington (H) 1–3 Wolstenholme 7,000
14 October 1922 Ashington (A) 2–0 McCulloch, Eddleston 8,000
21 October 1922 Tranmere Rovers (A) 2–0 Eddleston (2) 6,000
28 October 1922 Tranmere Rovers (H) 1–0
Black
 7,000
4 November 1922 Barrow (A) 0–1 4,000
11 November 1922 Barrow (H) 2–1 Wolstenholme, Eddleston 7,000
25 November 1922 Rochdale (H) 1–2 Braidwood 6,000
9 December 1922 Darlington (A) 3–2 Braidwood, Eddleston (2) 5,583
23 December 1922 Darlington (H) 3–0 Wolstenholme (3) 3,000
25 December 1922 Halifax Town (A) 2–2 Braidwood, Wolstenholme 18,000
30 December 1922
Hartlepools United
(H) 		4–1 Eddleston, Wolstenholme (2), McCulloch 5,000
6 January 1923
Hartlepools United
(A) 		1–5 Wolstenholme 5,500
13 January 1923 Rochdale (A) 3–0 Eddleston (3) 6,000
20 January 1923 Lincoln City (A) 0–1 4,000
27 January 1923 Lincoln City (H) 2–1 McCulloch, Eddleston —
3 February 1923 Durham City (A) 1–0 Eddleston 3,000
10 February 1923 Durham City (H) 4–0 Hoad, Eddleston, Hutchinson 5,000
17 February 1923 Wigan Borough (A) 1–3
Black
 15,000
24 February 1923 Wigan Borough (H) 1–0 Crawshaw 10,000
3 March 1923 Chesterfield (A) 2–1
Black, Wolstenholme
 14,280
10 March 1923 Chesterfield (H) 4–0
Black (2), Braidwood, Crawshaw
 12,000
17 March 1923 Crewe Alexandra (H) 0–0 10,000
24 March 1923 Crewe Alexandra (A) 0–1 7,000
31 March 1923 Grimsby Town (H) 1–1 Eddleston 8,000
2 April 1923
Wrexham
(A) 		1–2 Crawshaw 10,000
7 April 1923 Grimsby Town (A) 2–0 Wolstenholme, Braidwood 6,000
14 April 1923 Accrington Stanley (H) 2–1 Crawshaw, Broadhead 8,000
21 April 1923 Accrington Stanley (A) 1–0 Braidwood 10,000
24 April 1923
Wrexham
(H) 		2–0 Crawshaw, Eddleston 12,000
28 April 1923 Walsall (H) 3–0 Eddleston, Wolstenholme (2) 7,000
5 May 1923 Walsall (A) 0–5 2,500

Final league position

Pos Team Games played Won Drawn Lost Goals for Goals against Points
1 Nelson 38 24 3 11 61 41 51[19]

FA Cup

See also: 1922–23 FA Cup

Along with all the clubs in the Third Division North, Nelson entered the FA Cup in the Fourth Qualifying Round for the 1922–23 season. For their first match on 18 November 1922, Nelson were drawn away at league rivals Rochdale, who they had beaten 3–2 in the Fifth Qualifying Round the previous season.[20] Nelson emerged from the match with a 1–0 victory courtesy of an Eddleston goal, putting them into the Fifth Qualifying Round for only the fourth time since they first competed in the FA Cup in 1894. For the next round, Nelson were drawn against Stalybridge Celtic at Bower Fold, where they had been beaten 0–2 in the league on 16 September. In their first ever cup tie against Stalybridge, Nelson were defeated 1–0 before a crowd of 6,000 spectators.[13]

Match results

Key
Results
Round Date Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
Q4 18 November 1922 Rochdale (A) 1–0 Eddleston 10,000
Q5 2 December 1922 Stalybridge Celtic (A) 0–1 6,000

Player statistics

David Wilson used a total of 19 players during the 1922–23 season and there were nine different goalscorers. The team played in a 2–3–5 formation (the standard formation at the time) throughout the campaign, with two

Clement Rigg missed just one match, the defeat to Ashington on 7 October. The team scored a total of 62 goals in 40 competitive matches. With 22 league goals and 1 in the FA Cup, Joe Eddleston surpassed his 1921–22 total of 17 to become the team's top goalscorer for the second consecutive season. New signing Arthur Wolstenholme was the second highest scorer with 13 goals, while Braidwood notched the most goals of all the defenders with his total of six.[13]

Key to positions
Statistics
Nat. Position Player Third Division North FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
England GK
Harry Abbott
 2 0 0 0 2 0
England IF William Bennett 1 0 0 0 1 0
England GK Joseph Birds 36 0 2 0 38 0
Scotland OF
John Black
 23 5 2 0 25 5
England HB Ernie Braidwood 38 6 2 0 40 6
England HB Jimmy Broadhead 36 1 2 0 38 1
England IF Dick Crawshaw 13 5 0 0 13 5
England FB Eddie Eastwood 2 0 0 0 2 0
England CF Joe Eddleston 34 22 2 1 36 23
England OF Sid Hoad 25 1 0 0 25 1
England FB Charles Howson 1 0 0 0 1 0
England OF Bob Hutchinson 38 1 2 0 40 1
England FB Bob Lilley 10 0 0 0 10 0
Scotland IF Mike McCulloch 28 6 2 0 30 6
Scotland HB James Price 4 0 0 0 4 0
England FB
Clement Rigg
 37 0 2 0 39 0
Scotland FB
John Steel
 24 0 2 0 26 0
Scotland HB
David Wilson
 30 0 2 0 32 0
England IF Arthur Wolstenholme 36 13 2 0 38 13

See also

Notes

1. ^ Despite announcing his retirement at the end of the 1921–22 season, Halligan later went on to play for Boston Town.[21]
2. ^ Until the 1925–26 season, match attendances in the Football League were not officially recorded.[22]

References

General
  • Dykes, Garth (2009). Nelson FC in the Football League. SoccerData.
    ISBN 978-1-905891-29-0
    .
  • Robinson, Michael, ed. (2006). Football League Tables 1888–2006. Soccer Books.
    ISBN 978-1-86223-143-6
    .
Specific
  1. ^ Robinson, p. 16
  2. ^ Dykes, p. 5
  3. ^ a b Dykes, p. 75
  4. ^ Broughton, Gary (30 August 2003). "3rd Div Champs 1: Heartache Avenue". Nelson FC. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  5. ^ "Nelson". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  6. ^ Dykes, p. 17
  7. ^ Dykes, p. 20
  8. ^ Dykes, p. 73
  9. ^ Dykes, p. 51
  10. ^ Dykes, p. 22
  11. ^ "League Football – The Season Opens". The Times. London. 28 August 1922.
  12. ^ "Match Results and League Tables". The Times. London. 11 September 1922.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h Dykes, p. 76
  14. ^ "Match Results and League Tables". The Times. London. 16 October 1922.
  15. ^ Dykes, p. 19
  16. ^ "Match Results and League Tables – Third Division (Northern Section)". The Times. London. 27 November 1922.
  17. ^ Dykes, p. 30
  18. ^ a b "Nelson Win The Championship". Nelson: Nelson Leader. 24 April 1923.
  19. ^ Robinson, p. 17
  20. ^ Dykes, p. 85
  21. ^ Dykes, p. 38
  22. ^ Dykes, p. 74
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