1896–97 Manchester City F.C. season

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 →

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

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
Pos.	Name	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