The 1923–24 season was the 43rd season in the history of Nelson F.C. and their third as a professional club in the Football League. The team competed in the Second Division of the Football League for the first time, having won promotion as champions of the Third Division North in the previous campaign. Nelson struggled against more established opponents in the higher league, and were relegated at the end of the season, finishing second-bottom of the division just a point behind Fulham, who avoided relegation. Despite achieving a 1–0 victory away against Manchester United, Nelson suffered several heavy defeats during the campaign, including a 0–6 loss to Derby County, and at one point went six matches without scoring a goal. Nelson ended the season on 33 points, with a record of 10 wins, 13 draws and 19 defeats in 42 matches.
Nelson entered the FA Cup in the Fifth Qualifying Round, and were knocked out in a replay at that stage by Wigan Borough, having drawn the original tie. A total of 30 players were used by Nelson throughout their 44 first-team matches. The majority of the championship-winning team remained with Nelson. New signings included defender Jack Newnes, who went on to become a Wales international, Billy Caulfield and Eddie Cameron. With 14 goals in 42 appearances, Joe Eddleston was the team's top goalscorer for the third season in succession, and also played the highest number of matches of all the first-team squad. The highest attendance of the season at the club's Seedhill stadium was 12,000 on two occasions, the first of these the opening day game against Clapton Orient on 26 August 1923. The lowest attendance in the league was 7,000 for three different matches, while the FA Cup replay against Wigan Borough attracted a crowd of only 4,000 spectators.
Background
In the 1922–23 season, Nelson had been crowned champions of the Football League Third Division North after winning 24 of their 38 league fixtures.Robinson, p. 17 In May 1923, the club embarked on a pre-season tour of Spain. Six matches were played during the trip, two each against Real Madrid, Racing de Santander and Real Oviedo. On 15 May 1923, Nelson achieved a 4–2 victory against Real Madrid at the Campo de Ciudad Lineal,Dykes, p. 6 two of the goals coming from Dick Crawshaw, who had been signed towards the end of the previous campaign.Dykes, p. 30 In doing so, Nelson became the first English club to defeat Real Madrid at their home ground.
Football League Second Division
Match results Key
In Result column, Nelson's score shown first H = Home match A = Away match
— = Attendance not known o.g. = Own goal
Results Date Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance 25 August 1923 Clapton Orient (H) 1–1 McCulloch 12,000 27 August 1923 Stockport County (A) 0–1 11,000 1 September 1923 Clapton Orient (A) 1–5 Eddleston 20,000 3 September 1923 Stockport County (H) 1–1 Wolstenholme 10,000 8 September 1923 Hull City (A) 1–2 Eddleston 9,000 11 September 1923 Southampton (H) 0–0 12,000 15 September 1923 Hull City (H) 1–1 Eddleston 11,000 22 September 1923 Stoke (A) 0–4 14,000 29 September 1923 Stoke (H) 2–0 Newnes, Eddleston 10,000 6 October 1923 Crystal Palace (A) 1–1 Roseboom 10,000 13 October 1923 Crystal Palace (H) 4–2 Crawshaw (3), Hoad 10,000 20 October 1923 Sheffield Wednesday (H) 1–1 Crawshaw — 27 October 1923 Sheffield Wednesday (A) 0–5 10,000 3 November 1923 Coventry City (H) 3–0 Caulfield (2), Eddleston 6,000 10 November 1923 Coventry City (A) 0–4 12,000 17 November 1923 Bristol City (A) 0–1 8,000 24 November 1923 Bristol City (H) 2–1 Eddleston (2) 8,000 8 December 1923 Southampton (A) 0–3 11,000 15 December 1923 Fulham (A) 0–0 13,000 22 December 1923 Fulham (H) 1–1 Braidwood 6,000 25 December 1923 Derby County (H) 2–1 Newnes, Hoad 10,000 26 December 1923 Derby County (A) 0–6 16,000 29 December 1923 Blackpool (A) 1–1 Eddleston 15,000 5 January 1924 Blackpool (H) 2–3 Caulfield, Wolstenholme 10,000 19 January 1924 Oldham Athletic (H) 2–1 Newnes, Eddleston 9,000 26 January 1924 Oldham Athletic (A) 0–1 12,000 2 February 1924 South Shields (H) 0–2 7,000 9 February 1924 South Shields (A) 0–3 8,000 16 February 1924 Bury (H) 0–5 8,500 23 February 1924 Bury (A) 0–2 8,000 1 March 1924 Manchester United (H) 0–2 7,000 8 March 1924 Manchester United (A) 1–0 Crawshaw 18,000 15 March 1924 Barnsley (A) 0–0 8,000 22 March 1924 Barnsley (H) 4–3 Caulfield (2), Eddleston, Hoad 7,000 29 March 1924 Bradford City (A) 2–0 Cameron, Eddleston 10,000 5 April 1924 Bradford City (H) 1–1 Cameron 8,000 12 April 1924 Port Vale (H) 1–3 Cameron 7,000 19 April 1924 Port Vale (A) 0–0 8,000 21 April 1924 Leicester City (H) 1–1 Eddleston 10,000 22 April 1924 Leicester City (A) 1–3 McCulloch 14,000 26 April 1924 Leeds United (A) 0–1 20,000 3 May 1924 Leeds United (H) 3–1 Eddleston (2), Chadwick 10,000
Final league position
FA Cup Match results Round Date Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance Q5 1 December 1923 Wigan Borough (A) 1–1 Ward (o.g.) 12,650 Q5r 5 December 1923 Wigan Borough (H) 0–1 4,000
Appearances and goals Key to positions
CF = Centre forward DF = Defender FB = Fullback
GK = Goalkeeper IF = Inside forward OF = Outside forward
Statistics Nat.PositionPlayerThird Division NorthFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGKHarry Abbott34020360GKJoseph Birds400040OFJohn Black600060DFErnie Braidwood31120331DFJimmy Broadhead21000210OFEddie Cameron830083IFBilly Caulfield18500185IFEdgar Chadwick310031DFLeigh Collins13020150IFDick Crawshaw19520215CFJoe Eddleston4014204214OFErnest Gillibrand200020IFHarry Higginbotham400040OFSid Hoad26320283OFDuggie Humphrey800080OFBob Hutchinson22020240CFSam Kennedy600060FBWilliam Lammus800080FBBob Lilley500050FBTom Lilley14000140IFMike McCulloch21200212DFJack Newnes37320393GKHarry Nutter200020FBClement Rigg37020390IFTeddy Roseboom12100121FBJohn Steel100010GKJim Thomson200020IFTed Ward200020DFDavid Wilson31020330IFArthur Wolstenholme25200252
See also List of Nelson F.C. seasons
References General
Specific