1896–97 Everton F.C. season

The 1896-97 Football League season was the ninth in Football League history with Everton having been an ever present in the top division. The club played thirty-five games in England's two major competitions, winning eighteen, drawing three and losing fourteen.[1] The club finished the season in seventh place, eight points clear of the test match relegation place,[2] and reached their second FA Cup final but again lost, this time 2–3 against Aston Villa.[3]

Everton
1896–97 season
ManagerDick Molyneux
The Football LeagueSeventh
Top goalscorerJack Bell 15
Highest home attendance45,000 vs Liverpool 21 November 1896
Lowest home attendance6,000 vs Wolves 31 October 1896, vs Burnley 28 November 1896 and vs Bury 24 April 1897
Average home league attendance15,913

Season review

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In each of the previous two seasons Everton had started the calendar year on top of the League, only to falter in the second half of the season. In their bid to strengthen the forward line they brought in Jack Taylor from his hometown club St Mirren,[citation needed] slotting into the role vacated by Tom McInnes who had departed during the summer for Luton Town[4] to join the forward line of Bell, Chadwick, Milward and Hartley.

Elsewhere the familiar half back line of Boyle, Holt & Stewart would line up in front of full back, Smart Arridge, who would be partnered in defence this year by David Storrier after James Adams had returned to his former club Hearts

On paper this side looked as good as any in the First Division but there was uncertainty over the ability of the inexperienced goalkeeper, Harry Briggs, who had stepped in to make just one appearance the previous season after the departure of Jack Hillman.

With the exception of the inclusion of John Cameron in place of Hartley, this was the team that won their opening game against The Wednesday, while Barker made his debut at the back, in place of Arridge in their second game, another victory over Wolves that took the Toffeemen joint top of the table with Bolton, albeit already having a game in hand on the Trotters.[5] The Merseysiders went on to win four of their opening five games before embarking on a dreadful slump that provided just a solitary victory in their next nine games.[6]

The change initially looked to have been a wise one as, shortly after Menham's arrival, Everton embarked on a run of seven consecutive League and Cup victories to put themselves right back into the title race, four points behind leaders, Aston Villa with ten games remaining.[7]

The last of those victories was Everton's first round cup tie with Burton Wanderers and it seemed that the cup run once again affected their League form as they now went on a run of six consecutive League defeats which killed any lingering title ambitions.[6]

First team squad and appearances

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[citation needed]

Pos. Name League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   Harry Briggs 10 0 0 0 10 0
GK   Bob Menham 18 0 5 0 23 0
GK   John Patrick 1 0 0 0 1 0
GK   John Palmer 1 0 0 0 1 0
FB   David Storrier 25 0 3 0 28 0
FB   Smart Arridge 23 0 3 0 26 0
FB   George Barker 4 0 0 0 4 0
FB   George Molyneux 1 0 0 0 1 0
FB   Peter Meechan 7 0 4 0 11 0
HB   Dickie Boyle 29 0 5 1 34 1
HB   Johnny Holt 25 1 5 1 30 2
HB   Billy Stewart {Capt} 29 3 4 0 33 3
HB   Hugh Goldie 3 0 0 0 3 0
HB   John Robertson 3 0 1 0 4 0
HB   George Meiklejohn 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW   Jack Bell 27 15 5 2 32 17
FW   Jack Taylor 30 13 5 2 35 15
FW   John Cameron 15 5 0 0 15 5
FW   Edgar Chadwick 28 7 5 2 33 9
FW   Alf Milward 27 9 5 3 32 12
FW   Abe Hartley 14 6 5 3 19 9
FW   William Campbell 3 1 0 0 3 1
FW   Alf Schofield 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW   William Maley 2 0 0 0 2 0
FW   William Williams 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW   Bert Banks 2 0 0 0 2 0
Own goals 1 1 2

Final league table

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Pos Club P W D L F A GA Pts
1 Aston Villa 30 21 5 4 73 38 1.921 47
2 Sheffield United 30 13 10 7 42 29 1.448 36
3 Derby County 30 16 4 10 70 50 1.400 36
4 Preston North End 30 11 12 7 55 40 1.375 34
5 Liverpool 30 12 9 9 46 38 1.211 33
6 The Wednesday 30 10 11 9 42 37 1.135 31
7 Everton 30 14 3 13 62 57 1.088 31
8 Bolton Wanderers 30 12 6 12 40 43 0.930 30
9 Bury 30 10 10 10 39 44 0.886 30
10 Wolverhampton Wanderers 30 11 6 13 45 41 1.098 28
11 Nottingham Forest 30 9 8 13 44 49 0.898 26
12 West Bromwich Albion 30 10 6 14 33 56 0.589 26
13 Stoke 30 11 3 16 48 59 0.814 25
14 Blackburn Rovers 30 11 3 16 35 62 0.565 25
15 Sunderland 30 7 9 14 34 47 0.723 23
16 Burnley 30 6 7 17 43 61 0.705 19

Key: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points

The Football League

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Everton home games were played at Goodison Park while away games were played at the venues stated

Date Opponents Venue Result
F – A
Scorers Attendance
5 September 1896 Sheffield Wednesday Goodison Park 2–1 John Cameron, Jack Taylor 15,000
12 September 1896 Nottingham Forest Molineux 1–0 Tommy Dunn (own goal) 5,500
19 September 1896 Aston Villa Goodison Park 2–3 Jack Taylor, Alf Milward 20,000
26 September 1896 Aston Villa Wellington Road 2–1 James Welford (own goal), Edgar Chadwick 20,000
3 October 1896 Liverpool Goodison Park 2–1 Alf Milward, Abe Hartley 45,000
10 October 1896 Burnley Turf Moor 1–2 Billy Stewart 9,000
17 October 1896 Sheffield United Goodison Park 1–2 William Foulke (own goal) 15,000
24 October 1896 Sheffield Wednesday Olive Grove 1–4 Alf Milward 6,000
31 October 1896 Wolverhampton Wanderers Goodison Park 0–0 10,000
14 November 1896 Bolton Wanderers Goodison Park 2–3 Alf Milward, Edgar Chadwick 12,000
21 November 1896 Liverpool Anfield 0–0 30,000
28 November 1896 Burnley Goodison Park 6–0 John Cameron (3), Edgar Chadwick,
Alf Milward, Jack Bell
10,000
7 December 1896 Bolton Wanderers Burnden Park 0–2 7,000
12 December 1896 Sunderland Newcastle Road 1–1 Johnny Holt 4,000
19 December 1896 Stoke City Goodison Park 4–2 John Cameron, Jack Bell (2), Jack Taylor 10,000
26 December 1896 Sunderland Goodison Park 5–2 Edgar Chadwick, Jack Bell (2),
Alf Milward (pen), Abe Hartley
35,000
1 January 1897 Sheffield United Goodison Park 2–1 Jack Taylor (2) 10,000
2 January 1897 Stoke City Victoria Ground 3–2 Abe Hartley, Jack Taylor, Jack Bell 8,000
9 January 1897 Nottingham Forest Goodison Park 3–1 Jack Taylor, Jack Bell (2) 7,000
16 January 1897 West Bromwich Albion Stoney Lane 4–1 Jack Taylor (3), Jack Bell 3,950
6 February 1897 Preston North End Stoney Lane 3–4 Jack Taylor, Abe Hartley, Edgar Chadwick 25,000
2 March 1897 Bury Gigg Lane 1–3 Alf Milward 7,000
6 March 1897 Blackburn Rovers Ewood Park 2–4 Jack Bell, Jack Taylor 6,000
10 March 1897 Nottingham Forest Gregory Ground 0–3 2,000
13 March 1897 Blackburn Rovers Goodison Park 0–3 10,000
3 April 1897 Preston North End Deepdale 1–4 William Campbell 2,000
16 April 1897 Derby County Goodison Park 5–2 Alf Milward, Edgar Chadwick (2), Abe Hartley,
Jack Bell
25,000
17 April 1897 West Bromwich Albion Goodison Park 6–3 Jack Bell (3), Jack Taylor, Alf Milward,
Edgar Chadwick
9,700
20 April 1897 Derby County Baseball Ground 1–0 Billy Stewart 14,000
24 April 1897 Bury Goodison Park 1–2 Jack Bell 10,000

References

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  1. ^ "Everton Stats / Match / evertonfc.com - The Official Website of Everton Football Club". Evertonfc.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  2. ^ "Everton 1896-1897". statto.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  3. ^ "English FA Cup Finals 1890 to 1899". Historical Kits. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  4. ^ "Double trouble: unravelling the careers of two footballers called Thomas McInnes". Scottish Sport History - devoted to our sporting heritage. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  5. ^ "English Division One 1896-1897". statto.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Everton results 1896/97". Footballsite.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  7. ^ "English Division One 1896-1897 Table". statto.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.