1908–09 Birmingham F.C. season

The 1908–09 Football League season was Birmingham Football Club's 17th in the Football League and their 9th in the Second Division, to which they were relegated at the end of the 1907–08 season. They began the season well, not dropping out of the top two until December, but gradually fell away until finishing in 11th position in the 20-team division. They also took part in the 1909–10 FA Cup, entering at the first round proper and losing in that round to Portsmouth.

Birmingham F.C.
1908–09 season
ChairmanWalter W. Hart
Secretary-managerAlex Watson
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League Second Division11th
FA CupFirst round (eliminated by Portsmouth)
Top goalscorerLeague: Billy Beer (8)
All: Billy Beer, Frederick Chapple (8)
Highest home attendance30,035 vs West Bromwich Albion, 28 December 1908
Lowest home attendance1,500 vs Chesterfield Town 17 April 1909
Team colours

Alex Watson succeeded Alf Jones as secretary-manager at the start of the season. Jones began acting as unpaid secretary for Small Heath Alliance in 1885, the year the club turned professional, became their first paid secretary with responsibility for team matters in 1892, when the club first joined the Football League, and had held the post of secretary-manager ever since.

Twenty-nine players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were fifteen different goalscorers. Goalkeeper Jack Dorrington played in 35 of the 39 matches over the season; full-back Billy Beer played one fewer. Beer and Frederick Chapple were joint leading scorers with 8 goals; all of Beer's goals were scored in the league. In September, a 19-year-old called Frank Womack made his Football League debut. He went on to play 515 times for Birmingham in senior competition, 491 in the league, but never scored a goal.

In October, Walter Corbett, who had made his debut for the England senior team earlier in the year,[1] was a member of the gold medal-winning Great Britain Olympic football team at the London Olympics.[2]

Football League Second Division

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Note that not all clubs finished their playing season on the same date. Birmingham were in 10th place in the division after their final game, on 24 April, but by the time the fixtures were all complete, on 30 April, they had been overtaken by Gainsborough Trinity and finished 11th.[3][4]

Date League
position
Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance
2 September 1908 1st Bolton Wanderers H W 2–0 Eyre 2 8,000
5 September 1908 2nd Gainsborough Trinity A W 3–1 Eyre 2, W.H. Jones 5,000
7 September 1908 1st Bradford Park Avenue H W 3–1 Smith, Fairman, W.H. Jones 10,000
12 September 1908 1st Grimsby Town H W 3–1 Jones, Green pen, Smith 15,000
19 September 1908 1st Fulham A D 1–1 Green 38,000
26 September 1908 1st Burnley H W 2–0 Fairman, W.H. Jones 20,000
6 October 1908 1st Bradford Park Avenue A W 2–1 Beer, Baddeley og 8,000
10 October 1908 1st Wolverhampton Wanderers H D 1–1 Smith 20,000
17 October 1908 1st Oldham Athletic A L 0–2 14,000
24 October 1908 1st Clapton Orient H W 1–0 Williams 10,000
31 October 1908 1st Leeds City A L 0–2 15,000
7 November 1908 2nd Barnsley H W 2–1 Green, W.H. Jones 10,000
14 November 1908 2nd Tottenham Hotspur A L 0–4 20,000
21 November 1908 2nd Hull City H L 1–2 Beer 5,000
28 November 1908 2nd Derby County A W 2–1 Moore, Mounteney 10,000
5 December 1908 3rd Blackpool H D 2–2 Chapple, Smith 7,000
12 December 1908 5th Chesterfield Town A L 2–4 Mounteney, Anderson 5,000
19 December 1908 6th Glossop H L 1–2 Smith 5,000
25 December 1908 4th Stockport County H W 4–2 Chapple 4 10,000
26 December 1908 5th West Bromwich Albion A D 1–1 King 38,049
28 December 1908 5th West Bromwich Albion H D 0–0 30,035
1 January 1909 5th Bolton Wanderers A L 1–2 Beer 23,000
2 January 1909 5th Gainsborough Trinity H D 2–2 King, Beer 10,000
9 January 1909 5th Grimsby Town A W 3–0 Williams, Chapple 5,000
23 January 1909 5th Fulham H L 1–3 Beer 9,000
30 January 1909 5th Burnley A D 1–1 Beer 7,000
13 February 1909 6th Wolverhampton Wanderers A L 0–2 10,000
20 February 1909 5th Oldham Athletic H W 2–0 Beer 2 12,000
27 February 1909 6th Clapton Orient A L 2–3 King, Bumphrey 7,000
13 March 1909 8th Barnsley A L 1–3 King 4,000
20 March 1909 7th Tottenham Hotspur H D 3–3 King, Mounteney, Daykin 8,000
27 March 1909 7th Hull City A L 1–4 Bumphrey 8,000
3 April 1909 8th Derby County H D 1–1 King 4,000
9 April 1909 8th Stockport County A L 2–3 Chapple, Lowe 7,000
10 April 1909 10th Blackpool A L 0–2 3,000
12 April 1909 9th Leeds City H W 1–0 Bumphrey 3,000
17 April 1909 8th Chesterfield Town H W 3–0 Mounteney 3 1,500
24 April 1909 10th Glossop A L 1–2 Mounteney 500

League table (part)

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Final Second Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
9th Gainsborough Trinity 38 15 8 15 49 70 0.70 38
10th Fulham 38 13 11 14 58 48 1.21 37
11th Birmingham 38 14 9 15 58 61 0.95 37
12th Leeds City 38 14 7 17 43 53 0.81 35
13th Grimsby Town 38 14 7 17 41 54 0.76 35
Key Pos = League position; Pld = Matches played;
W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost;
F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points
Source [4]

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance
First round 16 January 1909 Portsmouth H L 2–5 Chapple pen, King 18,813

Appearances and goals

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This table includes appearances and goals in nationally organised competitive matches – the Football League and FA Cup – only.
For a description of the playing positions, see Formation (association football)#2–3–5 (Pyramid).
Players marked † left the club during the playing season.
Players' appearances and goals by competition
Name Position League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Arthur Box Goalkeeper 4 0 0 0 4 0
Jack Dorrington Goalkeeper 34 0 1 0 35 0
Walter Corbett Full back 15 0 1 0 16 0
John Kearns Full back 27 0 1 0 28 0
Frank Stokes Full back 23 0 0 0 23 0
Frank Womack Full back 14 0 0 0 14 0
Billy Beer Half back 33 8 1 0 34 8
Thomas Daykin Half back 17 1 1 0 18 1
Bob Fairman Half back 19 2 0 0 19 2
Albert Gardner Half back 2 0 0 0 2 0
Tom Handley Half back 12 0 0 0 12 0
Walter Wigmore Half back 23 0 1 0 24 0
George Anderson Forward 12 1 1 0 13 1
James Bumphrey Forward 12 3 0 0 12 3
Frederick Chapple Forward 19 7 1 1 20 8
Edmund Eyre Forward 15 4 0 0 15 4
Benny Green Forward 18 3 0 0 18 3
Wilf Haines Forward 3 0 0 0 3 0
Billy Jones Forward 18 5 1 0 19 5
Charles Jones Forward 1 0 0 0 1 0
Frederick Kerns Forward 1 0 0 0 1 0
Harry King Forward 19 6 1 1 20 7
Bernard Lowe Forward 11 1 0 0 11 1
George Moore Forward 2 1 0 0 2 1
Arthur Mounteney Forward 16 7 0 0 16 7
Billy Smith Forward 17 5 0 0 17 5
George Travers Forward 1 0 0 0 1 0
Jack Wilcox Forward 18 0 1 0 19 0
James Williams Forward 12 3 0 0 12 3

See also

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References

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General

  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Breedon Books (Derby). ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  • Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. DB Publishing (Derby). ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
  • Source for match dates and results: "Birmingham City 1908–1909: Results". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 262–63. Note that attendance figures are estimated.
  • Source for kit: "Birmingham City". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

Specific

  1. ^ "Player Info: Walter Samuel Corbett". englandstats.com. Davey Naylor. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  2. ^ Cook, Theodore Andrea (ed.) (1909). "The Fourth Olympiad being the Official Report The Olympic Games of 1908" Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. London: The British Olympic Association. p. 178. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  3. ^ "Birmingham City 1908–1909: English Division Two (old) Table 24.04.1909" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Birmingham City 1908–1909: English Division Two (old) Table" Archived 22 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 21 May 2012.