1895/96 SEASON REVIEW

Pre-season friendlies saw a 3-2 win over Glasgow Celtic, a 3-1 win at Bury and a 3-1 win at Sherton.
It was a great start to the Division 2 campaign as City won their first three games, 1-0 at Woolwich Arsenal, and at Hyde Road, 2-0 against Rotherham and 2-0 against Leicester Fosse. The Nottingham Evening Post commented “…from all accounts they have been fortunate to preserve their their defence in all three matches… That they possess a speedy and thoroughly effective forward rank is beyond question but their defence has been described as ‘rocky’ and it has been the fine goalkeeping of Williams which has saved them from defeat as much as anything”. The early table saw City to of the league with maximum points.
The Blues’ defence certainly let them down at Grimsby as they lost their first game 5-0. However September finished with another win as City did the double over Woolwich Arsenal, beating them 1-0 at Hyde Road.
October started with a 1-1 draw at Newton Heath before City played a novelty friendly against ‘Gentlemen of the District’, who played in top hats and tails and The Blues players were tied together in twos. The game was declared a draw (score not recorded). The proceeds of the match were donated to The Sunday Chronicle Cinderella Fund.
Back in the League and on the day City beat Darwen 4-1 at Hyde Road, The Blues were also supposed to play at Oswaldtwistle Rovers in the Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, however decided that a strong team in the league game was more important so did not to send a team to Oswaldtwistle and as a result were knocked out of the cup.
Two days later a friendly was played at Chirk and ended 4-4.
Back in the league and October finished with two further victories, 2-0 at Crewe and 2-1 at home to Grimsby
November started in the same winning way as Darwen were beaten 3-2 at Barley Bank and Rotherham 3-2 at Clifton Lane, with City top of the league, the board looked to seal a chance at promotion by raiding Sheffield United for three payers, Bob Hill, Hugh Morris and Joe Davies, who all signed for The Citizens for a combined fee of around £80.
In another break from the League The Blues played two further friendlies, losing 5-2 to Bury and beating Chirk 9-1, both games at Hyde Road.
Back to the promotion push and City lost 4-1 at Burton Wanderers then in the return at Hyde Road Burton Wanderers drew 1-1 then Burton Swifts were beaten 4-1 at Peel Croft.
Moving in to December Newton Heath were beaten 2-1 at Hyde Road, so with half of the season gone City still sat top of Division 2, one point ahead of Burton Wanderers.
At Burslem Port Vale the game had to be abandoned at half time due to the pitch becoming waterlogged, then a week later at Hyde Road, again against Burslem Port Vale, the match was again abandoned, this time early in the second half due to fog.
Over Christmas The Blues played three friendlies, beating Newton Heath 3-1 on Christmas Day and then losing 3-2 against Newtown on Boxing Day, both games at Hyde Road. Two days later they drew 2-2 at West Manchester.
1896 started with a 3-1 defeat at Liverpool on New Years Day, however in the other two games in January The Blues won 5-2 at home to Newcastle and 2-1 at Lincoln City. Although they had dropped to third, five points behind leaders Liverpool, City had four games in hand and it was now looking likely that they could qualify for the promotion test matches and to give them a further impetus Tom Porteous was transferred to Hyde Road from Rotherham Town.
In a busy February City’s great form continued as they won 4-1 at Loughborough Town and 1-0 in the rearranged game at Burslem Port Vale, then at Hyde Road they beat Crewe 4-0 and in the second rearranged game against Burslem Port Vale they won 1-0 and then in the seventh win on the trot they beat Loughborough Town 5-1 also at Hyde Road, then despite a 3-0 defeat at Notts County The Blues moved into March in second place just one point behind Liverpool with two games in hand, however Burton Wanderers were still close rivals for second place, and there were just six games to play.
In March The Blues then drew 1-1 against Burton Swifts and beat Lincoln 4-0, both games in Manchester, However they then lost 4-1 at Newcastle, but they kept second place as Burton Wanderers also lost,
Following Grimsby’s 2-1 defeat of City’s rivals, Burton it was reported in the Hull Daily Mail that the day before the game City’s Secretary Sam Ormerod had sent a telegram to the Grimsby board offering to pay The Mariners a bonus of £20 to be distributed through the team if they beat Burton. It seemed The Blues were looking at every avenue to gain promotion.
Despite drawing 1-1 at home leaders Liverpool on Good Friday, City confirmed their place in the test matches by winning 2-1 at Leicester Fosse and then beating Notts County 2-0 at Hyde Road in the last game of the season
And so City were Runners Up in the 2nd Division and played in the Test Matches (Play-offs) to see who would be promoted to Division One.
Things didn’t go well in the Tests; City’s Directors decided to try and cash in, and doubled the admission price from sixpence to a shilling, angry fans stayed away in their thousands, leaving just 6,000 to watch a 1-1 draw at home to West Brom. Then at The Hawthorns West Brom won 6-1, and despite a 3-0 win against Small Heath Alliance at Hyde Road, The Blues were embarrassed at Muntz Street as Small Heath Alliance beat them 8-0.
Failing badly in the Tests, there was plainly upset in the camp, and even talk of bribes, though this was never proved, and so there was a clear out of players, including Chapman, Morris and Davies, who all left the club.
In an effort to bolster the squad for a promotion push next season City brought in David Tait from Renton, Richard Ray from Macclesfield and James Platt from Newtown.