| 1922–23 season | ||
|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Mr W. Hartley | |
| Manager | David Wilson | |
| Football League Third Division North | 1st (champions) | |
| FA Cup | Fifth Qualifying Round | |
| Top goalscorer | League:Joe Eddleston (22) All: Joe Eddleston (23) | |
| Highest home attendance | 12,000 (vsChesterfield, 10 March 1923) | |
| Lowest home attendance | 3,000 (vsDarlington, 23 December 1922) | |
The1922–23 season was the 42nd season in the history ofNelson F.C. and their second as a professional club inthe Football League. After finishing 16th in their inauguralThird Division North campaign in 1921–22, the team performed well above expectations under the guidance of player-managerDavid Wilson and went on to win the league title. The championship was secured with a 2–0 win overWrexham on 24 April 1923. Nelson ended the season on 51 points, with a record of 24 wins, three draws and 11 defeats in 38 matches.
Nelson entered theFA Cup in the Fourth Qualifying Round, in which they defeatedRochdale. However, they were knocked out byStalybridge Celtic in the next round. A total of 19 players were used by Nelson in their 40 first-team matches, only six of whom had played for the club in the previous season.Bob Hutchinson andErnie Braidwood, both new signings, played every league and cup match. With 23 goals in 36 appearances,Joe Eddleston was the team's top goalscorer for the second season in succession. The highest attendance of the season at the club'sSeedhill stadium was 12,000 on two occasions, the first of these the win overChesterfield on 10 March 1923.
In the 1921–22 season, Nelson had played as a professional club in the Football League for the first time, following the restructuring of the league to introduce North and South divisions.[1] FormerScotland internationalDavid Wilson remainedplayer-manager of the first-team for the second consecutive season after guiding them to a 16th-placed finish in the previous campaign.[2] Prior to the start of the season, the team did not play anyfriendly matches, meaning that the team's last competitive match was the 0–0 draw withTranmere Rovers on 6 May 1921.[3] The only warm-up for the campaign was a practice match between two teams made up of Nelson players. TheNelson Leader reported that this match was satisfying, and hoped that it could be "the precursor of fine sport in the coming season".[4] Before the 1922–23 season, Nelson's only previous title-winning campaign was theirLancashire League championship in 1895–96.[5]
There were a number of first-team personnel changes from the previous campaign, with only six first-team players staying at the club. Centre forwardJoe Eddleston, Nelson's top scorer in 1921–22 with 16 league goals, remained along withClement Rigg,Sid Hoad andBob Lilley. Scottish defendersJohn Steel andJames Price also continued to play for Nelson. Among those who left the club wereHarold Andrews, who joinedBury,[6] and Irish international inside forwardBilly Halligan, who retired from professional football.[nb 1] GoalkeepersHarry Heyes andRobert Bruce both moved on in the close season, soStockport County custodianJoseph Birds was signed as a replacement in June 1922.[7] In an attempt to improve the attacking prowess at the club, Wilson signed experienced inside forwardArthur Wolstenholme on a free transfer fromDarlington in May 1922,[8] and Scottish forwardMike McCulloch arrived fromHeart of Midlothian for a transfer fee of £150.[9] Wilson also added to the defensive ranks with the signings of his formerOldham Athletic team-mateErnie Braidwood, and ofJimmy Broadhead on a free transfer fromScunthorpe & Lindsey United.[10]
Nelson's league campaign started on 26 August 1922 with an away fixture atBradford Park Avenue, who had been relegated from theFootball League Second Division in the previous season. In the highest scoring match of the day,[11] Nelson lost the match 2–6 before a crowd of 10,000 who witnessedJoe Eddleston score his first goal of the season. Bradford Park Avenue were again the opponents the following week for Nelson's first home game of the campaign and the match was won 1–0 by the host side courtesy of aMike McCulloch goal. Eddleston's second goal of the campaign secured another 1–0 victory, this time againstStalybridge Celtic, atSeedhill on 9 September 1922 to send the team seventh in the table after three matches.[12] A third successive home fixture saw Nelson win 2–0 againstHalifax Town with two goals from Eddleston. Nelson could not follow up their earlier victory over Stalybridge Celtic, falling to a 0–2 loss before attaining a fourth win of the campaign againstSouthport a week later. Another win against Southport, Nelson's fourth since joining the league in 1921, meant September ended as it had started with a 1–0 win which marked Nelson's fifth victory andclean sheet of the month.[13]
October began with a 1–3 defeat away atAshington, although new signingArthur Wolstenholme scored his first goal of the campaign, and Nelson's first ever league goal against the Northumberland club.[13] A 2–0 win in the return match with goals from Eddleston and McCulloch took Nelson to the top of the league for the first time in the season the following week, overtakingWigan Borough at the summit.[14] The month ended with a pair of wins overTranmere Rovers; the first a 2–0 win on 21 October, and the second a 1–0 success a week later thanks toJohn Black's first goal in a Nelson jersey. The team failed to score for only the second time in the season in the 0–1 away defeat toBarrow on 4 November. Despite conceding at Seedhill for the first time in the campaign, Nelson atoned for the loss seven days later with a 2–1 victory as a result of strikes from Eddleston and Wolstenholme. Nelson did not play another league match for two weeks, when they facedRochdale at home. A first Nelson goal for defenderErnie Braidwood could not prevent the side succumbing to a 1–2 reverse, not helped by first-team regulars Wilson and Wolstenholme missing the match due to injury, forcing inexperienced inside-rightWilliam Bennett to make his league debut.[15]
In spite of suffering their second defeat of November, Nelson remained top of the league going into December.[16] Their first fixture of the month was a home match against mid-tableDarlington on 9 December. Nelson won a close match 3–2 thanks to another Braidwood strike, followed by Eddleston's 10th and 11th goals of the campaign. Ahat-trick from inside-forward Wolstenholme gave Nelson a 3–0 victory against the same team on 23 December in front of a season-low attendance of 3,000 at Seedhill. Nelson started the Christmas period with an away game against Halifax Town. Braidwood and Wolstenholme both got on the scoresheet to help the team to a 2–2 draw in front of 18,000 supporters atThe Shay. On 26 December, Nelson facedHartlepools United, to whom they had conceded 10 goals in two matches in the previous season.[3] Wolstenholme netted for the third game in succession as Nelson claimed their first ever win against the club. However, in the first match of 1923, Hartlepools United won the return fixture 5–1. Nelson achieved their first win of the new year on 13 January, a 3–0 triumph against Rochdale courtesy of an Eddleston hat-trick. Nelson lost 0–1 toLincoln City the following week, the first time they had failed to score in a league fixture for over two months. January came to a conclusion with a 2–1 win over the same team, goals from Eddleston and McCulloch giving Nelson the victory.[13]
Nelson attained a first ever win againstDurham City on 3 February 1923, and this was followed by a 4–0 win over the same side. The win sawSid Hoad andBob Hutchinson each net their first of the campaign, and striker Eddleston increase his tally for the season to 19. A goal by Black was not enough to prevent Nelson's winning streak come to an end on 17 February with a 1–3 defeat away atWigan Borough. Nelson made up for the loss the following week, exacting a 1–0 win over Wigan, with new signingDick Crawshaw scoring on his Nelson debut.[17] At the beginning of March, Nelson achieved back-to-back victories againstChesterfield, the second a 4–0 win which saw a second goal in three games for Crawshaw and two goals from utility man Black, who was playing in an unfamiliar centre-forward role.[13] Nelson took only one point from the next two matches againstCrewe Alexandra. The team failed to score in both games, the only time in the season they did so in successive matches. Entering the Easter period, Eddleston's 20th league goal of the campaign earned Nelson a 1–1 draw withGrimsby Town at Seedhill on 31 March.
Nelson's winless streak extended to four games when they lost 1–2 away toWrexham at the start of April, although Crawshaw continued his good vein of goalscoring form, netting his third in seven games. Wolstenholme and Braidwood scored to give Nelson a 2–0 win over Grimsby on 7 April, before beating local rivalsAccrington Stanley 2–1 at Seedhill. After another win against Accrington the following weekend, Nelson went into the home match againstWrexham on 24 April requiring a win to secure the Third Division North championship. Several mill-owners in the town closed their factories early so that supporters could attend the match on time.[18] Over 12,000 spectators attended Seedhill and saw Nelson achieve a 2–0 victory thanks to first-half strikes from Crawshaw and Eddleston. Player-managerDavid Wilson claimed he was "the happiest man in Nelson" as his side gained promotion to the Second Division for the first time in their history.[18] The win was followed by a team procession around the town, and the celebrations continued into the next match as the team claimed a third consecutive clean sheet with a 3–0 win at home toWalsall. However, the season ended disappointingly for Nelson as they suffered their heaviest defeat of the season, a 0–5 loss to Walsall, on 5 May 1923.[13]
|
|
| Date | Opponents | Result | Goalscorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 August 1922 | Bradford Park Avenue (A) | 2–6 | Eddleston,Howie (o.g.) | 10,000 |
| 2 September 1922 | Bradford Park Avenue (H) | 1–0 | McCulloch | 7,000 |
| 9 September 1922 | Stalybridge Celtic (H) | 1–0 | Eddleston | 5,000 |
| 12 September 1922 | Halifax Town (H) | 2–0 | Eddleston (2) | 5,000 |
| 16 September 1922 | Stalybridge Celtic (A) | 0–2 | — | |
| 23 September 1922 | Southport (H) | 2–0 | McCulloch (2) | 7,500 |
| 30 September 1922 | Southport (A) | 1–0 | Eddleston | 5,000 |
| 7 October 1922 | Ashington (H) | 1–3 | Wolstenholme | 7,000 |
| 14 October 1922 | Ashington (A) | 2–0 | McCulloch,Eddleston | 8,000 |
| 21 October 1922 | Tranmere Rovers (A) | 2–0 | Eddleston (2) | 6,000 |
| 28 October 1922 | Tranmere Rovers (H) | 1–0 | Black | 7,000 |
| 4 November 1922 | Barrow (A) | 0–1 | 4,000 | |
| 11 November 1922 | Barrow (H) | 2–1 | Wolstenholme,Eddleston | 7,000 |
| 25 November 1922 | Rochdale (H) | 1–2 | Braidwood | 6,000 |
| 9 December 1922 | Darlington (A) | 3–2 | Braidwood,Eddleston (2) | 5,583 |
| 23 December 1922 | Darlington (H) | 3–0 | Wolstenholme (3) | 3,000 |
| 25 December 1922 | Halifax Town (A) | 2–2 | Braidwood,Wolstenholme | 18,000 |
| 30 December 1922 | Hartlepools United (H) | 4–1 | Eddleston,Wolstenholme (2),McCulloch | 5,000 |
| 6 January 1923 | Hartlepools United (A) | 1–5 | Wolstenholme | 5,500 |
| 13 January 1923 | Rochdale (A) | 3–0 | Eddleston (3) | 6,000 |
| 20 January 1923 | Lincoln City (A) | 0–1 | 4,000 | |
| 27 January 1923 | Lincoln City (H) | 2–1 | McCulloch,Eddleston | — |
| 3 February 1923 | Durham City (A) | 1–0 | Eddleston | 3,000 |
| 10 February 1923 | Durham City (H) | 4–0 | Hoad,Eddleston,Hutchinson | 5,000 |
| 17 February 1923 | Wigan Borough (A) | 1–3 | Black | 15,000 |
| 24 February 1923 | Wigan Borough (H) | 1–0 | Crawshaw | 10,000 |
| 3 March 1923 | Chesterfield (A) | 2–1 | Black,Wolstenholme | 14,280 |
| 10 March 1923 | Chesterfield (H) | 4–0 | Black (2),Braidwood,Crawshaw | 12,000 |
| 17 March 1923 | Crewe Alexandra (H) | 0–0 | 10,000 | |
| 24 March 1923 | Crewe Alexandra (A) | 0–1 | 7,000 | |
| 31 March 1923 | Grimsby Town (H) | 1–1 | Eddleston | 8,000 |
| 2 April 1923 | Wrexham (A) | 1–2 | Crawshaw | 10,000 |
| 7 April 1923 | Grimsby Town (A) | 2–0 | Wolstenholme,Braidwood | 6,000 |
| 14 April 1923 | Accrington Stanley (H) | 2–1 | Crawshaw,Broadhead | 8,000 |
| 21 April 1923 | Accrington Stanley (A) | 1–0 | Braidwood | 10,000 |
| 24 April 1923 | Wrexham (H) | 2–0 | Crawshaw,Eddleston | 12,000 |
| 28 April 1923 | Walsall (H) | 3–0 | Eddleston,Wolstenholme (2) | 7,000 |
| 5 May 1923 | Walsall (A) | 0–5 | 2,500 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nelson(C, P) | 38 | 24 | 3 | 11 | 61 | 41 | 1.488 | 51 | Promotion to theSecond Division |
| 2 | Bradford (Park Avenue) | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 67 | 38 | 1.763 | 47 | |
| 3 | Walsall | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 51 | 44 | 1.159 | 46 | |
| 4 | Chesterfield | 38 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 68 | 52 | 1.308 | 45 | |
| 5 | Wigan Borough | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 64 | 39 | 1.641 | 44 |
Along with all the clubs in the Third Division North, Nelson entered theFA Cup in the Fourth Qualifying Round for the 1922–23 season. For their first match on 18 November 1922, Nelson were drawn away at league rivalsRochdale, who they had beaten 3–2 in the Fifth Qualifying Round the previous season.[19] Nelson emerged from the match with a 1–0 victory courtesy of an Eddleston goal, putting them into the Fifth Qualifying Round for only the fourth time since they first competed in the FA Cup in 1894. For the next round, Nelson were drawn againstStalybridge Celtic atBower Fold, where they had been beaten 0–2 in the league on 16 September. In their first ever cup tie against Stalybridge, Nelson were defeated 1–0 before a crowd of 6,000 spectators.[13]
|
|
| Round | Date | Opponents | Result | Goalscorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 | 18 November 1922 | Rochdale (A) | 1–0 | Eddleston | 10,000 |
| Q5 | 2 December 1922 | Stalybridge Celtic (A) | 0–1 | 6,000 |
David Wilson used a total of 19 players during the 1922–23 season and there were nine different goalscorers. The team played in a 2–3–5 formation (the standard formation at the time) throughout the campaign, with twofullbacks, threehalfbacks, twooutside forwards, twoinside forwards and acentre forward.[13] BothErnie Braidwood andBob Hutchinson played in every league and cup game, while Nelson's record appearance holderClement Rigg missed just one match, the defeat to Ashington on 7 October. The team scored a total of 62 goals in 40 competitive matches. With 22 league goals and 1 in the FA Cup, Joe Eddleston surpassed his 1921–22 total of 17 to become the team's top goalscorer for the second consecutive season. New signingArthur Wolstenholme was the second highest scorer with 13 goals, while Braidwood notched the most goals of all the defenders with his total of six.[13]
|
|
| Nat. | Position | Player | Third Division North | FA Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
 | GK | Harry Abbott | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| IF | William Bennett | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| GK | Joseph Birds | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
 | OF | John Black | 23 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 5 |
| HB | Ernie Braidwood | 38 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 6 |
| HB | Jimmy Broadhead | 36 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 1 |
| IF | Dick Crawshaw | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 |
| FB | Eddie Eastwood | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| CF | Joe Eddleston | 34 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 36 | 23 |
| OF | Sid Hoad | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1 |
| FB | Charles Howson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| OF | Bob Hutchinson | 38 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 1 |
| FB | Bob Lilley | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| IF | Mike McCulloch | 28 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 6 |
| HB | James Price | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FB | Clement Rigg | 37 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| FB | John Steel | 24 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| HB | David Wilson | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| IF | Arthur Wolstenholme | 36 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 13 |
