# 1903–04 Small Heath F.C. season

The 1903–04 Football League season was Small Heath Football Club's 12th in the Football League and their 4th in the First Division, having been promoted from the Second Division as runners-up in 1902–03. After spending much of the season in the relegation places, they won six of the last nine matches to finish in 11th place in the 18-team league. They also took part in the 1903–04 FA Cup, entering at the intermediate round (between the qualifying rounds and the rounds proper) and losing in that round to Manchester United after three replays. In locally organised competition, they lost to Aston Villa in the first round of the Birmingham Senior Cup.
Twenty-three players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were twelve different goalscorers. Forward Charlie Athersmith played in 37 matches over the 38-match season. Billy Jones and Freddie Wilcox were joint leading scorers with eight goals, all of which came in the league.

## Football League First Division

| Date | League position | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 1 September 1903 | 6th | Derby County | A | L | 1–4 | Leonard | 5,000 |
| 5 September 1903 | 16th | Sheffield United | H | L | 1–3 | Wilcox | 12,000 |
| 7 September 1903 | 11th | Nottingham Forest | H | D | 3–3 | Leonard, Wilcox, Athersmith | 9,000 |
| 12 September 1903 | 15th | Newcastle United | H | L | 1–3 | Wilcox | 6,000 |
| 19 September 1903 | 14th | Aston Villa | H | D | 2–2 | Wilcox, Robertson | 25,000 |
| 26 September 1903 | 17th | Middlesbrough | A | L | 1–3 | Howard | 20,000 |
| 3 October 1903 | 18th | Liverpool | H | L | 1–2 | Wigmore | 10,000 |
| 10 October 1903 | 18th | Bury | A | L | 0–1 | | 4,000 |
| 17 October 1903 | 17th | Blackburn Rovers | H | W | 2–1 | Windridge 2 | 10,000 |
| 24 October 1903 | 15th | Nottingham Forest | A | W | 1–0 | Wilcox | 7,000 |
| 31 October 1903 | 15th | Sheffield Wednesday | H | D | 0–0 | | 12,000 |
| 7 November 1903 | 17th | Sunderland | A | L | 1–3 | Wigmore | 14,000 |
| 14 November 1903 | 17th | West Bromwich Albion | H | L | 0–1 | | 12,563 |
| 21 November 1903 | 17th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | L | 0–1 | | 7,000 |
| 28 November 1903 | 18th | Everton | A | L | 1–5 | Leonard | 5,000 |
| 5 December 1903 | 17th | Stoke | H | W | 1–0 | Robertson | 5,000 |
| 19 December 1903 | 18th | Manchester City | H | L | 0–3 | | 15,000 |
| 26 December 1903 | 18th | Notts County | A | L | 0–2 | | 12,000 |
| 2 January 1904 | 18th | Sheffield United | A | D | 1–1 | Jones | 12,000 |
| 9 January 1904 | 17th | Newcastle United | H | W | 3–0 | Beer 2, Jones | 8,000 |
| 16 January 1904 | 18th | Aston Villa | A | D | 1–1 | Green | 20,000 |
| 23 January 1904 | 18th | Middlesbrough | H | D | 2–2 | Athersmith, Field | 11,000 |
| 30 January 1904 | 16th | Liverpool | A | W | 2–0 | Jones, Wilcox | 20,000 |
| 13 February 1904 | 16th | Blackburn Rovers | A | D | 1–1 | Jones | 2,000 |
| 27 February 1904 | 18th | Sheffield Wednesday | A | L | 2–3 | Jones 2 | 7,000 |
| 5 March 1904 | 16th | Sunderland | H | W | 2–1 | Beer 2 | 12,000 |
| 12 March 1904 | 15th | West Bromwich Albion | A | W | 1–0 | Green | 22,760 |
| 19 March 1904 | 14th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | W | 3–0 | Green, Beer, Wilcox | 12,000 |
| 26 March 1904 | 13th | Everton | H | D | 1–1 | Beer | 12,000 |
| 2 April 1904 | 15th | Stoke | A | L | 0–1 | | 6,000 |
| 4 April 1904 | 14th | Bury | H | W | 1–0 | Wilcox | 15,000 |
| 9 April 1904 | 13th | Derby County | H | W | 1–0 | Jones | 8,000 |
| 16 April 1904 | 14th | Manchester City | A | L | 0–4 | | 15,000 |
| 23 April 1904 | 11th | Notts County | H | W | 2–0 | Green, Jones | 8,000 |

### League table (part)

Final First Division table (part) :
| Pos | Club | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GA | Pts |
| 9th | Nottingham Forest | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 57 | 57 | 1.00 | 31 |
| 10th | Middlesbrough | 34 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 46 | 47 | 0.98 | 30 |
| 11th | Small Heath | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 39 | 52 | 0.75 | 30 |
| 12th | Bury | 34 | 7 | 15 | 12 | 40 | 53 | 0.76 | 29 |
| 13th | Notts County | 34 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 37 | 61 | 0.61 | 33 |
| 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | | | | | | | | | |

## FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Intermediate round | 12 December 1903 | Manchester United | A | D | 1–1 | Wassell | 10,000 |
| Int. round replay | 16 December 1903 | Manchester United | H | D | 1–1 a.e.t | Leonard | 4,000 |
| Int. round second replay | 21 December 1903 | Manchester United | Bramall Lane, Sheffield | D | 1–1 a.e.t | Field | 5,000 |
| Int. round third replay | 11 January 1904 | Manchester United | Hyde Road, Manchester | L | 1–3 | Athersmith | 9,372 |

## Appearances and goals

    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 | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Name | Position | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Jack Dorrington | Goalkeeper | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Nat Robinson | Goalkeeper | 31 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| Bill Bidmead | Full back | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| John Glover | Full back | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Archie Goldie | Full back | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Frank Stokes | Full back | 26 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| Harold Wassell | Full back | 16 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 1 |
| Billy Beer | Half back | 23 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 27 | 6 |
| Fred Chaplin | Half back | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Jim Dougherty | Half back | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Ambrose Hartwell | Half back | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| John Hirons | Half back | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Harry Howard | Half back | 28 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 1 |
| Walter Wigmore | Half back | 31 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 35 | 2 |
| Charlie Athersmith | Forward | 33 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 37 | 3 |
| Oakey Field | Forward | 22 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 2 |
| Benny Green | Forward | 23 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 4 |
| Billy Jones | Forward | 21 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 8 |
| Arthur Leonard † | Forward | 16 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 4 |
| Bob McRoberts | Forward | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Jimmy Robertson | Forward | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| Freddie Wilcox | Forward | 28 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 32 | 8 |
| Jimmy Windridge | Forward | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 2 |