# 1908–09 Manchester City F.C. season

The 1908–09 season was Manchester City F.C.'s 18th season of league football and 6th consecutive season in the top flight of English football.
In a season where they had almost the best home form in the league, only four teams won more games than them and only five teams scored more, City still finished 19th and became only the second team since the abolition of test matches eleven years earlier to be relegated on goal average - all of this arguably contributing to one of the earliest of the many bizarre circumstances in their history which has become known by supporters as "Typical City".

## Football League First Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Relegation |
| 16 | Liverpool | 38 | 15 | 6 | 17 | 57 | 65 | 0.877 | 36 | |
| 17 | Bury | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 63 | 77 | 0.818 | 36 | |
| 18 | Bradford City | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 47 | 47 | 1.000 | 34 | |
| 19 | Manchester City (R) | 38 | 15 | 4 | 19 | 67 | 69 | 0.971 | 34 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 20 | Leicester Fosse (R) | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 54 | 102 | 0.529 | 25 | Relegation to the Second Division |

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 38 | 15 | 4 | 19 | 67 | 69 | 0.971 | 34 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 50 | 23 | 27 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 17 | 46 | 7 |
Source: rsssf.com

### Reports

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Venue | Result F – A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 1 September 1908 | Sunderland | H | Hyde Road | 1 – 0 | Eadie | 25,000 |
| 5 September 1908 | Blackburn Rovers | H | Hyde Road | 3 – 3 | Thornley (2), Jones | 30,000 |
| 12 September 1908 | Bradford City | A | Valley Parade | 0 – 0 | | 30,000 |
| 19 September 1908 | Manchester United | H | Hyde Road | 1 – 2 | Thornley | 40,000 |
| 26 September 1908 | Everton | A | Goodison Park | 3 – 6 | Thornley (3) | 20,000 |
| 3 October 1908 | Leicester Fosse | H | Hyde Road | 5 – 2 | Grieve (2), Ross (2), Dorsett | 15,000 |
| 10 October 1908 | Woolwich Arsenal | A | Manor Ground | 0 – 3 | | 10,000 |
| 17 October 1908 | Notts County | H | Hyde Road | 1 – 0 | Thornley | 20,000 |
| 24 October 1908 | Newcastle United | A | St James' Park | 0 – 2 | | 25,000 |
| 31 October 1908 | Bristol City | H | Hyde Road | 5 – 1 | Thornley (2), Buchan, Dorsett, Wood | 20,000 |
| 7 November 1908 | Preston North End | A | Deepdale | 0 – 3 | | 10,000 |
| 14 November 1908 | Middlesbrough | H | Hyde Road | 0 – 0 | | 18,000 |
| 21 November 1908 | The Wednesday | A | Owlerton | 1 – 3 | Thornley | 11,000 |
| 28 November 1908 | Liverpool | A | Anfield | 3 – 1 | Dorsett, Conlin, Jones | 15,000 |
| 5 December 1908 | Bury | H | Hyde Road | 6 – 1 | Thornley (3), Dorsett (2), Stewart | 30,000 |
| 12 December 1908 | Sheffield United | A | Bramall Lane | 0 – 4 | | 12,000 |
| 19 December 1908 | Aston Villa | H | Hyde Road | 2 – 0 | Dorsett, Holford | 18,000 |
| 25 December 1908 | Chelsea | H | Hyde Road | 1 – 2 | Dorsett | 25,000 |
| 26 December 1908 | Chelsea | A | Stamford Bridge | 2 – 1 | Jones, Ross | 40,000 |
| 28 December 1908 | Nottingham Forest | A | City Ground | 2 – 0 | Holford, Ross | 10,000 |
| 2 January 1909 | Blackburn Rovers | A | Ewood Park | 2 – 3 | Wood, Conlin | 12,000 |
| 9 January 1909 | Bradford City | H | Hyde Road | 4 – 3 | Holford (3), Conlin | 10,000 |
| 23 January 1909 | Manchester United | A | Bank Street | 1 – 3 | Conlin | 40,000 |
| 30 January 1909 | Everton | H | Hyde Road | 4 – 0 | Holford (3), Wilkinson | 30,000 |
| 13 February 1909 | Woolwich Arsenal | H | Hyde Road | 2 – 2 | Buchan, Holford | 20,000 |
| 20 February 1909 | Notts County | A | Trent Bridge | 1 – 5 | Dorsett | 4,000 |
| 27 February 1909 | Newcastle United | H | Hyde Road | 0 – 2 | | 30,000 |
| 11 March 1909 | Leicester Fosse | A | Filbert Street | 1 – 3 | Thornley | 8,000 |
| 13 March 1909 | Preston North End | H | Hyde Road | 4 – 1 | Thornley (2), Yuill, Jones | 12,000 |
| 20 March 1909 | Middlesbrough | A | Ayresome Park | 0 – 3 | | 10,000 |
| 27 March 1909 | The Wednesday | H | Hyde Road | 4 – 0 | Holford (3), Jones | 12,000 |
| 3 April 1909 | Liverpool | H | Hyde Road | 4 – 0 | Buchan, Jones, Ross, Dorsett | 15,000 |
| 9 April 1909 | Sunderland | A | Roker Park | 0 – 2 | | 15,000 |
| 10 April 1909 | Bury | A | Gigg Lane | 0 – 1 | | 16,000 |
| 13 April 1909 | Nottingham Forest | H | Hyde Road | 2 – 1 | Thornley, Conlin | 3,000 |
| 17 April 1909 | Sheffield United | H | Hyde Road | 1 – 3 | Thornley | 10,000 |
| 24 April 1909 | Aston Villa | A | Villa Park | 1 – 2 | Buchan | 15,000 |
| 28 April 1909 | Bristol City | A | Ashton Gate | 0 – 1 | | 8,000 |

## FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Venue | Result F – A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 16 January 1909 | First round | Tottenham Hotspur | H | Hyde Road | 3 – 4 | Holford (3) | 20,000 |

## Squad statistics
### Squad

Appearances for competitive matches only
| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Herbert Broomfield | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| GK | Walter Smith | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| DF | James Buchan | 38 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 4 |
| DF | Frank Buckley | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| DF | Charlie Burgess | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| MF | George Dorsett | 22 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 9 |
| MF | Tom Holford | 26 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 27 | 15 |
| FW | John Brown | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FW | Patsy Hendren | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Lot Jones | 29 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 6 |
| FW | Davie Ross | 22 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 5 |
| FW | George Stewart | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| FW | Irvine Thornley | 32 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 18 |
| FW | Charles Webb | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| FW | John Wood | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| MF | James Blair | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| MF | Bill Bottomley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | James Conlin | 27 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 5 |
| MF | Bill Eadie | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| FW | Bob Grieve | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| FW | Ernest Hitchcock | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Bertram Jackson | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| DF | Tommy Kelso | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| FW | Eversley Mansfield | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Frank Norgrove | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| MF | David Ramsey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Jimmy Wilkinson | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| FW | Jack Yuill | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |