# 1900–01 Small Heath F.C. season

The 1900–01 Football League season was Small Heath Football Club's ninth in the Football League and their seventh in the Second Division. They finished runners-up in the 18-team league, so were promoted to the First Division for 1901–02. They also took part in the 1900–01 FA Cup, entering at the first round proper and losing in the third round to Aston Villa after a replay. In locally organised competition, they lost to West Bromwich Albion in the first round of the Birmingham Senior Cup and to Aston Villa in the semi-final of the Lord Mayor of Birmingham's Charity Cup.
Twenty-three players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were thirteen different goalscorers. Full-back Arthur Archer and half-back Walter Wigmore were ever-present over the 39-match season; goalkeeper Nat Robinson and forward Sid Wharton each missed only one match. Johnny McMillan was leading scorer with 14 goals in all competitions; he and Bob McRoberts each scored 13 in the league.

## Football League Second Division

| Date | League position | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 1 September 1900 | 9th | Burslem Port Vale | A | D | 2–2 | Aston, Main | 3,000 |
| 8 September 1900 | 10th | Leicester Fosse | H | D | 0–0 | | 8,000 |
| 15 September 1900 | 9th | New Brighton Tower | A | D | 0–0 | | 4,000 |
| 22 September 1900 | 4th | Gainsborough Trinity | H | W | 6–0 | Leake 2, McRoberts 2, Walton, Thornley og | 2,000 |
| 29 September 1900 | 3rd | Walsall | A | D | 2–2 | McRoberts, Wigmore | 3,000 |
| 6 October 1900 | 3rd | Burton Swifts | H | W | 2–0 | Walton, Higginson | 2,000 |
| 13 October 1900 | 2nd | Barnsley | A | W | 2–1 | Higginson, Aston | 4,000 |
| 20 October 1900 | 2nd | Woolwich Arsenal | H | W | 2–1 | Aston, Higginson | 8,000 |
| 27 October 1900 | 1st | Blackpool | A | D | 0–0 | | 3,000 |
| 10 November 1900 | 4th | Chesterfield Town | H | D | 0–0 | | 6,000 |
| 17 November 1900 | 4th | Grimsby Town | A | D | 1–1 | Higginson | 5,000 |
| 24 November 1900 | 2nd | Lincoln City | H | W | 2–0 | McRoberts, Leake | 5,000 |
| 1 December 1900 | 2nd | Newton Heath | A | W | 1–0 | McRoberts | 6,000 |
| 8 December 1900 | 2nd | Glossop | H | W | 1–0 | Aston pen | 8,000 |
| 15 December 1900 | 1st | Middlesbrough | A | W | 1–0 | Archer | 13,000 |
| 22 December 1900 | 3rd | Burnley | H | L | 0–1 | | 10,000 |
| 26 December 1900 | 3rd | Stockport County | H | W | 2–0 | Aston, McRoberts | 7,000 |
| 29 December 1900 | 2nd | Burslem Port Vale | H | W | 2–1 | McRoberts 2 | 6,000 |
| 5 January 1901 | 2nd | Leicester Fosse | A | D | 1–1 | Aston | 8,000 |
| 12 January 1901 | 2nd | New Brighton Tower | H | W | 4–0 | McRoberts 2, Main 2 | 2,000 |
| 19 January 1901 | 1st | Gainsborough Trinity | A | W | 2–1 | Aston, McRoberts | 1,000 |
| 16 February 1901 | 3rd | Barnsley | H | W | 3–1 | McRoberts, Aston, Tebbs | 8,000 |
| 2 March 1901 | 2nd | Blackpool | H | W | 10–1 | McRoberts, Aston 2, Archer, McMillan 5, Wharton | 3,000 |
| 9 March 1901 | 2nd | Stockport County | A | D | 0–0 | | 5,000 |
| 16 March 1901 | 2nd | Chesterfield Town | A | D | 1–1 | McMillan | 4,000 |
| 30 March 1901 | 3rd | Lincoln City | A | L | 1–3 | McMillan | 2,500 |
| 1 April 1901 | 2nd | Grimsby Town | H | W | 2–1 | Aston, McMillan | 3,500 |
| 6 April 1901 | 2nd | Newton Heath | H | W | 1–0 | McMillan | 5,000 |
| 8 April 1901 | 2nd | Walsall | H | W | 2–1 | Aston, Main | 4,000 |
| 13 April 1901 | 2nd | Glossop | A | L | 0–2 | | 2,000 |
| 15 April 1901 | 1st | Burton Swifts | A | W | 2–0 | McMillan 2 | 2,000 |
| 20 April 1901 | 1st | Middlesbrough | H | W | 2–1 | McMillan 2 | 8,000 |
| 22 April 1901 | 2nd | Woolwich Arsenal | A | L | 0–1 | | 3,500 |
| 27 April 1901 | 2nd | Burnley | A | L | 0–1 | | 1,000 |
* 1 2 Matthews (1995) records the scorers in the 10–1 win at Blackpool as Archer, Aston 2, McRoberts 5, McMillan 2. However, in his 2010 book, Matthews writes that "Reports vary as to who scored the goals against Blackpool in March. ... After a lot of research, I have elected to choose the two five-goal heroes." This article has the scorers as per the English National Football Archive (March 2020).

### League table (part)

Final Second Division table (part) :
| Pos | Club | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GA | Pts |
| 1st | Grimsby Town | 34 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 60 | 33 | 1.82 | 49 |
| 2nd | Small Heath | 34 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 57 | 24 | 2.38 | 48 |
| 3rd | Burnley | 34 | 20 | 4 | 10 | 53 | 29 | 1.83 | 44 |
| 4th | Glossop | 34 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 57 | 38 | 1.50 | 42 |
| 5th | Middlesbrough | 34 | 15 | 7 | 15 | 50 | 40 | 1.54 | 37 |
| 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 |
| First round | 9 February 1901 | Stoke | A | D | 1–1 | Main | 12,000 |
| First round replay | 13 February 1901 | Stoke | H | W | 2–1 a.e.t | Bennett, Wharton | 10,000 |
| Second round | 23 February 1901 | Burnley | H | W | 1–0 | McMillan | 11,000 |
| Third round | 23 March 1901 | Aston Villa | H | D | 0–0 | | 18,000 |
| Third round replay | 27 March 1901 | Aston Villa | A | L | 0–1 | | 15,000 |

## 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' appearances and goals by competition :
| Name | Position | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Name | Position | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Nat Robinson | Goalkeeper | 33 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
| Ike Webb | Goalkeeper | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Arthur Archer | Full back | 34 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 39 | 2 |
| Frank Lester | Full back | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Billy Pratt | Full back | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 2 |
| Willie Wragg | Full back | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| George Adey | Half back | 24 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| George Layton | Half back | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Alex Leake | Half back | 31 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 36 | 3 |
| Billy Walton | Half back | 24 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 28 | 2 |
| Walter Wigmore | Half back | 34 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 39 | 1 |
| Jack Aston | Forward | 29 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 34 | 12 |
| Billy Bennett | Forward | 28 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 33 | 1 |
| Thomas Fletcher | Forward | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Alfred Gard | Forward | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Jock Henderson | Forward | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Jack Higginson | Forward | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 |
| Johnny McMillan | Forward | 13 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 14 |
| Bob McRoberts | Forward | 26 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 13 |
| Walter Main | Forward | 13 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 5 |
| James Tebbs | Forward | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Sid Wharton | Forward | 33 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 38 | 2 |