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1930–31 Birmingham F.C. season

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Birmingham F.C.
1930–31 season
ChairmanHoward Cant
ManagerLeslie Knighton
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League First Division19th
FA CupRunner-up (eliminated by West Bromwich Albion)
Top goalscorerLeague: George Briggs (15)
All: Joe Bradford (22)
Highest home attendance55,298 vs Chelsea, FA Cup 6th round, 28 February 1931
Lowest home attendance6,535 vs Portsmouth, 28 January 1931
Average home league attendance18,175

The 1930–31 Football League season was Birmingham Football Club's 35th in the Football League and their 18th in the First Division. They finished in 19th position in the 22-team division, five points clear of the relegation places. They also competed in the 1930–31 FA Cup, entering at the third round proper and reaching the final for the first time in the club's history. They lost 2–1 to Second Division club West Bromwich Albion.

Twenty-seven players made at least one appearance in nationally organised competition, and there were eleven different goalscorers. Forward Ernie Curtis played in 47 of the 49 matches over the season, and, for the 10th successive year, Joe Bradford was leading scorer, with 22 goals in all competitions, of which 14 came in the league. George Briggs scored more league goals, with 15.

The 9–1 defeat away to Sheffield Wednesday on 13 December equalled the club record for widest margin of defeat.[1]

Football League First Division

Date League
position		 Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
30 August 1930 4th Sheffield United H W 3–1 Morrall, Briggs, Bradford 20,641
1 September 1930 7th Leicester City A L 1–2 Briggs 14,391
6 September 1930 8th Derby County A D 0–0 15,681
10 September 1930 10th Newcastle United H D 1–1 Bradford 13,893
13 September 1930 6th Manchester City H W 3–2 Briggs 2, Bradford 11,148
17 September 1930 6th Newcastle United A D 2–2 Briggs, Morrall 19,902
20 September 1930 8th Portsmouth A D 2–2 Hicks, Briggs 16,002
27 September 1930 11th Arsenal H L 2–4 Briggs, Roberts og 31,693
4 October 1930 14th Blackburn Rovers A L 1–2 Horsman 14,728
11 October 1930 15th Blackpool H D 1–1 Curtis 23,453
18 October 1930 13th Aston Villa A D 1–1 Briggs 55,482
25 October 1930 12th Chelsea H W 6–2 Bradford 2, Curtis, Briggs 2, Crosbie 17,277
1 November 1930 12th Manchester United A L 0–2 11,479
8 November 1930 15th West Ham United A L 0–2 20,171
15 November 1930 13th Middlesbrough A D 1–1 Curtis 11,883
22 November 1930 12th Grimsby Town H W 4–1 Fillingham, Firth 3 13,637
29 November 1930 15th Bolton Wanderers A L 0–2 15,361
6 December 1930 13th Huddersfield Town H W 2–0 Bradford, Curtis 16,036
13 December 1930 15th Sheffield Wednesday A L 1–9 Briggs 21,226
20 December 1930 15th Liverpool H W 2–0 Briggs 2 16,165
25 December 1930 15th Leeds United H L 0–1 24,991
26 December 1930 16th Leeds United A L 1–3 Curtis 12,381
27 December 1930 18th Sheffield United A L 1–2 Cringan 24,208
3 January 1931 19th Derby County H L 1–2 Curtis 14,555
17 January 1931 19th Manchester City A L 2–4 Briggs, Gregg 19,918
28 January 1931 19th Portsmouth H W 2–1 Briggs, Bradford 6,535
31 January 1931 17th Arsenal A D 1–1 Bradford 30,913
7 February 1931 17th Blackburn Rovers H W 4–1 Bradford 4 23,642
18 February 1931 17th Blackpool A W 1–0 Crosbie 10,136
21 February 1931 18th Aston Villa H L 0–4 49,619
7 March 1931 18th Manchester United H D 0–0 17,678
16 March 1931 17th West Ham United A W 2–1 Firth, Bradford 8,521
21 March 1931 17th Middlesbrough H L 1–2 Jarvis og 20,311
25 March 1931 18th Chelsea A L 0–1 12,968
28 March 1931 18th Grimsby Town A L 1–4 Fillingham 10,994
3 April 1931 20th Sunderland A L 0–1 18,180
4 April 1931 20th Bolton Wanderers H L 0–2 18,083
6 April 1931 19th Sunderland H W 1–0 Gregg 11,207
11 April 1931 19th Huddersfield Town A L 0–1 10,920
15 April 1931 19th Liverpool A D 0–0 6,045
18 April 1931 19th Sheffield Wednesday H W 2–0 Gregg, Curtis 16,411
2 May 1931 19th Leicester City H W 2–1 Curtis, Bradford 14,704

League table (part)

Final First Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
17th Newcastle United 42 15 6 21 78 87 0.90 36
18th West Ham United 42 14 8 20 79 94 0.84 36
19th Birmingham 42 13 10 19 55 70 0.79 36
20th Blackpool 42 11 10 21 71 125 0.57 32
21st Leeds United 42 12 7 23 68 81 0.84 31
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
Source [2]

FA Cup

Main articles: 1930–31 FA Cup and 1931 FA Cup Final

Birmingham "won finely" at Anfield to defeat Liverpool 2–0,[3] then eliminated Port Vale and, with Ernie Curtis "in magnificent form", Watford,[4] to reach the sixth round in which they played Chelsea. Playing in a blizzard at St Andrew's, Chelsea took the lead and had a second goal disallowed before the change of ends brought a change of fortunes. George Briggs crossed for Joe Bradford's header, then Briggs and Bradford combined for Curtis to put Birmingham ahead. With ten minutes left, a misplaced clearance by Bob Gregg allowed Jackie Crawford to equalise.[5] The replay at Stamford Bridge, before a ground-record crowd of 74,365 with thousands more locked out, remained goalless until Chelsea half-backs John Townrow and Syd Bishop were injured. With no substitutes permitted, Birmingham took advantage, winning the tie 3–0 with goals from Jack Firth and two from Bradford.[6] Curtis opened the scoring half an hour into the semi-final against First Division Sunderland. Sunderland's players thought they should have had a penalty, they failed to take numerous chances, and Harry Hibbs made some fine saves, but three minutes from time, Curtis had a shot blocked, Bradford "rushed in to help his colleague and between them they scored the second goal".[7]

After six minutes of the final, Bob Gregg's header from Jimmy Cringan's free kick was ruled offside; newspaper reports suggest the decision was incorrect. After 24 minutes, Ned Barkas deflected W. G. Richardson's shot away from Hibbs and Richardson steered it home. Chances were missed by both sides before Joe Bradford equalised with a 25-yard (23 m) shot. But straight from the restart, Albion ran the ball down the field, George Liddell sliced his clearance to Richardson's feet, and the forward scored from close range.[8]

Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
Third round 10 January 1931 Liverpool A W 2–0 Curtis, Bradford 40,500
Fourth round 24 January 1931 Port Vale H W 2–0 Bradford 2 44,119
Fifth round 14 February 1931 Watford H W 3–0 Bradford, Curtis 2 49,757
Sixth round 28 February 1931 Chelsea H D 2–2 Bradford, Curtis 55,298
Sixth round replay 4 March 1931 Chelsea A W 3–0 Firth, Bradford 2 74,365
Semi-final 14 March 1931 Sunderland Elland Road, Leeds W 2–0 Curtis 2 43,570
Final 25 April 1931 West Bromwich Albion Wembley Stadium L 1–2 Bradford 90,368

Appearances and goals

Players having played at least one first-team match
Name Position Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
League FA Cup Total
Harry Hibbs Goalkeeper 36 0 7 0 43 0
Ken Tewkesbury Goalkeeper 1 0 0 0 1 0
Dan Tremelling Goalkeeper 5 0 0 0 5 0
Ned Barkas Full back 34 0 7 0 41 0
Harold Booton Full back 10 0 0 0 10 0
George Liddell Full back 29 0 0 0 29 0
Jack Randle Full back 13 0 0 0 13 0
Jimmy Cringan Half back 34 1 7 0 41 1
Tom Fillingham Half back 21 2 0 0 21 2
Jack Firth Half back 25 4 2 1 27 5
Alec Leslie Half back 24 0 7 0 31 0
George Morrall Half back 31 2 7 0 38 2
Lewis Stoker Half back 7 0 0 0 7 0
Billy Blyth Forward 2 0 0 0 2 0
Benny Bond Forward 3 0 0 0 3 0
Joe Bradford Forward 22 14 7 8 29 22
George Briggs Forward 32 15 6 0 38 15
Johnny Crosbie Forward 31 2 7 0 38 2
Ernie Curtis Forward 40 8 7 6 47 14
Bob Gregg Forward 15 3 4 0 19 3
George Haywood Forward 4 0 0 0 4 0
George Hicks Forward 7 1 0 0 7 1
Bill Horsman Forward 24 1 2 0 26 1
Harry Lane Forward 2 0 0 0 2 0
Jack Morfitt Forward 1 0 0 0 1 0
Tommy Robinson Forward 1 0 0 0 1 0
Jack Thorogood Forward 7 0 0 0 7 0

See also

References

General
  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Breedon Books (Derby). ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  • Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. DB Publishing (Derby). ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
  • Source for match dates and results: "Birmingham City 1930–1931: Results". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record: pp. 302–03.
Specific
  1. ^ "Birmingham City: Records". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  2. ^ "Birmingham City 1930–1931: English Division One (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  3. ^ "Other F.A. Cup Matches". The Times (London): p.5. 12 January 1931.
  4. ^ "F.A. Cup. Draw For Sixth Round". The Times (London): p.6. 17 February 1931.
  5. ^ "Drawn Match At Birmingham". The Times (London): p.6. 2 March 1931.
  6. ^ "Chelsea Beaten. A Day Of Misfortunes". The Times (London): p.7. 5 March 1931.
  7. ^ "Birmingham's Fine Defence. Sunderland Miss Their Chances". The Times (London): p.6. 16 March 1931.
  8. ^ "The Cup. Victory Of West Bromwich, A Triumph Of Youth." The Times (London): p.5. 27 April 1931.
    The Daily Mail match report, reproduced in Thraves, Andrew, ed. (1994). The History of the Wembley FA Cup Final. Weidenfeld and Nicholson (London): pp.24–25. ISBN 978-0-297-83407-6.
    "Albion's Cup". Birmingham Mail: p.12. 25 April 1931.
    Matthews (1995), Complete Record. p.19.
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