The 1925–26 season was the 45th season in the history of Nelson F.C. and their fifth as a professional club in the Football League. The team competed in the Third Division North for the second consecutive season, having finished as runners-up to Darlington in the previous campaign. Nelson had a new manager in Percy Smith, following the departure of David Wilson in the summer of 1925. The team played well for the majority of the season, and achieved several good victories, including 7–0 wins against Tranmere Rovers and Wigan Borough. Nelson ended the season on 43 points, with a record of 16 wins, 11 draws and 15 defeats in their 42 matches.

Nelson entered the FA Cup in the First Round, but were knocked out at that stage by Wigan Borough. In their 43 competitive matches, Nelson used a total of 25 different players. The majority of the championship-winning team remained with Nelson. New signings included centre forward Jimmy Hampson, who went on to become an England international, centre-half George Wilson and outside forward Edwin Earle. With 20 goals in 32 appearances, Joe Eddleston was the team's top goalscorer for the fifth season in succession. Wilson was the only player to appear in every match during the campaign, scoring five goals in 43 games.

The highest attendance of the season at the club's Seedhill stadium was 14,143 against Bradford Park Avenue on 10 April 1926. Nelson's smallest crowd of the season was 3,989 in the penultimate home match of the campaign on 20 April 1926 against Chesterfield.

Football League Third Division North

Key

H = Home match A = Away match

In Result column, Nelson's score shown first Goalscorers shown in order of first goal scored

Match results Date Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance 29 August 1925 Crewe Alexandra (H) 2–1 Eddleston, Bottrill 10,112 31 August 1925 Ashington (A) 1–5 Stevenson 3,902 5 September 1925 Lincoln City (A) 0–1 7,774 8 September 1925 Barrow (H) 3–3 Laycock, Hoad, Eddleston 6,522 12 September 1925 Southport (H) 3–3 Stevenson, Wilson, Hampson 6,718 15 September 1925 Ashington (H) 2–2 Eddleston, Hampson 7,461 19 September 1925 Doncaster Rovers (A) 1–1 Bottrill 3,088 26 September 1925 Wrexham (H) 5–1 Laycock, Bottrill, Chadwick (2), Eddleston 6,669 28 September 1925 Barrow (A) 0–1 1,601 3 October 1925 Coventry City (A) 0–1 11,766 10 October 1925 Accrington Stanley (H) 1–0 Chadwick 9,119 17 October 1925 Durham City (A) 2–0 Eddleston, Chadwick 3,538 24 October 1925 Hartlepools United (H) 5–2 Wilson, Chadwick (3), Eddleston 4,892 31 October 1925 Rotherham United (A) 3–1 Bottrill, Eddleston (2) 7,360 7 November 1925 Halifax Town (H) 1–1 Wilson 4,538 14 November 1925 Walsall (A) 2–0 Chadwick, Eddleston 2,586 5 December 1925 Grimsby Town (H) 1–1 Cowen 5,675 12 December 1925 Halifax Town (A) 1–1 Bottrill 7,204 19 December 1925 Tranmere Rovers (H) 7–0 Hampson (3), Earle, Hoad (2), Stevenson 4,354 25 December 1925 Wigan Borough (H) 7–0 Bottrill, Hampson (3), Earle (2), Stevenson 7,658 26 December 1925 New Brighton (A) 0–0 6,973 2 January 1926 Crewe Alexandra (A) 4–1 Hampson (3), Earle 6,387 9 January 1926 Bradford Park Avenue (A) 0–3 20,946 16 January 1926 Lincoln City (H) 5–2 Bottrill (2), Cowen (2), Newnes 5,586 23 January 1926 Southport (A) 1–2 Cowen 4,214 30 January 1926 Doncaster Rovers (H) 5–3 Eddleston (3), Bottrill (2) 6,402 6 February 1926 Wrexham (A) 2–3 Eddleston, Bottrill 4,792 13 February 1926 Coventry City (H) 4–1 Eddleston, Stevenson, Hoad, Earle 6,250 20 February 1926 Accrington Stanley (A) 2–3 Bottrill, Eddleston 7,153 27 February 1926 Durham City (H) 4–0 Earle, Bottrill (2), Wilson 4,819 6 March 1926 Hartlepools United (A) 0–2 4,397 13 March 1926 Rotherham United (H) 3–0 Bottrill (2), Stevenson 4,451 20 March 1926 Rochdale (A) 0–2 2,981 27 March 1926 Walsall (H) 2–0 Eddleston (2) 4,786 3 April 1926 Chesterfield (A) 1–3 Eddleston 8,743 5 April 1926 New Brighton (H) 1–1 Wilson 5,858 6 April 1926 Wigan Borough (A) 0–5 4,198 10 April 1926 Bradford Park Avenue (H) 2–2 Earle, Laycock 14,143 17 April 1926 Grimsby Town (A) 0–3 9,641 20 April 1926 Chesterfield (H) 3–3 Laycock (2), Hampson 3,989 24 April 1926 Rochdale (H) 1–3 Eddleston 6,215 1 May 1926 Tranmere Rovers (A) 2–4 Hampson, Eddleston 2,884

League table

FA Cup Nelson entered the FA Cup at the First Round stage, the first time in their history they had played in the competition proper, having previously never progressed past the qualifying rounds. Nelson were drawn against fellow Third Division North outfit Wigan Borough, who they had faced in the Fifth Qualifying Round in the 1923–24 season. Then, Nelson had been beaten by one goal in a replay at Seedhill, following a 1–1 draw in the away tie. The team went into the cup match on 2 December 1925 having won five of their previous six league fixtures, and were unbeaten since the 0–1 loss to Coventry City on 3 October 1925. Nelson fielded the same starting line-up that had won the last match against Walsall, but were beaten 0–3 before a crowd of 3,836 spectators.Dykes, p. 79

Key

A = Away match R1 = First Round

In Result column, Nelson's score shown first Goalscorers shown in order of first goal scored

Match result Round Date Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance R1 2 December 1925 Wigan Borough (A) 0–3 3,836

Player statistics Key to positions

CF = Centre forward FB = Fullback GK = Goalkeeper

HB = Half-back IF = Inside forward OF = Outside forward

Statistics Nat.PositionPlayerThird Division NorthFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGKHarry Abbott41010420HBFrank Bailey100010IFBilly Bottrill3816103916DFErnie Braidwood17010180DFJimmy Broadhead600060FBFred Broadhurst37010380HBHerbert Butterworth200020IFEdgar Chadwick13810148FBWalter Chadwick200020HBHarry Clayton400040CFJimmy Cowen340034OFWilf Denwood300030OFEdwin Earle37710387CFJoe Eddleston3120103220CFJimmy Hampson2013002013HBAmbrose Harris22000220OFSid Hoad28410294IFFred Laycock11500115GKFred Mace100010HBJack Newnes36110371FBJames Pearson800080FBClement Rigg33010340IFFred Smith100010IFJohn Stevenson25600256HBGeorge Wilson42510435

References General

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