| Div 2 | 5th |
| FA Cup | R1 |
| Attendance | 8,500 |
| Chairman | W Neasham |
| Secretary | F Watt |
| Trainer | W Leach |
| Captain | J Stott |
| Top Scorer | R Smellie (15) |
Results wise this season was almost identical to the last with a record of 17 - 1 - 12 (the least number of draws in the club's history). After a shaky start in which they lost three out of four United climbed the table quickly and remained in the top six from October onwards.
But after January the team fell to pieces, losing eight of the ten games and slumping to 10th out of sixteen.
New arrivals included Charlie Watts (the new man between the sticks), centre-half Jack Ostler and our new goalscoring weapon, the unfortunately named Dick Smellie.
The FA Cup brought another thrashing from Villa.
Attendances continued to climb with a new high of 17,000 turning up to see eventually Champions Notts County.
Kit images copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission
| 5/9 | A | S Heath | L | 1-3 | ||
| 12/9 | H | S Heath | W | 4-3 | 4 | |
| 19/9 | A | Notts C | L | 1-3 | 12 | |
| 26/9 | A | N Heath | L | 0-4 | 13 | |
| 3/10 | H | Darwen | W | 5-1 | 11 | |
| 10/10 | H | Grimsby | W | 3-0 | 7 | |
| 17/10 | A | Man City | W | 2-1 | 6 | |
| 24/10 | A | Lincoln | W | 2-1 | 4 | |
| 7/11 | A | Darwen | L | 1-2 | 7 | |
| 14/11 | H | Leicester F | W | 3-1 | 5 | |
| 28/11 | H | Loughborough | W | 4-1 | 5 | |
| 5/12 | A | Burton W | W | 1-0 | 4 | |
| 12/12 | H | Notts C | D | 2-2 | 4 | |
| 26/12 | A | Grimsby | L | 2-3 | 5 | |
| 28/12 | A | Gainsborough T | L | 0-2 | 5 | |
| 1/1 | H | N Heath | W | 2-0 | 4 | |
| 2/1 | H | Lincoln | W | 2-1 | 4 | |
| 9/1 | A | Leicester F | L | 0-5 | 4 | |
| 16/1 | H | Blackpool | W | 4-1 | 3 | |
| 23/1 | H | W Arsenal | W | 2-0 | 3 | |
| 6/2 | H | Man City | W | 3-0 | ||
| 20/2 | A | Loughborough | L | 0-3 | 3 | |
| 6/3 | H | Walsall | W | 2-0 | 3 | |
| 13/3 | A | Blackpool | L | 1-4 | 4 | |
| 20/3 | H | Gainsborough T | L | 1-2 | 4 | |
| 27/3 | H | Burton S | W | 2-1 | 4 | |
| 3/4 | A | Walsall | W | 2-0 | 4 | |
| 10/4 | H | Burton W | W | 3-0 | 4 | |
| 12/4 | A | Burton S | L | 0-3 | 4 | |
| 16/4 | A | W Arsenal | L | 1-5 | 5 |
| W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
| 01 | Notts C | 19 | 4 | 7 | 92 | 43 | 42 |
| 02 | N Heath | 17 | 5 | 8 | 56 | 34 | 39 |
| 03 | Grimsby | 17 | 4 | 9 | 66 | 45 | 38 |
| 04 | S Heath | 16 | 5 | 9 | 69 | 47 | 37 |
| 05 | Newcastle | 17 | 1 | 12 | 56 | 52 | 35 |
| 06 | Man City | 12 | 8 | 10 | 58 | 50 | 32 |
| 07 | Gainsborough T | 12 | 7 | 11 | 50 | 47 | 31 |
| 08 | Blackpool | 13 | 5 | 12 | 59 | 56 | 31 |
| 09 | Leicester F | 13 | 4 | 13 | 59 | 57 | 30 |
| 10 | W Arsenal | 13 | 4 | 13 | 68 | 70 | 30 |
| 11 | Darwen | 14 | 0 | 16 | 67 | 61 | 28 |
| 12 | Walsall | 11 | 4 | 15 | 54 | 69 | 26 |
| 13 | Loughborough | 12 | 1 | 17 | 50 | 64 | 25 |
| 14 | Burton S | 9 | 6 | 15 | 46 | 61 | 24 |
| 15 | Burton W | 9 | 2 | 19 | 31 | 67 | 20 |
| 16 | Lincoln | 5 | 2 | 23 | 27 | 85 | 12 |
| R1 | 30/1 | A | Aston Villa | L | 0-5 | 3 |
| Player | A | G |
|---|---|---|
| Adams, G | 12 | 1 |
| Aitken, A | 31 | 11 |
| Auld, J | 15 | 3 |
| Blyth, T | 1 | 1 |
| Carr, J | 1 | |
| Collins, J | 11 | 1 |
| Connell, J | 25 | 3 |
| Foyers, R | 9 | |
| Graham, W | 2 | |
| Kinsella, J | 2 | |
| Lennox, M | 19 | 4 |
| McDermidd, R | 6 | |
| Miller, W | 17 | 1 |
| Ostler, J | 16 | 1 |
| Smellie, R | 27 | 15 |
| Stewart, T | 18 | |
| Stott, J | 30 | 3 |
| Thompson, W | 9 | 1 |
| Wardrope, W | 30 | 11 |
| Watts, C | 31 | |
| White, J | 29 |
01: (1) Watts
02: (2) White > Stewart
03: (3) McDermidd > White
04: (4) Miller > Adams
05: (4) Auld > Ostler
06: (3) Stott
07: (4) Lennox or Collins
08: (3) Connell
09: (4) Smellie
10: (3) Aitken
11: (2) Wardrope
| Name | Date | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryder Joseph | 9/1896 | ||
| Auld John | 10/1896 | Sunderland | |
| Connel J | 10/1896 | Galston | |
| Ostler John | 12/1896 | Motherwell | £100 |
| Stewart Thomas | 12/1896 | Motherwell | £100 |
| Blyth Thomas | ??/1896 | Durham Univ | |
| Kinsella J | 2/1897 | Darwen | |
| Ghee Thomas | 4/1897 | St Mirren | |
| Jackson James | 4/1897 | Rangers | |
| Allan Richard | 5/1897 | Dundee | |
| Campbell John | 5/1897 | Sunderland | £40 |
| Harvey John | 5/1897 | Sunderland | £20 |
| Name | Date | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryder Joseph | 9/1896 | ||
| Auld John | 10/1896 | Sunderland | |
| Connel J | 10/1896 | Galston | |
| Ostler John | 12/1896 | Motherwell | £100 |
| Stewart Thomas | 12/1896 | Motherwell | £100 |
| Blyth Thomas | ??/1896 | Durham Univ | |
| Kinsella J | 2/1897 | Darwen | |
| Ghee Thomas | 4/1897 | St Mirren | |
| Jackson James | 4/1897 | Rangers | |
| Allan Richard | 5/1897 | Dundee | |
| Campbell John | 5/1897 | Sunderland | £40 |
| Harvey John | 5/1897 | Sunderland | £20 |
Kit images copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission