1915–16 Sheffield United F.C. season

Sheffield United
1915–16 season
Chairman	Tom Bott
Manager	None; (John Nicholson acted as club secretary)
Stadium	Bramall Lane
Midland Section	2nd
Midland Division	2nd
Top goalscorer	League: Kitchen (13); All: Kitchen (13)
Highest home attendance	16,000; (vs The Wednesday)
Lowest home attendance	3,000; (vs Lincoln City)
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1914–15 1916–17 →

The 1915–16 season was the 27th season in existence for Sheffield United. Following the outbreak of World War I the English Football League and cup competitions were suspended, instead the team played in two regional competitions competing in the Midland section. With players away on active service or engaged in the war effort the first team squad was augmented by a series of guest players. These players were usually local born footballers who were home on leave from the army or had returned to the city to take up their former professions. Some were former Blades players whilst others would go on to sign for the club after the end of the war.^[1]

At this time the club did not employ a manager, with the team being selected by the Football Committee although the club secretary, John Nicholson, undertook many of the duties now associated with a team manager.

Players

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Ernest Blackwell
—	DF	ENG	Bill Brelsford
—	DF	ENG	Bill Cook
—	DF	ENG	Jack English
—	MF	ENG	Robert Evans
—	FW	ENG	Stan Fazackerley
—	FW	EIR	Billy Gillespie
—	GK	ENG	Harold Gough
—	FW	ENG	Harry Hall
—	DF	ENG	Fred Hawley


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Ted Hufton
—	FW	ENG	Joe Kitchen
—	FW	ENG	Wally Masterman
—	MF	ENG	Harry Pantling
—	MF	ENG	Jimmy Revill
—	DF	ENG	Tom Richardson
—	MF	ENG	Jimmy Simmons
—	MF	ENG	Albert Sturgess
—	FW	ENG	Jack Thompson
—	MF	ENG	George Utley (captain)

Wartime guest players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Richard Allott
—	MF	ENG	Fred Brown
—	FW	ENG	Harold Buddery
—	FW	ENG	Fred Charles
—	MF	ENG	Bert Cook
—	DF	ENG	Ellis Hall
—	FW	ENG	Harry Johnson
—	MF	ENG	Harry Kay


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	FW	ENG	Dicky Leafe
—	GK	ENG	C.L. Needham
—	DF	ENG	John Poole
—	MF	ENG	Arthur Robins
—	FW	ENG	Ben Shearman
—	MF	ENG	Oliver Tummon
—	FW	ENG	J. Whiting
—	DF	ENG	Alf Wilson

Transfers

Out

Squad #	Position	Player	Transferred to	Fee	Date	Source
	FW	David Davies	Released		31 May 1915	^[2]
	FW	Harry Hall	Released		30 September 1915	^[3]

Squad statistics

As of the end of the season^[1]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Midland Section		Midland Division
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	ENG	Ernest Blackwell	2	0	2	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Bill Brelsford	29	0	21	0	8	0
	DF	ENG	Bill Cook	10	0	7	0	3	0
	DF	ENG	Jack English	4	0	3	0	1	0
	MF	ENG	Robert Evans	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Stan Fazackerley	10	4	10	4	0	0
	FW	EIR	Billy Gillespie	30	10	20	5	10	5
	GK	ENG	Harold Gough	22	0	12	0	10	0
	DF	ENG	Harry Hall	1	0	1	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Fred Hawley	18	0	16	0	2	0
	GK	ENG	Ted Hufton	11	0	11	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Joe Kitchen	13	13	13	13	0	0
	FW	ENG	Wally Masterman	5	2	2	0	3	2
	MF	ENG	Harry Pantling	26	0	17	0	9	0
	MF	ENG	Jimmy Revill	3	0	3	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Tom Richardson	5	0	4	0	1	0
	FW	ENG	Jimmy Simmons	26	10	19	8	7	2
	MF	ENG	Albert Sturgess	34	1	24	1	10	0
	MF	ENG	Jack Thompson	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	ENG	George Utley	33	4	23	3	10	1
Guest players:
	MF	ENG	Richard Allott	1	0	1	0	0	0
	MF	ENG	Fred Brown	5	2	2	1	3	1
	FW	ENG	Harold Buddery	15	5	10	3	5	2
	FW	ENG	Fred Charles	4	1	3	1	1	0
	MF	ENG	Bert Cook	2	0	1	0	1	0
	DF	ENG	Ellis Hall	1	0	1	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Harry Johnson	2	0	0	0	2	0
	MF	ENG	Harry Kay	11	7	4	4	7	3
	FW	ENG	Dicky Leafe	3	0	3	0	0	0
	GK	ENG	C.L. Needham	1	0	1	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	John Poole	11	0	6	0	5	0
	MF	ENG	Arthur Robins	3	0	3	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Ben Shearman	25	3	23	3	2	0
	MF	ENG	Oliver Tummon	22	6	14	5	8	1
	FW	ENG	J. Whiting	1	0	0	0	1	0
	FW	ENG	Alf Wilson	7	0	7	0	0	0

League tables

Midland Section

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Nottingham Forest	26	15	5	6	48	25	+23	35
2	Sheffield United	26	12	7	7	51	36	+15	31
3	Huddersfield Town	26	12	5	9	43	36	+7	29
4	Bradford City	26	12	4	10	52	32	+20	28
5	Barnsley	26	12	4	10	46	55	−9	28

Source: ^[1]

Midland Division (subsidiary competition)

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Grimsby Town	10	5	2	3	25	10	+15	12
2	Sheffield United	10	4	3	3	17	11	+6	11
3	Rotherham County	10	5	1	4	20	24	−4	11
4	Hull City	10	5	0	5	18	27	−9	10
5	The Wednesday	10	3	3	4	10	13	−3	9
6	Lincoln City	10	2	3	5	17	22	−5	7

Source: ^[1]

Matches

Midland Section

4 September 1915	Lincoln City	7–3	Sheffield United	Sincil Bank
			Kitchen ?', ?', ?'	Attendance: 5,000

11 September 1915	Sheffield United	0–1	Bradford City	Bramall Lane
				Attendance: 8,500

18 September 1915	Huddersfield Town	2–2	Sheffield United	Leeds Road
			Kitchen ?' Fazakerley ?'	Attendance: 3,500

25 September 1915	Sheffield United	6–1	Grimsby Town	Bramall Lane
	Kitchen ?', ?', ?' Gillespie ?' Utley ?' Shearman ?'			Attendance: 7,000

2 October 1915	Notts County	3–0	Sheffield United	Meadow Lane
				Attendance: 3,000

9 October 1915	Sheffield United	2–0	Derby County	Bramall Lane
	Kitchen ?' Fazakerley ?'			Attendance: 5,500

16 October 1915	The Wednesday	0–0	Sheffield United	Hillsborough
				Attendance: 10,500

23 October 1915	Sheffield United	2–2	Bradford Park Avenue	Bramall Lane
	Gillespie ?' Tummon ?'			Attendance: 5,500

6 November 1915	Sheffield United	3–0	Hull City	Bramall Lane
	Fazackerley ?', ?' Kitchen ?'			Attendance: 5,000

13 November 1915	Nottingham Forest	2–0	Sheffield United	City Ground
				Attendance: 4,000

20 November 1915	Sheffield United	1–0	Barnsley	Bramall Lane
	Tummon ?'			Attendance: 7,700

27 November 1915	Leicester Fosse	2–5	Sheffield United	Filbert Street
			Gillespie ?', ?' Kitchen ?', ?' Shearman ?'	Attendance: 3,500

4 December 1915	Sheffield United	4–1	Lincoln City	Bramall Lane
	Kitchen ?', ?' Simmons ?' (pen.) Tummon ?'			Attendance: 3,000

11 December 1915	Bradford City	1–2	Sheffield United	Valley Parade
			Simmons ?', ?'	Attendance: 450

18 December 1915	Sheffield United	5–1	Lincoln City	Bramall Lane
	Simmons ?', ?', ?' Utley ?' Gillespie ?'			Attendance: 5,500

25 December 1915	Grimsby Town	2–1	Sheffield United	Blundell Park
			Kay ?'	Attendance: 5,000

27 December 1915	Leeds City	2-3	Sheffield United	Elland Road
			Kay ?', ?' Charles ?'	Attendance: 5,000

1 January 1916	Sheffield United	1–1	Notts County	Bramall Lane
	Kay ?'			Attendance: 7,500

8 January 1916	Derby County	2–1	Sheffield United	Baseball Ground
			Kay ?'	Attendance: 3,000

15 January 1916	Sheffield United	1–1	The Wednesday	Bramall Lane
	Tummon ?'			Attendance: 16,000

22 January 1916	Bradford Park Avenue	0–1	Sheffield United	Park Avenue
			Brown ?'	Attendance: 3,000

29 January 1916	Sheffield United	4–1	Leeds City	Bramall Lane
	Buddery ?', ?', ?' Utley ?' (pen.)			Attendance: 8,000

5 February 1916	Hull City	2–1	Sheffield United	Anlaby Road
			Brown ?'	Attendance: 4,000

12 February 1916	Sheffield United	3–1	Nottingham Forest	Bramall Lane
	Tummon ?' Shearman ?' Simmons ?'			Attendance: 8,000

19 February 1916	Barnsley	0–0	Sheffield United	Oakwell
				Attendance: 4,756

25 April 1916	Sheffield United	1–1	Leicester Fosse	Bramall Lane
	Wally Masterman ?'			Attendance: 7,000

Midland Division (subsidiary competition)

4 March 1916	Hull City	5–2	Sheffield United	Anlaby Road
			Gillespie ?' Tummon ?'	Attendance: 3,000

11 March 1916	Sheffield United	2–3	Rotherham County	Bramall Lane
	Buddery ?' Utley ?'			Attendance: 4,500

18 March 1916	Sheffield United	7–0	Lincoln City	Bramall Lane
	Gillespie ?', ?' Kay ?', ?' Simmons ?', ?' Brown ?'			Attendance: 4,000

25 March 1916	Grimsby Town	0–1	Sheffield United	Blundell Park
			Gillespie ?'	Attendance: 2,000

1 April 1916	Sheffield United	1–1	The Wednesday	Bramall Lane
	Simmons ?'			Attendance: 15,000

8 April 1916	Sheffield United	2–0	Hull City	Bramall Lane
	Buddery ?' Gillespie ?'			Attendance: 5,000

15 April 1916	Rotherham County	1–0	Sheffield United	Millmoor
				Attendance: 8,000

22 April 1916	Lincoln City	1–1	Sheffield United	Sincil Bank
			Masterman ?'	Attendance: 3,500

24 April 1916	The Wednesday	0–1	Sheffield United	Hillsborough Stadium
			Masterman ?'	Attendance: 14,500

29 April 1916	Sheffield United	0–0	Grimsby Town	Bramall Lane
				Attendance: 6,000

Friendlies

6 May 1916	Sheffield United	3–0	The Wednesday	Bramall Lane
	Gillespie ?' Whiting ?' Tummon ?'			Attendance: 6,000

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Denis Clarebrough & Andrew Kirkham (1999). A Complete Record of Sheffield United Football Club 1889-1999. Sheffield United. pp. 122–123. ISBN 0-9508588-2-X.
^ Denis Clarebrough & Andrew Kirkham (2008). Sheffield United Who's Who. Hallamshire Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-874718-69-7.
^ Denis Clarebrough & Andrew Kirkham (2008). Sheffield United Who's Who. Hallamshire Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-874718-69-7.

[player_stats-1] Denis Clarebrough & Andrew Kirkham (1999). A Complete Record of Sheffield United Football Club 1889-1999. Sheffield United. pp. 122–123. ISBN 0-9508588-2-X.

[davies_leaves-2] Denis Clarebrough & Andrew Kirkham (2008). Sheffield United Who's Who. Hallamshire Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-874718-69-7.

[hall_leaves-3] Denis Clarebrough & Andrew Kirkham (2008). Sheffield United Who's Who. Hallamshire Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-874718-69-7.

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