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Newton Heath 1877 - 1902

1877-1893: Newton Heath is Born

Newton Heath, a local Manchester team, had started playing in 1878, a group of railway workers for Lancashire & Yorkshire Railways making up the first team. They played at a small ground in North Road on Monsall Road Newton Heath. They were a resounding success that first season & soon picked up the nickname "The Heathens".

In 1885 they turned professional & in 1888 they were admitted to the Football Alliance after their efforts to join the Football League failed. Manchester played for three years in the Football Alliance, finishing their first season in 8th, the second in 9th and in the third season they finished 2nd, with only three defeats out of 22 games played and with 69 goals scored. Eventually they were admitted in 1892 when the Division one was expanded from 14 to 16 clubs and a second Division added. The club appointed its first paid secretary (manager) in 1892, his name was Mr A.H. Albut. Newton Heath's inaugural league game took place on September 3, 1892 against the then mighty Blackburn Rovers. The attendance was 8,000 and the game was played in a torrential rainstorm with the Heathens going down to a 4-3 defeat. A Scot named Robert Donaldson became the first player to score a league goal for the team that was to become Manchester United (he later transferred to Luton Town).

Newton Heath's first season turned out to be a near disaster with only a victory in a relegation/promotion playoff game saved them from dropping into the lower division. Their first home game was against Burnley & the result was a 1-1 tie, heavy defeats followed from Everton (6-0) Burnley (4-0), West Brom (4-0). Then came an amazing 10-1 victory over Wolves at the North Road ground, but more defeats followed & they finished their first season in 16th place (last) with 18 points and 85 goals conceded. They won their playoff game 5-2 against Stoke City in a replay after the first game turned out a 1-1, the game played at North Road in front of 4,000 on a mud path of a pitch. The facilities in those days were not very good & the teams actually changed in a pub down the road called the Three Crowns.

1893-1894: Relegated

Newton Heath's second season turned out to be worst than the first when they again finished bottom of the League, this time with only six wins in 30 games. They were again scheduled to play a make or break playoff game to decide their fate, this time the opponent was Liverpool who had only been in existence for two years & had won the second division without losing a game. This time there was no respite for the Heathens, they lost 2-0 & were relegated to the second. Visiting teams had complained so much about the apalling conditions at North Road that the Club moved across town prior to the season beginning to a ground in Bank street, Clayton. This new home proved to be not much of an improvement due to a chemical works that stood next to the ground that bellowed out toxic fumes that drifted across the pitch.

1894 was the first year of the Manchester Derby, it was played on November 3rd at the then Manchester City ground Ardwick. The teams had met before in the Manchester Cup, the Football Alliance, & even the FA Cup but this was the first League meeting of the two great rivals. The game was watched by 15,000 fans in threatening weather. The Heathens drew first blood on their neighbors with a 5-2 victory (also won the return fixture 4-1). The game was notable by the home debut of a Manchester City player named Billy Meredith who would go on to become United's first major star in future years.

1894-1895: Record breaking season

The Heathens had been playing at Bank Steet since leaving the mud of North Road in 1893, but Bank Street turned out to be just as bad & visiting teams continued to complain. On the 9th of March 1895 Walsall Town were the visitors, after arriving they inspected the pitch and immediately lodged a complaint with the League, they grumbled it was not fit for schoolboys to play on. Newton responded by throwing on another layer of sand and thus the fixture took place as scheduled.

This was a regular 2nd division match, with the Heathens attacking from the outset, & by halftime they had a comfortable lead of 3-0. Newton really went to town in the second half though, running a score of 14-0 before the ref blew the final whistle. The Football League however were not impressed with the Heathens victory & after more complaints from the Walsall players who were supported by the referee, Mr Jefferies, they cancelled the result & demanded the teams play again & after Newton had worked on the pitch for a week they did play, the result? Heathens 9 Walsall 0. Newton had scored a total of 23 goals in the two matches. The season was a little more successful than the previous, but although they spent much of the year in second place they did not gain promotion, because by the end of the year they stood in third position in division two.

1895-1896: Kit Change

The season 1895/96 wasn't much better than their first season in the second division. The Heathens couldn't adopt their style of playing to the second division & by the end of the season they were a long way off the promotion places, they finished sixth with 15 wins and 12 defeats out of 30 games played. In the FA cup they reached the second round, one round further than last year. 1895 was the year that Newton Heath changed their club's colours. Till this time the club colours had been green and gold, but it now changed to white shirts & blue shorts.

1896-1897: Promotion

After their best season in years Newton Heath finished in 2nd place in the 2nd division & in the play-offs with Burnley & Sunderland, who had finished at the bottom of Div 1, & Notts County, who had won the 2nd div Championship.

After beating Burnley 2-0 at home they lost by the same score in the return match & then faced Sunderland at Bank Street. The Sunderland team had been having much success prior to the season having taken the division 1 Championships in 92, 93 and 95, but they had fallen on hard times that year (although that was not to last very long). More than 18,000 fans turned out for the game which finished in a 1-1 draw & sent the Heathens to Roker Park & Notts County only needing a draw to secure a 1st div place, alas this was not to happen as they lost both games & had to settle for another season in div 2.

1897-1898

As 1898 drew to a close Newton Heath & across town rivals Man City were the top two teams in the 2nd div, with a team called "New Brighton Tower" in third. On Boxing day the two teams faced each other, the Heathens coming off a 9-0 thrashing of Darwen while City were also coming off a big win against Blackpool (4-2).

Confidence was high but it was City who came out the victors making short work of their neighbours in a 4-0 win. Newton never recovered from this & finished the season in 3rd place, 3 points behind Glossop North End and 6 points behind City who won the title and promotion to the first. Once more they had challenged for promotion only to fall by the wayside. In five seasons in the second they had never finished lower than sixth.

1898-1899: Player scandal

1899 was to be known for the infamous riots between Celtic and Rangers. After a Scottish Cup final replay the fans tried to burn down the ground and trouble continued for several hours in the streets of Glasgow with 81 policemen having to be treated in hospital. There was also trouble at Everton's Goodison Park after the ref had abandoned a game.

Newton Heath had their own problems with a "scandal" behind the scenes when two players (Boyd and Cunnigham) were suspended by the club for their extracurricular activities. The two players were have said to have been drinking, the Athletic News reported:
"If men who are paid good wages don't think it worth their while to keep themselves in condition they are better off out of the team."
The week following these suspensions it was the fans turn. After the Heathens took a 2-1 defeat at New Brighton Tower a group of supporters took action by surrounding the referee as he walked off the field, jeering & booing him. The situation could have been worse if it hadn't been for several club officials and Policemen who escorted the poor referee to dressing room safety. By all reports the referee had been very poor & the youths had been provoked by several dubious decisions. The result of the game seriously dented any hopes of Newton Heath's promotion chances for that year.

1899-1900

The start to the 20th century held little relief for the Heathens who had acheived little in recent years & were languishing in the shadow of their rivals Man City who had been recently promoted to the 1st division.

The team at that time did see a few changes with Frank Barrett in goal, Harry Stafford & Fred Erentz at the fullback positions, Morgan Griffiths & Carwright were regular choices as centre back, while up front Bryant, Jackson and Cassidy were the regulars. The club had forged strong links Wales at the time and boasted seven Welsh internationals in the line-up, many of them arriving in Manchester looking for work on the railroad. Although rich in Welsh international talent the Club had not a single English International on the books (Billy Bryant was picked to represent the Football League). But even with a solid team and a lot of Welsh internationals Newton Heath could not get the promotion they so desperately needed. For the third time in a row they finished fourth in the second division.