A GOOD START
Having finished 10th in Division Four the season before, there was no great expectation for how things would play out over the next 10 months.
However, there was plenty of room for optimisim, as Terry Cooper had crafted together a team that mixed youth and experience in an exciting, and energetic, attacking side.
Six wins out of seven in pre-season - including victories against Coventry City and Watford - set a positive tone for the start of the campain, and from August through to the end of November, City picked up maximum points in 10 of their opening 17 games to put themselves amongst the early pace-setters for promotion.
AUGUST
City 1 Doncater Rovers 0
Neville - Att. 3,033
Hartlepool United 0 City 3
Dryden, Taylor, Rowbotham - Att. 1,726
SEPTEMBER
City 0 Carlisle United 0
Att. 3,338
Burnley 1 City 0
Att. 5,443
City 3 Cambridge United 2
Rowbotham (2), Dryden - Att. 2,754
Scunthorpe United 5 City 4
Neville (2), Vinnicombe, Dryden - Att. 2,935
City 2 Grimsby Town 1
Rowbotham, Dryden - Att. 3,702
Halifax Town 1 City 2
Neville, Dryden - Att. 1,720
OCTOBER
Peterborough United 4 City 3
Robinson (og), Bailey, Rowbotham - Att. 3,831
City 2 Chesterfield 1
Rowbotham, Whitehead - Att. 3,773
Rochdale 1 City 0
Att. 1,337
City 2 Hereford United 0
McDermott, Dryden - Att. 3,269
Stockport County 2 City 1
Young - Att. 2,767
NOVEMBER
City 2 Colchester United 1
Neville (2) - Att. 3,905
City 3 Lincoln City 0
McNichol, Rowbotham, Neville - Att. 3,674
Scarborough 1 City 2
Rowbotham, Batty - Att. 2,124
City 1 Wrexham 1
Rowbotham - Att. 3,522
