A league match in November 1894 against Sheffield United at Perry Barr was played in driving freezing rain. Villa's players had dry clothes available,[3] and were given hot drinks, a courtesy apparently not extended to the visitors.[4][5] The Sheffield players were worse affected, several needing treatment for exposure, and by the end of the match only six were still on the field.[5][6] Villa's Jack Devey put on an overcoat, and Charlie Athersmith played under an umbrella borrowed from a spectator[7][6] before collapsing in the dressing-room afterwards.[5]
Twenty thousand people saw Sunderland win the championship with a 2–1 scoreline and rendered Everton's final game meaningless. As it was, Everton could only draw that game at Aston Villa 2–2, a result which would have taken the title to Sunderland regardless.
Small Heath's First Division campaign began on Saturday 1 September with a visit to local rivals and League champions Aston Villa. The match turned out rather closer than predicted. Small Heath's Jack Hallam opened the scoring from a Tommy Hands cross with the first League goal of the season, "for the match was started punctually, and it would have been a sheer impossibility to score faster than the Small Heath player did."[9]Steve Smith equalised for Villa some 20 minutes later, and a Bob Gordon goal meant they took the lead immediately afterwards, and retained that lead to the end. The Birmingham Daily Post picked out Hallam and Caesar Jenkyns for praise, was disappointed by Fred Wheldon, "usually the bright particular star of the front rank", and suggested that Jack Oliver would be a success "when he has lost a little superfluous flesh".[9][10]
The reverse fixture resulted in a 2-2 draw on 20 October 1894 with Bob Gordon and Denny Hodgetts scoring for Villa.(2-0-1)[11]
Small Heath took on Aston Villa in their last match of the season, the final of the Birmingham Charity Cup. Unfortunately for the charities, the weather was poor and the attendance low, but those spectators present saw an exciting game. Wheldon scored first with a fierce shot that entered the net off the goalkeeper and the underside of the bar, then Bob Chatt equalised from a free kick and Charlie Athersmith outpaced Oliver and his parried shot was forced over the line. Mobley tied the scores with a long shot, but in the second half with the wind behind them, Villa scored three times to Jack Hallam's one to take the match 5–3.[12]
^"Ernest Needham's story". Sports Special. Sheffield. 28 December 1912. p. 5.
^"Football". Burnley Express. 14 November 1894. p. 4.
^ abc"Football Fancies". Evening Telegraph and Star. Sheffield. 16 November 1894. p. 4.
^ ab"Aston Villa v. Sheffield United. A farcical performance. United finish with six men. Serious illness of the players". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 13 November 1894. p. 8.
