The 1895–96 season was the 15th season of competitive association football and fourth season in the Football League played by Small Heath F.C., an English football club based in Birmingham. In 1894–95, the newly promoted Small Heath maintained their First Division status, finishing 12th in the 16-team division. In 1895–96, the team finished 15th and were relegated through the test match system.

Small Heath entered the 1895–96 FA Cup at the first round proper, and lost in that round for the fourth consecutive year, this time to Bury. In local competitions, they were eliminated in the first round of the Birmingham Senior Cup by Sheffield Wednesday, and lost to West Bromwich Albion in the first round of the Staffordshire Senior Cup, which they had entered for the first time.

Thirty-two different players represented the club in nationally-organised competitive matches during the season and there were 14 different goalscorers. For the fifth time, Fred Wheldon appeared in every League match, in his last season with the club before joining local rivals Aston Villa for an initial transfer fee of £350, believed to be a record. The top scorer, for the third year running, was Frank Mobley with 11 goals. The highest attendance was around 10,000, significantly down on the previous season.

Small Heath had finished 12th of 16 teams in 1894–95, their first season in the First Division. Alf Jones continued as secretary-manager, and Billy Ollis took over the captaincy after Caesar Jenkyns was dismissed for misconduct. Apart from Jenkyns, who signed for Woolwich Arsenal where he was appointed captain, all the regular first-team players remained with the club. Of the fringe players, Charlie Letherbarrow joined Millwall, with whom he won the Southern League title in 1895–96, Ernie Moore and Tilson Pritchard returned to non-League football, and Tom Watson joined the Birmingham police.

...
Wikipedia