[11] Small Heath's First Division campaign began on Saturday 1 September with a visit to local rivals and League champions Aston Villa, which turned out rather closer than predicted.

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".

[14] The new grandstand was open for the first home match of the season, against Bolton Wanderers, and those spectators not distracted by the visit to the city of the Duke and Duchess of York (the future George V and Queen Mary) saw a much improved performance from the forwards that produced a 2–1 win with goals from Frank Mobley and Wheldon.

[21] After Wolverhampton Wanderers took a three-goal lead at Coventry Road, the Daily Post suggested that Caesar Jenkyns must have spent the interval "exhorting his men to make a famous effort", for "they responded nobly to his appeal".

[23] Adopting a strategy of all-out attack, running the ball upfield at full speed before crossing to as many of the forwards as could converge on goal, they scored four times in 25 minutes to demoralise the opposition and win the match.

[29] The crowd were unimpressed – "ironical shouts of 'Goal' were the reception of any shots by Everton, of good or bad quality, that followed" – until with ten minutes left, Jenkyns tied the scores with a header from a free kick.

[30] While confirming that the result had to stand, the League appointed a committee to look into the circumstances of the phantom goal, and issued an instruction to referees to "inspect and observe the condition" of goalnets before each match in the future.

In the second half, Wheldon converted a penalty kick when Foulke pushed Hallam out of the way as he attempted to reach a cross from Tommy Hands, and Letherbarrow completed his hat-trick as Small Heath won 4–1.

[39] Playing a close-passing game that made them better able to cope with the high winds and blizzards that had caused the postponement of several League matches, Nottingham Forest earned themselves a Christmas bonus of 10s a man for inflicting Small Heath's first home defeat of the season.

[42] Injury deprived Small Heath of four regular first-team players for the last game of the year, at home to Liverpool, and both Tilson Pritchard and Ernie Moore made their debuts at full-back.

[44][28] On a hard pitch in very cold weather, Small Heath had already conceded twice at Blackburn Rovers before Billy Ollis was injured midway through the first half and played no further part.

The Home Park club had ambitions to bring professional league football to the region, and in front of a crowd of 4,000 their team performed well before conceding three second-half goals.

The chairman presented medals to the players, congratulated them on their showing thus far, and proposed a toast to their health, in the hope that a full-strength team might be available by the next League match in ten days time.

[49] A visit to the Brine Baths at Droitwich Spa failed to help the players adjust to Nottingham Forest's pitch, which had been flooded when the River Trent burst its banks a few days before.

[50][51] They conceded two early goals, but "kept up a strong pressure" thereafter,[52] and the Birmingham Daily Post suggested that "the forwards played magnificently, and had the half-backs supported them a little more efficiently they might have broken down even the stalwart defence" of the home club.

The pitch was very muddy, but the Small Heath forwards persisted with a close-passing game when "a kick and a rush would have served better",[55] and although "the Birmingham enthusiasts nearly shouted themselves hoarse in encouraging the Heathens",[56] there were no more goals.

[58] The special training undertaken by the home side in preparation for the match took effect, as "in the closing stages they looked winners all over", and Sunderland had goalkeeper Ned Doig to thank for restricting the scoring to just Tommy Hands' equaliser.

[60] Both clubs having been eliminated from the FA Cup, Small Heath arranged a friendly with Notts County, refereed by the Test cricketer and former England international footballer Billy Gunn, which gave them an opportunity to try out reserve players Jack Jones and Alec Leake.

[61][62] Jones made his competitive debut, standing in for the injured Hallam, as Small Heath again struggled in muddy conditions and, for the fourth time this season, lost to West Bromwich Albion.

[63] Reserve Tom Watson replaced Partridge in goal and Hallam returned to the forward line for the second round of the Birmingham Cup, at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

After consulting both captains, the referee ordered half-an-hour's extra time, but Wanderers, whose players had already returned to the dressing rooms, refused to play, so Jenkyns claimed the game for Small Heath.

[71] Caesar Jenkyns, who "has been playing so well with Small Heath this season that his selection as centre half was a foregone conclusion",[72] "proved himself clever in tackling the English forwards and often getting the ball from them", as Wales drew with England at Queen's Club.

[76] At Derby, County took the lead after 17 minutes when an attempted clearance by Jenkyns was turned into his own net, and increased it to 4–0 in the second half before Frank Mobley broke away to score a late consolation.

[80] Jack Oliver took over the captaincy and Teddy Jolly played at centre-half for the Birmingham Charity Cup semi-final, in which Small Heath finally beat West Bromwich Albion at the sixth attempt.

[81] In their last game of the League season, away to Sheffield United, Small Heath scored first when Foulkes' attempted clearance rebounded off his teammate Walter Hill into the net, and Mobley extended the lead after a break down the left by Hands.

Although United came close to scoring from a second-half scrimmage when the ball appeared to cross the line, Small Heath held on to ensure their First Division survival with an unexpected victory.

[82] After overturning a two-goal deficit to beat Woolwich Arsenal 4–3 in a friendly at Plumstead,[83] Small Heath took on Aston Villa in their last match of the season, the final of the Birmingham Charity Cup.

Despite the misgivings of the Daily Post that "it cannot be expected that eleven or twelve men will stand the strain of a season's work amongst the first division clubs",[1] no member of the first-choice team missed more than four League matches.

[87] The Dart thought that Jenkyns would be missed "a great deal more than some of [the] supporters imagine", and that apart from Fall, who was expected to be "a big improvement" on Partridge, the 1895–96 team would be noticeably weaker than that of the season just ended.