After playing without a team manager during the previous season, Jack English was appointed to the post in the summer of 1928 following the club's successful re-election application.

A record of 17 wins, 5 draws and 20 defeats, giving a total of 39 points, helped Nelson to a 15th-placed finish in the Third Division North, above Rotherham United on goal average.

The team was inconsistent throughout the season, as they had been in the previous campaign, although significant improvements in the defense meant that 46 fewer goals were conceded.

Half-back Jim Metcalfe made the most appearances for Nelson, missing only the final game of the season, the 4–4 draw away at Accrington Stanley.

The highest attendance at Nelson's Seedhill ground was a record 14,979 for the visit of Bradford City on 27 April 1929, which stood until the stadium was demolished in 1980.