 After several close shaves – including the 1898–99 title defence mentioned above, 1919–20, when they won just 6 matches, and 1929–30, when a 5–1 win at Old Trafford on the final day pulled them out of the bottom spot – they finished bottom of the First Division in 1934 and were relegated for the first time.A contributing factor to relegation was the decision to sell Irish centre forward Jimmy Dunne, who scored over 140 goals for the club in just six seasons, to Arsenal early in the 1933–4 season.Dunne scored over 30 top division goals in each of 3 consecutive seasons between 1930–1 and 1932–3, a feat which was not performed again until Alan Shearer managed it in 1993–96.