1946–47 in English football
The1946–47 seasonwas the 67th season of competitive football in England.
Overview
The 1946–47 season marked the return of a complete football programme since the 1938–39 campaign. With eighty-eight teams competing across four divisions, Liverpool ascended to the top of the First Division following a hard-fought 2–1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on 31 May 1947. This match held particular significance as Wolves could have secured their inaugural league title with a win, but it was Liverpool who emerged victorious, clinching their fifth league championship instead. went top of the First Division with a 2–1 away win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on 31 May 1947. Wolves could have clinched their first league title with a victory in that match, but instead the title was won by Liverpool for the fifth time. Due to a bitter winter that postponed many fixtures Liverpool had to wait until the match between Stoke City and Sheffield United on 14 June. A win for Stoke would see them take the title on goal average; however, Sheffield United prevailed 2–1 to give Liverpool its fifth league championship.[2]
Events
The season commenced on 31 August 1946. The largest crowd of the day was 61,000 at Stamford Bridge whereChelseabeat Bolton Wanderers 4–3. Aggregate attendance was 950,000 for the 43 matches – the match between Newport County and Southampton was postponed due to floods.[3]
In September, Scottish International Inside-forward, Tommy Walker, joined Chelsea from Hearts for £6,000 (2010: £194,000).[1]By 14 September most teams had averaged five games with onlyMancheter Unitedand Doncaster Rovers maintaining a 100% record.By 23 September, only Barnsley,Manchester City, Rotherham United and Queens Park Rangers remained unbeaten.[5]
On 5 October Newcastle United created a Second Division record, scoring 13 against Newport County. New signing Len Shackleton scored five.[6]
In 1946 Sparta Prague toured Great Britain opening with a 2–2 draw againstArsenalon 2 October before losing 3–1 to Birmingham City[8]
Honours
Competition | Winner | Runner-up |
---|---|---|
First Division | Liverpool(5) | Manchester United |
Second Division | Manchester City | Burnley |
Third Division North | Doncaster Rovers | Rotherham United |
Third Division South | Cardiff City | Queens Park Rangers |
FA Cup | Charlton Athletic (1) | Burnley |
Home Championship | England | Ireland |
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition
Football League
First Division
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Liverpool | 42 | 25 | 7 | 10 | 84 | 52 | 1.615 | 57 | |
2 | Manchester United | 42 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 95 | 54 | 1.759 | 56 | |
3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 25 | 6 | 11 | 98 | 56 | 1.750 | 56 | |
4 | Stoke City | 42 | 24 | 7 | 11 | 90 | 53 | 1.698 | 55 | |
5 | Blackpool | 42 | 22 | 6 | 14 | 71 | 70 | 1.014 | 50 | |
6 | Sheffield United | 42 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 89 | 75 | 1.187 | 49 | |
7 | Preston North End | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 76 | 74 | 1.027 | 47 | |
8 | Aston Villa | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 67 | 53 | 1.264 | 45 | |
9 | Sunderland | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 65 | 66 | 0.985 | 44 | |
10 | Everton | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 62 | 67 | 0.925 | 43 | |
11 | Middlesbrough | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 73 | 68 | 1.074 | 42 | |
12 | Portsmouth | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 66 | 60 | 1.100 | 41 | |
13 | Arsenal | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 72 | 70 | 1.029 | 41 | |
14 | Derby County | 42 | 18 | 5 | 19 | 73 | 79 | 0.924 | 41 | |
15 | Chelsea | 42 | 16 | 7 | 19 | 69 | 84 | 0.821 | 39 | |
16 | Grimsby Town | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 61 | 82 | 0.744 | 38 | |
17 | Blackburn Rovers | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 45 | 53 | 0.849 | 36 | |
18 | Bolton Wanderers | 42 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 57 | 69 | 0.826 | 34 | |
19 | Charlton Athletic | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 57 | 71 | 0.803 | 34 | |
20 | Huddersfield Town | 42 | 13 | 7 | 22 | 53 | 79 | 0.671 | 33 | |
21 | Brentford | 42 | 9 | 7 | 26 | 45 | 88 | 0.511 | 25 | Relegated to the Second Division |
22 | Leeds United | 42 | 6 | 6 | 30 | 45 | 90 | 0.500 | 18 |
Second Division
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Manchester City | 42 | 26 | 10 | 6 | 78 | 35 | 2.229 | 62 | Promoted to the First Division |
2 | Burnley | 42 | 22 | 14 | 6 | 65 | 29 | 2.241 | 58 | |
3 | Birmingham City | 42 | 25 | 5 | 12 | 74 | 33 | 2.242 | 55 | |
4 | Chesterfield | 42 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 58 | 44 | 1.318 | 50 | |
5 | Newcastle United | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 95 | 62 | 1.532 | 48 | |
6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 65 | 53 | 1.226 | 48 | |
7 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 88 | 75 | 1.173 | 48 | |
8 | Coventry City | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 66 | 59 | 1.119 | 45 | |
9 | Leicester City | 42 | 18 | 7 | 17 | 69 | 64 | 1.078 | 43 | |
10 | Barnsley | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 84 | 86 | 0.977 | 42 | |
11 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 69 | 74 | 0.932 | 40 | |
12 | West Ham United | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 70 | 76 | 0.921 | 40 | |
13 | Luton Town | 42 | 16 | 7 | 19 | 71 | 73 | 0.973 | 39 | |
14 | Southampton | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 69 | 76 | 0.908 | 39 | |
15 | Fulham | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 63 | 74 | 0.851 | 39 | |
16 | Bradford Park Avenue | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 65 | 77 | 0.844 | 39 | |
17 | Bury | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 80 | 78 | 1.026 | 36 | |
18 | Millwall | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 56 | 79 | 0.709 | 36 | |
19 | Plymouth Argyle | 42 | 14 | 5 | 23 | 79 | 96 | 0.823 | 33 | |
20 | Sheffield Wednesday | 42 | 12 | 8 | 22 | 67 | 88 | 0.761 | 32 | |
21 | Swansea Town | 42 | 11 | 7 | 24 | 55 | 83 | 0.663 | 29 | Relegated to the Third Division South |
22 | Newport County | 42 | 10 | 3 | 29 | 61 | 133 | 0.459 | 23 |
Third Division North
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Doncaster Rovers | 42 | 33 | 6 | 3 | 123 | 40 | 3.075 | 72 | Promoted to the Second Division |
2 | Rotherham United | 42 | 29 | 6 | 7 | 114 | 53 | 2.151 | 64 | |
3 | Chester | 42 | 25 | 6 | 11 | 95 | 51 | 1.863 | 56 | |
4 | Stockport County | 42 | 24 | 2 | 16 | 78 | 53 | 1.472 | 50 | |
5 | Bradford City | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 62 | 47 | 1.319 | 50 | |
6 | Rochdale | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 80 | 64 | 1.250 | 48 | |
7 | Wrexham | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 65 | 51 | 1.275 | 46 | |
8 | Crewe Alexandra | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 70 | 74 | 0.946 | 43 | |
9 | Barrow | 42 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 54 | 62 | 0.871 | 41 | |
10 | Tranmere Rovers | 42 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 66 | 77 | 0.857 | 41 | |
11 | Hull City | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 49 | 53 | 0.925 | 40 | |
12 | Lincoln City | 42 | 17 | 5 | 20 | 86 | 87 | 0.989 | 39 | |
13 | Hartlepools United | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 64 | 73 | 0.877 | 39 | |
14 | Gateshead | 42 | 16 | 6 | 20 | 62 | 72 | 0.861 | 38 | |
15 | York City | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 67 | 81 | 0.827 | 37 | |
16 | Carlisle United | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 70 | 93 | 0.753 | 37 | |
17 | Darlington | 42 | 15 | 6 | 21 | 68 | 80 | 0.850 | 36 | |
18 | New Brighton | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 57 | 77 | 0.740 | 36 | |
19 | Oldham Athletic | 42 | 12 | 8 | 22 | 55 | 80 | 0.688 | 32 | |
20 | Accrington Stanley | 42 | 14 | 4 | 24 | 56 | 92 | 0.609 | 32 | |
21 | Southport | 42 | 7 | 11 | 24 | 53 | 85 | 0.624 | 25 | Re-elected |
22 | Halifax Town | 42 | 8 | 6 | 28 | 43 | 92 | 0.467 | 22 |
Third Division South
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Cardiff City | 42 | 30 | 6 | 6 | 93 | 30 | 3.100 | 66 | Promoted to the Second Division |
2 | Queens Park Rangers | 42 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 74 | 40 | 1.850 | 57 | |
3 | Bristol City | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 94 | 56 | 1.679 | 51 | |
4 | Swindon Town | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 84 | 73 | 1.151 | 49 | |
5 | Walsall | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 74 | 59 | 1.254 | 46 | |
6 | Ipswich Town | 42 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 61 | 53 | 1.151 | 46 | |
7 | Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 72 | 54 | 1.333 | 44 | |
8 | Southend United | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 71 | 60 | 1.183 | 44 | |
9 | Reading | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 83 | 74 | 1.122 | 43 | |
10 | Port Vale | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 68 | 63 | 1.079 | 43 | |
11 | Torquay United | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 52 | 61 | 0.852 | 42 | |
12 | Notts County | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 63 | 63 | 1.000 | 40 | |
13 | Northampton Town | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 72 | 75 | 0.960 | 40 | |
14 | Bristol Rovers | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 59 | 69 | 0.855 | 40 | |
15 | Exeter City | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 60 | 69 | 0.870 | 39 | |
16 | Watford | 42 | 17 | 5 | 20 | 61 | 76 | 0.803 | 39 | |
17 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 54 | 72 | 0.750 | 38 | |
18 | Crystal Palace | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 49 | 62 | 0.790 | 37 | |
19 | Leyton Orient | 42 | 12 | 8 | 22 | 54 | 75 | 0.720 | 32 | |
20 | Aldershot | 42 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 48 | 78 | 0.615 | 32 | |
21 | Norwich City | 42 | 10 | 8 | 24 | 64 | 100 | 0.640 | 28 | Re-elected |
22 | Mansfield Town | 42 | 9 | 10 | 23 | 48 | 96 | 0.500 | 28 | Re-elected and transferred to the Third Division North |