The 1946–47 season was the 67th season of competitive
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
in England.
Overview
The 1946–47 season was the first to feature a full football programme since the
1938–39 campaign. Eighty-eight teams competed over four divisions.
[The Times, 9 September 1946; ''Association Football Only Five Clubs''] Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
went top of the
First Division with a 2–1 away win over
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
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
Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
and
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
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.
Events
The season commenced on 31 August 1946. The largest crowd of the day was 61,000 at
Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to:
* Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England
** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066
* Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge
* Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...
where
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
beat
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
4–3. Aggregate attendance was 950,000 for the 43 matches – the match between
Newport County and
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
was postponed due to floods.
In September, Scottish International Inside-forward,
Tommy Walker, joined Chelsea from
Hearts for £6,000 (''2010: £'').
[ By 14 September most teams had averaged five games with only ]Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
and Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
maintaining a 100% record. By 23 September, only Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
, Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
, Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
and Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
remained unbeaten.
On 5 October Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
created a Second Division record, scoring 13 against Newport County. New signing Len Shackleton
Leonard Francis Shackleton (3 May 1922 – 28 November 2000) was an English footballer. Known as the "Clown Prince of Football", he is generally regarded as one of English football's finest ever entertainers. He also played cricket in the Minor ...
scored five.
In 1946 Sparta Prague
) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští''
, ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena
, capacity = 19,416
, clubname = Sparta Prague
, image = Sparta Praha logo.png
, image_size = 160px
, fu ...
toured Great Britain opening with a 2–2 draw against Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
on 2 October before losing 3–1 to Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
.[The Times, 8 October 1946, ''Association Football Birmingham Beat Sparta'']
Honours
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition
Football League
First Division
The first post-war season saw Liverpool win out in one of the most dramatic finishes to any title race; needing to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in order to wrestle the title away from them, they walked away with a 2–1 win, and their first league title since 1923. However, the surprise package of the season were Manchester United, as Matt Busby
Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager, who managed Manchester United F.C., Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 197 ...
's appointment as manager had an immediate impact and brought them a second-place finish, their highest since their last title win in 1911, with the intervening decades generally only having seen mid-table finishes combined with occasional spells in Division Two; it would prove to be just the start of two decades of immense success under the new manager's leadership. Wolves finished third, having led the table for much of the season, before being undone by a late loss of form. Despite finishing fourth, Stoke City had the opportunity to snatch the title away from Liverpool, due to their final game of the season being delayed by almost two weeks; a loss to Sheffield United ended their hopes, however.
At the bottom, Leeds United were relegated in bottom place, ultimately being cost dear by abysmal away form that saw them earn just one point away from Elland Road
Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England.
The g ...
, and returning to the Second Division after 15 years. Brentford went down after five seasons in Division One; they would ultimately not return to the top-flight until 2021.
Second Division
Manchester City won promotion back to the top-flight at the second attempt, closely followed by Burnley, who returned to Division One for the first time since 1930.
Newport County's first season in the second tier (not counting the abandoned 1939–40 season) ended in immediate relegation, with the club shipping a staggering 133 goals; it would ultimately prove this incarnation of the club's only season at this level before its dissolution in 1989. Fellow Welsh club Swansea Town were also relegated.
Third Division North
Doncaster Rovers were promoted to the Second Division, beating out South Yorkshire rivals Rotherham United, whose own record would have been enough for promotion in most years.
Southport and Halifax Town were both re-elected to the Football League.
Third Division South
Cardiff City won the division, meaning that they passed two of their Welsh rivals, Swansea and Newport, on their way up to the Second Division.
Norwich City and Mansfield Town were both re-elected, though Mansfield were transferred to the Third Division North for the following season.
Top goalscorers
First Division
* Dennis Westcott (Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
) – 38 goals
Second Division
*Charlie Wayman
Charles Wayman (16 May 1921 – 26 February 2006) was an English footballer.
Wayman, who was born in Chilton, Bishop Auckland, was a prolific centre-forward in the first decade after the Second World War. Newcastle United signed him from Sp ...
(Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
) – 30 goals
Third Division North
*Clarrie Jordan
Clarrie Jordan (20 June 1922 – 24 February 1992) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre forward for Upton Colliery, Doncaster Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday. He holds the Doncaster record of 42 league goals scored in ...
(Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
) – 42 goals
Third Division South
* Don Clark (Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
) – 36 goals
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1946-47 in English Football