The 1950–51 season was the 71st season of competitive football in England.

Overview

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

won their first League Championship, while

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

defeated

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

2–0 to win their fourth

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

. They would win it twice more over the next four seasons. Everton were relegated to the Second Division for only the second time in their history. The league was expanded from 88 to 92 clubs for this season, with

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

and Shrewsbury Town joining the Third Division North, and

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

join the Third Division South along with Gillingham who were re-elected to the league 12 years after being voted out of it.

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

signed Trevor Ford from

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

for the then record fee of £30,000 (''2012: £'').Huw Richards, 'Ford, Trevor (1923–2003)’,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, Oxford University Press, Jan 2007; online edn, Jan 2010 At the end of the season,

Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager, who managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–71 season. He was the first manager of a ...

signed

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 ...

winger

Johnny Berry Reginald John Berry (1 June 1926 – 16 September 1994), also listed as John James Berry, was an English footballer. Berry joined Manchester United from Birmingham City in 1951. Despite his diminutive stature, he was a natural right winger wit ...

for

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 ...

for a club record fee of £25,000.

Honours

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

FA Cup

defeated

2–0 in the 1951 FA Cup Final.

Football League

First Division

Tottenham Hotspur, in their first top-flight season since 1935, surpassed all expectations by winning the league for the first time in their history. Manchester United finished second, continuing their wait for their first title under

. Blackpool finished third, narrowly beating out FA Cup winners Newcastle United. A dramatic finish to the season saw all the bottom three sides bracketed together on 32 points. Everton finished bottom after being thrashed 6-0 by Sheffield Wednesday (who were already all but assured of relegation) on the last day, with Chelsea surviving thanks to a four-game winning streak.

Second Division

Preston North End won the division, with Manchester City earning promotion as runners-up, continuing the yo-yo club existence of both sides, with Preston having been out of the top-flight for two seasons, and City for one season. Grimsby Town and Chesterfield were both relegated to the third tier.

Third Division North

Rotherham United convincingly won the season, with Mansfield Town and Carlisle United both having more-than-respectable seasons, but not being able to catch Rotherham. New Brighton, who had struggled with low attendance and financial problems since their Sandheys Park ground was destroyed by bombing in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, finished bottom and did not make a serious bid to be re-elected, effectively resigning their membership of the Football League. Their place was taken by

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Loca ...

for the following season. Accrington Stanley retained their membership of the league as a consequence.

Third Division South

Nottingham Forest won promotion back to the Second Division at the second time of asking, with Cardiff City finishing a convincing second, but not being able to overhaul Forest. Watford and Crystal Palace were both forced to apply for re-election, but New Brighton's plight meant neither club was in any real danger of losing their place in the Football League.

Top goalscorers

First Division *

Stan Mortensen Stanley Harding Mortensen (26 May 1921 – 22 May 1991) was an English professional footballer, most famous for his part in the 1953 FA Cup Final (subsequently known as the " Matthews Final"), in which he became the only player ever to score a ...

(

) – 30 goals Second Division *

Cec McCormack John Cecil McCormack (15 February 1922 – 1995) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. McCormack started his career with Gateshead, moving to neighbours Middlesbrough in April 1947 before a spell at non-league Chelmsford Cit ...

( Barnsley) – 33 goals Third Division North * Jack Shaw (

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 ...

) – 37 goals Third Division South *

Wally Ardron Wally Ardron (19 September 1918 – 1978) was a association football, footballer born in Swinton, South Yorkshire, Swinton, West Riding of Yorkshire, and who played as a centre forward. He joined Rotherham United F.C., Rotherham United from Dena ...

(

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

) – 36 goals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1950-51 In English Football