1946–47 Southampton F.C. season

May 2016 May 2016 Southampton F.C. 1946–47 Alf Jukes Bill Dodgin The Dell Second Division 14th FA Cup Fourth round Jack Bradley (14) Jack Bradley (15)George Lewis (15) 25,746 v Newcastle United (12 October 1946) 4,289 v Coventry City(5 February 1947) 16,039 4–0 v Swansea Town(4 September 1946) 0–6 v Nottingham Forest (18 January 1947) _red_stripes _redstripes2 _red_stripes _3whitehoops FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF 003366 003366 1945–46 1947–48 The 1946–47 season was the 46th year of competitive football played by Southampton F.C., the club's 20th season as members of the Football League, and their 18th competing in the Second Division.http://www.statto.com/football/teams/southampton/history Southampton Complete History Statto.com 29 May 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161001204812/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/southampton/history 1 October 2016 live dmy-all The Saints finished the campaign in 14th place in the league table, having gained 39 from a possible 84 points with 15 wins, 9 draws and 18 losses.https://www.rsssf.org/engpaul/FLA/1946-47.html Season 1946-47 English League Tables, 1888-2008 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation 29 May 2016 The club also competed in the FA Cup, making it to the fourth round after just one win, against fellow Second Division side Bury.https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engcup1947.html England FA Challenge Cup 1946-47 England FA Challenge Cup Finals Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation 29 May 2016 Following a break due to the Second World War, league football resumed in England in 1946.Holley Chalk 2003 2 The 1946–47 season was the club's first to feature Bill Dodgin as manager, who joined and played for the club during wartime, and was appointed manager in March 1946.Chalk Holley Bull 2013 57 In the summer before the start of the season, the Saints made a number of new signings, including bringing in full-back Bill Rochford from local rivals Portsmouth, who had just won the FA Cup, as well as centre-forward George Lewis for a "four-figure fee". Partway through the season, they signed wing-half Joe Mallett from Queens Park Rangers for a club record fee of £5,000.Holley Chalk 2003 4 Due to the lack of official competition during wartime, many players made their official debuts for the club during the season, including eight in the first match. During the season, 24 players appeared for Southampton in all competitions. New signing Bill Rochford featured in more games than any other player, appearing in 43 of the club's 44 games during the season (he missed just one league game, against Luton Town on 22 February 1947).Holley Chalk 2003 5 Jack Bradley, who had joined the club during the abandoned 1939–40 season, finished as Southampton's top league scorer with 14 goals; Bradley and new signing George Lewis each scored 15 goals in all competitions. The club attracted an average home league attendance at The Dell of 16,039 – the highest attendance was 25,746 against Newcastle United. Pre-season friendlies In preparation for the 1946–47 season, Southampton played two pre-season friendly matches. On 14 August 1946 the Saints won 4–1 against Irish club Bohemians, with new signing George Lewis and Don Roper scoring two goals each.Holley Chalk 2003 424 They then beat French side Le Havre 7–0 at home thanks to a hat-trick from Don Roper, two goals from Doug McGibbon, and one each from Jack Bradley and Bobby Veck. Friendly 14 August 1946 Bohemians 1–4 Southampton Lewis Roper Dalymount Park Dublin, Ireland W Friendly 23 August 1946 Southampton 7–0 Le Havre Roper McGibbon Bradley Veck The Dell Southampton W Second Division Season summary After their initial opening game of the season against Newport County was postponed due to unseasonable flooding, Southampton began the 1946–47 season well with a 4–0 win over Swansea Town at home, with Doug McGibbon scoring a hat-trick. The team dropped down to 10th in the table with a draw and a loss, before beating Nottingham Forest convincingly 5–2 thanks to goals from McGibbon (two), Alf Freeman (two) and Jack Bradley. The Saints began to drop down the league table in October thanks to a winless run, but picked their form back up at the end of the month with wins over Newport County and Plymouth Argyle.Holley Chalk 2003 3 The club's fortunes continued to change week on week, although they finished the year off strongly with a 5–1 win over Newport County to remain in the top ten going into 1947. The new year began poorly for the Saints with three consecutive losses away from home in which the side conceded 11 goals, prompting Dodgin to replace regular goalkeeper George Ephgrave with Len Stansbridge for much of the rest of the season. Through February and March, the team won four out of seven matches (including a 5–2 home victory over Coventry City and three away wins) to move away from the relegation zone and back up to the top ten, although four straight losses against high-performing opponents saw them drop back down to 15th in April. Seven players were released by the club near the end of the month. Three wins from their last six matches meant that Southampton finished 14th in the Second Division table, improving on their 18th-place finish in the last pre-war season eight years earlier. Final league table Second Division y SOU RSSSF Results by matchday table b Round Ground H /H /A /H /A /H /A /A /H /A /A /H /A /H /A /H /A /H /A /A /H /H /A /A /A /H /H /A /H /A /H /A /A /H /H /A /H /A /A /H /H /H Result W /D /L /W /L /W /L /L /D /D /W /W /L /D /L /W /D /W /L /D /D /W /L /L /L /W /L /W /L /W /L /W /L /L /L /L /W /D /L /W /W /D Position 7 /8/10 /8/13/10/10/14/14/13/11/10/12/13/14/12/12 /9/11/11/11 /9/10/15/16/13/13/11/11/10/12/10/10/10/11/15/11/13/14/12/12/12 Home Away green2 Win yellow2 Draw red2 Loss 1st 2nd 3rd red1 statto.com Match results 1 4 September 1946 Southampton 4–0 Swansea Town McGibbon 10 25 53Veck 41 The Dell Southampton 8,000 W 2 7 September 1946 Southampton 1–1 Bury Bradley 16 Kilshaw 68 The Dell Southampton 23,000 D 3 9 September 1946 Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 Southampton Rundle 4Bennett 43 McGibbon 65 White Hart Lane London 22,153 L 4 14 September 1946 Southampton 5–2 Nottingham Forest McGibbon 1 65Freeman 8 54Bradley 37 Edwards 32Johnston The Dell Southampton 17,991 W 5 21 September 1946 Coventry City 2–0 Southampton Gardner 10Lowrie 60 Highfield Road Coventry 20,000 L 6 28 September 1946 Southampton 1–0 Birmingham City Bradley 13 The Dell Southampton 24,920 W 7 3 October 1946 Swansea Town 4–2 Southampton Lockhart 31Bradley 85 Bates 44Ford 75 80McCrory 89 Vetch Field Swansea 21,523 L 8 5 October 1946 West Bromwich Albion 2–0 Southampton Clarke 6Duggan The Hawthorns West Bromwich 28,000 L 9 12 October 1946 Southampton 1–1 Newcastle United Bates 61 Shackleton 56 The Dell Southampton 25,746 D 10 19 October 1946 Luton Town 2–2 Southampton Connelly 58Daniel 72 Roper Bevis 62 Kenilworth Road Luton 20,000 D 11 24 October 1946 Newport County 1–2 Southampton Carr 36 Lewis 51Bevis 69 Rodney Parade Newport 11,149 W 12 26 October 1946 Southampton 5–1 Plymouth Argyle Bradley 9 85Grant 35 60McGibbon 82 Rawlings 52 pen. The Dell Southampton 18,252 W 13 2 November 1946 Leicester City 2–0 Southampton Dewis 3 65 Filbert Street Leicester 20,000 L 14 9 November 1946 Southampton 1–1 Chesterfield McGibbon 26 Ottewell 73 The Dell Southampton 18,006 D 15 16 November 1946 Millwall 3–1 Southampton Hurrell 20 75Mansfield 48 Smith 40 The Den London 24,413 L 16 23 November 1946 Southampton 3–2 Bradford Park Avenue Roper 5Bevis 47Stroud 75 Farrell 76 pen.Danskin 85 The Dell Southampton 16,249 W 17 30 November 1946 Manchester City 1–1 Southampton Constantine 23 Bates 43 Maine Road Manchester 24,867 D 18 7 December 1946 Southampton 4–2 West Ham United Ellerington 19 pen.McGibbon 59Bevis 61Roper 77 Bainbridge 53Payne 53 The Dell Southampton 17,305 W 19 14 December 1946 Sheffield Wednesday 3–0 Southampton Dailey 10 80Ward 86 Hillsborough Stadium Sheffield 10,000 L 20 25 December 1946 Barnsley 4–4 Southampton Pallister pen.Robledo Morris Bennett Stroud 32Bevis 67Lewis 70 78 Oakwell Barnsley 16,200 D 21 26 December 1946 Southampton 1–1 Barnsley Ramsey 88 pen. Morris The Dell Southampton 21,556 D 22 28 December 1946 Southampton 5–1 Newport County Lewis 6Bradley 23 59Stroud 68Bevis 70 Rawcliffe 83 The Dell Southampton 17,778 W 23 4 January 1947 Bury 2–1 Southampton Carter 70 85 Lewis 37 Gigg Lane Bury 16,000 L 24 18 January 1947 Nottingham Forest 6–0 Southampton Lyman 5 62Edwards 20Brown 43Barks 59Brigham 77 City Ground Nottingham 20,000 L 25 1 February 1947 Birmingham City 3–1 Southampton Trigg 17 83Mulraney 41 Bradley 50 St Andrew's Birmingham 32,878 L 26 5 February 1947 Southampton 5–2 Coventry City Lewis 18 22Roper 67Bradley 69Day 89 Roberts 13 17 The Dell Southampton 4,2894,289 is Southampton's lowest post-war home league attendance. W 27 8 February 1947 Southampton 0–1 West Bromwich Albion Elliott 34 The Dell Southampton 8,000 L 28 15 February 1947 Newcastle United 1–3 Southampton Pearson 16 Roper 3Day 66Stroud 82 St James' Park Newcastle upon Tyne 35,000 W 29 22 February 1947 Southampton 1–3 Luton Town Roper 37 Driver 30Duggan 32 50 The Dell Southampton 11,700 L 30 1 March 1947 Plymouth Argyle 2–3 Southampton Watkins 33Thomas 70 Mallett 36Lewis 65 84 Home Park Plymouth 24,071 W 31 22 March 1947 Southampton 1–2 Millwall Lewis 15 Woodward 34Jinks 77 The Dell Southampton 14,922 L 32 29 March 1947 Bradford Park Avenue 2–3 Southampton Smith 46 80 Lewis 27 31Roper 53 Horsfall Stadium Bradford 10,000 W 33 4 April 1947 Burnley 1–0 Southampton Kippax 80 Turf Moor Burnley 31,713 L 34 5 April 1947 Southampton 0–1 Manchester City Smith 27 The Dell Southampton 24,197 L 35 7 April 1947 Southampton 0–1 Burnley Knight 75 The Dell Southampton 19,319 L 36 12 April 1947 West Ham United 4–0 Southampton Neary 56Wood 50Parsons 71 Boleyn Ground London 21,000 L 37 19 April 1947 Southampton 3–1 Sheffield Wednesday Bradley 2 68Roper 77 Ward 10 The Dell Southampton 13,514 W 38 26 April 1947 Fulham 0–0 Southampton Craven Cottage London 14,087 D 39 3 May 1947 Chesterfield 5–0 Southampton Swinscoe 6 89G. Milburn 76 pen. 81Oliver 88 Saltergate Chesterfield 10,000 L 40 10 May 1947 Southampton 1–0 Tottenham Hotspur Roper 12 The Dell Southampton 12,436 W 41 24 May 1947 Southampton 2–0 Fulham Bates 25Bradley 70 The Dell Southampton 9,738 W 42 26 May 1947 Southampton 1–1 Leicester City Bradley 39 Smith 83 The Dell Southampton 9,905 D FA Cup Bury (11 January 1947) Southampton entered the 1946–47 FA Cup in the third round, facing fellow Second Division side Bury at home on 11 January 1947. The Saints controlled the game from the early exchanges, with Jack Bradley, George Lewis and Billy Bevis scoring within the first 16 minutes to put the hosts 3–0 up.Holley Chalk 2003 302 Bury pulled one back before the break through a penalty, which was awarded due to a handball in the area by George Smith, and dominated the share of possession going into half-time. In the second half, the Saints quickly reasserted their dominance and made it 4–1 through a second goal from Lewis in the 52nd minute. After he was initially denied by the crossbar earlier on, Lewis did later complete his hat-trick (the club's first in the competition proper) when he converted following a run by Eric Webber. Newcastle United (25 January 1947) In the fourth round Southampton travelled to face Newcastle United, who were then second in the Second Division league table.http://www.statto.com/football/teams/newcastle-united/1946-1947/results Newcastle United results for the 1946-47 season statto.com 30 May 2016 9 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160309122706/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/newcastle-united/1946-1947/results live The Saints took the lead in the 11th minute, as Don Roper shot from the outside of the box and scored due to a deflection off centre-half Frank Brennan.Holley Chalk 2003 303 The lead remained until the break, however the hosts' pressure going into the break continued in the second half when Charlie Wayman equalised shortly after half-time. Nine minutes later he scored again, heading in a Doug Wright free-kick. Despite increased attacking pressure from the Saints, Wayman completed his hat-trick later in the game to put Newcastle through to the fifth round. The Magpies went on to make it to the semi-finals of the tournament, before being knocked out by eventual champions Charlton Athletic. Round 3 11 January 1947 Southampton 5–1 Bury Bradley Lewis 1052Bevis 16 32 pen. The Dell Southampton 19,701 W Round 4 25 January 1947 Newcastle United 3–1 Southampton Wayman 5059 Roper 11 St James' Park Newcastle upon Tyne 55,873 L Post-season friendlies Around the end of the season, Southampton played three more friendlies – two before the league had concluded, the third shortly after. The first saw the Saints travel to face Guernsey's international side on 14 May 1947, who they beat 2–1 thanks to goals from Jack Bradley and George Lewis. A week later, the Saints hosted Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic for the Hampshire Professional Cup, a local exhibition trophy fixture. The game ended 1–1 after extra time, with Bradley scoring for Southampton, resulting in the sides sharing the title. Southampton's final 1947 pre-season friendly took place on 11 June, when they faced a team representing the British Army of the Rhine in Hanover, Germany as part of the commemoration of Liberation from Nazi Germany; the hosts won 4–1, with Don Roper scoring the consolation for the visitors. Friendly 14 May 1947 Guernsey 1–2 Southampton Bradley Lewis Guernsey W Friendly 21 May 1947 Southampton 1–1 yes Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic Bradley The Dell Southampton D Friendly 11 June 1947 British Army of the Rhine XI 4–1 Southampton Roper Hanover, Germany L Squad statistics NamePos. Playing positionNat. NationalityLeagueFA CupTotalApps. AppearancesGls. GoalsApps. AppearancesGls. GoalsApps. AppearancesGls. GoalsTed BatesFW ForwardENG22400224Billy BevisFW ForwardENG14521166Jack BradleyFW ForwardENG3814214015Bill BushbyHB Half backENG200020Stan ClementsHB Half backENG200020Eric DayFW ForwardENG19220212Bill ElleringtonFB Full backENG19110201George EphgraveGK GoalkeeperENG29020310Alf FreemanFW ForwardENG720072Wilf GrantFW ForwardENG21300213Jack GregoryFB Full backENG100010George HorsfallHB Half backAUS200020George LewisFW ForwardWAL2812233015Joe MallettHB Half backENG13100131Alf RamseyFB Full backENG23110241Bill RochfordFB Full backENG41020430Albie RolesFB Full backENG000000Don RoperFW ForwardENG40821429George SmithHB Half backENG34120361Len StansbridgeGK GoalkeeperENG13000130Bobby VeckFW ForwardENG12100121Eric WebberHB Half backENG40020420Len WilkinsHB Half backENG000000Players with appearances who left the club before the end of the seasonHarry EvansFW ForwardENG100010Doug McGibbonFW ForwardENG12900129Bill StroudHB Half backENG29420314 Most appearances No. NumberNamePos. Playing positionNat. NationalityLeagueFA CupTotalApps. AppearancesMins. Minutes playedApps. AppearancesMins. Minutes playedApps. AppearancesMins. Minutes played% % of games1Bill RochfordFB Full backENG413,6902180433,87097.73%2Don RoperFW ForwardENG403,6002180423,78095.45%Eric WebberHB Half backENG403,6002180423,78095.45%4Jack BradleyFW ForwardENG383,4202180403,60090.91%5George SmithHB Half backENG343,0602180363,24081.82%6George EphgraveGK GoalkeeperENG292,6102180312,79070.45%Bill StroudHB Half backENG292,6102180312,79070.45%8George LewisFW ForwardWAL282,5202180302,70068.18%9Alf RamseyFB Full backENG232,070190242,16054.55%10Ted BatesFW ForwardENG221,98000221,98050.00% Top goalscorers No. NumberNamePos. Playing positionNat. NationalityLeagueFA CupTotalGls. GoalsApps. AppearancesGls. GoalsApps. AppearancesGls. GoalsApps. AppearancesGPG Goals per game1George LewisFW ForwardWAL12283215300.50Jack BradleyFW ForwardENG14381215400.373Doug McGibbonFW ForwardENG912009120.75Don RoperFW ForwardENG840129420.215Billy BevisFW ForwardENG514126160.376Ted BatesFW ForwardENG422004220.18Bill StroudHB Half backENG429024310.128Alf FreemanFW ForwardENG2700270.28Eric DayFW ForwardENG219022210.09 Transfers Players transferred inDatePos.NameClubFeeRef.April 1946GK GoalkeeperENG George EphgraveENG Swindon TownFreeChalk Holley Bull 2013 310July 1946FB Full backENG Bill RochfordENG Portsmouth£550July 1946FW ForwardENG George LewisENG Watford£1,000+Lewis's transfer fee is generally reported as "a four-figure fee".September 1946HB Half backENG Bill BushbyENG PortsmouthFreeChalk Holley Bull 2013 266October 1946FW ForwardENG Wilf GrantENG Manchester CityFreeChalk Holley Bull 2013 333February 1947HB Half backENG Joe MallettENG Queens Park Rangers£5,000Joe Mallett's £5,000 transfer fee was a club record at the time.Holley Chalk 2003 544Players transferred outDatePos.NameClubFeeRef.September 1946FB Full backENG Tom EmanuelWAL LlanelliFreeChalk Holley Bull 2013 66January 1947FW ForwardENG Doug McGibbonENG Fulham£4,250Chalk Holley Bull 2013 121–122Players releasedDatePos.NameSubsequent clubJoin dateRef.April 1947FW ForwardENG Harry EvansENG Exeter CityJune 1947Chalk Holley Bull 2013 311April 1947HB Half backENG Bill StroudENG Leyton OrientJune 1947Chalk Holley Bull 2013 474 Footnotes References 30em Bibliography Chalk Gary Holley Duncan Bull David November 2013 All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC Hagiology Publishing Bristol, England 978-0-9926864-0-6 Holley Duncan Chalk Gary Bull David 2003 In That Number: A Post-War Chronicle of Southampton FC Hagiology Publishing Bristol, England 0-9534474-3-X Category:Southampton F.C. seasons Southampton