1921–22 Tranmere Rovers F.C. season

April 2014 April 2026 Tranmere Rovers F.C. 1921–22 WH Stott Bert Cooke Prenton Park Football League Third Division North 18th (of 20) FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round (eliminated by Altrincham) Groves (7) Bullough, Groves (7) 10,000 vs Southport (18 April 1922) 3,000 vs Durham City (1 April 1922) 6,287 _2_stripes_white 0000FF 0000FF 0000FF FFFFFF 003366 Team 1920–21 1922–23 The 1921–22 season was the first season of league football played by Tranmere Rovers. They joined the Football League Third Division North, when it was established after the restructuring of the English league system. The club played their first fixture, against Crewe Alexandra, at Prenton Park on 27 August 1921, winning 4–1. Rovers ended the season in 18th place out of 20 teams, finishing ahead on goal average from Halifax Town, who had to apply for re-election. They were eliminated from the FA Cup in the Fourth Qualifying Round, losing a replay to non-league Altrincham. Review left|thumb|alt=Squad picture|Before first Football League match Prior to the start of the 1919–20 season, The Football League had formed a new Third Division, composed primarily of southern teams. On 7 March 1921, Tranmere – then members of the Central League – were invited to become founder members of the new Division Three North. At this time the team were managed by Bert Cooke, who did so for 23 years in total, the club record for longest serving manager. In preparation for their new football league status, Tranmere made eleven new signings, meaning there were 25 professional players by the start of the season. They also bought the freehold on their ground, Prenton Park, for £7,500. Unlike their neighbours Everton and Liverpool, Tranmere could not sustain such growth and were forced to raise admission prices, causing an outcry amongst fans. On 27 August 1921 at 3:15 pm, Tranmere started their first Football League match against Crewe Alexandra at Prenton Park. Attendance was affected by the new ticket prices, with 7,011 spectators present. Billy Caulfield scored first for Crewe, with Charles Milnes equalising for Tranmere as they went on to a 4–1 victory. Tranmere's first six games produced two wins, two draws and two defeats. However, they performed poorly over the rest of the season. They were eliminated from the FA Cup in the Fourth Qualifying Round, losing 4–2 to non-league Altrincham at home, after a 4–4 away draw, and thus being the Robins' first ever league victims. They finished 18th of 20 in the league, only finishing ahead of Halifax Town on goal average, who had to apply for re-election. The optimism felt by the directors at the start of the season about being on par with their Merseyside rivals changed to uncertainty. This is reflected in the statistics for the season: thirty-one players were used in total, with only seven making more than twenty appearances; the top league scorer was Fred Groves, with seven goals. Third Division North 1921–22 Football League#Third Division North Third Division North y TRA Results All data relating to league, FA Cup and other matches, and own goal scorers are sourced from Upton and Wilson (1997). In the results column, Tranmere's score is given first. H, A and N refer to home, away and neutral venues, respectively. Football League Third Division North + Date Opponents Venue Result Score Scorers Attendance dmy 1921 August 27 Crewe Alexandra H W 4–1 Stuart, Milnes, Groves, Ford 7,011 dmy 1921 September 3 Crewe Alexandra A D 1–1 Prentice 8,000 dmy 1921 September 10 Walsall H L 0–1 8,446 dmy 1921 September 17 Walsall A L 0–2 11,000 dmy 1921 September 24 Halifax Town H D 2–2 Bullough, Prentice 7,000 dmy 1921 October 1 Halifax Town A W 2–0 Groves, Bullough 8,000 dmy 1921 October 8 Rochdale A L 1–2 Bullough 6,000 dmy 1921 October 15 Rochdale H W 7–0 Groves (2), Bullough, Cunningham (4) 6,000 dmy 1921 October 22 Stalybridge Celtic H W 4–1 Campbell, Ford, Groves, Cunningham 5,000 dmy 1921 October 29 Stalybridge Celtic A L 0–4 6,000 dmy 1921 November 5 Wigan Borough A D 0–0 10,000 dmy 1921 November 12 Wigan Borough H W 2–0 Groves (2) 8,000 dmy 1921 November 26 Hartlepools United A D 0–0 6,000 dmy 1921 December 10 Southport A D 1–1 Bullough 5,000 dmy 1921 December 17 Stockport County H L 0–2 8,000 dmy 1921 December 24 Stockport County A D 0–0 8,000 dmy 1921 December 26 Ashington H L 2–3 Hilton, Cunningham 8,000 dmy 1921 December 27 Hartlepools United H L 1–2 Prentice 7,000 dmy 1921 December 31 Grimsby Town H D 2–2 Roberts, Lloyy 6,000 dmy 1922 January 14 Grimsby Town A L 1–5 Hilton 7,000 dmy 1922 January 21 Accrington Stanley H L 2–4 Moreton, Ford 4,000 dmy 1922 January 28 Accrington Stanley A L 0–3 5,000 dmy 1922 February 4 Darlington A L 0–4 3,000 dmy 1922 February 11 Darlington H L 0–1 6,000 dmy 1922 February 18 Lincoln City A L 1–4 Stuart 4,000 dmy 1922 February 25 Lincoln City H W 4–0 Mercer, Moreton, Fulton, Ward (o.g.) 5,000 dmy 1922 March 4 Ashington A L 0–1 4,200 dmy 1922 March 18 Barrow H D 2–2 Stuart, Fulton 4,000 dmy 1922 March 25 Barrow A L 0–2 4,000 dmy 1922 April 1 Durham H D 3–3 Ford, Fulton, Musgrove (o.g.) 3,000 dmy 1922 April 8 Durham A L 0–3 1,500 dmy 1922 April 14 Chesterfield H W 2–0 Moreton, Lloyd 8,000 dmy 1922 April 15 Wrexham H D 0–0 6,000 dmy 1922 April 17 Chesterfield A L 0–3 6,000 dmy 1922 April 18 Southport H L 0–1 10,000 dmy 1922 April 22 Wrexham A W 3–1 Stuart, Rainford (2) 3,700 dmy 1922 April 29 Nelson H W 4–0 Campbell, Milnes, Moreton, Rainford 3,000 dmy 1922 May 6 Nelson A D 0–0 FA Cup + Date Opponents Venue Result Score Scorers Attendance Notes dmy 1921 November 19 Altrincham A D 4–4 Cook, Bullough, Prentice (2) 2,000 Fourth Qualifying Round dmy 1921 November 24 Altrincham H L 2–4 Cook, Bullough 4,000 Replay Secondary fixtures + Date Competition Opponents Venue Result Score Scorers Attendance Notes dmy 1921 September 28 Cheshire Senior Medals Stockport County A L 0–3 dmy 1922 April 5 Liverpool Senior Cup New Brighton A W 4–2 dmy 1922 May 1 Liverpool Senior Cup Everton N L 0–1 At Anfield dmy 1922 May 8 Liverpool County Medals Skelmersdale United N W 2–0 At Goodison Park dmy 1922 May 11 Liverpool County Medals Marine N W 2–0 At Anfield, semi-final dmy 1922 May 13 Liverpool County Medals Liverpool A W 2–0 14,000 Final dmy 1922 February 23 Friendly Unemployed XI H W 4–0 Raised £33 for the National Unemployed Workers' Movement dmy 1922 March 11 Friendly Crewe Alexandra H W 5–1 dmy 1922 April 22 Friendly League XI H L 0–2 dmy 1922 May 4 Friendly Stoke City H W 4–3 1,000 Testimonial for Moreton, Cunningham and Leck Player statistics Bert Cooke used a total of 31 players during the 1921–22 season and there were fifteen different goalscorers. The team played in a 2–3–5 formation (the standard formation at the time) throughout the campaign, with two fullbacks, three halfbacks, two outside forwards, two inside forwards and a centre forward. Harry Bradshaw – the goalkeeper – played in every league and cup game, whilst Tom Stuart – a left back – missed just one match, the defeat to Accrington Stanley on 21 January. All data relating to appearances and first names are sourced from Upton and Wilson (1997). Name Position Leagueapps Leaguegoals FA Cupapps FA Cupgoals Totalapps Totalgoals Edmund Baldwin CF 1 0 0 0 1 0 Harry Bradshaw Harry Bradshaw (footballer born 1895) G 38 0 2 0 40 0 Denis Bullough CF 9 5 2 2 11 7 Johnny Campbell Johnny Campbell (footballer born 1894) WH 26 2 2 0 28 0 Fred Cook Fred Cook (Welsh footballer) OR 16 0 2 2 18 2 Charlie Cunningham Charlie Cunningham (footballer) IL 32 6 2 0 38 6 Peter Fairclough footballer LH 8 0 0 0 8 0 John Ford John Ford (footballer) IR 15 4 0 0 15 4 Allen Forshaw RB 1 0 0 0 1 0 David Fulton David Fulton (footballer) CF 8 3 0 0 8 3 John Grainger John Grainger (footballer) RB 1 0 0 0 1 0 Fred Groves Frederick Groves (footballer born 1892) IR 12 7 0 0 12 7 Charlie Hayes Charlie Hayes (footballer) RB 17 0 2 0 19 0 Tom Heslop LH 8 0 0 0 8 0 Harold Hilton Harold Hilton (footballer) IR 18 2 0 0 18 2 Thomas Hughes 1 OL 3 0 0 0 3 0 James Hyam CF 1 0 0 0 1 0 Evan Lloyd Evan Lloyd (footballer) CF 11 2 0 0 11 2 Joe Mercer Joe Mercer (footballer, born 1889) CH 16 1 2 0 18 1 Charlie Milnes CH 16 2 0 0 16 2 George Moorhouse OL 2 0 0 0 2 0 Jimmy Moreton OR 26 4 2 0 28 4 James Niven James Niven (footballer) LB 17 0 0 0 17 0 John Prentice John Prentice (footballer born 1898) OL 23 3 2 2 25 4 Billy Rainford IL 15 3 0 0 15 3 James Roberts James Roberts (footballer born 1891) OL 32 1 2 0 34 1 Alfred Robinson Alfred Robinson (footballer) IR 4 0 0 0 4 0 Tom Stott Tom Stott (footballer) CF 1 0 0 0 1 0 Tom Stuart Tom Stuart (footballer) LB 37 4 2 0 39 4 Arthur Sugden RB 3 0 0 0 3 0 Edward Winn Edward Winn (footballer) CH 1 0 0 0 1 0 Notes 2 http://www.tranmererovers.co.uk/page/History/0,,10365~399698,00.html Tranmere Rovers Managers Since 1912 12 May 2010 Tranmere Rovers F.C 7 December 2011 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110621003436/http://www.tranmererovers.co.uk/page/History/0%2C%2C10365~399698%2C00.html 21 June 2011 https://www.rsssf.org/engpaul/FLA/1921-22.html England 1921–22 14 June 2000 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation 7 December 2011 Paul Felton Barry Spencer Upton Wilson 1997 101–108 Tranmere Rovers 1921–1997: A Complete Record Players' Data Upton Wilson 1997 12 Tranmere Rovers 1921–1997: A Complete Record 1921–1922 Upton Wilson 1997 124–130 Tranmere Rovers 1921–1997: A Complete Record Secondary Fixtures Upton Wilson 1997 115–117 Tranmere Rovers 1921–1997: A Complete Record Own Goals http://www.tranmererovers.co.uk/page/History/ Club History 12 May 2010 Tranmere Rovers F.C 5 December 2011 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110722171557/http://www.tranmererovers.co.uk/page/History/ 22 July 2011 http://footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/LeagueTables/Season1921-22/Div3%28N%291921-22.htm Division 3 (North) 1921/22 FootballSite.co.uk 5 December 2011 7 November 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20111107182941/http://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/LeagueTables/Season1921-22/Div3(N)1921-22.htm dead http://www.altrinchamfc.co.uk/altyatog.htm Altrincham FC A to Z June 2005 Altrincham F.C 5 December 2011 Terry Rowley Bishop (1998). Upton 1991 61–68 Tranmere Rovers, 1881–1921: A New History Football League via Central – 1919–21 Upton 1991 69–76 Tranmere Rovers, 1881–1921: A New History Epilogue and Epitaph – 1921 References Bishop Peter The A–Z of Tranmere Rovers 1990 Chester IV Graphics Ellesmere Port B0011SRSOG uk. Upton Gilbert Tranmere Rovers, 1881–1921: A New History December 1991 978-0-9518648-0-7 Upton Gilbert Wilson Steve Tranmere Rovers 1921–1997: A Complete Record November 1997 978-0-9518648-2-1 Bishop Peter Tranmere Rovers Football Club Images of England 1 November 1998 Tempus Stroud 978-0-7524-1505-5 Category:Tranmere Rovers F.C. seasons Tranmere Rovers