1919–20 Football League

28th season of the Football League July 2013 April 2023 The Football League 1919–20 West Bromwich Albion Lincoln City Expelled Leeds City New Clubs in League Coventry CityStokeWest Ham UnitedSouth ShieldsRotherham CountyPort Vale (Mid-season) 1914–15 1920–21 The 1919–20 season was the 28th season of The Football League, and the first season after football was suspended after the outbreak of the First World War. Compared to 1914–15, the number of Football League member clubs increased from 40 to 44, initially with five new clubs. Team changes Resuming after four years, the Football League expanded its numbers by four, maintaining competition in two Divisions of equal size. During previous such expansions, 1898 and 1905, the relegated clubs from the previous season were re-elected, while the top Second Division sides were promoted as usual. Following that precedent, the two top Second Division sides in 1915, Derby and Preston, did move on up. Chelsea, which had finished 19th that First Division season, was, as expected, re-elected. Discussion of how the expansion should be handled began on 13 January 1919, when James Catton published an article in Athletic News raising the issue of match-fixing; this had dogged the 1914/15 League season and been left unresolved because of the cessation of the League for the duration of the war. In the article, Catton argued one of the two clubs that ought to be returned to the first division (if that league was to be expanded, as had already been proposed) should be Chelsea, for it had been relegated due to the match-fixing. Catton then considered the argument that Tottenham, who had also been relegated with Chelsea should likewise be reinstated, although he noted there was nothing to link Tottenham's relegation with anything amiss in the final season before the cessation of the League for the duration.http://www.blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/archives/16848 Norris at the Arsenal: The first suggestion that Arsenal could be elected to the 1st division. | the History of Arsenal 21 December 2017 In 1915, Manchester United avoided relegation by winning a game against Liverpool 2–0 on 2 April 1915 which was fixed in United's favour, with players from both sides benefiting from bets placed upon the result (see 1915 British football betting scandal). At the end of the season, Manchester United finished one point and one place ahead of Chelsea. Had the game against Liverpool ended in a draw, Chelsea would have finished ahead of United on goal average; if Liverpool had won, then Chelsea would have finished one place and one point ahead of Manchester United. Arsenal, who had finished 6th in the Second Division in 1914-15 (later amended to 5th place in 1975 after an error in the calculation of goal average was discovered) were also elected to the First Division. It has been alleged that Arsenal chairman Sir Henry Norris bribed or in some way unduly influenced the voting members of the Football League, and that Football League President John McKenna made a speech at the League's AGM recommending Arsenal's promotion ahead of Spurs thanks to the former's longer spell in the League (Arsenal joined in 1893, Spurs in 1908)—although Wolves, which finished ahead of Arsenal, had been a member of the League since its inception in 1888.Spurling Rebels for the Cause 2004 40 However, detailed reports of the meeting in The Sportsman, Athletic News, Daily Mirror and The Times the following day made no mention of this. They did report that Football League Management Committee member C. E. Sutcliffe made a speech stating that the expansion would give them an opportunity to do right by Chelsea. It would seem strange if such a speech were made by the League President and somehow all the media failed to report it. Arsenal has not been relegated from the top flight of the English game since that time; it is the only club in continuous membership since 1919. Nine clubs applied for the two available promotion places:English League Extended The Scotsman 11 March 1919 5 Arsenal Barnsley Birmingham City Chelsea Hull City Nottingham Forest Stockport County Tottenham Hotspur Wolverhampton Wanderers In the Second Division, Port Vale took over from Leeds City after 4 October 1919, when Leeds were disbanded by F.A. order following alleged irregular practices. Port Vale then inherited Leeds' record up to that date.Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane's, London & Sydney, 1980. After the season, Grimsby Town were relegated to the newly formed Third Division. Lincoln City was not re-elected to Second Division and Leeds United was elected to replace it. Cardiff City were elected to take the second available place in Second Division. Final league tables Beginning in the 1894–95 season, clubs finishing level on points were separated according to goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded). In case one or more teams had the same goal difference, this system favoured those teams who had scored fewer goals. The goal average system was eventually scrapped beginning with the 1976–77 season. During the first six seasons of the league, (up to the 1893–94 season), re-election process concerned the clubs which finished in the bottom four of the league. From the 1894–95 season and until the 1920–21 season the re-election process was required of the clubs which finished in the bottom three of the league. First Division First Division 1919–20 West Bromwich Albion1st English title Notts CountyThe Wednesday Fred Morris(37 goals)https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engtops.html English League Leading Goalscorers Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation 2010-10-31 West Bromwich Albion 8–0 Notts County(25 October 1919) Preston North End 1–5 Bradford City(1 September 1919)Burnley 2–6 Bradford Park Avenue(22 November 1919)Derby County 0–4 West Bromwich Albion(20 December 1919)Bradford Park Avenue 0–4 West Bromwich Albion(3 April 1920) Manchester City 8–2 Blackburn Rovers(8 November 1919) 462 1332 1914–15 1920–21 main WDL First Division World Football WBA, BUR, CHE, LIV, SUN, BOL, MCI, NEW, AVL, ARS, BPA, MUN, MID, SHU, BRA, EVE, OLD, DER, PNE, BLA, NTC, THW 1st REL REL complete 15 12 15 56 58 18 6 18 75 73 13 11 18 64 77 19 9 14 72 65 14 11 17 54 63 15 12 15 60 63 21 9 12 65 59 22 5 15 56 51 13 12 17 47 57 12 14 16 69 68 19 10 13 59 44 18 9 15 71 62 13 14 15 54 50 15 10 17 61 65 17 9 16 44 39 12 12 18 56 74 15 8 19 49 52 14 10 18 57 73 16 8 18 59 69 22 4 16 72 59 7 9 26 28 64 28 4 10 104 47 C R R Arsenal Aston Villa Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Bradford City Bradford (Park Avenue) Burnley Chelsea Derby County Everton Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Notts County Oldham Athletic Preston North End Sheffield United Sunderland The Wednesday West Bromwich Albion 5 2 y 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored R yellow red1 Relegation to the Second Division Results main FBR grey ARS AST BLB BOL BRA BPA BUR CHE DER EVE LIV MCI MUN MID NEW NTC OLD PNE SHU SUN WED WBA Arsenal 0–1 0–1 2–2 1–2 3–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–2 0–3 2–1 0–1 3–1 3–2 0–0 3–0 3–2 3–1 1–0 Aston Villa 2–1 1–2 3–6 3–1 1–0 2–2 5–2 2–2 2–2 0–1 0–1 2–0 5–3 4–0 3–1 3–0 2–4 4–0 0–3 3–1 2–4 Blackburn Rovers 2–2 5–1 2–2 4–1 3–3 2–3 3–1 2–0 3–2 0–2 1–4 5–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–1 4–0 4–0 3–0 1–0 1–5 Bolton Wanderers 2–2 2–1 2–1 1–1 1–2 1–1 1–2 3–0 0–2 0–3 6–2 3–5 2–1 0–3 1–0 1–0 4–1 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–2 Bradford City 1–1 3–1 3–1 0–1 0–0 2–1 3–1 3–1 3–3 1–3 1–0 2–1 0–1 1–0 3–4 1–1 2–2 1–2 2–0 1–1 3–0 Bradford Park Avenue 0–0 6–1 5–2 2–0 0–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–2 2–1 1–4 1–1 0–1 0–1 2–0 3–3 1–0 2–2 3–0 0–4 Burnley 2–1 0–0 3–1 2–1 1–1 2–6 2–3 2–0 5–0 1–2 2–0 2–1 5–3 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–0 2–2 Chelsea 3–1 2–1 2–1 2–3 1–0 4–0 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 3–1 0–0 2–0 1–0 4–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 Derby County 2–1 1–0 0–0 1–2 3–0 0–0 0–2 5–0 2–1 3–0 0–0 1–1 1–2 1–0 3–1 1–1 2–0 5–1 3–1 2–1 0–4 Everton 2–3 1–1 3–0 3–3 4–1 2–0 2–2 2–3 4–0 0–0 2–0 0–0 5–2 4–0 1–2 0–2 0–1 3–0 1–3 1–1 2–5 Liverpool 2–3 2–1 3–0 2–0 2–1 3–3 0–1 0–1 3–0 3–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 3–0 2–2 1–2 2–0 3–2 1–0 0–0 Manchester City 4–1 2–2 8–2 1–4 1–0 4–1 3–1 1–0 3–1 1–1 2–1 3–3 1–0 0–0 4–1 3–1 1–0 3–3 1–0 4–2 2–3 Manchester United 0–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–0 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–2 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 5–1 3–0 2–0 0–0 1–2 Middlesbrough 1–0 1–4 2–2 1–3 4–0 1–2 4–0 0–0 2–0 1–1 3–2 0–2 1–1 0–1 5–2 1–0 4–1 1–0 0–2 3–0 0–0 Newcastle United 3–1 2–0 0–0 0–1 0–1 4–0 0–0 3–0 0–0 3–0 3–0 3–0 2–1 0–0 2–1 0–1 1–0 2–1 2–3 1–1 0–2 Notts County 2–2 2–1 5–0 2–2 5–2 0–2 2–0 0–1 2–2 1–1 1–0 4–1 0–2 1–1 0–0 2–1 1–2 2–2 2–2 3–1 2–0 Oldham Athletic 3–0 0–3 0–0 2–0 0–1 2–2 1–0 1–0 3–0 4–1 1–1 1–3 0–3 1–2 1–0 0–0 4–1 4–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 Preston North End 1–1 3–0 0–0 1–1 1–5 0–3 0–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–3 3–1 2–3 2–0 2–1 2–0 5–2 3–0 0–1 Sheffield United 2–0 1–2 2–0 3–2 0–0 2–2 1–3 3–1 0–0 1–1 3–2 3–1 2–2 5–1 2–1 3–0 1–0 2–1 3–1 3–0 1–0 Sunderland 1–1 2–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 3–0 3–2 2–1 2–3 0–1 2–1 3–0 1–1 2–0 3–1 3–0 1–0 3–2 2–1 4–1 The Wednesday 1–2 0–1 0–0 0–2 1–0 0–1 3–1 0–2 2–0 1–0 2–2 0–0 1–3 0–1 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–1 2–1 0–2 0–3 West Bromwich Albion 1–0 1–2 5–2 4–1 4–1 3–1 4–1 4–0 3–0 4–3 1–1 2–0 2–1 4–1 3–0 8–0 3–1 4–1 0–2 4–0 1–3 Maps Greater London right 369 Locations of the Football League First Division London teams Greater London 51.558 -0.103 right Greater London 51.482 -0.191 right Arsenal Chelsea England none 369 Locations of the Football League First Division teams England 51.56 -0.10 right England 52.54 -1.87 right England 53.75 -2.48 right England 53.59 -2.56 right England 53.82 -1.73 right England 53.76 -1.78 right England 53.79 -2.25 right England 51.50 -0.19 right England 52.92 -1.476 right England 53.48 -2.97 right England 53.53 -2.99 right England 53.47 -2.18 right England 53.47 -2.30 right England 54.57 -1.23 right England 54.98 -1.62 right England 52.94 -1.137 right England 53.54 -2.12 right England 53.75 -2.7 right England 54.91 -1.39 right England 53.38 -1.47 right England 53.32 -1.47 right England 52.51 -1.964 right Arsenal Aston Villa Blackburn Rovers Bolton Bradford City Bradford Park Avenue Burnley Chelsea Derby County Everton Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle Notts County Oldham Preston North End Sheffield United Sunderland The Wednesday (Sheffield) West Bromwich Albion Second Division Football LeagueSecond Division 1919–20 Tottenham Hotspur (1st title) Grimsby Town Sammy Taylor (Huddersfield Town), 35 Failed re-election Lincoln City Birmingham – Nottingham Forest 8–0 (10 Mar 1920) Barnsley – Birmingham 0–5 (14 Feb 1920)Leicester City – Bury 0–5 (10 Apr 1920) Hull City – Wolverhampton Wanderers 10–3 (27 Dec 1919) 462 1285 1914–15 1920–21 main WDL Second Division PR y 5 2 TOT Tottenham Hotspur HUD Huddersfield Town BIR Birmingham BLP Blackpool BRY Bury FUL Fulham WHU West Ham United BRI Bristol City SSH South Shields STK Stoke HUL Hull City BAR Barnsley PTV Port Vale (Leeds City) LEI Leicester City CLA Clapton Orient STP Stockport County ROT Rotherham County NOT Nottingham Forest WOL Wolverhampton Wanderers COV Coventry City LIN Lincoln City GRI Grimsby Town 32 6 4 102 32 28 8 6 97 38 24 8 10 85 34 21 10 11 65 47 20 8 14 60 44 19 9 14 61 50 19 9 14 47 40 13 17 12 46 43 15 12 15 58 48 18 6 18 60 54 18 6 18 78 72 15 10 17 61 55 16 8 18 59 62 15 10 17 41 61 16 6 20 51 59 14 9 19 52 61 13 8 21 51 83 11 9 22 43 73 10 10 22 55 80 9 11 22 35 73 9 9 24 44 101 10 5 27 34 75 Leeds City were expelled from the league after 8 games; Port Vale took their place and inherited their record. CP P R R green1 Promotion to the First Division P P red1 Failed re-election and demoted FAIL red1 Failed re-election and demoted to the Third Division R complete Results main FBR grey BAR BIR BLP BRI BRY CLA COV FUL GRI HUD HUL LEE LEI LIN NOT PTV ROT SSH STP STK TOT WHU WOL Barnsley 0–5 1–1 0–0 1–3 2–1 1–0 4–1 0–1 3–3 2–3 null 0–1 5–3 2–2 1–0 4–0 0–1 0–0 1–2 3–0 7–0 4–1 Birmingham 0–0 4–2 1–0 0–2 2–1 4–1 2–0 4–0 4–2 4–1 null 0–1 7–0 8–0 3–0 2–2 4–0 1–1 2–1 0–1 0–1 2–0 Blackpool 0–2 3–0 0–0 1–0 3–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–3 2–1 4–2 3–0 6–0 3–2 null 5–1 0–3 1–0 3–1 0–1 0–0 1–1 Bristol City 3–1 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–3 3–1 2–1 2–2 null 0–0 6–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 3–1 1–0 1–2 1–2 0–0 1–1 Bury 2–0 1–0 1–2 0–1 3–0 2–2 2–2 1–1 2–0 2–0 null 1–0 3–0 1–1 2–1 4–1 2–1 0–2 1–0 2–1 1–0 2–0 Clapton Orient 2–0 2–1 3–0 1–0 2–1 2–2 0–1 3–0 0–1 2–2 null 3–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–2 4–0 2–1 2–1 0–4 1–0 0–0 Coventry City 1–0 1–3 0–0 0–0 2–1 0–0 0–1 2–0 0–2 0–1 0–4 1–2 2–0 4–2 null 1–1 1–1 1–1 3–2 0–5 0–0 1–0 Fulham 1–1 1–2 1–2 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–0 2–1 2–2 1–0 null 5–0 3–0 1–0 4–0 3–0 1–0 4–1 0–0 1–4 1–2 1–1 Grimsby Town 1–1 0–3 1–1 2–2 1–2 2–0 0–1 0–2 1–0 2–1 null 1–2 2–2 1–0 2–0 0–1 3–1 0–3 2–0 2–0 0–1 0–1 Huddersfield Town 4–1 0–0 1–3 1–0 5–0 2–1 5–0 3–0 3–0 2–0 null 0–0 4–2 2–1 4–1 7–1 2–2 5–0 3–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 Hull City 3–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 4–2 3–1 0–1 2–0 4–1 1–4 1–1 5–1 5–2 2–0 null 1–0 3–0 4–1 3–0 1–3 1–1 10–3 Leeds City null null 1–0 null null null 3–0 null null null 1–2 null null null null null null null null null null 1–1 Leicester City 0–0 1–0 2–3 2–1 0–5 1–1 1–0 3–2 2–0 0–4 3–2 null 4–0 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–2 3–1 2–4 0–0 1–2 Lincoln City 0–4 2–2 0–3 0–0 2–1 2–1 4–1 0–1 2–0 1–3 2–0 null 0–3 1–4 0–0 0–0 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–1 1–4 4–0 Nottingham Forest 0–1 1–2 2–0 1–2 1–0 2–1 2–1 0–3 2–0 1–2 0–2 null 0–0 2–1 0–1 4–1 0–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–1 1–0 Port Vale 0–2 1–3 null 3–1 2–2 4–2 null 3–4 2–1 0–0 null null 1–2 1–0 4–1 4–2 1–0 2–0 0–3 0–1 1–0 null Rotherham County 1–0 0–3 1–2 2–2 1–2 3–1 4–3 1–1 3–1 1–3 1–2 null 1–0 3–0 2–0 2–2 1–0 1–0 1–3 1–1 0–1 2–0 South Shields 0–0 1–0 6–0 0–2 0–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–2 7–1 null 2–0 2–2 5–2 2–0 6–2 3–2 2–2 0–3 3–0 0–0 Stockport County 1–0 2–1 0–0 2–3 1–1 3–1 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–2 3–1 null 0–2 3–0 0–0 0–4 4–1 1–0 3–1 1–2 1–0 4–1 Stoke 2–0 0–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 6–1 1–0 3–0 0–1 3–1 null 3–0 1–3 0–2 0–0 3–0 0–0 2–1 1–3 2–1 3–0 Tottenham Hotspur 4–0 0–0 2–2 2–0 2–1 2–1 4–1 4–0 3–1 2–0 4–0 null 4–0 6–1 5–2 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 4–2 West Ham United 0–2 1–2 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 null 1–0 1–1 5–1 3–1 2–1 1–0 3–0 1–1 2–1 4–0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–4 0–2 0–3 3–1 0–1 1–2 2–0 2–1 6–1 2–3 4–2 2–4 1–1 4–0 4–0 null 0–1 0–0 2–2 4–0 1–3 1–1 Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane's, London & Sydney, 1980.Note: Port Vale takes over from Leeds City and then inherits the latter's record up to that date. Maps Greater London right 369 Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams Greater London 51.475 -0.222 right Greater London 51.570 -0.058 right Greater London 51.603 -0.066 right Greater London 51.532 0.039 right Clapton Orient Fulham Tottenham West Ham England none 369 Locations of the Football League Second Division teams England 53.55 -1.48 right England 52.48 -1.89 right England 53.81 -3.05 right England 51.45 -2.58 right England 53.58 -2.295 right England 51.57 -0.047 right England 52.41 -1.51 right England 51.46 -0.23 right England 53.56 -0.068 right England 53.64 -1.78 right England 53.74 -0.33 right England 53.78 -1.57 right England 52.62 -1.14 right England 53.23 -0.54 right England 53.01 -1.137 right England 53.06 -2.21 right England 53.43 -1.36 right England 54.99 -1.43 right England 53.41 -2.16 right England 53.00 -2.18 right England 51.49 -0.07 right England 51.53 0.040 right England 52.59 -2.13 right Barnsley Birmingham Blackpool Bristol City Bury Coventry Fulham Grimsby Town Clapton Orient Huddersfield Hull Leeds C Leicester City Lincoln City Nottingham Forest Port Vale Rotherham South Shields Stockport County Stoke Tottenham West Ham Wolverhampton Wanderers Attendances Source:https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/eng/aveeng1920.htm Historical attendances European-football-statistics.co.uk 26 July 2026 Division One No. Club Average 1 Chelsea FC 42,615 2 Newcastle United FC 38,390 3 Arsenal FC 34,485 4 Aston Villa FC 33,500 5 Liverpool FC 29,730 6 Everton FC 29,050 7 West Bromwich Albion FC 29,025 8 Manchester United 26,540 9 Sunderland AFC 25,580 10 Manchester City FC 25,160 11 Sheffield United FC 24,205 12 Bolton Wanderers FC 23,300 13 Middlesbrough FC 20,930 14 Burnley FC 19,530 15 The Wednesday 18,430 16 Blackburn Rovers FC 18,110 17 Bradford City AFC 17,200 18 Notts County FC 16,215 19 Preston North End FC 15,950 20 Bradford Park Avenue AFC 14,340 21 Derby County FC 13,725 22 Oldham Athletic FC 12,785 Division Two No. Club Average 1 Tottenham Hotspur FC 34,185 2 Birmingham City FC 23,715 3 West Ham United FC 19,415 4 Coventry City FC 16,875 5 Gateshead AFC 14,975 6 Fulham FC 14,530 7 Bristol City FC 13,940 8 Leicester City FC 13,355 9 Leyton Orient FC 13,085 10 Wolverhampton Wanderers FC 12,780 11 Stoke City FC 12,145 12 Port Vale FC 10,880 13 Nottingham Forest FC 9,735 14 Hull City AFC 9,520 15 Rotherham County FC 9,310 16 Bury FC 9,225 17 Huddersfield Town AFC 9,185 18 Barnsley FC 8,790 19 Blackpool FC 7,475 20 Stockport County FC 7,420 21 Lincoln City FC 6,675 22 Grimsby Town FC 6,200 See also 1919–20 in English football 1919 in association football 1920 in association football References Sources Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane's, London & Sydney, 1980. 1919–20 League