Final League Table -
Division I
Teams in a silver box denotes a player
representing England in 1908-09
Teams in
italics were
relegated to the second division for the following season |
|
Team |
P |
Home |
Away |
₧
|
|
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
|
Newcastle United |
38 |
14 |
1 |
4 |
32 |
20 |
10 |
4 |
5 |
33 |
21 |
53 |
|
Everton |
38 |
11 |
3 |
5 |
51 |
28 |
7 |
7 |
5 |
31 |
29 |
46 |
|
Sunderland |
38 |
14 |
0 |
5 |
41 |
23 |
7 |
2 |
10 |
37 |
40 |
44 |
|
Blackburn Rovers |
38 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
29 |
26 |
8 |
7 |
4 |
32 |
24 |
41 |
|
The Wednesday |
38 |
15 |
0 |
4 |
48 |
24 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
19 |
37 |
40 |
|
Woolwich Arsenal |
38 |
9 |
3 |
7 |
24 |
18 |
5 |
7 |
7 |
28 |
31 |
38 |
|
Aston Villa |
38 |
8 |
7 |
4 |
31 |
22 |
6 |
3 |
10 |
27 |
34 |
38 |
|
Bristol City |
38 |
7 |
7 |
5 |
24 |
25 |
6 |
5 |
8 |
21 |
33 |
38 |
|
Middlesbrough |
38 |
11 |
2 |
6 |
38 |
21 |
3 |
7 |
9 |
21 |
32 |
37 |
|
Preston North End |
38 |
8 |
7 |
4 |
29 |
17 |
5 |
4 |
10 |
19 |
27 |
37 |
|
Chelsea |
38 |
8 |
7 |
4 |
33 |
22 |
6 |
2 |
11 |
23 |
39 |
37 |
|
Sheffield
United |
38 |
9 |
5 |
5 |
31 |
25 |
5 |
4 |
10 |
20 |
34 |
37 |
|
Manchester United |
38 |
10 |
3 |
6 |
37 |
33 |
5 |
4 |
10 |
21 |
35 |
37 |
|
Nottingham Forest |
38 |
9 |
2 |
8 |
39 |
24 |
5 |
6 |
8 |
27 |
33 |
36 |
|
Notts County |
38 |
9 |
4 |
6 |
31 |
23 |
5 |
4 |
10 |
20 |
25 |
36 |
|
Liverpool |
38 |
9 |
5 |
5 |
36 |
25 |
6 |
1 |
12 |
21 |
40 |
36 |
|
Bury |
38 |
9 |
6 |
4 |
35 |
27 |
5 |
2 |
12 |
28 |
50 |
36 |
|
Bradford City |
38 |
7 |
6 |
6 |
27 |
20 |
5 |
4 |
10 |
20 |
27 |
34 |
|
Manchester City |
38 |
12 |
3 |
4 |
50 |
23 |
3 |
1 |
15 |
17 |
46 |
34 |
|
Leicester Fosse |
38 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
32 |
41 |
2 |
3 |
14 |
22 |
61 |
25 |
|
Everton recorded an
eight-match winning run from 19 September 1908:
Middlesbrough (a) 3-2, Manchester C. (h) 6-3,
Liverpool (a) 1-0, Bury (h) 4-0, Sheffield U. (a) 5-1, Aston V. (h) 3-1,
Nottingham F. (a) 2-1, Sunderland (h) 4-0, before drawing 3-3 at Chelsea on
14 November 1908. Newcastle's biggest winning sequence was of seven matches.
Derby County, Tottenham Hotspur and West
Bromwich Albion, from the second division, also each had a player
representing England. |
|
How The League Was Won 1908-09 Season |
|
Timeline |
34 Saturdays from 5 September 1908 to 24 April 1908, plus
Christmas Day (Friday, 25th December 1908), New Year's Day (Friday, 1 January 1909), Good Friday,
9 April 1909 and Easter Monday, 12 April 1909
With no
games allowed in August, there
were six opening games on Tuesday, 1 September 1908, followed by two games
on the following day, five more on the first three Mondays and two
on the following Wednesday. There was one game played on Thursday, 1 October
1908 and two on the
last Monday in December (Boxing Day was a Saturday). In February,
there was one game played on a Monday. Games were played throughout
midweek in March (apart from Fridays),
and
on every day of the week in April, apart from Sundays. The
FA Cup took precedence on six weekends from the first round on 16
January 1909 (a week later than the previous season) to the
final on 24 April 1909.
There were three weeks between the first two rounds and before the
semi-finals, two before the
third and fourth rounds, and four before the final. Last
league games were on Friday, 30 April 1909.
|
Easter Saturday, 10 April 1909 |
Manchester United 2
Everton 2
Bank Street, Manchester
(8,000)
Turnbull
(2) ~
Coleman (2) |
Having lost 9-1 at home to their great rivals back in December
in a bizarre, out of character, capitulation, Newcastle looked
like they would gain the ultimate revenge by clinching the title
in the return fixture when they took the lead in the first
minute. However, the goal scorer, Albert Shepherd, aggravated an
old knee injury, and did not return for the second half.
Sunderland took full advantage of their extra man, with George
Holley clinching the victory from the rebound after Jimmy
Lawrence had saved his penalty. Everton, meanwhile, came back
from two goals down, to keep alive their lingering hopes, but
with Newcastle still having five games left, and Everton only
three, it seemed unlikely that they would bridge the five-point
gap. Two days later, they would travel to Newcastle knowing that
only a victory would do. |
Sunderland 3 Newcastle United 1
Roker Park, Sunderland
(27,493)
Brown
(2), Holley ~ Shepherd |
|
Easter Monday, 12 April 1909 |
Newcastle United
3 Everton 0
St James'
Park, Newcastle
(30,000)
McCracken
(pen)
34,
Stewart
58, 73
The result was never really in doubt as Newcastle extended their
lead to an unassailable seven points, maintaining the
difference, despite losing three of their last four games. |
|
|
The Elite League 1908-09 Season
(games between the top four) |
For the fourth year in succession, only Newcastle United retained their top-four placing from the
previous season. Aston Villa, Manchester City and Manchester United all
dropped out of the top four.
Games played between the top two:-
|
Friday, 1 January 1909 |
Everton 0 Newcastle United 1
Goodison
Park, Liverpool
(40,000)
Howie |
|
Monday, 12 April 1909 |
Newcastle United 3
Everton 0
St James'
Street, Newcastle
(30,000)
McCracken
(pen), Stewart (2) |
|
|
The Continuous League
1888-1909
(first 21 seasons) |
|
Everton reduced
Aston Villa's lead to 28 points. This was the
fourth season
of 38 games each, following three of 22, one of 26, six of thirty,
and seven of 34 games each.
Newcastle increased their lead to 24 points.
The first season was of 34 games each. Newcastle increased
their lead to 26 points. |
|
Champions: Newcastle United |
Manager:
Frank
Watt
|
|
Bert Freeman of Everton
was top scorer with 37.
Second
on the list was
Bury's Billy Hibbert, with 26,
followed by Chelsea's George Hilsdon, with 25.
|
|
England and the Football
League 1908-09 Season |
|
England's impact on the Football League |
Of the 33 playing positions used
during the active 1908-09 season, Football League players provided
31 of them, and of the eight goals scored, League players scored
all of them.
Ten of the twenty first division clubs were
represented, plus Derby County, Tottenham Hotspur and West Bromwich Albion from the second division
(including the tour at the end of the season).
18 Football League games had a direct impact on
all three of England's games, on 13 February, 15 March and 3 April.
As a
result, on 13 February, England took Blackburn's Bob Crompton,
Bradford City's Evelyn Lintott, Bristol City's Joe Cottle and Billy Wedlock, Chelsea's
George Hilsdon, Ben Warren and Jimmy Windridge, Liverpool's Sam
Hardy, Newcastle's Colin Veitch, Sunderland's Arthur Bridgett, and
Vivian Woodward of Tottenham. Bridgett was again absent from league
action on 15 March, as were his team-mate, George Holley, and
Manchester United's Dick Duckworth. On
3 April, Bridgett, Crompton, Hardy, Holley, Lintott, Warren and Wedlock
were again taken from their clubs, as
were Derby's George Richards, Everton's Bert Freeman and Jack Sharp,
Manchester United's George Wall, Middlesbrough's Fred Pentland, The
Wednesday's Tom Brittleton, and Jesse Pennington of West Bromwich Albion. |
|
England
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