Football League
1919-39
England Football Online
Contact Us Page Last Updated 10 November 2021
 
 
1914-15

Football League 1919-20
1920-21
  
Final League Table - Division I
 Teams in a silver box denotes a player representing England in 1919-20
 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
West Bromwich Albion 42 17 1 3 65 21 11 3 7 39 26 60
Burnley 42 13 5 3 43 27 8 4 9 22 32 51
Chelsea 42 15 3 3 33 10 7 2 12 23 41 49
Liverpool 42 12 5 4 35 18 7 5 9 24 26 48
Sunderland 42 17 2 2 45 16 5 2 14 27 43 48
Bolton Wanderers 42 11 3 7 35 29 8 6 7 37 36 47
Manchester City 42 14 5 2 52 27 4 4 13 19 35 45
Newcastle United 42 11 5 5 31 13 6 4 11 13 26 43
Aston Villa 42 11 3 7 49 36 7 3 11 26 37 42
Arsenal 42 11 5 5 32 21 4 7 10 24 37 42
Bradford 42 8 6 7 31 26 7 6 8 29 37 42
Manchester United 42 6 8 7 20 17 7 6 8 34 33 40
Middlesbrough 42 10 5 6 35 23 5 5 11 26 42 40
Sheffield United 42 14 5 2 43 20 2 3 16 16 49 40
Bradford City 42 10 6 5 36 25 4 5 12 18 38 39
Everton 42 8 6 7 42 29 4 8 9 27 39 38
Oldham Athletic 42 12 4 5 33 19 3 4 14 16 33 38
Derby County 42 12 5 4 36 18 1 7 13 11 39 38
Preston North End 42 9 6 6 35 27 5 4 22 46 57 38
Blackburn Rovers 42 11 4 6 48 30 2 7 12 16 47 37
Notts County 42 9 8 4 39 25 3 4 14 17 49 36
The Wednesday 42 6 4 11 14 23 1 5 15 14 41 23

Aston Villa recorded a seven-match winning run from 22 November 1919:
Sheffield U. (a) 2-1, (h) 4-0, Manchester U. (h) 2-0, a) 2-1, Oldham (h) 3-0, Chelsea (h) 5-2, Oldham (a) 3-0, before losing 2-0 at Newcastle on 1 January 1920. West Brom's biggest winning sequence was of six matches.

Huddersfield Town and Tottenham Hotspur, from the second division, also had players representing England.

How The League Was Won 1919-20 Season
Timeline
36 Saturdays from 30 August 1919 to 1 May 1920, plus Monday 1st and Wednesday 3rd September 1919, Christmas Day (Thursday, 25th December 1919), Boxing Day (Friday, 26th December 1919), New Year's Day (Thursday, 1st January 1920), Good Friday, 2 April 1920 and Easter Monday, 5 April 1920
 There were eight other games played on Mondays and five on Wednesdays in September. In October, there was one game on a Monday and one on a Thursday, and one on a Monday in November. Prior to Christmas, there was one game on a Wednesday and one on a Thursday in December. Games were played throughout midweek in February, March and April, apart from none on Tuesdays in March. The FA Cup took precedence on six weekends from the first round on 10 January 1920 to the final on 24 April 1920. There were three weeks between each round, apart from two weeks before the fourth round and four before the final. Last league games were on Saturday, 1 May 1920.
Tuesday, 6 April 1920
The Wednesday 0 Chelsea 2
  Hillsborough, Sheffield (15,000)
 Cock, Halse		 Having lost at Arsenal the previous day (Easter Monday), West Brom reinforced their title surge, after dominating the league for virtually the whole season. Chelsea were in form, but were hugely reliant on the leaders picking up no more than a point in their last five games, whilst winning each of theirs. Burnley were two points closer to West Brom than Chelsea, but had played a game more.
West Bromwich Albion 1 Arsenal 0
   The Hawthorns, West Bromwich (39.397)
Morris
Top Three 6 April 1920
Team P ₧
West Bromwich Albion 37 54
Burnley 38 48
Chelsea 37 46
  
Saturday, 10 April 1920
Arsenal 2 Burnley 0
   Highbury, London (30,000)
 Pagnam 41, Bradshaw 58		 With Burnley and Chelsea both losing, West Brom only needed a point to win their first title and the first since the war. They did it without their top scorer (Morris) and captain (Pennington), both of whom were starring in England's 5-4 win against Scotland at Hillsborough, Sheffield. The lead was extended to nine points at the end of the season.
Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0
   Hyde Road, Manchester (25,000)
 Barnes 85
West Bromwich Albion 3 Bradford 1
   The Hawthorns, West Bromwich (29,414)
Jephcott 10, Bentley 12, Bowser 55 (pen) ~ Keetley 30
 
The Elite League 1919-20 Season (games between the top four)
Team P Home Away ₧
W D L F A W D L F A
Chelsea 6 2 0 1 3 1 2 0 1 4 6 8
West Bromwich Albion 6 2 1 0 9 2 0 2 1 2 4 7
Burnley 6 0 1 2 5 7 2 0 1 3 4 5
Liverpool 6 0 1 2 0 2 1 1 1 3 3 4
Only Burnley remained from the top four of the last pre-war season (1914-15). Blackburn Rovers, Everton and Oldham Athletic all dropped out of the top four.
Games played between the top two:-
Saturday, 6 March 1920
 Burnley 2 West Bromwich Albion 2
    Turf Moor, Burnley (30,200)
Freeman, Boyle ~ Jephcott, Crisp
Saturday, 13 March 1920
 West Bromwich Albion 4 Burnley 1
   The Hawthorns, West Bromwich (32,213)
Bentley, Morris (2), Crisp ~ Mosscrop


Champions: West Bromwich Albion
Manager: Fred Everiss
1919-20 Most Appearances
by England Players
Name Played Goals
Bobby McNeal 42 2
Sid Bowser 41 10
Joe Smith 40 1
Fred Morris 39 37
Jesse Pennington 37 1
Tommy Magee 24 7
Bobby McNeal did not play for England in the 1919-20 season and Tommy Magee did not play for England until 1923.
1919-20 Most Goals
by England Players
Name Played Goals
Fred Morris 39 37
Sid Bowser 41 10
Other significant scorers this season included Middlesbrough's George Elliott, with 31 goals. Third on the list was Villa's Clem Stephenson, with 27.

England and the Football League 1919-20 Season
England's impact on the Football League
Of the 33 playing positions used during the active 1919-20 season, Football League players provided 32 of them, and of the seven goals scored, League players scored all of them.
13 of the 22 first division clubs were represented, plus Huddersfield Town and Tottenham Hotspur from the second division.
15 Football League games had a direct impact on two of England's games, on 25 October 1919 and 10 April 1920.
As a result, on 25 October, England took Aston Villa's Sam Hardy, Blackburn's Joe Hodkinson, Bolton's Joe Smith, Bradford's Bobby Turnbull, Burnley's Billy Watson, Derby's James Bagshaw, Huddersfield's Jack Cock, Middlesbrough's Jackie Carr and West Brom's Sid Bowser and Joe Smith. On 10 April, Cock and Hardy were again absent from their clubs, as were Aston Villa's Andy Ducat and Charlie Wallace, Burnley's Bob Kelly, Derby's Alf Quantrill, Liverpool's Eph Longworth, Preston's Joe McCall, Sheffield United's Stan Fazackerley, Tottenham's Arthur Grimsdell and Bert Smith, and Fred Morris and Jesse Pennington of West Bromwich Albion.
 
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