The 1946–47 season was the 67th season of competitive football in England.
Contents
Overview
The 1946–47 season was the first to feature a full football programme since the 1938–39 campaign. Eighty-eight teams competed over four divisions. Liverpool went top of the First Division with a 2–1 away win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on 31 May 1947. Wolves could have clinched their first league title with a victory in that match, but instead the title was won by Liverpool for the fifth time. Due to a bitter winter that postponed many fixtures Liverpool had to wait until the match between Stoke City and Sheffield United on 14 June. A win for Stoke would see them take the title on goal average; however, Sheffield United prevailed 2–1 to give Liverpool its fifth league championship.
Events
The season commenced on 31 August 1946. The largest crowd of the day was 61,000 at Stamford Bridge where Chelsea beat Bolton Wanderers 4–3. Aggregate attendance was 950,000 for the 43 matches – the match between Newport County and Southampton was postponed due to floods.
In September, Scottish International Inside-forward, Tommy Walker, joined Chelsea from Hearts for £6,000 (2010: £194,000). By 14 September most teams had averaged five games with only Mancheter United and Doncaster Rovers maintaining a 100% record. By 23 September, only Barnsley, Manchester City, Rotherham United and Queens Park Rangers remained unbeaten.
On 5 October Newcastle United created a Second Division record, scoring 13 against Newport County. New signing Len Shackleton scored five.
In 1946 Sparta Prague toured Great Britain opening with a 2–2 draw against Arsenal on 2 October before losing 3–1 to Birmingham City.
Honours
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition
Third Division South
P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points