1919–20 in English football

The 1919–1920 season was the 45th season of competitive football in England, and the first following the end of World War I.

Football in England

Season	1919–20
Men's football
Football League	West Bromwich Albion
Football League Second Division	Tottenham Hotspur
FA Cup	Aston Villa
← 1918–19 1920–21 →

Honours

 

Division One winners West Bromwich Albion pose with the League Championship trophy and Charity Shield

Competition	Winner	Runner-up
Football League First Division^[1]	West Bromwich Albion (1)	Burnley
Football League Second Division^[2]	Tottenham Hotspur	Huddersfield Town
Southern League First Division^[3]	Portsmouth	Watford
Southern League Second Division^[3]	Mid Rhondda	Ton Petre
FA Cup^[4]	Aston Villa (6*)	Huddersfield Town
FA Charity Shield^[5]	West Bromwich Albion (1)	Tottenham Hotspur
Home Championship^[6]	Wales	England &   Scotland

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

Football League

Main article: 1919–20 Football League

Following the War The Football League grew from 40 to 44 teams. The failure of Glossop to be re-elected to the league meant that five new clubs joined the league. A resurrected Stoke, along with Coventry City, South Shields, Rotherham County and West Ham United joined the Second Division.

Six of the seven players banned for their involvement in the 1915 British football betting scandal were re-instated in recognition of their service to the country during World War I. Sandy Turnbull's re-instatement was posthumous as he had been killed in the war. Enoch West, who had fought his ban more vigorously than the others, was denied re-instatement.

First Division

Main article: 1919–20 Football League § First Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Relegation
1	West Bromwich Albion (C)	42	28	4	10	104	47	2.213	60
2	Burnley	42	21	9	12	65	59	1.102	51
3	Chelsea	42	22	5	15	56	51	1.098	49
4	Liverpool	42	19	10	13	59	44	1.341	48
5	Sunderland	42	22	4	16	72	59	1.220	48
6	Bolton Wanderers	42	19	9	14	72	65	1.108	47
7	Manchester City	42	18	9	15	71	62	1.145	45
8	Newcastle United	42	17	9	16	44	39	1.128	43
9	Aston Villa	42	18	6	18	75	73	1.027	42
10	Arsenal	42	15	12	15	56	58	0.966	42
11	Bradford Park Avenue	42	15	12	15	60	63	0.952	42
12	Manchester United	42	13	14	15	54	50	1.080	40
13	Middlesbrough	42	15	10	17	61	65	0.938	40
14	Sheffield United	42	16	8	18	59	69	0.855	40
15	Bradford City	42	14	11	17	54	63	0.857	39
16	Everton	42	12	14	16	69	68	1.015	38
17	Oldham Athletic	42	15	8	19	49	52	0.942	38
18	Derby County	42	13	12	17	47	57	0.825	38
19	Preston North End	42	14	10	18	57	73	0.781	38
20	Blackburn Rovers	42	13	11	18	64	77	0.831	37
21	Notts County (R)	42	12	12	18	56	74	0.757	36	Relegation to the Second Division
22	The Wednesday (R)	42	7	9	26	28	64	0.438	23

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Second Division

Main article: 1919–20 Football League § Second Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Tottenham Hotspur	42	32	6	4	102	32	3.188	70	Division Champions, promoted
2	Huddersfield Town	42	28	8	6	97	38	2.553	64	Promoted
3	Birmingham	42	24	8	10	85	34	2.500	56
4	Blackpool	42	21	10	11	65	47	1.383	52
5	Bury	42	20	8	14	60	44	1.364	48
6	Fulham	42	19	9	14	61	50	1.220	47
7	West Ham United^[a]	42	19	9	14	47	40	1.175	47
8	Bristol City	42	13	17	12	46	43	1.070	43
9	South Shields^[b]	42	15	12	15	58	48	1.208	42
10	Stoke^[a]	42	18	6	18	60	54	1.111	42
11	Hull City	42	18	6	18	78	72	1.083	42
12	Barnsley	42	15	10	17	61	55	1.109	40
13	Port Vale^[c]	42	16	8	18	59	62	0.952	40^[d]
14	Leicester City	42	15	10	17	41	61	0.672	40
15	Clapton Orient	42	16	6	20	51	59	0.864	38
16	Stockport County	42	14	9	19	52	61	0.852	37
17	Rotherham County^[e]	42	13	8	21	51	83	0.614	34
18	Nottingham Forest	42	11	9	22	43	73	0.589	31
19	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	10	10	22	55	80	0.688	30
20	Coventry City^[a]	42	9	11	22	35	73	0.479	29	Re-elected
21	Lincoln City	42	9	9	24	44	101	0.436	27	Failed re-election^[f]
22	Grimsby Town	42	10	5	27	34	75	0.453	25	Relegated^[g]

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

1. New club in the league; elected from Southern League
2. New club in the league; elected from North Eastern League
3. New club in the league; elected from Central League
4. Leeds City were expelled from the league after 8 games; Port Vale, formerly Burslem Port Vale, took their place and inherited their record.
5. New club in the league; elected from Midland League
6. Lincoln City were not re-elected, but they returned to the league later, for the season 1921–22, surfacing this time in 3rd Division North, after having been absent only for one season.
7. Grimsby Town participated in the Football League Third Division during the following season.

Southern League

Main article: 1919–20 Southern Football League

Southern League First Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification
1	Portsmouth	42	23	12	7	73	27	2.704	58	Elected to the new Football League Third Division
2	Watford	42	26	6	10	69	42	1.643	58
3	Crystal Palace	42	22	12	8	69	43	1.605	56
4	Cardiff City	42	18	17	7	70	43	1.628	53	Elected to the Football League Second Division
5	Plymouth Argyle	42	20	10	12	57	29	1.966	50	Elected to the new Football League Third Division
6	Queens Park Rangers	42	18	10	14	62	50	1.240	46
7	Reading	42	16	13	13	51	43	1.186	45
8	Southampton	42	18	8	16	72	63	1.143	44
9	Swansea Town	42	16	11	15	53	45	1.178	43
10	Exeter City	42	17	9	16	57	51	1.118	43
11	Southend United	42	13	17	12	46	48	0.958	43
12	Norwich City	42	15	11	16	64	57	1.123	41
13	Swindon Town	42	17	7	18	65	68	0.956	41
14	Millwall	42	14	12	16	52	55	0.945	40
15	Brentford	42	15	10	17	52	59	0.881	40
16	Brighton & Hove Albion	42	14	8	20	60	72	0.833	36
17	Bristol Rovers	42	11	13	18	61	78	0.782	35
18	Newport County	42	13	7	22	45	70	0.643	33
19	Northampton Town	42	12	9	21	64	103	0.621	33
20	Luton Town	42	10	10	22	51	76	0.671	30
21	Merthyr Town	42	9	11	22	47	78	0.603	29
22	Gillingham	42	10	7	25	34	74	0.459	27

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976-77 season. The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.

References

1. . Statto.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
2. . Statto.com. Archived from the original on 31 December 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
3. Dinant Abbink. "England: Southern League final tables". RSSSF. from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
4. . Statto.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
5. "England - List of FA Charity/Community Shield Matches". RSSSF. 18 August 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
6. Macario Reyes; Neil Morrison. "British Home Championship 1920–1939". RSSSF. from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2010.