1950–51 in English football

The 1950–51 season was the 71st season of competitive football in England.

Football in England
Season1950–51
Men's football
First DivisionTottenham Hotspur
Second DivisionPreston North End
FA CupNewcastle United
England

Overview

Tottenham Hotspur won their first league title, while Newcastle United defeated Blackpool 2–0 to win their fourth FA Cup. They would win it twice more over the next four seasons. Everton were relegated to the Second Division for only the second time in their history.

The league was expanded from 88 to 92 clubs for this season, with Scunthorpe United and Shrewsbury Town joining the Third Division North, and Colchester United joining the Third Division South. Gillingham were re-elected to the Football League twelve years after being voted out and also joined the Third Division South.

Sunderland signed Trevor Ford from Aston Villa for the then record fee of £30,000 (2012: £900,000).[1]

At the end of the season, Matt Busby signed Birmingham City winger Johnny Berry for Manchester United for a club record fee of £25,000.

Honours
CompetitionWinnerRunner-up
First DivisionTottenham Hotspur (1)Manchester United
Second DivisionPreston North EndManchester City
Third Division NorthRotherham UnitedMansfield Town
Third Division SouthNottingham ForestNorwich City
FA CupNewcastle United (4)Blackpool
Charity ShieldEngland 1950 FIFA World Cup XIFA Canada Touring XI
Home Championship Scotland England

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

FA Cup
Main article: 1950–51 FA Cup

Newcastle United defeated Blackpool 2–0 in the 1951 FA Cup Final.

Football League
Main article: 1950–51 Football League

First Division

Tottenham Hotspur, in their first top-flight season since 1935, surpassed all expectations by winning the league for the first time in their history. Manchester United finished second, continuing their wait for their first title under Matt Busby. Blackpool finished third, narrowly edging out FA Cup winners Newcastle United.

A dramatic finish to the season saw all the bottom three sides bracketed together on 32 points. Everton finished bottom after being thrashed 6-0 by Sheffield Wednesday (who were already all but assured of relegation) on the last day, with Chelsea surviving thanks to a four-game winning streak.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Tottenham Hotspur 42 25 10 7 82 44 1.864 60
2 Manchester United 42 24 8 10 74 40 1.850 56
3 Blackpool 42 20 10 12 79 53 1.491 50
4 Newcastle United 42 18 13 11 62 53 1.170 49
5 Arsenal 42 19 9 14 73 56 1.304 47
6 Middlesbrough 42 18 11 13 76 65 1.169 47
7 Portsmouth 42 16 15 11 71 68 1.044 47
8 Bolton Wanderers 42 19 7 16 64 61 1.049 45
9 Liverpool 42 16 11 15 53 59 0.898 43
10 Burnley 42 14 14 14 48 43 1.116 42
11 Derby County 42 16 8 18 81 75 1.080 40
12 Sunderland 42 12 16 14 63 73 0.863 40
13 Stoke City 42 13 14 15 50 59 0.847 40
14 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 15 8 19 74 61 1.213 38
15 Aston Villa 42 12 13 17 66 68 0.971 37
16 West Bromwich Albion 42 13 11 18 53 61 0.869 37
17 Charlton Athletic 42 14 9 19 63 80 0.788 37
18 Fulham 42 13 11 18 52 68 0.765 37
19 Huddersfield Town 42 15 6 21 64 92 0.696 36
20 Chelsea 42 12 8 22 53 65 0.815 32
21 Sheffield Wednesday 42 12 8 22 64 83 0.771 32 Relegated to the Second Division
22 Everton 42 12 8 22 48 86 0.558 32
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Second Division

Preston North End won the division, with Manchester City earning promotion as runners-up, continuing the yo-yo club existence of both sides, with Preston having been out of the top-flight for two seasons, and City for one season.

Grimsby Town and Chesterfield were both relegated to the third tier.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Preston North End 42 26 5 11 91 49 1.857 57 Promoted to the First Division
2 Manchester City 42 19 14 9 89 61 1.459 52
3 Cardiff City 42 17 16 9 53 45 1.178 50
4 Birmingham City 42 20 9 13 64 53 1.208 49
5 Leeds United 42 20 8 14 63 55 1.145 48
6 Blackburn Rovers 42 19 8 15 65 66 0.985 46
7 Coventry City 42 19 7 16 75 59 1.271 45
8 Sheffield United 42 16 12 14 72 62 1.161 44
9 Brentford 42 18 8 16 75 74 1.014 44
10 Hull City 42 16 11 15 74 70 1.057 43
11 Doncaster Rovers 42 15 13 14 64 68 0.941 43
12 Southampton 42 15 13 14 66 73 0.904 43
13 West Ham United 42 16 10 16 68 69 0.986 42
14 Leicester City 42 15 11 16 68 58 1.172 41
15 Barnsley 42 15 10 17 74 68 1.088 40
16 Queens Park Rangers 42 15 10 17 71 82 0.866 40
17 Notts County 42 13 13 16 61 60 1.017 39
18 Swansea Town 42 16 4 22 54 77 0.701 36
19 Luton Town 42 9 14 19 57 70 0.814 32
20 Bury 42 12 8 22 60 86 0.698 32
21 Chesterfield 42 9 12 21 44 69 0.638 30 Relegated to the Third Division North
22 Grimsby Town 42 8 12 22 61 95 0.642 28
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division North

Rotherham United convincingly won the division, with Mansfield Town and Carlisle United both having more-than-respectable seasons but not being able to catch Rotherham.

New Brighton, who had struggled with low attendances and financial problems since their Sandheys Park ground was destroyed by bombing in World War II, finished bottom and did not make a serious bid to be re-elected, effectively resigning their membership of the Football League. Their place was taken by Workington for the following season. Accrington Stanley retained their membership of the league as a consequence.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Rotherham United 46 31 9 6 103 41 2.512 71 Promoted to the Second Division
2 Mansfield Town 46 26 12 8 78 48 1.625 64
3 Carlisle United 46 25 12 9 79 50 1.580 62
4 Tranmere Rovers 46 24 11 11 83 62 1.339 59
5 Lincoln City 46 25 8 13 89 58 1.534 58
6 Bradford Park Avenue 46 23 8 15 90 72 1.250 54
7 Bradford City 46 21 10 15 90 63 1.429 52
8 Gateshead 46 21 8 17 84 62 1.355 50
9 Crewe Alexandra 46 19 10 17 61 60 1.017 48
10 Stockport County 46 20 8 18 63 63 1.000 48
11 Rochdale 46 17 11 18 69 62 1.113 45
12 Scunthorpe & Lindsey United 46 13 18 15 58 57 1.018 44
13 Chester 46 17 9 20 62 64 0.969 43
14 Wrexham 46 15 12 19 55 71 0.775 42
15 Oldham Athletic 46 16 8 22 73 73 1.000 40
16 Hartlepools United 46 16 7 23 64 66 0.970 39
17 York City 46 12 15 19 66 77 0.857 39
18 Darlington 46 13 13 20 59 77 0.766 39
19 Barrow 46 16 6 24 51 76 0.671 38
20 Shrewsbury Town 46 15 7 24 43 74 0.581 37 Transferred to the Third Division South
21 Southport 46 13 10 23 56 72 0.778 36
22 Halifax Town 46 11 12 23 50 69 0.725 34
23 Accrington Stanley 46 11 10 25 42 101 0.416 32 Re-elected
24 New Brighton 46 11 8 27 40 90 0.444 30 Not re-elected
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division South

Nottingham Forest won promotion back to the Second Division at the second time of asking, with Cardiff City finishing a convincing second, but not being able to overhaul Forest.

Watford and Crystal Palace were both forced to apply for re-election, but New Brighton's plight meant neither club was in any real danger of losing their place in the Football League.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Nottingham Forest 46 30 10 6 110 40 2.750 70 Promoted to the Second Division
2 Norwich City 46 25 14 7 82 45 1.822 64
3 Reading 46 21 15 10 88 53 1.660 57
4 Plymouth Argyle 46 24 9 13 85 55 1.545 57
5 Millwall 46 23 10 13 80 57 1.404 56
6 Bristol Rovers 46 20 15 11 64 42 1.524 55
7 Southend United 46 21 10 15 92 69 1.333 52
8 Ipswich Town 46 23 6 17 69 58 1.190 52
9 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 46 22 7 17 65 57 1.140 51
10 Bristol City 46 20 11 15 64 59 1.085 51
11 Newport County 46 19 9 18 77 70 1.100 47
12 Port Vale 46 16 13 17 60 65 0.923 45
13 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 13 17 16 71 79 0.899 43
14 Exeter City 46 18 6 22 62 85 0.729 42
15 Walsall 46 15 10 21 52 62 0.839 40
16 Colchester United 46 14 12 20 63 76 0.829 40
17 Swindon Town 46 18 4 24 55 67 0.821 40
18 Aldershot 46 15 10 21 56 88 0.636 40
19 Leyton Orient 46 15 8 23 53 75 0.707 38
20 Torquay United 46 14 9 23 64 81 0.790 37
21 Northampton Town 46 10 16 20 55 67 0.821 36
22 Gillingham 46 13 9 24 69 101 0.683 35
23 Watford 46 9 11 26 54 88 0.614 29 Re-elected
24 Crystal Palace 46 8 11 27 33 84 0.393 27
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Top goalscorers

First Division

Second Division

Third Division North

Third Division South

References
  1. Huw Richards, 'Ford, Trevor (1923–2003)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Jan 2007; online edn, Jan 2010
  2. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  3. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.