Football League North and South

The Football League North and Football League South divisions of the Football League were created temporarily for the League to continue through the Second World War while limiting the amount of movement that was required by teams. The leagues started in 1940; however there was only one full season, in 1945–46. Previous seasons were, in a sense, bit-part leagues with clubs only playing teams that were generally local. An example of this is that in the 1942 Football League North Leeds United played Middlesbrough, Gateshead, Newcastle United, Doncaster Rovers, Sunderland, Bradford Park Avenue, York City, Halifax Town and Huddersfield Town, which they played Home and Away in succession.[1]

The two leagues consisted of all the members of The First and Second Divisions of the Football League split on a purely geographical basis. The 1945–46 full season was instituted as a precursor to the resumption of the previous divisional split in force prior to World War II. As the war had only just finished travel was sometimes difficult to arrange, many of the players were still away and the teams often included guests.

Sheffield United were the Champions of League North and Birmingham City were the Champions of League South for the only full season in 1945–46.

Results and players' contributions do not tend to be included in official statistics.

1945–46 season

North league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Sheffield United 42 27 6 9 112 62 1.806 60
2 Everton 42 23 9 10 88 54 1.630 55
3 Bolton Wanderers 42 20 11 11 67 45 1.489 51
4 Manchester United 42 19 11 12 98 62 1.581 49
5 Sheffield Wednesday 42 20 8 14 67 60 1.117 48
6 Newcastle United 42 21 5 16 106 70 1.514 47
7 Chesterfield 42 17 12 13 68 49 1.388 46
8 Barnsley 42 17 11 14 76 68 1.118 45
9 Blackpool 42 18 9 15 94 92 1.022 45
10 Manchester City 42 20 4 18 78 75 1.040 44
11 Liverpool 42 17 9 16 80 70 1.143 43
12 Middlesbrough 42 17 9 16 75 87 0.862 43
13 Stoke City 42 18 6 18 88 79 1.114 42
14 Bradford 42 17 6 19 71 84 0.845 40
15 Huddersfield Town 42 17 4 21 90 89 1.011 38
16 Burnley 42 13 10 19 63 84 0.750 36
17 Grimsby Town 42 13 9 20 61 89 0.685 35
18 Sunderland 42 15 5 22 55 89 0.618 35
19 Preston North End 42 14 6 22 70 77 0.909 34
20 Bury 42 12 10 20 60 85 0.706 34
21 Blackburn Rovers 42 11 7 24 60 111 0.541 29
22 Leeds United 42 9 7 26 66 118 0.559 25
Source: rsssf.com

South league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Birmingham City 42 28 5 9 96 45 2.133 61
2 Aston Villa 42 25 11 6 106 58 1.828 61
3 Charlton Athletic 42 25 10 7 92 45 2.044 60
4 Derby County 42 22 8 12 104 62 1.677 52
5 West Bromwich Albion 42 22 8 12 104 69 1.507 52
6 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 20 11 11 75 48 1.563 51
7 West Ham United 42 20 11 11 94 76 1.237 51
8 Fulham 42 20 10 12 93 73 1.274 50
9 Tottenham Hotspur 42 22 3 17 78 81 0.963 47
10 Chelsea 42 16 11 15 76 73 1.041 43
11 Arsenal 42 16 11 15 76 73 1.041 43
12 Millwall 42 17 8 17 79 105 0.752 42
13 Coventry City 42 15 10 17 70 69 1.014 40
14 Brentford 42 14 10 18 82 72 1.139 38
15 Nottingham Forest 42 12 13 17 72 73 0.986 37
16 Southampton 42 14 9 19 97 105 0.924 37
17 Swansea Town 42 15 7 20 90 112 0.804 37
18 Luton Town 42 13 7 22 60 92 0.652 33
19 Portsmouth 42 11 6 25 66 87 0.759 28
20 Leicester City 42 8 7 27 57 101 0.564 23
21 Newport County 42 9 2 31 52 125 0.416 20
22 Plymouth Argyle 42 3 8 31 39 120 0.325 14
Source: rsssf.com and War Hammers II[2]

Notes
  1. Leeds Fans Web-site "Leeds United: Season 1942 – 1942: Football League (Northern Section)", leeds-fans.org.uk (accessed 15 October 2006)
  2. Belton, Brian (2015). War Hammers II: The Story of West Ham United During the Second World War. The History Press. ISBN 075095602X.
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