Football League
1919-39
England Football Online
Contact Us Page Last Updated 12 November 2021
 
 
1919-20

Football League 1920-21
1921-22
  
Final League Table - Division I
 Teams in a silver box denotes a player representing England in 1920-21
 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
Burnley 42 17 3 1 56 16 6 10 5 23 20 59
Manchester City 42 19 2 0 50 13 5 4 12 20 37 54
Bolton Wanderers 42 15 6 0 53 17 4 8 9 24 36 52
Liverpool 42 11 7 3 41 17 7 8 6 22 18 51
Newcastle United 42 14 3 4 43 18 6 7 8 23 27 50
Tottenham Hotspur 42 15 2 4 46 16 4 7 10 24 32 47
Everton 42 9 8 4 40 26 8 5 8 26 29 47
Middlesbrough 42 10 6 5 29 21 7 6 8 24 32 46
Arsenal 42 9 8 4 31 25 6 6 9 28 38 44
Aston Villa 42 11 4 6 39 21 7 3 11 24 49 43
Blackburn Rovers 42 7 9 5 36 27 6 6 9 21 32 41
Sunderland 42 11 4 6 34 19 3 9 9 23 41 41
Manchester United 42 9 4 8 34 26 6 6 9 30 42 40
West Bromwich Albion 42 8 7 6 31 23 5 7 9 23 35 40
Bradford City 42 7 9 5 38 28 5 6 10 23 35 39
Preston North End 42 10 4 7 38 25 5 5 11 23 40 39
Huddersfield Town 42 11 4 6 26 16 4 5 12 16 33 39
Chelsea 42 9 7 5 35 24 4 6 11 13 34 39
Oldham Athletic 42 6 9 6 23 26 3 6 12 26 60 33
Sheffield United 42 5 11 5 22 19 1 7 13 20 49 30
Derby County 42 3 12 6 21 23 2 4 15 11 35 26
Bradford 42 6 5 10 29 35 2 3 16 14 41 24

Burnley recorded a six-match winning run from 9 October 1920:
Bradford (a) 3-1, (h) 1-0, Tottenham (a) 2-1, (h) 2-0, Newcastle (a) 2-1, (h) 3-1, before drawing 2-2 at Oldham on 20 November 1920. Newcastle also had a six-match winning sequence from 25 September 1920, before losing at home to Burnley on 6 November 1920. Burnley also set a new Football League record of thirty games undefeated. The run was ended at Manchester City, who remained unbeaten at home and extended their run to 35 games at Hyde Road without defeat in all competitions.

Birmingham, South Shields and The Wednesday, from the second division, and Millwall Athletic from the third division, also had a player each representing England.

How The League Was Won 1920-21 Season
Timeline
37 Saturdays from 28 August 1920 to 7 May 1921 (ending a week later than the previous season), plus the first two Mondays and Wednesdays of the season, Boxing Day (Monday, 27th December 1920), Good Friday, 25 March 1921, Easter Monday, 28 March 1921 and Monday, 2 May 1921
 There was one other game played on a Monday and two on Wednesdays in September. In October, there was one game on a Monday, and there was one on the last Wednesday of the year. Christmas Day and New Year's Day were both Saturdays. Games were played on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in February, and on Mondays and Wednesdays in March and April, plus the day after Easter Monday. The FA Cup took precedence on six weekends from the first round on 8 January 1921 to the final on 23 April 1921. There were three weeks between each round, apart from two weeks before the fourth round and semi-finals, and five before the final. Last league games were on Saturday, 7 May 1921.
Saturday, 16 April 1921
Burnley 1 West Bromwich Albion 1
  Turf Moor, Burnley (26,422)
 Kelly ~ A.Smith		 Bob Kelly's late equaliser left Burnley needing only a point to win their first title. Bolton's chances were ended with defeat at Newcastle, whilst Manchester City also dropped out of reach when they could only draw at Sheffield United.
Liverpool 1 Derby County 1
   Anfield, Liverpool (28,000)
Chambers ~ Storey
Top Two 16 April 1921
Team P ₧
Burnley 38 56
Liverpool 38 48
  
Saturday, 23 April 1921
Everton 1 Burnley 1
   Goodison Park, Liverpool (40,000)
 Fazackerley 15 ~ Cross 18
 Whilst Tottenham were beating Wolves in the FA Cup Final at Stamford Bridge, Burnley's Championship success was achieved, though with Liverpool losing at Bolton, they would have been crowned in any event. Bolton's win put them second and completed their unbeaten home record, but it was Manchester City who reduced Burnley's lead to five points, two weeks later.
 
The Elite League 1920-21 Season (games between the top four)
Team P Home Away ₧
W D L F A W D L F A
Burnley 6 3 0 0 6 2 0 2 1 1 4 8
Bolton Wanderers 6 2 1 0 5 1 1 0 2 5 8 7
Manchester City 6 3 0 0 9 3 0 0 3 3 9 6
Liverpool 6 1 1 1 6 5 0 0 3 2 5 3
Bolton Wanderers and Manchester City replaced Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion from the previous season's top four.
Games played between the top two:-
Saturday, 26 March 1921
 Manchester City 3 Burnley 0
    Hyde Road, Manchester (47,500)
Barnes (2), Johnson
Saturday, 2 April 1921
 Burnley 2 Manchester City 1
   Turf Moor, Burnley (37,000)
Nesbitt, Anderson ~ Fayers
Two days after the end of the league season, Manchester City beat Burnley 2-0 in the Lancashire Cup semi-finals at Hyde Road.

The Continuous Post-War League 1919-21 (two seasons)
Team P Wins ₧
Burnley 84 44 110
West Bromwich Albion 84 41 100
Manchester City 84 42 99
Bolton Wanderers 84 38 99
Burnley replaced the previous year's champions at the top.


Champions: Burnley
Manager: John Haworth
1920-21 Most Appearances
by England Players
Name Played Goals
Billy Watson 42 2
Jerry Dawson 39  
Tommy Boyle 38 7
Bob Kelly 37 20
Tommy Boyle and Billy Watson did not play for England in the 1920-21 season and Jerry Dawson did not play for England until the following season.
1920-21 Most Goals
by England Players
Name Played Goals
Bob Kelly 37 20
Bolton's Joe Smith was top scorer, with 38 goals. Second on the list was Manchester City's Tommy Browell, with 31, followed by Charlie Buchan of Sunderland, and Villa's Billy Walker, with both on 27 goals.

England and the Football League 1920-21 Season
England's impact on the Football League
Of the 33 playing positions used during the active 1920-21 season, Football League players provided 32 of them, and both of the goals scored were by League players.
12 of the 22 first division clubs were represented, plus Birmingham, South Shields and The Wednesday from the second division, and Millwall Athletic from the third division (including the game at the end of the season).
16 Football League games had a direct impact on two of England's games, on 23 October 1920 and 9 April 1921.
As a result, on 23 October, England took Aston Villa's Andy Ducat and Billy Walker, Burnley's Bob Kelly, Derby's Alf Quantrill, Everton's Sam Chedgzoy and Dickie Downs, Huddersfield's Fred Bullock, Manchester United's Jack Mew, Preston's Joe McCall, Sunderland's Charlie Buchan, Tottenham's Arthur Grimsdell, The Wednesday's George Wilson and West Brom's Fred Morris. On 9 April, Chedgzoy, Grimsdell, Kelly and Wilson were again absent from their clubs, as were Aston Villa's Tommy Smart, Birmingham's Percy Barton, Liverpool's Harry Chambers, Luton's Ernie Simms, Manchester United's Jack Silcock, Sheffield United's Harold Gough, and Bert Bliss, Jimmy Dimmock and Bert Smith of Tottenham.
 
GI