Match Summary

England Team

Scotland Team

   The English Cup finals and International matches between England and Scotland will be played at the Empire Stadium, Wembley, for the next 26 years.
   This decision, which was generally expected, was reached yesterday [13 February 1938] by the Council of the Football Association at their meeting at Lancaster Gate, London. The new contract will replace the existing one, which still had six years to run, and will be drawn up immediately.
   It is unlikely that accommodation at Wembley for this year's Cup final and International match with Scotland will be very extended, but it is anticipated that within a few years the stadium will be reconstructed to accommodate 150,000 spectators.
   The resolution concerning future Cup final venues was put to the meeting by the chairman, Mr W. Pickford. It was:-"That the Council enter into a contract on behalf of the Football Association with Wembley Stadium, Ltd., for the playing of the Football Association Cup final ties and the International matches versus Scotland at Wembley during a period of 26 years, in accordance with the provisions of the report of the Finance and General Purposes Committee of February 4, 1938, and that the Committee be authorised to take the necessary steps to effect this without delay."
   Mr A.J. Elvin, Managing Director of Wembley Stadium, in an interview with a reporter, said:-
  "Naturally I am pleased that the Football Association has selected the Empire Stadium, Wembley, as the venue for Cup finals and England-Scotland matches for the next 26 years.
   "Our plans for the enlargement and general improvements to the stadium are well in hand, By 1940, at the latest, we shall have the finest sports arena in the world, and if, as seems possible, the Olympic Games of 1944 are offered to Great Britain, Wembley will be at their disposal.
   "The first part of the extensions to the stadium will take the form of increasing the capacity of the standing terraces at the east and west ends of the stadium by 38,000. The cost of this work will be approximately £70,000." - 14 February 1938.

SCOTLAND STILL OPPOSED TO THE SCHEME

   Scotland are still opposed to the numbering of players, and this means of identification will not be used in the Amateur International match at Hampden Park, Glasgow, on March 12, when England are the visitors.
   "Scotland were asked if they were numbering their men," stated an official of the English Football Association yesterday, "but they replied 'No.' so, of course, we cannot number our team."
   England, this season, began the practice of numbering players in representative matches, and Scotland are the only country to set their face against the innovation. - 1 March 1938.

TELEVISION SUCCESS

   The match was televised successfully; in fact, the television was described as a triumph for the engineers. Play was clearly shown on the screen, and it was seldom difficult to follow the ball. The elaborate camera apparatus was mounted in the Press box at the rear of the main stand. - 12 April 1938.

Football League Division One 9 April 1938
Team	P	Pts
Arsenal	36	45
Preston North End	36	42
Wolverhampton Wanderers	35	42
Middlesbrough	36	42
Charlton Athletic	35	41
Brentford	37	40
Bolton Wanderers	36	38
Sunderland	36	38
Liverpool	36	37
Derby County	36	37
Leeds United	36	36
Stoke City	36	35
Chelsea	35	34
Blackpool	37	34
West Bromwich Albion	35	32
Leicester City	36	32
Everton	36	31
Manchester City	36	31
Birmingham	36	31
Portsmouth	36	31
Huddersfield Town	36	31
Grimsby Town	36	30

 

Division One matches played on 9 April 1938:

BIRMINGHAM 2-0 BOLTON WANDERERS
Harris 19, Phillips 55
19,889 (St Andrew's, Birmingham)

CHARLTON ATHLETIC 2-1 SUNDERLAND
Tadman 35, Wilkinson 62 (Robinson 31)
27,702 (The Valley, London)

 CHELSEA 4-1 LEICESTER CITY
Weaver 6, Sharman o.g. 23, Chitty 30, Spence 75 (Maw 73)
20,211 (Stamford Bridge, London)

Chelsea were without Vic Woodley, who was in goal against Scotland at Wembley, whilst Leicester were without Sep Smith, who was a reserve against Scotland.

GRIMSBY TOWN 3-1 MANCHESTER CITY
Glover 2, Quigley (Doherty)
11,413 (Blundell Park, Cleethorpes)

LEEDS UNITED 0-1 ARSENAL
(Bremner 85)
29,365 (Elland Road, Leeds)

Leeds were without Sproston and Stephenson, who were playing against Scotland at Wembley, as were Arsenal's Bastin, Copping and Hapgood (who was captain).

LIVERPOOL 4-2 BLACKPOOL
Taylor 13, Hanson 60, Nieuwenhuys 63, Fagan pen. 80 (Finan 35, Buchan 75)
31,475 (Anfield, Liverpool)

Blackpool were without Frank O'Donnell, who was playing for Scotland against England at Wembley.

MIDDLESBROUGH 0-1 HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
(Mills 89)
20,901 (Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough)

Middlesbrough were without Fenton, who was making his only international appearance, against Scotland at Wembley, whilst team-mates, Cumming (keeping a clean sheet in goal) and Milne were also making their international debuts, for Scotland, and Huddersfield were without Ken Willingham, who was also playing against Scotland.

PORTSMOUTH 1-0 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Parker 3
28,339 (Fratton Park, Portsmouth)

Wolves were without Stan Cullis, who was playing against Scotland at Wembley.

PRESTON NORTH END 4-1 DERBY COUNTY
Beattie 33, 46, Garrett 47, 60 (Hagan 30)
13,343 (Deepdale, Preston)

Derby's Harry Wright saved an early penalty from Dickie Watmough. Whilst Bobby Beattie was scoring twice for a title-chasing Preston, they were without Andy Beattie, Mutch (making his only international appearance), Shankly (also making his international debut) and Smith, who were playing for Scotland against England at Wembley.

STOKE CITY 1-1 EVERTON
Peppitt 35 (Lawton 30)
16,187 (Victoria Ground, Stoke)

Stoke were without Stan Matthews, who was playing against Scotland at Wembley.

WEST BROMWICH ALBION 4-3 BRENTFORD
Mahon 2, Heaselgrave 14, Johnson 66, 70 (McCulloch 4, 87, McAloon 24)
23,602 (The Hawthorns, West Bromwich)

Brentford were without Bobby Reid, who was playing for Scotland against England at Wembley.

Gordon Bremner's late winner on his debut gave Arsenal a crucial three-point lead at the top. Three games without a goal followed, but they finished with three wins to wrap up their fifth title in eight years. At the end of the season, there were only 16 points between top and bottom, and unbelievably, the top scorers in the division, with eighty goals, and defending league champions, Manchester City, were relegated.

Football League Division Two 9 April 1938
Team	P	Pts
Aston Villa	36	47
Manchester United	36	46
Coventry City	36	46
Sheffield United	37	46
Tottenham Hotspur	36	42
Burnley	37	40
Bury	36	37
West Ham United	36	36
Bradford	35	35
Chesterfield	35	35
Southampton	36	35
Norwich City	36	34
Newcastle United	35	33
Luton Town	36	33
Fulham	36	33
Barnsley	37	32
Blackburn Rovers	36	31
Sheffield Wednesday	36	31
Plymouth Argyle	36	31
Swansea Town	36	31
Nottingham Forest	36	30
Stockport County	36	28

 

Division Two matches played on 9 April 1938:

BARNSLEY 1-1 CHESTERFIELD
Bray (McMillen)
10,310 (Oakwell, Barnsley)

BURNLEY 2-0 WEST HAM UNITED
Hornby, Brocklebank
11,173 (Turf Moor, Burnley)

BURY 2-1 SOUTHAMPTON
Davies, Bargh (Bevis)
8,001 (Gigg Lane, Bury)

COVENTRY CITY 3-2 BLACKBURN ROVERS
MacDonald 2, Roberts (Tyson, Chivers)
20,007 (Highfield Road, Coventry)

LUTON TOWN 1-1 PLYMOUTH ARGYLE
Ferguson (Mitcheson)
11,516 (Kenilworth Road, Luton)

MANCHESTER UNITED 0-0 NORWICH CITY
25,879 (Old Trafford, Manchester)

NEWCASTLE UNITED 1-2 FULHAM
Pearson (Woodward, Arnold)
12,426 (St James' Park, Newcastle)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 0-1 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
(Hunt)
15,526 (City Ground, Nottingham)

SHEFFIELD UNITED 0-0 ASTON VILLA
29,155 (Bramall Lane, Sheffield)

Villa were without Frank Broome, who was a reserve against Scotland at Wembley.

STOCKPORT COUNTY 1-0 SWANSEA TOWN
Lythgoe
11,344 (Edgeley Park, Stockport)

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2-1 BRADFORD
Morrison 2 (Lewis)
17,967 (White Hart Lane, London)

Tottenham were without Willie Hall, who was playing against Scotland at Wembley.

Nerves were fraught at the top of the table, with only a point separating the top four. Villa played defensively to earn their point, but they won five of their last six games to lift the title and secure their return to the top flight.

Division Three on 9 April 1938:

Hull City led the northern section on goal average from Tranmere Rovers, and Rotherham United (who had played a game more). There were only two points separating the top six clubs. Tranmere went through their last ten games unbeaten and won their first ever promotion. Millwall led the southern section on goal average from Queen's Park Rangers, but had a game in hand. This was another tight section, but nothing was going to stop Millwall, who won their last six games to return to the second division after a four-year absence.

IN OTHER NEWS...

It was on 9 April 1938 that mock air raids were performed in front of thousands of people at two locations in Leeds. One was during the afternoon, and the other under floodlights at night. The first, at Woodhouse Moor, showed how to handle an attack of mustard gas, whilst in the second, at Holbeck Moor, a lifesize house had been built and set fire to, with firemen, air-raid wardens and ambulance emergency crews all rehearsing, and air-raid guns and searchlights in operation, together with planes flying overhead. Three years later, the city was bombed for real by the German Luftwaffe.

Source Notes

Scottish Football Association
Scotland - The Complete International Record: Richard Keir
London Hearts
Glen Isherwood's Wembley: The Complete Record (SportsBooks Limited, Cheltenham, U.K., 2006)
original newspaper reports
FA Yearbooks 1950-60
BritishPathé
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CG