Final League Table -
Division I
Teams in a silver box denotes a player
representing England in 1951-52
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 |
|
Manchester United |
42 |
15 |
3 |
3 |
55 |
21 |
8 |
8 |
5 |
40 |
31 |
57 |
|
Tottenham Hotspur |
42 |
16 |
1 |
4 |
45 |
20 |
6 |
8 |
7 |
31 |
31 |
53 |
|
Arsenal |
42 |
13 |
7 |
1 |
54 |
30 |
8 |
4 |
9 |
26 |
31 |
53 |
|
Portsmouth |
42 |
13 |
3 |
5 |
42 |
25 |
7 |
5 |
9 |
26 |
33 |
48 |
|
Bolton Wanderers |
42 |
11 |
7 |
3 |
35 |
26 |
8 |
3 |
10 |
30 |
35 |
48 |
|
Aston Villa |
42 |
13 |
3 |
5 |
49 |
28 |
6 |
6 |
9 |
30 |
42 |
47 |
|
Preston North End |
42 |
10 |
5 |
6 |
39 |
22 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
35 |
32 |
46 |
|
Newcastle United |
42 |
12 |
4 |
5 |
62 |
28 |
6 |
5 |
10 |
36 |
45 |
45 |
|
Blackpool |
42 |
12 |
5 |
4 |
40 |
27 |
6 |
4 |
11 |
24 |
37 |
45 |
|
Charlton Athletic |
42 |
12 |
5 |
4 |
41 |
24 |
5 |
5 |
11 |
27 |
39 |
44 |
|
Liverpool |
42 |
6 |
11 |
4 |
31 |
25 |
6 |
8 |
7 |
26 |
36 |
43 |
|
Sunderland |
42 |
8 |
6 |
7 |
41 |
28 |
7 |
6 |
8 |
29 |
33 |
42 |
|
West Bromwich Albion |
42 |
8 |
9 |
4 |
38 |
29 |
6 |
4 |
11 |
36 |
48 |
41 |
|
Burnley |
42 |
9 |
6 |
6 |
32 |
19 |
6 |
4 |
11 |
24 |
44 |
40 |
|
Manchester City |
42 |
7 |
5 |
9 |
29 |
28 |
6 |
8 |
7 |
29 |
33 |
39 |
|
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
42 |
8 |
6 |
7 |
40 |
33 |
4 |
8 |
9 |
33 |
40 |
38 |
|
Derby
County |
42 |
10 |
4 |
7 |
43 |
37 |
5 |
3 |
13 |
20 |
43 |
37 |
|
Middlesbrough |
42 |
12 |
4 |
5 |
37 |
25 |
3 |
2 |
16 |
27 |
63 |
36 |
|
Chelsea |
42 |
10 |
3 |
8 |
31 |
29 |
4 |
5 |
12 |
21 |
43 |
36 |
|
Stoke City |
42 |
8 |
6 |
7 |
34 |
32 |
4 |
1 |
16 |
15 |
56 |
31 |
|
Huddersfield Town |
42 |
9 |
3 |
9 |
32 |
35 |
1 |
5 |
15 |
17 |
47 |
28 |
|
Fulham |
42 |
5 |
7 |
9 |
38 |
31 |
3 |
4 |
14 |
20 |
46 |
27 |
|
Stoke City
recorded a five-match winning run from 29 September 1951:
Burnley (h) 2-1, Aston V. (h) 4-1, Sunderland (a) 1-0, Wolves (h) 1-0,
Huddersfield (a) 2-0, before
losing 2-1 at Chelsea on 3 November 1951. Arsenal also recorded a five-match
winning sequence from 13 October 1950, before losing at Newcastle on 17
November 1951, as did Portsmouth from 27 October 1951, before drawing at
Preston on 1 December 1951. Manchester United's biggest winning sequence was
of three games.
Birmingham
City, Blackburn
Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday from the second division, also
had players representing England.
|
|
How The League Was Won 1951-52 Season |
|
Timeline |
|
37 Saturdays from 18 August 1951 to 26 April 1952 (ending a week
earlier than the previous season), plus the first four
midweeks of
the season, Christmas Day (Tuesday, 25th December 1951), Boxing Day (Wednesday, 26th December 1951),
Good Friday,
11 April 1952 and Easter Monday, 14 April 1952.
There was one other game played on a
Monday and one on a Wednesday in September. Apart from the Christmas and Boxing Day
fixtures, plus three games on New Year's Day 1952 (a Tuesday), there were no midweek games played between 19 September
1951 and 12 March 1952, when there were three games played on a
Wednesday, and one on the following day. Games were played on all
days of the week (except Sunday) in April.
The
FA Cup took precedence on six weekends from the
third round on 12 January 1952 to the
final on 3 May 1952 which was a week later than the previous season
so that it could be played on the first Saturday after the league
matches had been completed.
There were three weeks between
each round, apart from two weeks before the sixth round,
and five weeks before the
final. Four first-division games remained to be played in the same
week as the final, with one on the last day in April (a Wednesday),
one on the following day, and then the last two league games at the
same time as the final on Saturday, 3 May 1952.
|
Monday, 21 April 1952 |
Manchester United 3 Chelsea 0
Old Trafford, Manchester
(37,436)
Pearson
23, Carey 43,
McKnight
OG 48 |
Two days earlier, Arsenal had drawn
level on points with United, but they had two away games
remaining, the second of which was at Old Trafford, whilst
United had two home games, and a better goal average than the
Gunners, who were also suffering from an injury crisis, with an
FA Cup Final appearance also coming up. These two evening
fixtures, kicking off at 6:30pm, virtually settled the
championship, leaving Arsenal with the extremely slim hope of
needing to win by seven goals in their final meeting, five days
later. Roger Byrne even missed a late penalty for United. |
West Bromwich Albion 3 Arsenal 1
The Hawthorns, West Bromwich
(29,618)
Allen 10, Lee
39, Ryan 72 ~
Lishman 49 |
|
|
Saturday, 26 April 1952 |
Manchester United 6
Arsenal 1
Old Trafford, Manchester
(55,516)
Rowley
8, 74, (pen) 82,
Pearson 40, 89, Byrne
44 ~ Cox 76 |
|
Arsenal could not stem the tide. Yet another injury left them
with ten men after 25 minutes, and the free-flowing United
sailed to their first title since 1911. Finally,
after five years of near misses, Matt Busby's
policy of players switching positions to provide a variety of
different attacking options, was justified. Arsenal's miserable
end to the season was complete, seven days later, when they lost
the FA Cup Final to Newcastle United, as they lost another
player to injury after 35 minutes, and their walking-wounded
team succumbed to the inevitable. Tottenham even pipped them to
the league runners-up spot, on goal average, three days before
the final. |
|
|
The Elite League 1951-52 Season
(games between the top four) |
Arsenal and
Portsmouth replaced Blackpool and Newcastle United from the previous
season's top four.
Games played between the top two:-
|
Saturday, 8 December 1951 |
Arsenal 1 Manchester United 3
Arsenal Stadium, London
(54,451)
Logie
~ Rowley, Pearson,
Daniel OG |
|
Saturday, 26 April 1952 |
Manchester United 6 Arsenal 1
Old Trafford, Manchester
(55,516)
Rowley
(3 (1 pen)), Pearson (2), Byrne
~ Cox |
|
|
The Continuous Post-War League
1946-52
(six seasons) |
|
United increased their lead to
26 points.
Arsenal reduced United's
lead to eleven points. |
|
Champions: Manchester United |
Manager:
Matt
Busby
|
|
Chilean, George Robledo, who scored the
only goal in the FA Cup Final for Newcastle, was top scorer
with 33 goals. Second on the list
was West Brom's Ronnie Allen, with 32.
|
|
|
England and the Football
League 1951-52 Season |
|
England's impact on the Football League |
Including the tour at the end of the season, 15 of the 22 first division clubs were
represented, plus Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield
Wednesday from the
second division.
16 Football League games had a direct impact on
two of England's games, on 20 October 1951 and 5 April 1952,
including in the days prior to the Scotland game.
As a
result, on 20 October, England took Arsenal's Lionel Smith, Aston
Villa's Tommy Thompson, Bolton's Malcolm Barrass and Nat Lofthouse,
Charlton's Charlie Vaughan, Manchester United's Henry Cockburn,
Portsmouth's Jimmy Dickinson,
Preston's Tom Finney, Tottenham's Eddie Baily, Les Medley and Alf Ramsey, and Bert Williams and Billy
Wright of Wolves. On
5 April, Dickinson, Lofthouse and Wright were again missing from their
clubs, as were Birmingham's Gil Merrick, Blackpool's Tommy Garrett,
Brentford's Bill Slater,
Manchester City's Ivor Broadis, Manchester United's Stan Pearson and
Jack Rowley, and Jack Froggatt of Portsmouth.
Three days before the game, on 2 April,
Tottenham's Les Bennett, Bill Nicholson and Ramsey were unavailable
for their midweek fixture, due to their England call-ups. |
|
The FA Cup's impact on England |
|
Both FA Cup semi-finals had needed replays, and they were both
played in the week of the Scotland game. Blackburn played Newcastle,
three days before the game, on 2 April, so Blackburn's Bill
Eckersley was not selected. Jackie Milburn played for Newcastle.
Arsenal met Chelsea on the day of the Scotland game. Arthur Milton
and Lionel Smith played for Arsenal, whilst Roy Bentley was in
Chelsea's team. |
|
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