Football League
1946-92
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1951-52

Football League 1952-53
1953-54
  
Final League Table - Division I
 Teams in a silver box denotes a player representing England in 1952-53
 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
Arsenal 42 15 3 3 60 30 6 9 6 37 34 54
Preston North End 42 15 3 3 46 25 6 9 6 39 35 54
Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 13 5 3 54 27 6 8 7 32 36 51
West Bromwich Albion 42 13 3 5 35 19 8 5 8 31 41 50
Charlton Athletic 42 12 8 1 47 22 7 3 11 30 41 49
Burnley 42 11 6 4 36 20 7 6 8 31 32 48
Blackpool 42 13 5 3 45 22 6 4 11 26 48 47
Manchester United 42 11 5 5 35 30 7 5 9 34 42 46
Sunderland 42 11 9 1 42 27 4 4 13 26 55 43
Tottenham Hotspur 42 11 6 4 55 37 4 5 12 23 32 41
Aston Villa 42 9 7 5 36 23 5 6 10 27 38 41
Cardiff City 42 7 8 6 32 17 7 4 10 22 29 40
Middlesbrough 42 12 5 4 46 27 2 6 13 24 50 39
Bolton Wanderers 42 9 4 8 39 35 6 5 10 22 34 39
Portsmouth 42 10 6 5 44 34 4 4 13 30 49 38
Newcastle United 42 9 5 7 34 33 5 4 12 25 37 37
Liverpool 42 10 6 5 36 28 4 2 15 25 54 36
Sheffield Wednesday 42 8 6 7 35 32 4 5 12 27 40 35
Chelsea 42 10 4 7 35 24 2 7 12 21 42 35
Manchester City 42 12 2 7 45 28 2 5 14 27 59 35
Stoke City 42 10 4 7 35 26 2 6 13 18 40 34
Derby County 42 9 6 6 41 29 2 4 15 18 45 32

Arsenal recorded a five-match winning run from 4 April 1953:
Liverpool (h) 5-3, Chelsea (h) 2-0, Manchester City (a) 4-2, Bolton (h) 4-1, Stoke (h) 3-1, before a goalless draw at Cardiff on 22 April 1953. Burnley also recorded a five-match winning sequence from 26 August 1952, before drawing at Cardiff on 13 September 1952, as did West Bromwich Albion from 10 September 1952, before losing at Middlesbrough on 4 October 1952.

Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers from the second division, also had players representing England.

How The League Was Won 1952-53 Season
Timeline

36 Saturdays from 23 August 1952 (beginning a week later than the previous season) to 25 April 1953, plus the first four midweeks of the season, Christmas Day (Thursday, 25th December 1952), Boxing Day (Friday, 26th December 1952), New Year's Day (Thursday, 1st January 1953), Good Friday, 3 April 1953 and Easter Monday, 6 April 1953.
 Apart from the three festive bank holidays, there were no midweek games played between 17 September 1952 and 17 February 1953. There was one game played on a Monday, one on a Tuesday, and five on a Wednesday in February. Games were played throughout midweek in March and April, with two games played on the first May evening (one of them deciding the league title), on the day before the FA Cup Final, and the last fixture at the same time as the final. The FA Cup took precedence on six weekends from the third round on 10 January 1953 to the final on 2 May 1953. There were two weeks between each round, apart from three weeks before the fourth round and semi-finals, and six weeks before the final. There were eight remaining first-division games in the week of the final, ending with Portsmouth 1-4 Middlesbrough on Saturday, 2 May 1953.

Wednesday, 29 April 1953
Derby County 0 Preston North End 1
   Baseball Ground, Derby (31,496)
 Finney (pen) 43
Preston had beaten Arsenal, four days earlier, to draw level on points with them at the top of the table, with just one game each left. As Arsenal had a superior goal average, Preston knew that their chances of winning their first title since 1890 would be dependent on sixth-placed Burnley taking something from Highbury on the eve of the FA Cup Final, but Preston ended their season with a third consecutive victory and clean sheet, relegating Derby in the process, and at least ended their fixtures, two points clear at the top, hoping that their Lancashire rivals would do them a favour, two nights later.
Top Two 29 April 1953
Team P ₧
Preston North End 42 54
Arsenal 41 52
  
Friday, 1 May 1953
Arsenal 3 Burnley 2
   Arsenal Stadium, London (51,586)
 Forbes 9, Lishman 13, Logie 26 ~ Stephenson 8, Elliott 74
In the first title decider to be played on an evening, Burnley gave Arsenal a scare by taking an early lead, but less than twenty minutes later, the Gunners had put themselves in a commanding position to secure a record eighth league title, which they won by just 0.099 of a goal. With Blackpool and Bolton producing one of the greatest finals of all time, on the following day, the excitement of a big game at Highbury on the eve of the FA Cup Final, perhaps, inspired the first England v. Young England fixture, a year later at the same venue.
 
The Elite League 1952-53 Season (games between the top four)
Team P Home Away ₧
W D L F A W D L F A
Preston North End 6 2 1 0 4 1 1 1 1 4 3 8
West Bromwich Albion 6 2 1 0 5 2 0 1 2 2 5 6
Arsenal 6 1 2 0 8 6 0 1 2 1 5 5
Wolverhampton Wanderers 6 1 1 1 3 3 0 2 1 5 7 5
Only Arsenal remained from the previous season's top four. Manchester United, Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur were replaced by Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Games played between the top two:-
Thursday, 19 March 1953
 Arsenal 1 Preston North End 1
    Arsenal Stadium, London (33,597)
Mercer ~ Finney
 Saturday, 25 April 1953
 Preston North End 2 Arsenal 0
    Deepdale Stadium, Preston (39,537)
 Finney (pen), Wayman

The Continuous Post-War League 1946-53 (seven seasons)
Team P Wins ₧
Manchester United 294 145 370
Arsenal 294 137 352
Portsmouth 294 132 330
Wolverhampton Wanderers 294 127 329
Arsenal reduced United's lead to 18 points.
The 'Rolling Five-Season' League
 1948-53
Team P Wins ₧
Manchester United 210 104 262
Arsenal 210 98 252
Portsmouth 210 97 244
Newcastle United 210 89 233
Arsenal reduced United's lead to ten points.


Champions: Arsenal
Manager: Tom Whittaker
1952-53 Most Appearances
by England Players
Name Played Goals
Joe Mercer 28 2
Arthur Milton 25 7
Joe Mercer won his last England cap in 1939 and Arthur Milton won his only England cap in 1951.
1952-53 Most Goals
by England Players
Name Played Goals
Arthur Milton 25 7
Portsmouth's Peter Harris and West Brom's Charlie Wayman were joint-top scorers with 23 goals. Arsenal's Doug Lishman, Bolton's Nat Lofthouse, who was Footballer of the Year, and Billy Elliott of Burnley, were joint-third on the list, a goal behind on 22.

England and the Football League 1952-53 Season
England's impact on the Football League
Including the tour at the end of the season, twelve of the 22 first division clubs were represented, plus Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers from the second division.
19 Football League games had a direct impact on two of England's games, on 4 October 1952 and 18 April 1953, including in the days prior to the Scotland game.
As a result, on 4 October, England took Birmingham's Gil Merrick, Blackburn's Bill Eckersley, Bolton's Nat Lofthouse, Burnley's Billy Elliott, Portsmouth's Jimmy Dickinson and Jack Froggatt, Preston's Tom Finney, Sheffield Wednesday's Jackie Sewell, Sunderland's Willie Watson, Tottenham's Eddie Baily and Alf Ramsey, West Brom's Joe Kennedy and Billy Wright of Wolves. On 18 April, Dickinson, Finney, Jack Froggatt, Lofthouse, Merrick, Ramsey and Wright were again missing from their clubs, as were Arsenal's Lionel Smith, Bolton's Malcolm Barrass, Burnley's Jimmy Adamson, Manchester City's Ivor Broadis, Manchester United's Johnny Berry, and Redfern Froggatt of Sheffield Wednesday. Three days before the game, on 15 April, Barrass, Lofthouse and Smith were unavailable for the first of two club fixtures, due to their England call-ups.
 
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