Football League
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1952-53

Football League 1953-54
1954-55
  
Final League Table - Division I
 Teams in a silver box denotes a player representing England in 1953-54
 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
Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 16 1 4 61 25 9 6 6 35 31 57
West Bromwich Albion 42 13 5 3 51 24 9 4 8 35 39 53
Huddersfield Town 42 13 6 2 45 24 7 5 9 33 37 51
Manchester United 42 11 6 4 41 27 7 6 8 32 31 48
Bolton Wanderers 42 14 6 1 45 20 4 6 11 30 40 48
Blackpool 42 13 6 2 43 19 6 4 11 37 50 48
Burnley 42 16 2 3 51 23 5 2 14 27 44 46
Chelsea 42 12 3 6 45 26 4 9 8 29 42 44
Charlton Athletic 42 14 4 3 51 26 5 2 14 24 51 44
Cardiff City 42 12 4 5 32 27 6 4 11 19 44 44
Preston North End 42 12 2 7 43 24 7 3 11 44 34 43
Arsenal 42 8 8 5 42 37 7 5 9 33 36 43
Aston Villa 42 12 5 4 50 28 4 4 13 20 40 41
Portsmouth 42 13 5 3 53 31 1 6 14 28 58 39
Newcastle United 42 9 2 10 43 40 5 8 8 29 37 38
Tottenham Hotspur 42 11 3 7 38 33 5 2 14 27 43 37
Manchester City 42 10 4 7 35 31 4 5 12 27 46 37
Sunderland 42 11 4 6 50 37 3 4 14 31 52 36
Sheffield Wednesday 42 12 4 5 43 30 3 2 16 27 61 36
Sheffield United 42 9 5 7 43 38 2 6 13 26 52 33
Middlesbrough 42 6 6 9 29 35 4 4 13 31 56 30
Liverpool 42 7 8 6 49 38 2 2 17 19 59 28

Charlton Athletic recorded a six-match winning run from 12 September 1953:
Middlesbrough (h) 8-1, Preston (h) 2-1, West Brom (a) 3-2, Liverpool (h) 6-0, Newcastle (a) 2-0, Blackpool (h) 4-2, before losing 3-1 at Portsmouth on 17 October 1953. Wolverhampton Wanderers' biggest winning sequence was of five games.

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

How The League Was Won 1953-54 Season
Timeline

36 Saturdays from 22 August 1953 to 24 April 1954, plus five consecutive midweeks, beginning on Wednesday, 19 August 1953, Christmas Day (Friday, 25th December 1953), Good Friday, 16 April 1954 and Easter Monday, 19 April 1954. The season began on a Wednesday, with fixtures originally planned to be played on Saturday, 1 May 1954, but brought forward to before the beginning of the season, because of live television coverage of the FA Cup Final.
 One other game was played on a Wednesday in September, one was played on Christmas Eve, a Thursday, two on the last Monday of the year, and three on New Year's Day which was a Friday (Boxing Day was a Saturday). There were no more midweek games until the last week in February, when there were four games on the Wednesday and one on the Thursday. In March, midweek games were only played on Wednesdays, but they were throughout midweek (apart from Thursdays) in April. The FA Cup took precedence on six weekends from the third round on 9 January 1954 to the final on 1 May 1954. There were three weeks between each round, apart from two weeks before the semi-finals, and five weeks before the final. Three remaining third-division (south) fixtures were played in the evening, after the FA Cup Final. Last first-division match was on Monday, 26 April 1954 (Sheffield U. 2-1 Aston V.).

Tuesday, 20 April 1954
Aston Villa 6 West Bromwich Albion 1
   Villa Park, Birmingham (57,899)
 Pace 2, 10, Tyrell 26, 29, Dixon 35, Blanchflower 81 ~ Griffin 44		 With the title destined to be won by a club from Staffordshire, West Brom's chances of their first title since 1920 were effectively extinguished by another near-neighbour on the Tuesday afternoon following the Easter Monday bank holiday, when the reverse fixtures of these two games had been played. Wolves had increased their lead at the top to two points, by thrashing Huddersfield, 4-0 at Molineux, whilst West Brom were drawing with Villa. 24 hours later, Wolves could have secured the championship, but for Huddersfield gaining their revenge. It was inevitable, however, that the trophy was heading to Wolverhampton for the first time, as, with one game left, Wolves had a huge goal-average advantage, even if they lost and Albion won.
Huddersfield Town 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
   Leeds Road, Huddersfield (35,814)
Glazzard 4, McGarry 64 ~ Wilshaw 44
Top Two 20 April 1954
Team P ₧
Wolverhampton Wanderers 41 55
West Bromwich Albion 41 53
  
Saturday, 24 April 1954
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0
   Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton (44,055)
 Swinbourne 18, 68
Wolves' final game was a big celebration as they finally secured the top prize, and doubled their winning margin, as West Brom lost, 3-0 at Portsmouth. They had lost five of their last seven games, but their consolation would come, seven days later, however, when they won the FA Cup at Wembley.
 
The Elite League 1953-54 Season (games between the top four)
Team P Home Away ₧
W D L F A W D L F A
West Bromwich Albion 6 2 0 1 6 1 2 0 1 5 2 8
Wolverhampton Wanderers 6 3 0 0 8 1 1 0 2 2 3 8
Manchester United 6 2 0 1 5 4 0 1 2 1 5 5
Huddersfield Town 6 1 1 1 2 3 0 0 3 1 11 3
Huddersfield Town and Manchester United replaced Arsenal and Preston North End from the previous season's top four.
Games played between the top two:-
Saturday, 14 November 1953
 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 West Bromwich Albion 0
    Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton (56,590)
Mullen
 Saturday, 3 April 1954
 West Bromwich Albion 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
    The Hawthorns, West Bromwich (49,884)
 Swinbourne

The Continuous Post-War League 1946-54 (eight seasons)
Team P Wins ₧
Manchester United 336 163 418
Arsenal 336 152 395
Wolverhampton Wanderers 336 152 386
Blackpool 336 135 371
United increased their lead to 23 points.
The 'Rolling Five-Season' League
 1949-54
Team P Wins ₧
Manchester United 210 104 257
Arsenal 210 95 246
Blackpool 210 93 239
Wolverhampton Wanderers 210 91 237
United increased their lead to eleven points.


Champions: Wolverhampton Wanderers
Manager: Stan Cullis
1953-54 Most Appearances
by England Players
Name Played Goals
Johnny Hancocks 42 25
Bill Slater 39 2
Dennis Wilshaw 39 25
Billy Wright 39  
Jimmy Mullen 38 7
Peter Broadbent 36 12
Bert Williams 34  
Johnny Hancocks won his last England cap in 1950, Bert Williams did not play for England in the 1953-54 season, Bill Slater did not play for England until the following season and Peter Broadbent did not play for England until 1958.
1953-54 Most Goals
by England Players
Name Played Goals
Johnny Hancocks 42 25
Dennis Wilshaw 39 25
Huddersfield's Jimmy Glazzard was top scorer with 29 goals. West Brom's Johnny Nicholls was second on the list, with 28, and his team-mate, Ronnie Allen was third, with 27.

England and the Football League 1953-54 Season
England's impact on the Football League
Including the World Cup finals and the two matches that preceded it, twelve of the 22 first division clubs were represented, plus Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers and Luton Town from the second division.
 19 Football League games had a direct impact on two of England's games, on 10 October 1953 and 3 April 1954, including in the days prior to the Scotland game.
As a result, on 10 October, England took Birmingham's Gil Merrick, Blackburn's Bill Eckersley, Blackpool's Tommy Garrett and Harry Johnston, Bolton's Nat Lofthouse, Portsmouth's Jimmy Dickinson, Preston's Tom Finney, Sheffield Wednesday's Albert Quixall, West Brom's Ray Barlow, and Jimmy Mullen, Dennis Wilshaw and Billy Wright of Wolves. On 3 April, Dickinson, Finney, Merrick, Mullen and Wright were again missing from their clubs, as were Chelsea's Ken Armstrong, Huddersfield's Ron Staniforth, Manchester United's Roger Byrne, Newcastle's Ivor Broadis, Tottenham's Harry Clarke, and Ronnie Allen and Johnny Nicholls of West Brom. Three days before the game, on 31 March, Allen, Finney and Nicholls were unavailable for the first of two club fixtures, due to their England call-ups.
 
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