1939–40 Arsenal F.C. season explained

Club:Arsenal
Season:1939–40
Manager:George Allison
Chairman:Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry
League:Football League South
League Result:4th
Cup1:Football League War Cup
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Prevseason:1938–39
Nextseason:1940–41

The 1939–40 season was the first of Arsenal Football Club's seasons in the Wartime League, a football competition which temporarily replaced the Football League. Arsenal won the South 'A League.'

Background

Although the 1939–40 Football League season began as normal on 26 August 1939, teams only played three matches. Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939 and the Football League was abandoned. 42 of Arsenal's 44 professional players in September 1939 joined the services and many of the administrators followed. Arsenal's stadium was transformed for Air Raid Precautions.[1]

Arsenal played six friendlies away from home as they negotiated the use of White Hart Lane and as the Wartime League was being organized.[2]

Football resumed on 28 October 1939, with the clubs being organized into ten regional leagues. For each game, supporters could only travel from within 50 miles, and crowds were limited to 8,000. Arsenal's first match was against Charlton, which they won 8–4 with Leslie Compton scoring three penalties. The Football League War Cup was introduced in the spring of 1940.[3]

Arsenal competed in the South 'A' League and South 'C' League. Arsenal won the 'A' league in 1939–40, and were to find further success in future wartime seasons. In the 'A' League, all of the matches except for one were played by 8 February 1940, with the last being played on 3 April. Once most of the games in the 'A' League had been played, Arsenal began to compete in the 'C' League in which they finished third.

Results

Arsenal's score comes first[4]

Legend

WinDrawLoss

Football League First Division

See main article: 1939–40 Football League.

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
26 August 1939 Wolverhampton WanderersA2–2
30 August 1939 Blackburn RoversH1–0
2 September 1939 SunderlandH5–2

League suspended due to World War II

Football League South

Selected results from the league.

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendance
21 October 1939 Charlton AthleticH8–4
4 November 1939 Crystal PalaceH5–0
11 November 1939 Norwich CityA1–1
18 November 1939 Tottenham HotspurH2–1
25 November 1939 MillwallA3–3
2 December 1939 West Ham UnitedH3–010,000
9 December 1939 WatfordA3–1
16 December 1939 Southend UnitedH5–1
23 December 1939 Charlton AthleticA?–?
26 December 1939 Crystal PalaceA3–0
30 December 1939 Norwich CityH3–0
20 January 1940 West Ham UnitedA0–38,000
10 February 1940 BrentfordH3–15,000
16 March 1940 West Ham UnitedH2–310,371
23 March 1940 ChelseaH3–01,200
8 April 1940 West Ham UnitedA1–28,000
13 April 1940 PortsmouthH3–2
17 April 1940 ChelseaA2–2
6 April 1940 BrentfordA4–28,000

Group C League table

Football League War Cup

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Soar, Phil . Arsenal: Official History . Tyler . Martin . Hamlyn . 1995 . 0600588262 . London . 98 . en.
  2. Web site: Attwood . Tony . 25 March 2017 . Arsenal in the 30s: Arsenal at the start of the 2nd world war (autumn 1939) . https://web.archive.org/web/20220701004506/http://blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/archives/15180 . 1 July 2022 . 17 November 2023 . The History of Arsenal.
  3. Web site: Forster . Richard . 24 April 2020 . How English football responded to the second world war . https://web.archive.org/web/20230427110700/https://www.theguardian.com/football/the-agony-and-the-ecstasy/2020/apr/24/how-english-football-responded-to-the-second-world-war . 27 April 2023 . 17 November 2023 . The Guardian.
  4. http://www.statto.com/football/teams/arsenal/1939-1940/results