1939–40 Arsenal F.C. season

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.'

Arsenal
1939–40 season
ChairmanRobin Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry
ManagerGeorge Allison
Football League South4th

Background

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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.[1] 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.[2]

Results

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Arsenal's score comes first[4]

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
26 August 1939 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 2–2
30 August 1939 Blackburn Rovers H 1–0
2 September 1939 Sunderland H 5–2

League suspended due to World War II

Football League South

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Selected results from the league.

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance
21 October 1939 Charlton Athletic H 8–4
4 November 1939 Crystal Palace H 5–0
11 November 1939 Norwich City A 1–1
18 November 1939 Tottenham Hotspur H 2–1
25 November 1939 Millwall A 3–3
2 December 1939 West Ham United H 3–0 10,000
9 December 1939 Watford A 3–1
16 December 1939 Southend United H 5–1
23 December 1939 Charlton Athletic A ?–?
26 December 1939 Crystal Palace A 3–0
30 December 1939 Norwich City H 3–0
20 January 1940 West Ham United A 0–3 8,000
10 February 1940 Brentford H 3–1 5,000
16 March 1940 West Ham United H 2–3 10,371
23 March 1940 Chelsea H 3–0 1,200
8 April 1940 West Ham United A 1–2 8,000
13 April 1940 Portsmouth H 3–2
17 April 1940 Chelsea A 2–2
6 April 1940 Brentford A 4–2 8,000

Group A League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Arsenal (C) 30 23 2 5 108 43 2.512 48
2 West Ham United 30 20 2 8 105 59 1.780 42
3 Millwall 30 17 5 8 81 44 1.841 39
4 Watford 30 17 5 8 85 56 1.518 39
5 Norwich City 30 15 8 7 61 41 1.488 38
6 Charlton Athletic 30 14 6 10 70 53 1.321 34
7 Crystal Palace 30 13 8 9 76 58 1.310 34
8 Clapton Orient 30 14 5 11 72 64 1.125 33
9 Tottenham Hotspur 30 14 2 14 80 76 1.053 30
10 Southend United 30 11 3 16 52 59 0.881 25
Source: [citation needed]
(C) League Champions

Group C League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Tottenham Hotspur (C) 30 23 2 5 108 43 2.512 48
2 West Ham United 30 20 2 8 105 59 1.780 42
3 Arsenal 30 17 5 8 81 44 1.841 39
4 Brentfordl 30 17 5 8 85 56 1.518 39
5 Millwall 30 15 8 7 61 41 1.488 38
6 Charlton Athletic 30 14 6 10 70 53 1.321 34
7 Fulham 30 13 8 9 76 58 1.310 34
8 Southampton 30 14 5 11 72 64 1.125 33
9 Chelsea 30 14 2 14 80 76 1.053 30
10 Portsmouth 30 11 3 16 52 59 0.881 25
Source: [citation needed]
(C) League Champions

Football League War Cup

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References

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  1. ^ a b Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1995). Arsenal: Official History. London: Hamlyn. p. 98. ISBN 0600588262.
  2. ^ a b Attwood, Tony (25 March 2017). "Arsenal in the 30s: Arsenal at the start of the 2nd world war (autumn 1939)". The History of Arsenal. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  3. ^ Forster, Richard (24 April 2020). "How English football responded to the second world war". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  4. ^ http://www.statto.com/football/teams/arsenal/1939-1940/results [dead link]
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