1908–09 Football League

The 1908–09 season was the 21st season of The Football League.

The Football League

Season	1908–09
Champions	Newcastle United
Relegated	Chesterfield
New Clubs in League	Bradford Park Avenue Tottenham Hotspur
← 1907–08 1909–10 →

Tottenham Hotspur played their first ever season in the Football League, gaining promotion to the First Division in the process. Spurs, along with Bradford Park Avenue entered the Second Division to replace Lincoln City and Stoke.

Final league tables

The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website[1] and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79,[2] with home and away statistics separated.

Beginning with the season 1894–95, clubs finishing level on points were separated according to goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded), or more properly put, goal ratio. In case one or more teams had the same goal difference, this system favoured those teams who had scored fewer goals. The goal average system was eventually scrapped beginning with the 1976–77 season.

Since the goal average was used for this purpose for such a long time, it is presented in the tables below even for the seasons prior to 1894–95, and since the goal difference is a more informative piece of information for a modern reader than the goal average, the goal difference is added in this presentation after the goal average.

From the 1894–95 season and until the 1920–21 season the re-election process was required of the clubs which finished in the bottom three of the league.[2]

First Division

Football League
First Division

Season	1908–09
Champions	Newcastle United (3rd English title)
Relegated	Leicester Fosse, Manchester City
FA Cup winners	Manchester United (1st FA Cup title)
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1,185 (3.12 per match)
Top goalscorer	Bert Freeman (Everton), 38 [3]
Biggest home win	Nottingham Forest – Leicester Fosse 12–0 (21 Apr 1909)
Biggest away win	Newcastle – Sunderland 1–9 (5 Dec 1908)
Highest scoring	Nottingham Forest – Leicester Fosse 12–0 (21 Apr 1909)
← 1907–08 1909–10 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Newcastle United	38	14	1	4	32	20	10	4	5	33	21	1.585	53	League Champions
2	Everton	38	11	3	5	51	28	7	7	5	31	29	1.439	46
3	Sunderland	38	14	0	5	41	23	7	2	10	37	40	1.238	44
4	Blackburn Rovers	38	6	6	7	29	26	8	7	4	32	24	1.220	41
5	The Wednesday	38	15	0	4	48	24	2	6	11	19	37	1.098	40
6	Woolwich Arsenal	38	9	3	7	24	18	5	7	7	28	31	1.061	38
7	Aston Villa	38	8	7	4	31	22	6	3	10	27	34	1.036	38
8	Bristol City	38	7	7	5	24	25	6	5	8	21	33	0.776	38
9	Middlesbrough	38	11	2	6	38	21	3	7	9	21	32	1.113	37
10	Preston North End	38	8	7	4	29	17	5	4	10	19	27	1.091	37
11	Chelsea	38	8	7	4	33	22	6	2	11	23	39	0.918	37
12	Sheffield United	38	9	5	5	31	25	5	4	10	20	34	0.864	37
13	Manchester United	38	10	3	6	37	33	5	4	10	21	35	0.853	37	FA Cup Winners
14	Nottingham Forest	38	9	2	8	39	24	5	6	8	27	33	1.158	36
15	Notts County	38	9	4	6	31	23	5	4	10	20	25	1.063	36
16	Liverpool	38	9	5	5	36	25	6	1	12	21	40	0.877	36
17	Bury	38	9	6	4	35	27	5	2	12	28	50	0.818	36
18	Bradford City	38	7	6	6	27	20	5	4	10	20	27	1.000	34
19	Manchester City	38	12	3	4	50	23	3	1	15	17	46	0.971	34	Relegated
20	Leicester Fosse	38	6	6	7	32	41	2	3	14	22	61	0.529	25

Source:

Results

Home \ Away	AST	BLB	BRA	BRI	BRY	CHE	EVE	LEI	LIV	MCI	MUN	MID	NEW	NOT	NTC	PNE	SHU	SUN	WED	WOO
Aston Villa		1–1	1–3	1–1	3–0	0–0	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	3–1	0–3	3–0	1–2	1–1	2–4	3–0	2–0	1–1	2–1
Blackburn Rovers	3–1		1–1	1–1	0–1	2–0	0–0	3–0	1–0	3–2	1–3	0–0	2–4	0–3	0–2	1–1	0–1	8–1	2–2	1–3
Bradford City	1–1	0–2		0–1	4–1	3–0	1–1	4–1	0–2	0–0	1–0	0–2	1–2	1–1	2–2	2–0	3–1	0–2	0–0	4–1
Bristol City	0–0	1–4	0–1		4–2	1–0	0–2	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	3–3	2–1	1–0	2–3	1–1	2–4	1–1	2–1
Bury	1–2	1–1	2–1	1–2		2–1	2–2	2–2	2–1	1–0	2–2	2–1	1–1	3–2	3–1	0–1	1–2	4–2	4–2	1–1
Chelsea	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	4–1		3–3	1–0	3–0	1–2	1–1	3–0	1–2	2–1	3–2	0–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	1–2
Everton	3–1	4–4	0–1	5–2	4–0	3–2		4–2	5–0	6–3	3–2	1–1	0–1	3–3	0–1	0–1	5–1	4–0	1–0	0–3
Leicester Fosse	4–2	2–4	1–4	1–1	2–5	5–2	0–2		3–2	3–1	3–2	1–1	0–4	0–3	0–2	0–0	1–1	4–3	1–1	1–1
Liverpool	3–2	1–1	4–0	1–2	2–2	2–1	0–1	4–1		1–3	3–1	1–2	2–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	3–0	1–2	2–2
Manchester City	2–0	3–3	4–3	5–1	6–1	1–2	4–0	5–2	4–0		1–2	0–0	0–2	2–1	1–0	4–1	1–3	1–0	4–0	2–2
Manchester United	0–2	0–3	2–0	0–1	2–1	0–1	2–2	4–2	3–2	3–1		6–3	1–0	2–2	4–3	0–2	2–1	2–2	3–1	1–4
Middlesbrough	1–0	1–0	1–0	4–0	0–1	1–4	2–3	6–2	1–0	3–0	5–0		0–0	4–0	1–2	4–2	1–2	0–3	2–1	1–1
Newcastle United	0–2	2–0	1–0	2–1	3–1	1–3	3–0	2–0	0–1	2–0	2–1	1–0		1–1	1–0	2–0	4–0	1–9	1–0	3–1
Nottingham Forest	1–2	2–1	2–1	1–1	0–2	2–1	1–2	12–0	5–1	0–2	2–0	4–1	0–4		1–0	1–1	0–2	4–0	1–2	0–1
Notts County	1–1	2–3	1–1	0–1	3–2	3–0	0–0	2–3	1–2	5–1	0–1	3–2	0–4	3–0		1–0	3–1	0–0	1–0	2–1
Preston North End	3–2	2–0	0–0	2–1	0–2	6–0	3–3	0–1	2–0	3–0	0–3	1–1	0–1	1–1	0–0		1–1	1–0	4–1	0–0
Sheffield United	3–1	0–0	3–0	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–5	2–1	0–2	4–0	0–0	2–0	1–1	1–2	3–2	2–1		0–2	2–1	1–1
Sunderland	4–3	0–1	2–1	0–2	3–1	1–2	2–0	3–1	1–4	2–0	6–1	2–0	3–1	2–1	0–1	2–1	3–1		4–2	1–0
The Wednesday	4–2	1–2	0–2	2–0	4–3	5–1	2–0	3–1	2–3	3–1	2–0	3–2	2–0	3–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–5		6–2
Woolwich Arsenal	0–1	0–1	1–0	1–1	4–0	0–0	0–4	2–1	5–0	3–0	0–1	1–1	1–2	1–2	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–4	2–0

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

Aston Villa

Blackburn Rovers

Bradford City

Bristol City

Bury

Chelsea

Everton

Leicester Fosse

Liverpool

Manchester City

Manchester United

Middlesbrough

Newcastle

Nottingham Forest

Notts County

Sheffield United

Preston North End

Sunderland

The Wednesday (Sheffield)

Woolwich Arsenal

Locations of the Football League First Division teams

Second Division

Football League
Second Division

Season	1908–09
Champions	Bolton Wanderers (1st title)
Failed re-election	Chesterfield
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1,026 (2.7 per match)
Top goalscorer	Alf Bentley (Derby County), 24 [3]
Biggest home win	West Brom – Grimsby Town 7–0 (2 Jan 1909)
Biggest away win	Chesterfield – Hull 0–4 (24 Oct 1909)
Highest scoring	Burnley – Wolverhampton 3–5 (7 Nov 1909)
← 1907–08 1909–10 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GR	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Bolton Wanderers	38	14	3	2	37	8	10	1	8	22	20	2.107	52	Division Champions
2	Tottenham Hotspur[lower-alpha 1]	38	12	5	2	42	12	8	6	5	25	20	2.094	51	Promoted
3	West Bromwich Albion	38	13	5	1	35	9	6	8	5	21	18	2.074	51
4	Hull City	38	14	2	3	44	15	5	4	10	19	24	1.615	44
5	Derby County	38	13	5	1	38	11	3	6	10	17	30	1.341	43
6	Oldham Athletic	38	14	4	1	39	9	3	2	14	16	34	1.279	40
7	Wolverhampton Wanderers	38	10	6	3	32	12	4	5	10	24	36	1.167	39
8	Glossop	38	11	5	3	35	17	4	3	12	22	36	1.075	38
9	Gainsborough Trinity	38	12	3	4	30	20	3	5	11	19	50	0.700	38
10	Fulham	38	8	4	7	39	26	5	7	7	19	22	1.208	37
11	Birmingham	38	10	6	3	35	21	4	3	12	23	40	0.951	37
12	Leeds City	38	12	3	4	35	19	2	4	13	8	34	0.811	35
13	Grimsby Town	38	9	5	5	23	14	5	2	12	18	40	0.759	35
14	Burnley	38	8	4	7	33	28	5	3	11	18	30	0.879	33
15	Clapton Orient	38	7	7	5	25	19	5	2	12	12	30	0.755	33
16	Bradford Park Avenue[lower-alpha 1]	38	9	2	8	30	25	4	4	11	21	34	0.864	32
17	Barnsley	38	11	3	5	36	19	0	7	12	12	38	0.842	32
18	Stockport County	38	11	2	6	25	19	3	1	15	14	52	0.549	31	Re-elected
19	Chesterfield[lower-alpha 2]	38	10	3	6	30	28	1	5	13	7	39	0.552	30	Failed re-election
20	Blackpool	38	9	6	4	30	22	0	5	14	16	46	0.676	29	Re-elected

Source:
Notes:

1. New club in the league
2. Chesterfield failed re-election, and Lincoln City were re-admitted to the Football League in their place, after a season away.

Results

Home \ Away	BAR	BIR	BLP	BOL	BPA	BUR	CHF	CLA	DER	FUL	GAI	GLP	GRI	HUL	LEE	OLD	STP	TOT	WBA	WOL
Barnsley		3–1	4–0	0–1	3–1	1–2	4–0	3–0	1–0	1–2	2–2	1–3	3–1	2–1	2–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1
Birmingham	2–1		2–2	2–0	3–1	2–0	3–0	1–0	1–1	1–3	2–2	1–2	3–1	1–2	1–0	2–0	4–2	3–3	0–0	1–1
Blackpool	1–1	2–0		1–2	2–1	0–0	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–0	3–0	2–1	2–2	2–3	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–2	3–1
Bolton Wanderers	3–0	2–1	3–1		0–1	2–1	4–0	2–0	1–0	0–0	4–0	2–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	3–0	4–1	0–1	1–1	1–1
Bradford Park Avenue	3–2	1–2	4–3	1–2		2–3	1–0	0–1	2–0	1–1	4–1	1–0	0–2	1–0	2–0	3–4	0–1	0–2	0–0	4–1
Burnley	3–2	1–1	1–1	1–2	3–3		0–1	0–1	2–0	1–3	5–2	3–2	2–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	5–1	1–2	0–2	3–5
Chesterfield	1–0	4–2	3–1	0–2	2–1	1–0		2–0	2–4	2–1	2–1	2–1	1–2	0–4	2–0	1–1	1–2	1–3	2–2	1–1
Clapton Orient	1–1	3–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	0–1	1–1		2–0	1–1	2–2	0–2	2–1	1–2	0–0	2–0	5–0	0–0	1–0	1–3
Derby County	0–0	1–2	1–1	1–0	3–1	1–0	1–1	1–0		2–1	5–0	4–0	2–1	0–0	5–1	1–0	5–0	1–1	2–1	2–1
Fulham	2–2	1–1	3–0	1–2	3–1	3–0	0–0	1–2	1–2		4–0	2–3	5–2	0–3	0–1	3–2	5–1	2–3	2–0	1–1
Gainsborough Trinity	4–1	1–3	1–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	3–0	2–0	0–0	1–1		3–1	0–3	2–0	1–1	1–4	3–2	0–2	2–0	1–0
Glossop	3–0	3–1	3–0	0–2	1–1	1–2	2–0	4–0	3–1	0–0	2–2		1–0	2–1	0–0	2–1	3–0	1–1	1–3	3–2
Grimsby Town	0–0	0–3	2–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	2–0	2–2	1–2	2–0		0–0	0–1	2–0	3–0	1–2	1–1	3–0
Hull City	4–0	4–1	2–0	2–0	2–3	3–2	1–0	3–2	4–0	2–0	5–1	0–0	0–1		4–1	1–0	4–1	1–0	2–2	0–1
Leeds City	2–0	2–0	1–0	1–2	0–3	1–1	3–0	0–0	2–5	2–0	0–2	3–1	4–1	2–0		3–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	5–2
Oldham Athletic	0–0	2–0	3–1	1–1	2–0	4–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	4–0	2–2	6–0		0–1	1–0	2–0	2–1
Stockport County	2–1	3–2	1–0	1–0	0–1	2–1	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–2	0–1	4–2	0–1	3–1	1–0	1–3		1–3	0–0	1–0
Tottenham Hotspur	4–0	4–0	4–1	2–1	3–0	4–2	4–0	0–1	0–0	1–0	1–1	3–3	2–0	0–0	3–0	3–0	0–0		1–3	3–0
West Bromwich Albion	1–1	1–1	5–1	2–0	1–0	0–0	2–2	1–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–0	7–0	1–0	2–1	1–0	2–0	3–0		0–2
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–0	2–0	2–2	1–2	1–1	2–1	3–0	5–1	1–1	0–1	4–0	0–0	0–0	3–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	0–1

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

Clapton Orient

Fulham

Tottenham

Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams

Barnsley

Birmingham

Blackpool

Bolton

Bradford Park Avenue

Burnley

Chesterfield

Derby County

Fulham

Clapton Orient

Gainsborough Trinity

Glossop

Grimsby Town

Hull

Leeds C

Oldham

Stockport County

Tottenham

West Bromwich Albion

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Locations of the Football League Second Division teams

See also

• 1908-09 in English football
• 1908 in association football
• 1909 in association football

References

1. "England 1908-09". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
2. Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
3. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 October 2010.

• Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.