1949–50 in English football

The 1949–50 season was the 70th season of competitive football in England.

Overview

Portsmouth retained the First Division title by one of the narrowest margins in history ahead of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

An event that was much talked about in the city of Sheffield for many years was the way the promotion race from the Second Division was won. Going into the last game of the season, Sheffield Wednesday needed to beat Tottenham Hotspur to clinch promotion at the expense of their local rivals Sheffield United. The resulting 0–0 draw meant Wednesday won promotion by a goal average difference of just 0.008 – a 1–1 draw would have left the two great rivals level on points and goal average, and a unique play-off match would have had to be played.

Joe Mercer captained the winning Arsenal team in the FA Cup and was named FWA Footballer of the Year.[1]

Manchester United returned to a rebuilt Old Trafford eight years after it had been damaged by the Luftwaffe, but failed to win any silverware this season.[2]

Honours

Competition	Winner	Runner-up
First Division	Portsmouth (2)	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second Division	Tottenham Hotspur	Sheffield Wednesday
Third Division North	Doncaster Rovers	Gateshead
Third Division South	Notts County	Northampton Town
FA Cup	Arsenal (3)	Liverpool
Charity Shield	Portsmouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers (shared)
Home Championship	England	Scotland

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

Football League

Main article: 1949–50 Football League

First Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Portsmouth	42	22	9	11	74	38	1.947	53
2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	20	13	9	76	49	1.551	53
3	Sunderland	42	21	10	11	83	62	1.339	52
4	Manchester United	42	18	14	10	69	44	1.568	50
5	Newcastle United	42	19	12	11	77	55	1.400	50
6	Arsenal	42	19	11	12	79	55	1.436	49
7	Blackpool	42	17	15	10	46	35	1.314	49
8	Liverpool	42	17	14	11	64	54	1.185	48
9	Middlesbrough	42	20	7	15	59	48	1.229	47
10	Burnley	42	16	13	13	40	40	1.000	45
11	Derby County	42	17	10	15	69	61	1.131	44
12	Aston Villa	42	15	12	15	61	61	1.000	42
13	Chelsea	42	12	16	14	58	65	0.892	40
14	West Bromwich Albion	42	14	12	16	47	53	0.887	40
15	Huddersfield Town	42	14	9	19	52	73	0.712	37
16	Bolton Wanderers	42	10	14	18	45	59	0.763	34
17	Fulham	42	10	14	18	41	54	0.759	34
18	Everton	42	10	14	18	42	66	0.636	34
19	Stoke City	42	11	12	19	45	75	0.600	34
20	Charlton Athletic	42	13	6	23	53	65	0.815	32
21	Manchester City	42	8	13	21	36	68	0.529	29	Relegated to the Second Division
22	Birmingham City	42	7	14	21	31	67	0.463	28

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Second Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Tottenham Hotspur	42	27	7	8	81	35	2.314	61	Promoted to the First Division
2	Sheffield Wednesday	42	18	16	8	67	48	1.396	52
3	Sheffield United	42	19	14	9	68	49	1.388	52
4	Southampton	42	19	14	9	64	48	1.333	52
5	Leeds United	42	17	13	12	54	45	1.200	47
6	Preston North End	42	18	9	15	60	49	1.224	45
7	Hull City	42	17	11	14	64	72	0.889	45
8	Swansea Town	42	17	9	16	53	49	1.082	43
9	Brentford	42	15	13	14	44	49	0.898	43
10	Cardiff City	42	16	10	16	41	44	0.932	42
11	Grimsby Town	42	16	8	18	74	73	1.014	40
12	Coventry City	42	13	13	16	55	55	1.000	39
13	Barnsley	42	13	13	16	64	67	0.955	39
14	Chesterfield	42	15	9	18	43	47	0.915	39
15	Leicester City	42	12	15	15	55	65	0.846	39
16	Blackburn Rovers	42	14	10	18	55	60	0.917	38
17	Luton Town	42	10	18	14	41	51	0.804	38
18	Bury	42	14	9	19	60	65	0.923	37
19	West Ham United	42	12	12	18	53	61	0.869	36
20	Queens Park Rangers	42	11	12	19	40	57	0.702	34
21	Plymouth Argyle	42	8	16	18	44	65	0.677	32	Relegated to the Third Division South
22	Bradford Park Avenue	42	10	11	21	51	77	0.662	31	Relegated to the Third Division North

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division North

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Doncaster Rovers	42	19	17	6	66	38	1.737	55	Promoted to the Second Division
2	Gateshead	42	23	7	12	87	54	1.611	53
3	Rochdale	42	21	9	12	68	41	1.659	51
4	Lincoln City	42	21	9	12	60	39	1.538	51
5	Tranmere Rovers	42	19	11	12	51	48	1.063	49
6	Rotherham United	42	19	10	13	80	59	1.356	48
7	Crewe Alexandra	42	17	14	11	68	55	1.236	48
8	Mansfield Town	42	18	12	12	66	54	1.222	48
9	Carlisle United	42	16	15	11	68	51	1.333	47
10	Stockport County	42	19	7	16	55	52	1.058	45
11	Oldham Athletic	42	16	11	15	58	63	0.921	43
12	Chester	42	17	6	19	70	79	0.886	40
13	Accrington Stanley	42	16	7	19	57	62	0.919	39
14	New Brighton	42	14	10	18	45	63	0.714	38
15	Barrow	42	14	9	19	47	53	0.887	37
16	Southport	42	12	13	17	51	71	0.718	37
17	Darlington	42	11	13	18	56	69	0.812	35
18	Hartlepools United	42	14	5	23	52	79	0.658	33
19	Bradford City	42	12	8	22	61	76	0.803	32
20	Wrexham	42	10	12	20	39	54	0.722	32
21	Halifax Town	42	12	8	22	58	85	0.682	32	Re-elected
22	York City	42	9	13	20	52	70	0.743	31

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division South

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Notts County	42	25	8	9	95	50	1.900	58	Promoted to the Second Division
2	Northampton Town	42	20	11	11	72	50	1.440	51
3	Southend United	42	19	13	10	66	48	1.375	51
4	Nottingham Forest	42	20	9	13	67	39	1.718	49
5	Torquay United	42	19	10	13	66	63	1.048	48
6	Watford	42	16	13	13	45	35	1.286	45
7	Crystal Palace	42	15	14	13	55	54	1.019	44
8	Brighton & Hove Albion	42	16	12	14	57	69	0.826	44
9	Bristol Rovers	42	19	5	18	51	51	1.000	43
10	Reading	42	17	8	17	70	64	1.094	42
11	Norwich City	42	16	10	16	65	63	1.032	42
12	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	42	16	10	16	57	56	1.018	42
13	Port Vale	42	15	11	16	47	42	1.119	41
14	Swindon Town	42	15	11	16	59	62	0.952	41
15	Bristol City	42	15	10	17	60	61	0.984	40
16	Exeter City	42	14	11	17	63	75	0.840	39
17	Ipswich Town	42	12	11	19	57	86	0.663	35
18	Leyton Orient	42	12	11	19	53	85	0.624	35
19	Walsall	42	9	16	17	61	62	0.984	34
20	Aldershot	42	13	8	21	48	60	0.800	34
21	Newport County	42	13	8	21	67	98	0.684	34	Re-elected
22	Millwall	42	14	4	24	55	63	0.873	32

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Top goalscorers

First Division

• Dickie Davis (Sunderland) – 25 goals[3]

Second Division

• Tommy Briggs (Grimsby Town) – 35 goals[3]

Third Division North

• Reg Philips (Crewe Alexandra) and Peter Doherty (Doncaster Rovers) – 26 goals[4]

Third Division South

• Tommy Lawton (Notts County) – 31 goals[4]

References

1. The Times, 4 April 1950; Association Football Scottish Team To Meet England
3. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
4. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.