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1937–38 in English football

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63rd season of competitive football in England

Football in England
Season1937–38
Men's football
Football LeagueArsenal
Football League Second DivisionAston Villa
FA CupPreston North End
← 1936–37 England 1938–39 →

The 1937–38 season was the 63rd season of competitive football in England.

Overview

Manchester City became the only team to have been relegated in the season after winning the league title as well as the only team to ever be relegated from the top tier of English football having scored the most goals in that particular season.

The points spread between the league champions, Arsenal, and the team that finished bottom of the league, West Bromwich Albion, was a mere 16 points.

Arsenal won the title (the club's fifth) on the final day of the season with a mere 52 points from 42 matches after beating Bolton Wanderers 5-0 at Highbury, whilst the table leaders after the penultimate round of fixtures, Wolverhampton Wanderers, lost 1-0 to 10-man Sunderland at Roker Park to be denied what would have otherwise been their first-ever league title. Wolves, who nonetheless achieved a new club record by finishing as league runners-up for the first time in their history, would have to wait until 1953-54 to win their first English league title, although by that time they would have already experienced once again the pain of being pipped to another potential league title on the final day of a season - this time by Liverpool in 1946-47.

Honours

Competition Winner Runner-up
First Division Arsenal (5) Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second Division Aston Villa Manchester United
Third Division North Tranmere Rovers Doncaster Rovers
Third Division South Millwall Bristol City
FA Cup Preston North End (2) Huddersfield Town
Charity Shield Manchester City Sunderland
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: 1937–38 Football League

First Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Arsenal 42 21 10 11 77 44 1.750 52
2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 20 11 11 72 49 1.469 51
3 Preston North End 42 16 17 9 64 44 1.455 49
4 Charlton Athletic 42 16 14 12 65 51 1.275 46
5 Middlesbrough 42 19 8 15 72 65 1.108 46
6 Brentford 42 18 9 15 69 59 1.169 45
7 Bolton Wanderers 42 15 15 12 64 60 1.067 45
8 Sunderland 42 14 16 12 55 57 0.965 44
9 Leeds United 42 14 15 13 64 69 0.928 43
10 Chelsea 42 14 13 15 65 65 1.000 41
11 Liverpool 42 15 11 16 65 71 0.915 41
12 Blackpool 42 16 8 18 61 66 0.924 40
13 Derby County 42 15 10 17 66 87 0.759 40
14 Everton 42 16 7 19 79 75 1.053 39
15 Huddersfield Town 42 17 5 20 55 68 0.809 39
16 Leicester City 42 14 11 17 54 75 0.720 39
17 Stoke City 42 13 12 17 58 59 0.983 38
18 Birmingham 42 10 18 14 58 62 0.935 38
19 Portsmouth 42 13 12 17 62 68 0.912 38
20 Grimsby Town 42 13 12 17 51 68 0.750 38
21 Manchester City 42 14 8 20 80 77 1.039 36 Relegated to the Second Division
22 West Bromwich Albion 42 14 8 20 74 91 0.813 36
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average; 3) number of goals scored.

Second Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Aston Villa 42 25 7 10 73 35 2.086 57 Promoted to the First Division
2 Manchester United 42 22 9 11 82 50 1.640 53
3 Sheffield United 42 22 9 11 73 56 1.304 53
4 Coventry City 42 20 12 10 66 45 1.467 52
5 Tottenham Hotspur 42 19 6 17 76 54 1.407 44
6 Burnley 42 17 10 15 54 54 1.000 44
7 Bradford Park Avenue 42 17 9 16 69 56 1.232 43
8 Fulham 42 16 11 15 61 57 1.070 43
9 West Ham United 42 14 14 14 53 52 1.019 42
10 Bury 42 18 5 19 63 60 1.050 41
11 Chesterfield 42 16 9 17 63 63 1.000 41
12 Luton Town 42 15 10 17 89 86 1.035 40
13 Plymouth Argyle 42 14 12 16 57 65 0.877 40
14 Norwich City 42 14 11 17 56 75 0.747 39
15 Southampton 42 15 9 18 55 77 0.714 39
16 Blackburn Rovers 42 14 10 18 71 80 0.888 38
17 Sheffield Wednesday 42 14 10 18 49 56 0.875 38
18 Swansea Town 42 13 12 17 45 73 0.616 38
19 Newcastle United 42 14 8 20 51 58 0.879 36
20 Nottingham Forest 42 14 8 20 47 60 0.783 36
21 Barnsley 42 11 14 17 50 64 0.781 36 Relegated to the Third Division North
22 Stockport County 42 11 9 22 43 70 0.614 31
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division North

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Tranmere Rovers 42 23 10 9 81 41 1.976 56 Promoted to the Second Division
2 Doncaster Rovers 42 21 12 9 74 49 1.510 54
3 Hull City 42 20 13 9 80 43 1.860 53
4 Oldham Athletic 42 19 13 10 67 46 1.457 51
5 Gateshead 42 20 11 11 84 59 1.424 51
6 Rotherham United 42 20 10 12 68 56 1.214 50
7 Lincoln City 42 19 8 15 66 50 1.320 46
8 Crewe Alexandra 42 18 9 15 71 53 1.340 45
9 Chester 42 16 12 14 77 72 1.069 44
10 Wrexham 42 16 11 15 58 63 0.921 43
11 York City 42 16 10 16 70 68 1.029 42
12 Carlisle United 42 15 9 18 57 67 0.851 39
13 New Brighton 42 15 8 19 60 61 0.984 38
14 Bradford City 42 14 10 18 66 69 0.957 38
15 Port Vale 42 12 14 16 65 73 0.890 38 Transferred to the Third Division South
16 Southport 42 12 14 16 53 82 0.646 38
17 Rochdale 42 13 11 18 67 78 0.859 37
18 Halifax Town 42 12 12 18 44 66 0.667 36
19 Darlington 42 11 10 21 54 79 0.684 32
20 Hartlepools United 42 10 12 20 53 80 0.663 32
21 Barrow 42 11 10 21 41 71 0.577 32 Re-elected
22 Accrington Stanley 42 11 7 24 45 75 0.600 29
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division South

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Millwall 42 23 10 9 83 37 2.243 56 Promoted to the Second Division
2 Bristol City 42 21 13 8 68 40 1.700 55
3 Queens Park Rangers 42 22 9 11 80 47 1.702 53
4 Watford 42 21 11 10 73 43 1.698 53
5 Brighton & Hove Albion 42 21 9 12 64 44 1.455 51
6 Reading 42 20 11 11 71 63 1.127 51
7 Crystal Palace 42 18 12 12 67 47 1.426 48
8 Swindon Town 42 17 10 15 49 49 1.000 44
9 Northampton Town 42 17 9 16 51 57 0.895 43
10 Cardiff City 42 15 12 15 67 54 1.241 42
11 Notts County 42 16 9 17 50 50 1.000 41
12 Southend United 42 15 10 17 70 68 1.029 40
13 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 42 14 12 16 56 57 0.982 40
14 Mansfield Town 42 15 9 18 62 67 0.925 39
15 Bristol Rovers 42 13 13 16 46 61 0.754 39
16 Newport County 42 11 16 15 43 52 0.827 38
17 Exeter City 42 13 12 17 57 70 0.814 38
18 Aldershot 42 15 5 22 39 59 0.661 35
19 Clapton Orient 42 13 7 22 42 61 0.689 33
20 Torquay United 42 9 12 21 38 73 0.521 30
21 Walsall 42 11 7 24 52 88 0.591 29 Re-elected
22 Gillingham 42 10 6 26 36 77 0.468 26 Not re-elected
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average; 3) number of goals scored.

Top goalscorers

First Division

Second Division

Third Division North

Third Division South

National team

A tour to central Europe was successful as the England squad comprehensively beat Germany in front of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels in Berlin as well as defeating France in Paris. However, between these successes was another defeat; to Switzerland. The tour was considered very controversial as the players were instructed to give the German leaders the Nazi salute during the anthems before the kick-off of the match in Berlin.

European tour

Germany 3–6 England
Rudi Gellesch, Jupp Gauchel, Hans Pesser Jackie Robinson 2, Cliff Bastin, Frank Broome,
Stanley Matthews, Len Goulden
Olympiastadion, Berlin
Switzerland 2–1 England
André Abegglen, Georges Aeby Cliff Bastin (P)
Hardturm, Zürich
France 2–4 England
Auguste Jordan, Jean Nicolas Ted Drake 2, Frank Broome, Cliff Bastin (P)
Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris

References

  1. "Worst title defences". Talksport. Archived from the original on 31 December 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  2. "The craziest season in English football – when the champions went down, and 'Lucky Arsenal' annoyed the nation". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  3. ^ "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  4. ^ "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
Seasons in English football
1870s
1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79
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1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89
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1920s
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1930s
1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39
1940s
1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49
1950s
1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59
1960s
1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69
1970s
1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79
1980s
1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89
1990s
1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99
2000s
1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09
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2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
2020s
2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Italics denote wartime and nationally suspended seasons.
1937–38 in English football
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