1914–15 Chelsea F.C. season

Chelsea
1914–15 season
Chairman	Claude Kirby
Manager	David Calderhead
Stadium	Stamford Bridge
First Division	19th
FA Cup	Runners-up
Top goalscorer	League: ; Bob Thomson (12); All: ; Bob Thomson (18)
Highest home attendance	58,760 vs Newcastle United; (6 March 1915)
Lowest home attendance	14,000 vs Newcastle United; (12 September 1914)
Average home league attendance	20,237
Biggest win	5–2 v Swindon Town; (16 January 1915)
Biggest defeat	1–4 v Burnley; (28 December 1914)
Home colours	Away colours
	← 1913–14 1915–16 →

The 1914–15 season was Chelsea Football Club's tenth competitive season. It was also the final full season before competitive football was suspended until the end of World War I. The season was one of mixed fortunes for the club: they finished 19th in the First Division, but also reached the FA Cup final for the first time, where they lost to Sheffield United.

Having finished 19th, Chelsea would ordinarily have been relegated, but the First Division expanded to 22 teams when competitive football resumed in 1919, and the club were re-elected into the division. A factor in the decision was the exposure of a match-fixing scandal involving Manchester United and Liverpool players, who had colluded to ensure a 2–0 win for a United in an April 1915 fixture, a result which meant United avoided relegation at Chelsea's expense.^[1]

Table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Relegation
1	Everton (C)	38	19	8	11	76	47	1.617	46
2	Oldham Athletic	38	17	11	10	70	56	1.250	45
3	Blackburn Rovers	38	18	7	13	83	61	1.361	43
4	Burnley	38	18	7	13	61	47	1.298	43
5	Manchester City	38	15	13	10	49	39	1.256	43
6	Sheffield United	38	15	13	10	49	41	1.195	43
7	The Wednesday	38	15	13	10	61	54	1.130	43
8	Sunderland	38	18	5	15	81	72	1.125	41
9	Bradford Park Avenue	38	17	7	14	69	65	1.062	41
10	West Bromwich Albion	38	15	10	13	49	43	1.140	40
11	Bradford City	38	13	14	11	55	49	1.122	40
12	Middlesbrough	38	13	12	13	62	74	0.838	38
13	Liverpool	38	14	9	15	65	75	0.867	37
14	Aston Villa	38	13	11	14	62	72	0.861	37
15	Newcastle United	38	11	10	17	46	48	0.958	32
16	Notts County	38	9	13	16	41	57	0.719	31
17	Bolton Wanderers	38	11	8	19	68	84	0.810	30
18	Manchester United	38	9	12	17	46	62	0.742	30
19	Chelsea	38	8	13	17	51	65	0.785	29
20	Tottenham Hotspur (R)	38	8	12	18	57	90	0.633	28	Relegation to the Second Division

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Notes

^ Spurling, Jon (20 March 2015). "How Man United and Liverpool fixed a match, helping Arsenal and Chelsea – but not Spurs". Four Four Two. Retrieved 17 January 2022.

References

Glanvill, Rick (2006). Chelsea FC: The Official Biography – The Definitive Story of the First 100 Years. Headline Book Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7553-1466-2.
Hockings, Ron. 100 Years of The Blues – A Statistical History of Chelsea FC 1905–2006.

External links

1914–15 season at stamford-bridge.com

[1] Spurling, Jon (20 March 2015). "How Man United and Liverpool fixed a match, helping Arsenal and Chelsea – but not Spurs". Four Four Two. Retrieved 17 January 2022.

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