1939–40 Arsenal F.C. season

Arsenal
1939–40 season
Chairman	Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry
Manager	George Allison
Football League South	4th
Home colours	Away colours
	← 1938–39 1940–41 →

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.'

Background

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

Arsenal's score comes first^[4]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result
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

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

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

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

References

^ ^a ^b Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1995). Arsenal: Official History. London: Hamlyn. p. 98. ISBN 0600588262.
^ ^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.
^ 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.
^ http://www.statto.com/football/teams/arsenal/1939-1940/results ^{[dead link‍]}

External links

Arsenal season-by-season line-ups

[:0-1] Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1995). Arsenal: Official History. London: Hamlyn. p. 98. ISBN 0600588262.

[:1-2] 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] ttp://www.statto.com/football/teams/arsenal/1939-1940/results ^{[dead link‍]}

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