Wartime League
Encyclopedia
The Wartime League was a football league competition held in England during World War II
, which replaced the suspended Football League. The exclusion of the FA Cup in these years saw the creation of the Football League War Cup
.
announced war on Nazi Germany
.
On 14 September 1939, the government announced football games would continue but not under the divisions that the game traditionally held season to season. The Football League survived 18 League matches before it was abandoned. After a fifty mile travelling limit was established, the football association divided the football league into separate regional leagues with reduced attendance numbers. In the interests of public safety, the number of spectators allowed to attend these games was limited to 8,000. These arrangements were later revised, and clubs were allowed gates of 15,000 from tickets purchased on the day of the game through the turnstiles.
Football stadiums during this time were used as military bases. Many footballers during this time left their careers to join the Territorial Army. The lack of numbers in squads saw clubs inviting Guest Players to play. Between September 1939 and the end of the war, 783 footballers joined in the war effort. 91 men joined from Wolverhampton Wanderers, 76 from Liverpool
, 65 from Huddersfield Town, 63 from Leicester City, 62 from Charlton
, 55 from Preston North End, 52 from Burnley
, 50 from Sheffield Wednesday, 44 from Chelsea
, and 41 each from Brentford
and Southampton
, Sunderland
and West Ham United.
Each season saw the divisions switched around from region to region. The first season of the Wartime League 1939-40 season, saw ten divisions established, two in the north of England, one in the West Midlands, one in the East Midlands, one in the South West and two in London, which were both played in two sections. The FA Cup was suspended. To substitute for its absence, the Football League War Cup was established.
By May 1940 the Phoney War ended , as Hitler ordered his troops to invade Britain and France . Fears of Britain's safeties from bombings were increasing, but over 40,000 fans braved the warnings and turned out at Wembley Stadium
to see West Ham United lift the Football League War Cup over Blackburn Rovers. On 19 September 1940, soon after the beginning of the Blitz
, the Football Association relaxed their ban on Sunday football to provide recreation for war workers.
For the following 2 seasons, the leagues were reduced in numbers to just 3, containing a Northern Regional League, Southern Regional League, and a London League
. The London War Cup was introduced.
From 1942-1945 the leagues were continued as 3, now established as League North, League South, League West, and now a League North Cup as oppose to London. The Football League War Cup continued on in these years.
In May 1945, Germany surrendered following the suicide of Adolf Hitler. The Wartime League's structure continued for one more season from 1945-1946. This season however marked the retirement of the Football League War Cup and the return of The FA Cup with a new structure; seeing home and away leg ties for the first time in its history with results being decided on aggregate goals, extra-time and penalty shoot-outs as opposed to several replay matches. The league was then returned to four divisions, Football League North and Football League South and Division 3 return to a north/south split.
The Wartime League produced very few memorable moments for fans of clubs who managed to play. The lack of availability for footballers to participate wore down the league's performance. Despite guest players being introduced, many teams still struggled to produce a full squad and resigned many matches. League table points were often added up by goal difference or appearances as oppose to match results.
made his career debut in the Wartime Football League for Newcastle United FC in 1943, scoring a total of 38 goals in the next 3 years of the league's life, going on to become a goal-scoring legend for both club and country thereafter.
Welsh winger George Edwards made his professional debut for Birmingham City FC in the Wartime League 1944-45 football season, winning the Football League South championship and reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup in the League's final season.
The Blitz was still taking place when the 1941 Football League War Cup Final took place at Wembley on 31 May. Preston North End and Arsenal drew 1-1 in front of a 60,000 crowd. Preston won the replay at Blackburn, 2-1. Robert Beattie got both of Preston's goals.
Wolves won the Football League War Cup in 1942 beating Sunderland 4-1. The team featured a player named Eric Robinson, who was to be killed during a military training exercise soon afterwards.
In the 1940-1941 season Preston North End needed to win their last game against Liverpool to win the North Regional League title. The nineteen year old Andrew McLaren scored all six goals in the 6-1 victory.
. The government stood by its decision and claimed these games were recreation for war workers.
Many war workers and guest players who played these games however supported the wartime league, claiming it allowed them an outlet from the war.
Many critics do not acknowledge the wartime league as counting for career goals and appearances. The original invention of the Wartime Football League stated that the matches were to be regarded as friendlies. Friendly matches to this day are not included in record terms for any team or player. Despite leagues being established in this time, the amount of Guest players, one-off appearances, resignations of teams from fixtures leading to adding up goal difference and appearances to go up the table, leads to many seeing these records as inaccurate, unfair, or unnecessary. Majority of fan-based arguments debate that a player who exceeds one's record through their wartime matches should nonetheless be seen as the club's highest goal scorer or appearance having been part of the team's squad even if only for a short time.
The most recent argument relates to the goal-difference between Jackie Milburn's and Alan Shearer's Newcastle United goal-scoring records. When counting Jackie's wartime matches, he scored a total of 238 professional goals for Newcastle United FC. In May 2005, Alan Shearer finished his career at 206 goals. He has since been defined as the club's highest ever goal scorer. The wartime league's exclusion from Jackie's United record sees him taken down to 200 goals. It has been debated among the Newcastle United fans that Shearer should be quoted as 2nd to Milburn in this respect. NUFC.com acknowledges Milburn's war record of an additional 38 goals, but his family have publicly supported Shearer's status and have not debated his achievement.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, which replaced the suspended Football League. The exclusion of the FA Cup in these years saw the creation of the Football League War Cup
Football League War Cup
The Football League War Cup was an association football tournament held between 1939 and 1945 which aimed to fill the gaping hole left in English Football by the cancellation of the FA Cup.- Background:...
.
History
Throughout the latter 1930s it was becoming inevitable that a 2nd World War with Germany was coming. On 3 September 1939 following Germany's invasion of Poland, Neville ChamberlainNeville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
announced war on Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
.
On 14 September 1939, the government announced football games would continue but not under the divisions that the game traditionally held season to season. The Football League survived 18 League matches before it was abandoned. After a fifty mile travelling limit was established, the football association divided the football league into separate regional leagues with reduced attendance numbers. In the interests of public safety, the number of spectators allowed to attend these games was limited to 8,000. These arrangements were later revised, and clubs were allowed gates of 15,000 from tickets purchased on the day of the game through the turnstiles.
Football stadiums during this time were used as military bases. Many footballers during this time left their careers to join the Territorial Army. The lack of numbers in squads saw clubs inviting Guest Players to play. Between September 1939 and the end of the war, 783 footballers joined in the war effort. 91 men joined from Wolverhampton Wanderers, 76 from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, 65 from Huddersfield Town, 63 from Leicester City, 62 from Charlton
Charlton
-Places:In Australia:* Charlton, Victoria* Division of Charlton, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South WalesIn Canada:* Charlton, Ontario* Charlton Island, NunavutIn England:...
, 55 from Preston North End, 52 from Burnley
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
, 50 from Sheffield Wednesday, 44 from Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
, and 41 each from Brentford
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Brent, west-southwest of Charing Cross. Its former ceremonial county was Middlesex.-Toponymy:...
and Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
and West Ham United.
Each season saw the divisions switched around from region to region. The first season of the Wartime League 1939-40 season, saw ten divisions established, two in the north of England, one in the West Midlands, one in the East Midlands, one in the South West and two in London, which were both played in two sections. The FA Cup was suspended. To substitute for its absence, the Football League War Cup was established.
By May 1940 the Phoney War ended , as Hitler ordered his troops to invade Britain and France . Fears of Britain's safeties from bombings were increasing, but over 40,000 fans braved the warnings and turned out at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
to see West Ham United lift the Football League War Cup over Blackburn Rovers. On 19 September 1940, soon after the beginning of the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
, the Football Association relaxed their ban on Sunday football to provide recreation for war workers.
For the following 2 seasons, the leagues were reduced in numbers to just 3, containing a Northern Regional League, Southern Regional League, and a London League
London League
The London League was a football competition that was held in the London and surrounding areas of south-east England from 1896 until 1964.In 1896 the president of the London League was Arnold Hills founder of Thames Ironworks F.C. . One of the men who helped draft the rules of the competition was...
. The London War Cup was introduced.
From 1942-1945 the leagues were continued as 3, now established as League North, League South, League West, and now a League North Cup as oppose to London. The Football League War Cup continued on in these years.
In May 1945, Germany surrendered following the suicide of Adolf Hitler. The Wartime League's structure continued for one more season from 1945-1946. This season however marked the retirement of the Football League War Cup and the return of The FA Cup with a new structure; seeing home and away leg ties for the first time in its history with results being decided on aggregate goals, extra-time and penalty shoot-outs as opposed to several replay matches. The league was then returned to four divisions, Football League North and Football League South and Division 3 return to a north/south split.
The Wartime League produced very few memorable moments for fans of clubs who managed to play. The lack of availability for footballers to participate wore down the league's performance. Despite guest players being introduced, many teams still struggled to produce a full squad and resigned many matches. League table points were often added up by goal difference or appearances as oppose to match results.
Career debuts
Centre Forward Jackie MilburnJackie Milburn
John Edward Thompson 'Jackie' Milburn, , also known to fans as Wor Jackie and 'the first World Wor' in reference to his global fame, was a football player for Newcastle United and England...
made his career debut in the Wartime Football League for Newcastle United FC in 1943, scoring a total of 38 goals in the next 3 years of the league's life, going on to become a goal-scoring legend for both club and country thereafter.
Welsh winger George Edwards made his professional debut for Birmingham City FC in the Wartime League 1944-45 football season, winning the Football League South championship and reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup in the League's final season.
Wartime League Highlights
A Southern Group division in 1939 consisted of Arsenal, Brentford, Charlton, Chelsea, Fulham, Millwall, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.The Blitz was still taking place when the 1941 Football League War Cup Final took place at Wembley on 31 May. Preston North End and Arsenal drew 1-1 in front of a 60,000 crowd. Preston won the replay at Blackburn, 2-1. Robert Beattie got both of Preston's goals.
Wolves won the Football League War Cup in 1942 beating Sunderland 4-1. The team featured a player named Eric Robinson, who was to be killed during a military training exercise soon afterwards.
In the 1940-1941 season Preston North End needed to win their last game against Liverpool to win the North Regional League title. The nineteen year old Andrew McLaren scored all six goals in the 6-1 victory.
Football during a World War
The prospect of large gatherings of crowds during the 2nd World War proves to be an incredibly high controversy to this day. During the first season of The Football Wartime League, Britain had not experienced any bombings or military attack by Germany or its allies. Whilst public attendance was reduced, fears of Britain's safety were moderate. However, despite the Phoney War ending and attacks on Britain and France beginning, the games continued and increases in attendance and match fixtures were introduced during the blitzThe Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
. The government stood by its decision and claimed these games were recreation for war workers.
Many war workers and guest players who played these games however supported the wartime league, claiming it allowed them an outlet from the war.
Player statistics
Total records of goals and appearances during the Wartime League have been ignored in respective career and league statistics, allowing players post-World War II to go higher than some of them in goal-scoring and appearance rankings.Many critics do not acknowledge the wartime league as counting for career goals and appearances. The original invention of the Wartime Football League stated that the matches were to be regarded as friendlies. Friendly matches to this day are not included in record terms for any team or player. Despite leagues being established in this time, the amount of Guest players, one-off appearances, resignations of teams from fixtures leading to adding up goal difference and appearances to go up the table, leads to many seeing these records as inaccurate, unfair, or unnecessary. Majority of fan-based arguments debate that a player who exceeds one's record through their wartime matches should nonetheless be seen as the club's highest goal scorer or appearance having been part of the team's squad even if only for a short time.
The most recent argument relates to the goal-difference between Jackie Milburn's and Alan Shearer's Newcastle United goal-scoring records. When counting Jackie's wartime matches, he scored a total of 238 professional goals for Newcastle United FC. In May 2005, Alan Shearer finished his career at 206 goals. He has since been defined as the club's highest ever goal scorer. The wartime league's exclusion from Jackie's United record sees him taken down to 200 goals. It has been debated among the Newcastle United fans that Shearer should be quoted as 2nd to Milburn in this respect. NUFC.com acknowledges Milburn's war record of an additional 38 goals, but his family have publicly supported Shearer's status and have not debated his achievement.