1940–41 Arsenal F.C. season

Arsenal
1940–41 season
ChairmanRobin Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry
ManagerGeorge Allison
Football League South4th
Football League War CupFinalists

The 1940–41 season was the second of Arsenal Football Club's seasons in the Wartime League, a football competition which temporarily replaced the Football League. Arsenal competed in the Football League South, finishing fourth. The team also reached the final of the Football League War Cup, losing to Preston North End at Wembley.

Background

Arsenal played their home games at White Hart Lane, as Highbury had been transformed to support Air Raid Precautions.[1] In October 1940, a 1,000lb bomb fell near the stadium and concrete was blown over the Clock End. On 17 April 1941, the North Bank was directly hit, causing significant damage.[2][3]

Arsenal competed in the Football League South, finishing fourth. They also competed in both the Football League War Cup and the London War Cup.[4][5] The London War Cup, a breakaway cup formed by twelve regional teams,[5] began with a round-robin of two groups of six, where the group winners reached the finals. Arsenal did not win their group and did not reach the final.

Arsenal reached the final of the Football League War Cup, which was officially sanctioned by the Football League. The game was played at Wembley which had been a regular night-raid target during the Blitz. The first leg of the final was played in front of around 60,000 fans. However, after Leslie Compton missed a penalty in the third minute and Arsenal soon went down 1-0. Dennis Compton, Leslie Compton's younger brother,[6] scored one for Arsenal, tying up the match and the score remained at 1-1.[7] The final went to a replay, played at Ewood Park. Arsenal lost 2-1.[1]

Results

Arsenal's score comes first[8][9]

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League South

Main article: 1940–41 Football League South

Selected results from the league.

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
21 September 1940 Brentford A 3–1 1,700
26 October 1940 Brentford H 3–3 1,200
25 December 1940 West Ham United A 4–2 9,000
14 April 1941 Chelsea A 1–3

Final League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Crystal Palace (C) 27 16 4 7 86 44 1.955 39[a]
2 West Ham United 27 14 6 7 70 39 1.795 34
3 Coventry City 10 5 3 2 28 16 1.750 13
4 Arsenal 19 10 5 4 66 38 1.737 25
5 Cardiff City 24 12 5 7 75 50 1.500 29
6 Reading 26 14 5 7 73 51 1.431 33
7 Norwich City 19 9 2 8 75 53 1.415 20
8 Watford 35 15 6 14 96 73 1.315 36
9 Portsmouth 31 16 2 13 92 71 1.296 34
10 Tottenham Hotspur 23 9 5 9 53 41 1.293 23
11 Millwall 31 16 5 10 79 59 1.339 37
12 Walsall 32 14 7 11 100 80 1.250 35
13 West Bromwich Albion 28 13 5 10 83 69 1.203 31
14 Leicester City 33 17 5 11 87 79 1.101 39
15 Northampton Town 30 14 3 13 84 71 1.183 31
16 Bristol City 20 10 2 8 55 48 1.146 22
17 Mansfield Town 29 12 6 11 77 68 1.132 30
18 Charlton Athletic 19 7 4 8 37 34 1.088 18
19 Aldershot 24 14 2 8 73 68 1.074 30
20 Brentford 23 9 3 11 51 51 1.000 21
21 Chelsea 23 10 4 9 57 58 0.983 24
22 Birmingham 16 7 1 8 38 43 0.884 15
23 Fulham 30 10 7 13 62 73 0.849 27
24 Luton Town 35 11 7 17 82 100 0.820 29
25 Stoke City 36 9 9 18 76 96 0.792 27
26 Queen's Park Rangers 23 8 3 12 47 60 0.783 19
27 Brighton & Hove Albion 25 8 7 10 51 75 0.680 23
28 Nottingham Forest 25 7 3 15 50 77 0.649 17
29 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 27 9 3 15 59 92 0.641 21
30 Notts County 30 7 5 18 53 82 0.646 19
31 Southend United 30 5 7 18 42 94 0.447 17
32 Southampton 30 6 4 20 47 114 0.412 16
33 Swansea Town 30 7 5 18 53 82 0.646 19
34 Clapton Orient 30 5 7 18 42 94 0.447 17
Source: [citation needed]
(C) League Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ 3 bonus points?

London War Cup

Main article: 1940–41 London War Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
GS 25 January 1941 West Ham United A 3–1 5,000
GS 17 May 1941 West Ham United H 3–0 7,365

Football League War Cup

Main article: 1940–41 Football League War Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 L1 15 March 1941 West Ham United A 1–0 14,000
R3 L2 29 March 1941 West Ham United H 2–1
F 10 May 1941 Preston North End N 1–1 60,000
F R 31 May 1941 Preston North End N 1–2 45,000

References

  1. ^ a b Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1995). Arsenal: Official History. London: Hamlyn. p. 98. ISBN 0600588262.
  2. ^ Jardine, Lisa (15 May 2006). "Homage to Highbury". BBC News. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Arsenal at War". Arsenal. 10 May 2017. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  4. ^ Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1995). Arsenal: Official History. London: Hamlyn. p. 98. ISBN 0600588262.
  5. ^ a b 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.
  6. ^ "Leslie Compton". Arsenal. Archived from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  7. ^ "1941 FA Cup Final at Wembley Arsenal v Preston". YouTube.
  8. ^ http://www.statto.com/football/teams/arsenal/1940-1941/results [dead link‍]
  9. ^ "Arsenal First Team Line-ups". thearsenalhistory.com. Retrieved 18 November 2023.