1944–45 Arsenal F.C. season

The 1944–45 season was Arsenal Football Club's sixth season playing wartime football during World War II. They finished eighth the Football League South, their poorest performance of the wartime era. Arsenal reached the semifinals in the Football League South Cup.

Arsenal
1944–45 season
ChairmanRobin Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry
ManagerGeorge Allison
Football League South8th
Football League South CupSemi-final

Background

Arsenal played their home games at White Hart Lane, as Highbury had been transformed to support Air Raid Precautions.[1]

Arsenal had a poor start to the league and failed to recover, finishing eighth in the Football League South. Arsenal's most reliable scorer Reg Lewis was unavailable due to his military service. Stan Mortensen, a guest player from Blackpool, scored 18 goals for Arsenal in 12 games.[2] Ted Drake, another reliable scorer, was injured with a slipped disk and his career came to an end.[1]

Arsenal reached the semifinals of the Football League South Cup but did not reach the finals, losing to Millwall.[3]

Results

Arsenal's score comes first[4]

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League South

Main article: 1944–45 Football League South

Selected results from the league.

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
2 September 1944 Tottenham Hotspur A 0–4
21 October 1944 West Ham United H 0–3 27,800
28 October 1944 Crystal Palace A 3–4
25 November 1944 Chelsea A 1–2
9 December 1944 Tottenham Hotspur H 2–3
23 December 1944 Brentford H 5–2 18,527
24 February 1945 Reading H 0–2
24 March 1945 Crystal Palace H 1–0
2 April 1945 Brentford A 1–3
28 April 1945 Chelsea H 3–0
5 May 1945 West Ham United A 1–1 9,000
Reading A 1–3

Final League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Tottenham Hotspur (C) 30 23 6 1 81 30 2.700 52
2 West Ham United 30 22 3 5 96 47 2.043 47
3 Brentford 30 17 4 9 87 57 1.526 38
4 Chelsea 30 16 5 9 100 55 1.818 37
5 Southampton 30 17 3 10 96 69 1.391 37
6 Crystal Palace 30 15 5 10 74 70 1.057 35
7 Reading 30 14 6 10 78 68 1.147 34
8 Arsenal 30 14 3 13 77 67 1.149 31
9 Queen's Park Rangers 30 10 10 10 70 61 1.148 30
10 Watford 30 11 6 13 66 84 0.786 28
11 Fulham 30 11 4 15 79 83 0.952 26
12 Portsmouth 30 11 4 15 59 61 0.967 26
13 Charlton Athletic 30 12 2 16 72 81 0.889 26
14 Brighton & Hove Albion 30 10 2 18 66 95 0.695 22
15 Luton Town 30 6 7 17 59 104 0.567 19
16 Aldershot 30 7 4 19 44 85 0.518 18
17 Millwall 30 5 7 18 50 84 0.595 17
18 Clapton Orient 30 5 7 18 39 86 0.453 17
Source: [citation needed]
(C) League Champions

Football League South Cup

Main article: 1944–45 Football League War Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
GS 3 February 1945 Reading A 3–1
GS 10 February 1945 Clapton Orient H 5–0
GS 17 February 1945 Portsmouth A 4–2
GS 24 February 1945 Reading H 3–0
GS 3 March 1945 Clapton Orient A 3–1
GS 10 March 1945 Portsmouth H 2–4
SF 17 March 1945 Millwall N 0–1

References

  1. ^ a b Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1995). Arsenal: Official History. London: Hamlyn. p. 98. ISBN 0600588262.
  2. ^ Attwood, Tony (2 December 2019). "The man who scored 18 goals for Arsenal in just 12 games". The History of Arsenal. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  3. ^ Cooper, Vince (10 May 2023). "The War Cups". The League. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  4. ^ http://www.statto.com/football/teams/arsenal/1944-1945/results [dead link‍]