1938–39 Birmingham F.C. season

The 1938–39 Football League season was Birmingham Football Club's 43rd in the Football League and their 26th in the First Division. They were in the relegation positions after the second game of the season, rarely rose above them, and finished in 21st place in the 22-team division, one point from safety, so dropped to the Second Division for the 1939–40 season. They entered the 1938–39 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost to Everton in the fifth round after a replay. The club's record attendance was set in the FA Cup-tie at home to Everton, variously recorded as 67,341 or 66,844.[lower-alpha 1]

Birmingham F.C.

1938–39 season
Chairman	Harry Morris Jr
Manager	George Liddell
Ground	St Andrew's
Football League First Division	21st (relegated)
FA Cup	Fifth round (eliminated by Everton)
Top goalscorer	League: Fred Harris (14) All: Fred Harris (17)
Highest home attendance	67,341[lower-alpha 1] vs Everton, FA Cup 5th round, 11 February 1939
Lowest home attendance	8,970 vs Huddersfield Town, 29 March 1939
Average home league attendance	25,228
Home colours

Thirty-two players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were fifteen different goalscorers. Half-back Don Dearson played in 42 of the 46 matches over the season, and Fred Harris was the leading scorer with 17 goals, of which 14 were scored in the league. Harry Morris, son of the Harry Morris who played for the club in the 1880s and was a member of the board of directors for nearly 30 years, took over as chairman from Howard Cant.

When the Second World War began, the 1939–40 Football League season was abandoned after three Second Division matches had been played.[7] The first post-war Football League season was in 1946–47, though the FA Cup resumed a season earlier.

Football League First Division

Date	League position	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance
27 August 1938	14th	Sunderland	H	L	1–2	Jennings pen	32,117
31 August 1938	20th	Leeds United	A	L	0–2		13,578
3 September 1938	22nd	Manchester United	A	L	1–4	Harris	22,228
7 September 1938	20th	Leicester City	H	W	2–1	Kelly, Jones	14,092
10 September 1938	21st	Stoke City	H	L	1–2	Harris	26,519
12 September 1938	21st	Leicester City	A	L	1–2	Farrage	10,778
17 September 1938	21st	Chelsea	A	D	2–2	Brown pen, Jones	39,505
24 September 1938	22nd	Preston North End	H	L	1–3	Farrage	26,221
1 October 1938	22nd	Charlton Athletic	A	D	4–4	Harris 2, Duckhouse, White	20,039
8 October 1938	22nd	Bolton Wanderers	H	L	0–2		21,855
15 October 1938	20th	Derby County	H	W	3–0	White 2, Brown	27,858
22 October 1938	22nd	Grimsby Town	A	L	0–1		11,022
29 October 1938	21st	Aston Villa	H	W	3–0	Harris 2, Brown	55,301
5 November 1938	22nd	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	L	1–2	Phillips	30,713
12 November 1938	21st	Everton	H	W	1–0	Phillips	27,548
19 November 1938	21st	Huddersfield Town	A	L	1–3	Morris	14,637
26 November 1938	20th	Portsmouth	H	W	2–0	Jennings pen, Dearson	20,317
3 December 1938	21st	Arsenal	A	L	1–3	Jennings pen	33,710
10 December 1938	19th	Brentford	H	W	5–1	White 4, Phillips	23,333
17 December 1938	21st	Blackpool	A	L	1–2	White	11,855
24 December 1938	22nd	Sunderland	A	L	0–1		14,555
26 December 1938	21st	Middlesbrough	H	W	2–1	Morris, Trigg	17,953
27 December 1938	21st	Middlesbrough	A	D	2–2	Harris, Phillips	33,534
31 December 1938	22nd	Manchester United	H	D	3–3	Jennings, Phillips, Dearson	20,787
14 January 1939	22nd	Stoke City	A	L	3–6	Jennings pen, Harris, Duckhouse	14,417
28 January 1939	22nd	Preston North End	A	L	0–5		18,477
4 February 1939	22nd	Charlton Athletic	H	L	3–4	Harris 3	29,727
18 February 1939	22nd	Derby County	A	W	1–0	Brown	15,411
22 February 1939	22nd	Bolton Wanderers	A	L	0–3		11,696
25 February 1939	22nd	Grimsby Town	H	D	1–1	Craven	23,231
4 March 1939	22nd	Aston Villa	A	L	1–5	Dearson	40,874
11 March 1939	22nd	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	W	3–2	Harris, Morris, Jones	48,970
18 March 1939	22nd	Everton	A	L	2–4	Harris, Jones	29,867
29 March 1939	22nd	Huddersfield Town	H	D	1–1	Jones	8,970
1 April 1939	22nd	Portsmouth	A	L	0–2		21,918
7 April 1939	22nd	Liverpool	A	L	0–4		31,741
8 April 1939	22nd	Arsenal	H	L	1–2	Kendrick	33,250
10 April 1939	22nd	Liverpool	H	D	0–0		15,067
15 April 1939	22nd	Brentford	A	W	1–0	Jones	15,298
22 April 1939	21st	Blackpool	H	W	2–1	Craven, Harris	21,812
26 April 1939	21st	Chelsea	H	D	1–1	Brown	28,637
29 April 1939	21st	Leeds United	H	W	4–0	Brown, Scaife og, Morris 2	12,522

League table (part)

Final First Division table (part)

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
18th	Brentford	42	14	8	20	53	74	0.72	36
19th	Huddersfield Town	42	12	11	19	58	64	0.91	35
20th	Chelsea	42	12	9	21	64	80	0.80	33
21st	Birmingham	42	12	8	22	62	84	0.74	32
22nd	Leicester City	42	9	11	22	48	82	0.58	29
Key	Pos = League position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points
Source	[8]

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance
Third round	7 January 1939	Halifax Town	H	W	2–0	Jennings, Phillips	23,522
Fourth round	21 January 1939	Chelmsford City	H	W	6–0	Harris, Brown, Jennings, Madden 2	44,494
Fifth round	11 February 1939	Everton	H	D	2–2	Madden 2	67,341
Fifth round replay	15 February 1939	Everton	A	L	1–2	Harris	64,796

Appearances and goals

• Players with name struck through and marked left the club during the playing season.

Players having played at least one first-team match

Name	Position	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
		League		FA Cup		Total
Frank Clack	Goalkeeper	24	0	4	0	28	0
Harry Hibbs	Goalkeeper	13	0	0	0	13	0
Jack Wheeler	Goalkeeper	5	0	0	0	5	0
Billy Hughes	Full back	35	0	4	0	39	0
Willie Steel	Full back	11	0	0	0	11	0
Ernie Sykes	Full back	7	0	2	0	9	0
Cyril Trigg	Full back	30	1	2	0	32	1
Norman Brunskill	Half back	7	0	0	0	7	0
Dick Butler	Half back	2	0	0	0	2	0
James Bye	Half back	1	0	1	0	2	0
Don Dearson	Half back	39	3	3	0	42	3
Wally Halsall	Half back	21	0	2	0	23	0
Bob Meacock	Half back	13	0	2	0	15	0
Dai Richards	Half back	19	0	3	0	22	0
Jack Shaw	Half back	11	0	0	0	11	0
Ray Shaw	Half back	5	0	1	0	6	0
Arthur Turner	Half back	12	0	0	0	12	0
Harold Bodle	Forward	1	0	0	0	1	0
Jackie Brown	Forward	34	6	4	1	38	7
Charlie Craven	Forward	17	2	4	0	21	2
Ted Duckhouse	Forward	4	2	0	0	4	2
Tom Farrage	Forward	7	2	0	0	7	2
Fred Harris	Forward	37	14	4	3	41	17
Dennis Jennings	Forward	29	5	4	2	33	7
Wilson Jones	Forward	21	6	0	0	21	6
Jack Kelly	Forward	4	1	0	0	4	1
Kenny Kendrick	Forward	2	1	0	0	2	1
Owen Madden	Forward	5	0	3	4	8	4
Geoffrey Moreland	Forward	4	0	0	0	4	0
Seymour Morris	Forward	14	5	0	0	14	5
Charlie Phillips	Forward	15	5	1	1	16	6
Frank White	Forward	13	8	0	0	13	8

Abandoned 1939–40 Football League season

Birmingham began the 1939–40 Football League season in the Second Division, but the onset of the Second World War caused the League to be abandoned after three Second Division matches had been played. They fielded the same eleven for all three matches: Harry Hibbs, Cyril Trigg, Billy Hughes, James Bye, Arthur Turner, Ray Shaw, Jackie Brown, Don Dearson, Ted Duckhouse, Fred Harris and Tom Farrage. Farrage was killed in action in September 1944, serving as a private in the 10th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment during Operation Market Garden.[9]

Match results

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance
26 August 1939	Tottenham Hotspur	A	D	1–1	Brown	28,366
30 August 1939	Leicester City	H	W	2–0	Farrage, Sharman og	13,848
2 September 1939	Burnley	H	W	2–0	Dearson, Duckhouse	15,900

Notes

1. The records page of Birmingham City F.C.'s website[1] and the 2010 Sky Sports Football Yearbook[2] list the attendance at 66,844. Others, including the history page of Birmingham City F.C.'s website,[3] Matthews' Encyclopedia[4] and Complete Record,[5] and The Times newspaper from the Monday following the match,[6] say 67,341.

References

General

• Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
• Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: DB Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
• Source for match dates and results: "Birmingham City 1938–1939: Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
• Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 318–19.
• Source for 1939–40 season: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 320–21.
• Source for kit: "Birmingham City". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

Specific

1. "Birmingham City Records". Birmingham City F.C. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
2. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2010). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2010–2011. Headline. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-7553-6107-6.
3. "Club History". Birmingham City F.C. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
4. Matthews, Tony (2000). "Attendances". The Encyclopedia of Birmingham City Football Club 1875–2000. Cradley Heath: Britespot. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-0-9539288-0-4.
5. Matthews (2010), Complete Record, p. 318.
6. "Fifth round official figures". The Times. London. 13 February 1939. p. 5.
7. Felton, Paul. "Season 1939–40 (Abandoned)". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 13 May 2012.
8. "Birmingham City 1938–1939: English Division One (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
9. "Casualty details". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 13 May 2012.

External links

• Video of Birmingham players in training in 1939