1946–47 Southampton F.C. season

Southampton F.C.
1946–47 season
Chairman A. E. Jakes
Manager Bill Dodgin
Stadium The Dell
Second Division 14th
FA Cup Fourth round
Top goalscorer League:
Jack Bradley (14)
All:
Jack Bradley (15)
George Lewis (15)
Highest home attendance 25,746 v Newcastle United (12 October 1946)
Lowest home attendance 4,289 v Coventry City
(5 February 1947)
Average home league attendance 16,039
Home colours
← 1945–46 1947–48 →

The 1946–47 Southampton F.C. season was the club's 18th season in the Football League Second Division and their 20th in the Football League.[1] Southampton finished the season in 14th place in the league table, having won 15, drawn 9 and lost 18 of their 42 matches.[2] The club also made it to the fourth round of the FA Cup.[3] Inside forward Jack Bradley finished the season as the club's top scorer in the league with 14 goals,[4] while centre forward George Lewis finished as joint top scorer in all competitions alongside Bradley, with 15 goals.

League football in England resumed in 1946 following the Second World War.[5] The first post-war season was Southampton's first to feature Bill Dodgin as manager, who had previously played for the club during wartime and was appointed in March 1946.[6] In the summer the club signed a number of new players, including Bill Rochford and George Lewis, and due to the lack of official competition during wartime many first team players made their official debuts for the club during the campaign (including eight in the first game of the season).[5]

Pre-season

In preparation for the 1946–47 season, Southampton played two pre-season friendly matches.[5] On 14 August 1946 the Saints won 4–1 against Irish club Bohemians, with new signing George Lewis and Don Roper scoring two goals each.[7] They then beat French side Le Havre 7–0 at home thanks to a hat-trick from Don Roper, two goals from Doug McGibbon, and one each from Jack Bradley and Bobby Veck.[7]

Second Division

September–December 1946

Southampton began the 1946–47 season well with a 4–0 win over Swansea Town at home, with Doug McGibbon scoring a hat-trick.[5] The team dropped down to 10th in the table with a draw and a loss, before beating Nottingham Forest convincingly 5–2 thanks to goals from McGibbon (two), Alf Freeman (two) and Jack Bradley.[5] The Saints began to drop down the league table in October thanks to a winless run, but picked their form back up at the end of the month with wins over Newport County and Plymouth Argyle.[5][8] The club's fortunes continued to change week on week, although they finished the year off strongly with a 5–1 win over Newport County to remain in the top ten going into 1947.[8]

January–May 1947

The year began poorly for the Saints with three consecutive losses away from home in which the side conceded 11 goals,[8] prompting Dodgin to replace regular goalkeeper George Ephgrave with Len Stansbridge for much of the rest of the season.[4] Through February and March, the team won four out of seven matches to move away from the relegation zone and back up to the top ten, although four straight losses saw them drop back down to 15th in April.[9] Seven players were released by the club near the end of the month.[9] Three wins from their last six matches meant that Southampton finished 14th in the Second Division table, compared to 18th in the last pre-war season.[9]

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
12West Ham United42168187076–640
13Luton Town42167197173–239
14Southampton42159186976–739
15Fulham42159186374–1139
16Bradford Park Avenue421411176577–1239

Source: statto.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.

Results by matchday

Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142
GroundHHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAAHHAAAHHAHAHAAHHAHAAHHH
Result W D L W L W L L D D W W L D L W D W L D D W L L L W L W L W L W L L L L W D L W W D
Position 7 8 10 8 13 10 10 14 14 13 11 10 12 13 14 12 12 9 11 11 11 9 10 15 16 13 13 11 11 10 12 10 10 10 11 15 11 13 14 12 12 12

Source: statto.com
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Match results

FA Cup

Bury (11 January 1947)

Southampton entered the 1946–47 FA Cup in the third round, facing Bury at home on 11 January 1947. The Saints controlled the game from the early exchanges, with Jack Bradley, George Lewis and Billy Bevis scoring within the first 16 minutes to put the hosts 3–0 up.[10] Bury pulled one back before the break through a penalty, which was awarded due to a handball in the area by George Smith.[10] In the second half, the Saints quickly reasserted their dominance and made it 4–1 through a second goal from Lewis in the 52nd minute.[10] After he was initially denied by the crossbar earlier on, Lewis did later complete his hat-trick (the club's first in the competition proper) when he converted following a run by Eric Webber.[10]

Newcastle United (25 January 1947)

In the fourth round Southampton travelled to face Newcastle United, who were then second in the Second Division league table.[11] The Saints took the lead in the 11th minute, as Don Roper shot from the outside of the box and scored due to a deflection off centre-half Frank Brennan.[12] The lead remained until the break, before Charlie Wayman equalised for the hosts shortly after half-time.[12] Nine minutes later he scored again, heading in a Doug Wright free-kick.[12] Wayman completed his hat-trick later in the game to put Newcastle through to the fifth round.[12] The Magpies went on to make it to the semi-finals of the tournament, before being knocked out by eventual champions Charlton Athletic.[3]

Squad statistics

Name Pos. Nat. League FA Cup Total
Apps. Gls. Apps. Gls. Apps. Gls.
Ted Bates FW England 224 00 224
Jack Bradley FW England 3814 21 4015
Stan Clements HB England 20 00 20
Eric Day FW England 192 20 212
Bill Ellerington FB England 191 10 201
George Ephgrave GK England 290 20 310
Wilf Grant FW England 213 00 213
Jack Gregory FB England 10 00 10
George Horsfall HB Australia 20 00 20
George Lewis FW Wales 2812 23 3015
Joe Mallett HB England 131 00 131
Alf Ramsey FB England 231 10 241
Bill Rochford FB England 410 20 430
Don Roper FW England 408 21 429
George Smith HB England 341 20 361
Len Stansbridge GK England 130 00 130
Bobby Veck FW England 121 00 121
Eric Webber HB England 400 20 420
Players with appearances who left the club before the end of the season
Billy Bevis FW England 145 21 166
Bill Bushby HB England 20 00 20
Harry Evans FW England 10 00 10
Alf Freeman FW England 72 00 72
Doug McGibbon FW England 129 00 129
Bill Stroud HB England 294 20 314

Most appearances

No. Name Pos. Nat. League FA Cup Total
1 Bill Rochford FB England 41243
2 Don Roper FW England 40242
Eric Webber HB England 40242
4 Jack Bradley FW England 38240
5 George Smith HB England 34236
6 George Ephgrave GK England 29231
Bill Stroud HB England 29231
8 George Lewis FW Wales 28230
9 Alf Ramsey FB England 23124
10 Ted Bates FW England 22022

Top goalscorers

No. Name Pos. Nat. League FA Cup Total
Apps. Gls. Apps. Gls. Apps. Gls. GPG
1 George Lewis FW Wales 1228 32 15300.50
Jack Bradley FW England 1438 12 15400.37
3 Doug McGibbon FW England 912 00 9120.75
Don Roper FW England 840 12 9420.21
5 Billy Bevis FW England 514 12 6160.37
6 Ted Bates FW England 422 00 4220.18
Bill Stroud HB England 429 02 4310.12
8 Alf Freeman FW England 27 00 270.28
Eric Day FW England 219 02 2210.09

Transfers

Players transferred in
Date Pos. Name Club Fee Ref.
April 1946 GK England George Ephgrave England Swindon Town Free [13]
July 1946 FB England Bill Rochford England Portsmouth £550 [5]
July 1946 FW England George Lewis England Watford £1,000+[lower-alpha 2] [5]
September 1946 HB England Bill Bushby England Portsmouth Free [14]
October 1946 FW England Wilf Grant England Manchester City Free [15]
February 1947 HB England Joe Mallett England Queens Park Rangers £5,000[lower-alpha 3] [9]
Players transferred out
Date Pos. Name Club Fee Ref.
September 1946 FB England Tom Emanuel Wales Llanelli Free [17]
January 1947 FW England Doug McGibbon England Fulham £4,250 [18]
Players released
Date Pos. Name Subsequent club Join date Ref.
April 1947 FW England Billy Bevis England Winchester City September 1947 [9][19]
April 1947 HB England Bill Bushby England Cowes Sports Late 1947 [9][14]
April 1947 FW England Harry Evans England Exeter City June 1947 [9][20]
April 1947 HB England Ken Fisher England Watford August 1947 [9][21]
April 1947 FW England Alf Freeman England Crystal Palace August 1948 [9][22]
April 1947 HB England Bill Stroud England Leyton Orient June 1947 [9][23]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 4,289 is Southampton's lowest post-war home league attendance.[8]
  2. ↑ Lewis's transfer fee is generally reported as "a four-figure fee".[5]
  3. ↑ Joe Mallett's £5,000 transfer fee was a club record at the time.[16]

References

Bibliography

  • Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (November 2013), All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC, Bristol, England: Hagiology Publishing, ISBN 978-0-9926864-0-6 
  • Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003), Bull, David, ed., In That Number: A Post-War Chronicle of Southampton FC, Bristol, England: Hagiology Publishing, ISBN 0-9534474-3-X 
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