1945–46 Arsenal F.C. season

The 1945–46 Arsenal F.C. season was Arsenal Football Club's first post-war football season. The team finished eleventh and were knocked out in the third round of the FA Cup. It was George Allison's last full season as Arsenal manager.{{Cite web |title=The Managers |url=https://www.arsenal.com/history/the-managers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126160043/https://www.arsenal.com/history/the-managers |archive-date=26 November 2023 |access-date=28 November 2023 |website=Arsenal}}

{{Infobox football club season

| club = Arsenal

| season = 1945–46

| manager = George Allison

| chairman = Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry

| league = Football League South

| league result = 11th

| cup1 = FA Cup

| cup1 result = Third round

| league topscorer =

| season topscorer =

| highest attendance =

| lowest attendance =

| average attendance =

| pattern_b1 = _collarwhite

| pattern_so1 = _hoops_red

| leftarm1 =

| body1 = ff0000

| rightarm1 =

| shorts1 =

| socks1 = 000066|

| pattern_b2 = _collar

| pattern_so2 = _hoops_black

| leftarm2 =

| body2 =

| rightarm2 =

| shorts2 = 000000

| socks2 = |

| prevseason = 1944–45

| nextseason = 1946–47

}}

Background

The 1945-46 season was the first peacetime football season since World War II began. In May 1945, the Football League announced that the FA Cup would return for the coming season, eliminating the wartime cup competitions. In July, the Football League came to an agreement that regional leagues would continue for one more season with some adjustments.{{Cite web |last=Foster |first=Richard |date=24 April 2020 |title=How English football responded to the second world war |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/the-agony-and-the-ecstasy/2020/apr/24/how-english-football-responded-to-the-second-world-war |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427110700/https://www.theguardian.com/football/the-agony-and-the-ecstasy/2020/apr/24/how-english-football-responded-to-the-second-world-war |archive-date=27 April 2023 |website=The Guardian}}

Arsenal entered the season with £150,000 in pre-war debts. They also continued to play their home games at White Hart Lane, as Highbury had been transformed to support Air Raid Precautions and was still being used for that purpose.{{Cite book |last=Soar |first=Phil |title=Arsenal: Official History |last2=Tyler |first2=Martin |publisher=Hamlyn |year=1995 |isbn=0600588262 |location=London |pages=98 |language=en}} Highbury had bombed during the war and required repairs before Arsenal could return.{{Cite web |date=10 May 2017 |title=Arsenal at War |url=https://www.arsenal.com/history/post-war-arsenal/highbury-stages-first-live-broadcast |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016112520/https://www.arsenal.com/history/post-war-arsenal/highbury-stages-first-live-broadcast |archive-date=16 October 2023 |access-date=28 November 2023 |website=Arsenal}}

Arsenal performed poorly in the league, flirting with relegation before finishing thirteenth. Although some players remained from Arsenal's successful 1930s runs, age, injury, and attrition led to a much weaker team than took the field prior to the war. Cliff Bastin was aging and Ted Drake had retired. Arsenal struggled to find success.{{Cite web |date=10 May 2017 |title=Post-War Arsenal |url=https://www.arsenal.com/history/post-war-arsenal/post-war-arsenal-overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524222634/https://www.arsenal.com/history/post-war-arsenal/post-war-arsenal-overview |archive-date=24 May 2023 |access-date=28 November 2023 |website=Arsenal}} Arsenal were knocked out of the FA Cup by West Ham.

One notable occurrence was when Arsenal hosted Dynamo Moscow late in 1945, a rare European match. London was covered in a "pea-souper fog." The fog was so bad that Dynamo wanted the match postponed but due to match sales, the FA refused. Arsenal manager George Allison brought in several guest players to strengthen Arsenal's side. Dynamo took an early lead in front of a 54,000 strong crowd. The fog was so thick that Russian referee Nikolay Latyshev had both of his assistants run the same side of the pitch. The first half finished 3-2 to Arsenal. At halftime, Arsenal's goalkeeper Wyn Griffiths was replaced by a spectator, QPR's Harry Brown, as he had taken several blows to the head and was unaware of even the score. The second half saw Sergei Solovyov equalize for Moscow and a George Drury red card for throwing a punch. Visibility continued to decrease. Dynamo went ahead and Arsenal had a goal disallowed. The game became increasingly rough. Dynamo won the match, and would go on to play one further match in their tour of England.{{Cite web |last=Howells |first=Chris |date=13 November 2020 |title=Dynamo Moscow's 1945 tour of Britain: Was it really 'war minus the shooting?' |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/54839305 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222173041/https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/54839305 |archive-date=22 February 2023 |access-date=28 November 2023 |website=BBC Sport}}

Results

Arsenal's score comes first{{Cite web |url=http://www.statto.com/football/teams/arsenal/1945-1946/results |title=Arsenal results for the 1945-1946 season – Statto.com |access-date=11 February 2018 |archive-date=14 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914121622/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/arsenal/1945-1946/results |url-status=dead }}

=Legend=

class="wikitable"

style="background:#d0ffe3;"|Win

| style="background:#ffffdd;"|Draw

| style="background:#ffd0e3;"|Loss

=Football League South=

Selected results from the league.

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance
class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
style="background:#ffd0e3;" \| 25 August 1945	Coventry City	A	0–2
style="background:#ffffdd;" \| 27 August 1945	West Ham United	A	1–1	25,000
style="background:#ffffdd;" \| 1 September 1945	Coventry City	H	0–0
style="background:#ffffdd;" \| 3 September 1945	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–1
style="background:#ffd0e3;" \| 8 September 1945	Luton Town	H	0–2
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 15 September 1945	Luton Town	A	2–1
style="background:#ffd0e3;" \| 22 September 1945	Aston Villa	H	2–4
style="background:#ffd0e3;" \| 29 September 1945	Aston Villa	A	1–5
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 6 October 1945	Swansea Town	H	4–1
style="background:#ffd0e3;" \| 13 October 1945	Swansea Town	A	2–3
style="background:#ffd0e3;" \| 20 October 1945	Charlton Athletic	H	1–2
style="background:#ffd0e3;" \| 27 October 1945	Charlton Athletic	A	2–6
style="background:#ffd0e3;" \| 3 November 1945	Fulham	A	2–5
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 10 November 1945	Fulham	H	2–0
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 17 November 1945	Plymouth Argyle	H	3–0	14,479
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 24 November 1945	Plymouth Argyle	A	4–0	26,419
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 1 December 1945	Portsmouth	A	?–?
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 8 December 1945	Portsmouth	H	?–?
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 15 December 1945	Nottingham Forest	H	?–?
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 22 December 1945	Nottingham Forest	A	?–?
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 25 December 1945	Newport County	A	2–1	13,003
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 26 December 1945	Newport County	H	7–0	16,536
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 29 December 1949	Wolverhampoton Wanderers	H	?–?
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 12 January 1946	West Bromwich Albion	H	?–?
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 19 January 1946	West Bromwich Albion	A	?–?
style="background:#ffd0e3;" \| 2 February 1946	Birmingham City	H	0–3
style="background:#ffffdd;" \| 9 February 1946	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–1
style="background:#ffd0e3;" \| 16 February 1946	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–2
style="background:#ffd0e3;" \| 23 February 1946	Brentford	A	3–6	22,250
style="background:#ffd0e3;" \| 9 March 1946	Chelsea	H	1–2
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 13 March 1946	Birmingham City	A	1–0
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 16 March 1946	Chelsea	A	2–1
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 23 March 1946	Millwall	A	?–?
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 30 March 1946	Millwall	H	?–?
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 6 April 1946	Southampton	H	?–?
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 13 April 1946	Southampton	A	?–?
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 19 April 1946	Derby County	A	?–?
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 20 April 1946	Leicester City	H	?–?
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 22 April 1946	Derby County	H	?–?
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 27 April 1946	Leicester City	A	?–?
style="background:#ffffdd;" \| 29 April 1946	Brentford	H	1–1	5,250
style="background:#d0ffe3;" \| 4 May 1946	West Ham United	H	2–1	30,000

==Final League table==

{{:Football League North and South|transcludesection=1945–46 South|showteam=ARS}}

=FA Cup=

class="wikitable"

!Round!!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Goalscorers

style="background:#ffd0e3;"

R3 L1

5 January 1946

West Ham United

0–6

style="background:#d0ffe3;"

R3 L2

9 January 1946

West Ham United

1–0

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20120301004829/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andy.kelly/arsenal/aftlu.htm Arsenal season-by-season line-ups]
[https://www.11v11.com/teams/arsenal/tab/matches/season/1946/ List of matches]

1945-46

Category:English football clubs 1945–46 season