1939–40 Birmingham F.C. season

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Birmingham F.C.
1939–40 season
ChairmanHarry Morris Jr
Ground
West Ham United)
Top goalscorerLeague: Wilson Jones (10)
All: Harold Bodle (12)

During the

West Ham United
in the quarter-final.

Background

After 18 consecutive seasons in the

chief scout at Portsmouth, was appointed to the corresponding role at Birmingham.[2] The directors stated that they were "prepared to accept Mr Foster's advice in all matters relating to players", but confirmed that they would act promptly if it became necessary to appoint a manager.[3]

During the previous season, 1500 new tip-up seats had been installed and the terracing in front of the grandstand completely renovated.[4] Over the close season, the pitch was replanted and reseeded.[3]

Player departures included goalkeeper Frank Clack and half-backs Wally Halsall, Bob Meacock and Dai Richards.[1]

Football League Second Division

Birmingham began the

goal average
.

Match results[6]
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

League table (part)

Final Second Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
1st Luton Town 3 2 1 0 7 1 7.00 5
2nd Birmingham 3 2 1 0 5 1 5.00 5
3rd Leicester City 3 2 0 1 5 2 2.50 4
4th Coventry City 3 1 2 0 8 6 1.33 4
5th
Plymouth Argyle
 3 2 0 1 4 3 1.33 4
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 [7]

Midland Regional League

When war was declared in September 1939, the government banned public gatherings until safety implications could be assessed.

Leamington hosted two "home" matches.[6] The matter was first raised in Parliament in November 1939, but the Home Secretary was unwilling to intervene in what he perceived as a local issue outside his jurisdiction.[10] By March 1940, when St Andrew's had for some time been the only football ground in England still closed, the Chief Constable bowed to public pressure, and a crowd of 13,241 witnessed Birmingham's first home game in more than six months, against Walsall in the Midland Regional League.[9]

Match results
Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers
21 October 1939
Wolverhampton Wanderers
 A W 3–2 Broome, Edwards, Dearson
28 October 1939 Walsall A W 2–1 Dennis Jennings, Dearson
4 November 1939 Luton Town A W 2–1 Duckhouse, Dearson
11 November 1939 Coventry City A L 1–3 Brown
18 November 1939
West Bromwich Albion
 A D 2–2 Brown 2
25 November 1939 Leicester City A W 3–1 Jones, Bye, Edwards
2 December 1939 Northampton Town A D 1–1 Jones
9 December 1939
Wolverhampton Wanderers
 A L 2–6 Broome 2
16 December 1939 Walsall A W 2–1 Edwards, Broome
27 December 1939
West Bromwich Albion
 A L 0–3
30 December 1939 Coventry City H[a] L 2–4 Broome, Bodle
13 January 1940 Leicester City H[a] D 3–3 Guest 2, Duckhouse
20 January 1940 Northampton Town A L 0–3
10 February 1940 Luton Town A L 2–4 Harris, Roberts o.g.
24 February 1940
West Bromwich Albion
 A L 1–6 Edwards
2 March 1940 Leicester City A L 1–2 Jones
9 March 1940 Northampton Town A W 3–1 Turner pen., Brown, Bodle
16 March 1940
Wolverhampton Wanderers
 A L 1–3 Bodle
23 March 1940 Walsall H W 2–1 Jones 2
25 March 1940
West Bromwich Albion
 A L 1–4 Duckhouse
26 March 1940 Luton Town H W 5–4 Bodle 2, Jones 2, A.E. Godden
30 March 1940 Luton Town H W 4–1 Jones, Trigg 2, Bodle
6 April 1940 Coventry City H W 2–1 Trigg 2
10 April 1940
Wolverhampton Wanderers
 H L 0–1
1 May 1940 Northampton Town H W 3–1 Gardner, Bodle, Trigg
20 May 1940 Leicester City H D 0–0
5 June 1940 Coventry City H D 0–0
8 June 1940 Walsall H W 8–1 Bodle 2, Duckworth 2, Jones 2, Brown, Godfrey o.g.
  1. ^ a b Match played at Windmill Ground, Leamington

League table

Final Midland Regional League table
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
1st
Wolverhampton Wanderers
 28 19 3 6 76 44 1.73 41
2nd
West Bromwich Albion
 28 18 4 6 87 51 1.71 40
3rd Coventry City 28 13 3 12 68 57 1.19 29
4th Birmingham 28 12 5 11 56 60 0.93 29
5th Luton Town 28 10 4 14 76 88 0.86 24
6th Northampton Town 28 7 8 13 48 59 0.81 22
7th Leicester City 28 7 6 15 51 71 0.72 20
8th Walsall 28 7 5 16 51 83 0.61 19
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 [11]

Football League War Cup

Match results[6][12]
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers
First round first leg 20 April 1940 Newport County A D 2–2 Godden 2
First round second leg 27 April 1940 Newport County H W 5–2 Trigg 2, Bodle 2, Godden
Second round first leg 4 May 1940 Reading H W 2–0 Trigg, Jones
Second round second leg 11 May 1940 Reading A W 2–0 Godden, Bodle
Third round 18 May 1940 Arsenal A[a] W 2–1 Godden, Turner
Quarter final 25 May 1940
West Ham United
 A L 2–4 Trigg 2
  1. ^ Played at White Hart Lane

Appearances and goals

For a description of the playing formation, see formation (association football)#2–3–5 (Pyramid).

Players marked with an asterisk * were guests, not registered Birmingham players.[13]

Players having played at least one first-team match
Pos. Nat. Name Football League Midland Regional League Football League War Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK  ENG Harry Hibbs 3 0 9 0 0 0 12 0
GK  ENG Gil Merrick 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
GK  ENG Jack Wheeler 0 0 18 0 6 0 24 0
FB  ENG Sam Bellamy 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 0
FB  SCO George Cummings * — 4 0 0 0 4 0
FB  WAL Billy Hughes 3 0 17 0 6 0 26 0
FB  ENG Dennis Jennings 0 0 8 1 0 0 8 1
FB  ENG Wally Quinton 0 0 18 0 6 0 24 0
FB  ENG Cyril Trigg 3 0 16 5 6 6 25 0
HB  ENG Jimmy Allen * — 1 0 0 0 1 0
HB  ENG James Bye 3 0 19 1 4 0 26 1
HB  ENG Fred Deakin 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 0
HB  ENG Ray Devey 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 0
HB  ENG Reg Foulkes 0 0 7 0 0 0 7 0
HB  ENG Bob Iverson * — 7 0 0 0 7 0
HB  SCO Alex Massie * — 4 0 0 0 4 0
HB  ENG F.W. Moss 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
HB  ENG
Ray Shaw
 3 0 10 0 0 0 13 0
HB  ENG Arthur Turner 3 0 17 1 6 1 26 2
FW  ENG J. Bate * — 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW  ENG Harold Bodle 0 0 17 9 6 3 23 12
FW  ENG Frank Broome * — 7 5 0 0 7 5
FW  ENG E. Brown 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW  IRE Jackie Brown 3 1 15 5 5 0 23 6
FW  ENG Charlie Craven 0 0 9 0 0 0 9 0
FW  WAL Don Dearson 3 1 19 3 5 0 27 4
FW  ENG Ted Duckhouse 3 1 6 5 0 0 9 6
FW  ENG George Edwards * — 10 4 0 0 10 4
FW  ENG Tom Farrage 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 1
FW  ENG Fred Gardner 0 0 2 1 0 0 2 1
FW  ENG A.E. Godden 0 0 5 1 6 4 11 5
FW  ENG Billy Guest * — 6 2 0 0 6 2
FW  ENG Fred Harris 3 0 19 1 6 0 28 1
FW  WAL Wilson Jones 0 0 17 10 3 1 17 11
FW  ENG Dudley Kernick * — 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW  ENG Jackie Martin * — 2 0 0 0 2 0
FW  WAL Seymour Morris 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW  ENG Frank Moss * — 2 0 0 0 2 0
FW  ENG D.W. Rowley 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

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
    .
  • Rollin, Jack (2005). Soccer at War 1939–45. London: Headline.
    ISBN 978-0-7553-1431-7
    .
  • Source for kit: "Birmingham City". Historical Football Kits. Dave & Matt Moor. Retrieved 20 February 2019.

Specific

  1. ^ a b "Changes at St Andrew's". Birmingham Daily Post. 23 August 1939. p. 10.
  2. ^ "Jack Foster's new job". The Evening News. Portsmouth. 7 July 1939. p. 12.
  3. ^ a b "New regime at St Andrew's". Evening Despatch. Birmingham. 10 August 1939. p. 12.
  4. ^ "New regime at St Andrew's". Birmingham Gazette. 15 June 1939. p. 12.
  5. ^ "Casualty details". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Matthews (1995), Complete Record, p. 236.
  7. ^ Jackson, Stuart. "Season 1939–40 (Abandoned)". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  8. ^ "Closing of places of entertainment. Preventing large assemblies". The Times. London. 4 September 1939. p. 10.
  9. ^
    ISBN 0-7509-4030-1
    .
  10. ^ "Written Answers (Commons): Civil Defence: Football Matches (Spectators)". Hansard. 353. cc726–7W. 15 November 1939. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
    "Commons Sitting: Civil Defence: Football Prohibition (Birmingham)". Hansard. 357. cc1515–6. 22 February 1940. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  11. ^ Rollin, Soccer at War, p. 238.
  12. ^ Rollin, Soccer at War, pp. 248–249.
  13. ^ Rollin, Soccer at War, p. 276.
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