Season 156 Review

The League

League champions Arsenal had an indifferent season in defence of their title and by the halfway stage were ten points behind the leaders Chelsea. Chelsea, runners-up last season, started well and after 12 games were nine points clear, having won all but one of their first thirteen game. Another run of consistency in the new year period saw them win 10 games in a 12-game unbeaten run and they were unable to be caught. The surprise chasers were Aston Villa, and, due to a remarkable slump by Chelsea, who only garnered three points from their last six games, kept the race open until the penultimate match. A 2-2 draw at home to Arsenal eventually handed the title to Chelsea and Villa finished five points adrift, but a satisfying eight points clear of Liverpool. The championship is only Chelsea's second, the previous occasion being as long ago as season 13. Bolton Wanderers had another relatively satisfying season, ending up fourth on the same points as Arsenal. Manchester United had another disappointing season, finishing sixth and never really challenging at any point.

Of the three promoted clubs, Fulham performed the best, and finished in a creditable 11th place. Charlton finished 14th. Tottenham Hotspur, last season's Division 1 champions, struggled and only avoided the drop at the last gasp, three points ahead of West Ham United, who were relegated after 19 seasons in the top flight. Southampton took the drop with them along with Leeds United, who ended a run of 44 seasons in the Premier Division.

In Division 1, Newcastle United bounced straight back to the top drawer, after having a slow start to the season. Two seven-game unbeaten runs, broken only by a 3-5 reverse at Wigan (in front of their lowest crowd of the season of just under 6,000), including a 7-0 victory over Wimbledon, either side of Christmas saw them reach the top of the table and they were never caught. Blackburn Rovers, Sheffield United and Reading chased them hard, and Blackburn had secured promotion in their penultimate fixture when a 5-0 victory against Leicester City clinched the runners-up spot, ending an 11-season run in the second tier. This left Reading and Sheffield United to contest for the remaining promotion place. On the last day of the season Reading were in third place on 81 points and visited the Sheffield club, who sat one point behind on 80 points. A draw would have given Reading the promotion place but United, who have narrowly missed out on promotion in the last two seasons, triumphed by a score of 3-2, and the third promotion place was theirs. At the bottom end of the table, Leyton Orient dropped straight back into the Second whilst Wimbledon continued their fall from grace; they were in the Premiership just two seasons ago. Joining them were Bury, who ended a 7-year run in the second tier.

The three promoted clubs from Division Two were Colchester United, Tranmere Rovers and Luton Town. Colchester won the section handsomely with a total of 97 points, and go into the First for the first time in 41 seasons. Tranmere bounced straight back up, having come down only last season. Norwich City, ever promotion hopefuls, failed once again, finishing sixth but only four points from success. They must be favourites to go up soon. Wycombe Wanderers, Brighton, Crewe Alexandra and Northampton Town dropped to the bottom division.

In the Third Division, Colchester United attained a superb 100 points in taking the title, but the standard in the section was high, with both Swansea City and Grimsby Town reaching 95 points. Carlisle United limped up in fourth place on goal difference from Lincoln City, 16 points behind the top three.

The Cups

A.F.L. Cup to follow.

Liverpool won the A.F.L. Trophy, beating Sheffield United 4-0 in the final.

Plymouth Argyle, who finished fifth in the Second Division, contested the A.F.L. Vase final against runaway winners of Division Three, Doncaster Rovers. For the second season in a row the Southern representatives won the competion, the final score being 2-1.

Tables

Premier League

    P W D L F A Diff Pts
1   Chelsea 38 25 5 8 86 45 +41 80
2   Aston Villa 38 22 9 7 85 44 +41 75
3   Liverpool 38 21 4 13 78 49 +29 67
4   Bolton Wanderers 38 19 6 13 73 46 +27 63
5   Arsenal 38 19 6 13 71 48 +23 63
6   Manchester United 38 18 7 13 71 56 +15 61
7   Middlesbrough 38 17 9 12 60 43 +17 60
8   Watford 38 17 9 12 58 49 +9 60
9   Manchester City 38 16 9 13 58 56 +2 57
10   Portsmouth 38 15 10 13 48 43 +5 55
11   Fulham 38 16 6 16 53 53 0 54
12   Coventry City 38 14 9 15 45 59 -14 51
13   Sunderland 38 15 5 18 63 71 -8 50
14   Charlton Athletic 38 15 5 18 41 60 -19 50
15   Barnsley 38 13 7 18 44 74 -30 46
16   Everton 38 11 10 17 53 57 -4 43
17   Tottenham Hotspur 38 9 11 18 53 71 -18 38
18   West Ham United 38 8 11 19 47 72 -25 35
19   Southampton 38 9 6 23 39 82 -43 33
20   Leeds United 38 5 8 25 37 85 -48 23

League 1

    P W D L F A Diff Pts
1   Newcastle United 46 26 10 10 86 50 +36 88
2   Blackburn Rovers 46 24 14 8 83 48 +35 86
3   Sheffield United 46 24 11 11 88 56 +32 83
4   Reading 46 23 12 11 83 57 +26 81
5   Wolverhampton Wand 46 20 11 15 61 54 +7 71
6   Sheffield Wednesday 46 18 16 12 77 60 +17 70
7   Ipswich Town 46 20 8 18 63 72 -9 68
8   Crystal Palace 46 18 13 15 65 55 +10 67
9   Derby County 46 18 12 16 69 61 +8 66
10   Stoke City 46 17 13 16 61 58 +3 64
11   Gillingham 46 16 15 15 59 59 0 63
12   Leicester City 46 16 15 15 63 65 -2 63
13   Birmingham City 46 18 8 20 69 69 0 62
14   Wigan Athletic 46 15 16 15 71 67 +4 61
15   Cardiff City 46 15 16 15 68 72 -4 61
16   Q.P.R. 46 14 15 17 59 60 -1 57
17   Huddersfield Town 46 14 13 19 53 67 -14 55
18   Bradford City 46 15 9 22 57 74 -17 54
19   Swindon Town 46 14 12 20 63 81 -18 54
20   West Bromwich Alb 46 13 13 20 60 66 -6 52
21   Preston North End 46 13 10 23 55 80 -25 49
22   Wimbledon 46 14 7 25 60 88 -28 49
23   Leyton Orient 46 11 13 22 54 73 -19 46
24   Bury 46 8 14 24 61 96 -35 38

League 2

  Overall Goals  
    P W D L F A Diff Pts
1   Colchester United 46 30 7 9 103 55 +48 97
2   Tranmere Rovers 46 26 3 17 84 62 +22 81
3   Luton Town 46 22 10 14 79 60 +19 76
4   Millwall 46 22 10 14 70 61 +9 76
5   Plymouth Argyle 46 21 12 13 91 63 +28 75
6   Norwich City 46 21 9 16 83 65 +18 72
7   Port Vale 46 19 12 15 75 65 +10 69
8   Scunthorpe United 46 20 9 17 67 76 -9 69
9   Burnley 46 20 8 18 74 61 +13 68
10   Chesterfield 46 19 11 16 61 65 -4 68
11   Southend United 46 18 13 15 59 51 +8 67
12   Bristol City 46 19 8 19 70 70 0 65
13   Rotherham United 46 17 10 19 64 69 -5 61
14   Oldham Athletic 46 17 10 19 58 64 -6 61
15   Hull City 46 17 9 20 72 77 -5 60
16   Nottingham Forest 46 14 15 17 69 75 -6 57
17   Brentford 46 15 12 19 64 74 -10 57
18   Blackpool 46 16 9 21 68 81 -13 57
19   Stockport County 46 15 10 21 54 73 -19 55
20   Bristol Rovers 46 15 10 21 50 74 -24 55
21   Wycombe Wanderers 46 14 9 23 57 84 -27 51
22   Brighton & H A 46 12 11 23 77 85 -8 47
23   Crewe Alexandra 46 12 10 24 61 85 -24 46
24   Northampton Town 46 9 17 20 67 82 -15 44

League 3

  Overall Goals  
    P W D L F A Diff Pts
1   Doncaster Rovers 46 32 4 10 102 44 +58 100
2   Swansea City 46 30 5 11 98 47 +51 95
3   Grimsby Town 46 28 11 7 94 46 +48 95
4   Carlisle United 46 22 13 11 89 60 +29 79
5   Lincoln City 46 23 10 13 78 65 +13 79
6   Walsall 46 21 12 13 79 59 +20 75
7   Barnet 46 20 11 15 80 74 +6 71
8   Wrexham 46 18 16 12 80 58 +22 70
9   Darlington 46 18 12 16 75 84 -9 66
10   AFC Bournemouth 46 17 11 18 66 73 -7 62
11   Hereford United 46 18 7 21 66 76 -10 61
12   Chester City 46 18 7 21 64 78 -14 61
13   Shrewsbury Town 46 17 9 20 59 64 -5 60
14   Notts County 46 16 11 19 78 70 +8 59
15   Torquay United 46 17 8 21 57 80 -23 59
16   Cambridge United 46 16 9 21 62 70 -8 57
17   Hartlepool United 46 15 12 19 68 77 -9 57
18   Mansfield Town 46 15 11 20 57 71 -14 56
19   Scarborough 46 13 12 21 62 78 -16 51
20   Peterborough United 46 14 8 24 54 74 -20 50
21   Oxford United 46 13 10 23 70 85 -15 49
22   Rochdale 46 12 11 23 57 87 -30 47
23   York City 46 8 14 24 51 82 -31 38
24   Exeter City 46 10 8 28 49 93 -44 38