1942–43 Arsenal F.C. season

The 1942–43 season was Arsenal Football Club's fourth season playing wartime football during World War II. They won the Football League South and the Football League South Cup. Arsenal were finalists in the Football League War Cup.

Arsenal
1942–43 season
ChairmanRobin Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry
ManagerGeorge Allison
Football League South1st
Football League South CupWinners
Football League War CupFinalists

Background

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Arsenal played their home games at White Hart Lane, as Highbury had been transformed to support Air Raid Precautions.[1]

After participating in the rebel London War League for the 1941-42 season, the Football League allowed the London clubs to rejoin their system. After the rebel clubs wrote formal apology letters and fines, the League South was created for the new season.[2]

Arsenal won the Football League South and the League South Cup. In the League South Cup final, Arsenal faced Charlton whom they beat 7-1 at Wembley.[1] Reg Lewis, a prolific wartime scorer with 142 goals in 128 wartime appearances, scored 4 goals in that final.[3][4] Lewis scored 53 goals in all competitions during the 1942-43 season, boosting the club's attendance numbers.[1]

Arsenal faced Blackpool in the finals of the Football League War Cup, a matchup which now pitted the winners of the League South and League North Cups against each other at Stamford Bridge. Blackpool won 4-2, making Arsenal the only team to reach two War Cup finals and lose.[5]

Results

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Arsenal's score comes first[6]

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

Football League South

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Selected results from the league.

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
29 August 1942 Charlton Athletic A 6–2
5 September 1942 Southampton H 6–1
12 September 1942 Millwall A 2–1
19 September 1942 Luton Town H 2–0
26 September 1942 Portsmouth A 2–2
3 October 1942 Fulham A 4–3
10 October 1942 Clapton Orient A 4–1
17 October 1942 Brentford H 0–2 16,700
24 October 1942 Reading H 4–1
31 October 1942 Crystal Palace A 7–1
7 November 1942 Tottenham Hotspur A 0–1
14 November 1942 Queen's Park Rangers H 3–0
21 November 1942 Aldershot A 7–4
28 November 1942 Charlton Athletic H 3–0
5 December 1942 Southampton A 3–1
12 December 1942 Millwall H ?–?
19 December 1942 Luton Town A ?–?
25 December 1942 Chelsea A 2–5
26 December 1942 Chelsea H 1–5
2 January 1943 Portsmouth H ?–?
9 January 1943 Fulham H ?–?
16 January 1943 Clapton Orient H ?–?
23 January 1943 Brentford A 1–0
30 January 1943 Reading A ?–?
6 February 1943 Crystal Palace H ?–?
13 February 1943 Tottenham Hotspur H ?–?
20 February 1943 Queen's Park Rangers A ?–?
27 February 1943 Aldershot H ?–?

Final League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Arsenal 28 21 1 6 102 40 2.550 43
2 Tottenham Hotspur 28 16 6 6 68 28 2.429 38
3 Queen's Park Rangers 28 18 2 8 64 49 1.306 38
4 Portsmouth 28 16 3 9 66 52 1.269 35
5 Southampton 28 14 5 9 86 58 1.483 33
6 West Ham United 28 14 5 9 80 66 1.212 33
7 Chelsea 28 14 4 10 52 45 1.156 32
8 Aldershot 28 14 2 12 87 77 1.130 30
9 Brentford 28 12 5 11 64 63 1.016 29
10 Charlton Athletic 28 13 3 12 68 75 0.907 29
11 Clapton Orient 28 11 5 12 54 72 0.750 27
12 Brighton & Hove Albion 28 10 5 13 64 72 0.889 25
13 Reading 28 9 6 13 67 74 0.905 24
14 Fulham 28 10 2 16 69 78 0.885 22
15 Crystal Palace 28 7 5 16 49 75 0.653 19
16 Millwall 28 6 5 17 66 88 0.750 17
17 Watford 28 7 2 19 51 88 0.580 16
18 Luton Town 30 6 4 20 47 114 0.412 16

Football League South Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
GS 6 March 1943 Brighton & Hove Albion A 5–1
GS 13 March 1943 Watford H 4–1
GS 20 March 1943 West Ham United A 3–1
GS 27 March 1943 Brighton & Hove Albion H 5–0
GS 3 April 1943 Watford A 1–1
GS 10 April 1943 West Ham United H 3–1
SF 24 April 1943 Queen's Park Rangers N 4–1
F 1 May 1943 Charlton Athletic N 7–1 75,000

Football League War Cup

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The winners of the Football League South Cup and the Football League North Cup faced each other in the Football League War Cup.

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
F 15 May 1943 Blackpool N 2–4 55,195

References

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  1. ^ a b c Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1995). Arsenal: Official History. London: Hamlyn. p. 98. ISBN 0600588262.
  2. ^ Taylor, Matthew (2015). "The people's game and the people's war: football, class and nation in wartime Britain, 1939-1945". Historical Social Research. 40 (4): 270–297.
  3. ^ "Reg Lewis". Arsenal. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Arsenal at War". Arsenal. 10 May 2017. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  5. ^ Becker, Matt (15 January 2015). "Keep Calm, Carry on and Play Soccer: The Football League War Cup". Paste. Archived from the original on 21 July 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  6. ^ http://www.statto.com/football/teams/arsenal/1942-1943/results [dead link]
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