Football League War Cup

Football League War Cup

Founded	1939
Region	England and Wales.
Current champions	Bolton Wanderers FC
Most successful club	No club won the cup more than once, although Arsenal FC reached the final twice (albeit without winning either times).

The Football League War Cup was an association football tournament held between 1939 and 1945 which aimed to fill the gaping hole left in English Football by the cancellation of the FA Cup.

Contents 1 Background 2 Honours 2.1 Northern Final 2.2 Southern Final 2.3 Overall final 3 Tournament finals 3.1 1939–40 3.2 1940–41 3.3 1941–42 3.4 1942–43 3.5 1943–44 3.6 1944–45 4 See also 5 References

Background

Throughout the latter 1930s it was becoming inevitable that a 2nd World War with Germany was coming. On 3 September 1939 following Germany’s invasion of Poland, Neville Chamberlain announced war on Nazi Germany.

Shortly after war was declared, most competitions were abandoned as the country's attention turned to the war effort. Over 780 footballers signed up to fight in the war and as a result many of England's best teams were depleted - for example, Liverpool saw 76 players sign up, Wolves saw 91 sign up and Huddersfield, Leicester and Charlton all saw over 60 players sign up for the war. Because of this many teams fielded guest players instead. The FA Cup Extra-Preliminary Round was played, but with hostilities declared before replays took place, and a 50-mile travelling limit, that competition too was abandoned. The Football League War Cup was held between 1939 and 1945 in an attempt to fill the gaping hole left in English Football by the cancellation of the FA Cup.

In May 1945, Germany surrendered following the suicide of Adolf Hitler. 1945-1946 marked the retirement of the Football League War Cup and the return of The FA Cup with a new structure; seeing home and away leg ties for the first time in its history with results being decided on aggregate goals, extra-time and penalty shoot-outs as oppose to several replay matches.

Honours

Appearances and goals in the FLWCup do not count in players' official records. However, this does not make Preston NE's Andrew McLaren's exploits any less impressive. En route to the final in 1941 McLaren scored eight goals, including five goals in Preston's 12-1 win over Tranmere. He also scored in the first leg of the final, bringing his total tally for the tournament to nine.^[1])

Northern Final

Winner Finalist 1942-1943 Blackpool Sheffield W. 1943-1944 Aston V. Blackpool 1944-1945 Bolton Manchester U

Southern Final

Winner Finalist 1942-1943 Arsenal Charlton 1943-1944 Charlton Chelsea 1944-1945 Chelsea Millwall

Overall final

Winner Finalist 1939-1940 West Ham Blackburn 1940-1941 Preston NE Arsenal 1941-1942 Wolves Sunderland 1942-1943 Blackpool Arsenal 1943-1944 Shared between Charlton & Aston V. 1944-1945 Bolton Chelsea

Tournament finals

1939–40

Final.	West Ham United	1–0	Blackburn Rovers	Wembley, 8th of June, 1940. Attendance: 42,399
	Sam Small	Report

137 games (including replays) were played to get to the final of the inaugural Football League War Cup. These matches were condensed into just 9 weeks. Despite the fears that London would be bombed by the Luftwaffe fans came in thousands to watch the game at Wembley, despite its obvious danger as a bombing target.^[2]

1940–41

Final.	Preston North End	1–1	Arsenal	Wembley, 31st of May 1941. Attendance: 60,000
	Andrew McLaren	Report	Denis Compton

Replay.	Preston North End	2–1	Arsenal	Ewood Park Attendance: 45,000
	Robert Beattie	Report	Frank Gallimore (OG)

In the nine months leading up to the final, 127 large-scale night-raids had taken place, with London, the home of the final, being a regular target. This threat did not stop 60,000 people turning up to watch the game.

Preston North End beat Bury, Bolton, Tranmere Rovers (12-1), Manchester City and Newcastle (2-0) to reach the final. Andrew McLaren had scored nine goals during the tournament, including five goals in Preston's 12-1 win over Tranmere^[1]). Thanks to a late equaliser from Arsenal's Compton in the game at Wembley, this was the first final of the tournament to go to a replay.

The replay was moved away from London to Ewood Park. The win for Preston meant that they had completed the first wartime league and cup double, having also won the Northern Regional League.

1941–42

Final, first leg	Sunderland	2–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Roker Park, Sunderland Attendance: 34,776
	Carter  54' Stubbins  77'		Westcott  11',  87'

Final, second leg	Wolverhampton Wanderers	4–1	Sunderland	Molineux, Wolverhampton Attendance: 43,038
	Westcott Broome  51' Rowley  59',  70'		Carter  58'

The third competition in 1942 saw the final switched to a two-legged format with each team playing one leg on their home ground. This was the only time in the tournament's history that the final was decided in such a way.

Eric Robinson of Wolves was to tragically die soon after his team won the tournament, during a military exercise.

1942–43

North Final, first leg.	Blackpool	2–2	Sheffield Wednesday	Bloomfield Road Attendance: 28,000

Second leg.	Sheffield Wednesday	1–2	Blackpool	Hillsborough Stadium Attendance: 42,657.

South final	Arsenal	7–1	Charlton Athletic	Wembley Attendance: 75,000

Final	Arsenal	2–4	Blackpool	Stamford Bridge Attendance: 55,195

In its final three years, the competition was split into north and south halves, with the winners of each section competing in a play-off, staged at Stamford Bridge, to decide the cup winner. The northern winners were decided over two legs, while the southern finalists met in a one-off Wembley final.

The overall final marked the second time Arsenal had got to the final. They would end up being the club who had reached the most Football League War Cup finals, yet did not win once. The final was also notable because both clubs had won their respective wartime divisions.

1943–44

North final, first leg.	Blackpool	2–1	Aston Villa	Bloomfield Road Attendance: 28,000

Second leg.	Aston Villa	4–2	Blackpool	Villa Park Attendance: 38,540

South final.	Charlton Athletic	3–1	Chelsea	Wembley Attendance: 85,000

Final.	Charlton Athletic	1–1	Aston Villa	Stamford Bridge Attendance: 38,540
		Shared

With the score in the final tied at 1-1 and, due to transport restrictions and bombing threats, a replay not an option, the game ended a draw. Charlton and Villa shared the 1944 trophy, an event that had not happened before and did not happen again.

1944–45

North final first leg	Bolton Wanderers	1–0	Manchester United	Burnden Park Attendance: 40,000

Second leg	Manchester United	2–2	Bolton Wanderers	Maine Road Attendance: 40,000

South Final	Chelsea	2–0	Millwall	Wembley Attendance: 90,000

Final	Chelsea	1–2	Bolton Wanderers	Stamford Bridge Attendance: 35,000

See also

• Association football during World War I
• Association football during World War II

References

Football League War Cup Finals v • d • e
1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945