1946–47 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1946–47 Football League season – the first Football League season after the end of the Second World War – was Birmingham City Football Club's 44th in the Football League and their 18th in the Second Division, to which they were relegated at the end of the last completed season before the war. They finished in third position in the 22-team division, three points adrift of the promotion places. They entered the 1946–47 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost to Liverpool in the sixth (quarter-final).

Birmingham City F.C.
1946–47 season
ChairmanHarry Morris Jr
ManagerHarry Storer
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League Second Division3rd
FA CupSixth round
(eliminated by Liverpool)
Top goalscorerLeague: Cyril Trigg (17)
All: Cyril Trigg (19)
Highest home attendance56,056 vs Manchester City, FA Cup 5th round, 8 February 1947
Lowest home attendance23,083 vs Bradford Park Avenue, 3 May 1947
Average home league attendance33,666

Twenty-five players made at least one appearance in nationally organised competition, and there were fourteen different goalscorers. Goalkeeper Gil Merrick missed only one of the 45 matches over the season, and Cyril Trigg was leading scorer with 19 goals, of which 17 came in the league.

Football League Second Division

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Note that not all teams completed their playing season on the same day. Birmingham were in second place after their last game of the season, on 26 May, but by the time the last game was played, on 14 June, Burnley had drawn one and won one of their two outstanding fixtures to overtake them by three points.

Date League
position
Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance
31 August 1946 5th Tottenham Hotspur A W 2–1 Jones, Mulraney[1] 51,256
4 September 1946 1st Leicester City H W 4–0 Jones 2, Mulraney, Dougall 29,329
7 September 1946 4th Burnley H L 0–2 42,309
12 September 1946 8th Leicester City A L 1–2 Mulraney 20,952
14 September 1946 12th Barnsley A L 1–3 Mulraney 28,219
18 September 1946 15th West Bromwich Albion A L 0–3 30,186
21 September 1946 15th Newport County H D 1–1 Bodle 28,832
25 September 1946 12th West Bromwich Albion H W 1–0 Dearson 50,535
28 September 1946 14th Southampton A L 0–1 24,921
5 October 1946 10th Nottingham Forest H W 4–0 Bodle, Trigg, Edwards 2 35,093
12 October 1946 9th Coventry City A D 0–0 29,379
19 October 1946 9th Chesterfield A W 1–0 Jones 18,748
26 October 1946 9th Millwall H W 4–0 Bodle, Trigg 2, Dougall 23,243
2 November 1946 9th Bradford Park Avenue A L 0–2 21,638
9 November 1946 8th Manchester City H W 3–1 Dougall, Mulraney, Trigg 37,747
16 November 1946 6th West Ham United A W 4–0 Bodle, Edwards 2, Trigg 24,719
23 November 1946 6th Sheffield Wednesday H W 3–1 Trigg 2, Dougall 32,425
30 November 1946 2nd Fulham A W 1–0 Trigg 20,790
7 December 1946 2nd Bury H W 3–0 Duckhouse, Dougall, Edwards 30,340
14 December 1946 2nd Luton Town A W 3–1 Trigg 3 21,760
21 December 1946 2nd Plymouth Argyle H W 6–1 Bodle 3, Mulraney 2, Edwards 26,734
25 December 1946 1st Swansea Town H W 3–1 Dougall, Bodle, Feeney og 31,309
26 December 1946 1st Swansea Town A L 0–1 20,003
28 December 1946 1st Tottenham Hotspur H W 1–0 Mulraney 44,171
4 January 1947 3rd Burnley A L 0–1 36,281
18 January 1947 4th Barnsley H L 1–2 Duckhouse 41,409
1 February 1947 4th Southampton H W 3–1 Trigg 2, Mulraney 32,878
15 February 1947 3rd Coventry City H W 2–0 Trigg 2 43,551
22 February 1947 3rd Chesterfield H D 0–0 26,139
15 March 1947 3rd Manchester City A L 0–1 55,655
22 March 1947 3rd West Ham United H W 3–0 McIntosh, Mitchell pen, Trigg 29,937
29 March 1947 3rd Sheffield Wednesday A L 0–1 27,431
4 April 1947 3rd Newcastle United A D 2–2 McIntosh, Bodle 57,259
5 April 1947 3rd Fulham H W 2–1 Hall, Goodwin 28,194
7 April 1947 3rd Newcastle United H W 2–0 Bodle, Trigg 42,409
12 April 1947 3rd Bury A L 0–2 18,882
19 April 1947 3rd Luton Town H W 1–0 Goodwin 27,316
26 April 1947 3rd Plymouth Argyle A W 2–0 Edwards, Bodle 23,338
3 May 1947 3rd Bradford Park Avenue H W 4–0 Dougall, Bodle 2, Mitchell pen 23,083
10 May 1947 3rd Nottingham Forest A D 1–1 Harris 16,049
17 May 1947 2nd Millwall A W 2–0 McIntosh, Dougall 24,084
26 May 1947 2nd Newport County A W 3–0 Bodle 2, Dougall 12,028

League table (part)

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Final Second Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
1st Manchester City 42 26 10 6 78 35 2.23 62
2nd Burnley 42 22 14 6 65 29 2.24 58
3rd Birmingham City 42 25 5 12 74 33 2.24 55
4th Chesterfield 42 18 14 10 58 44 1.32 50
5th Newcastle United 42 19 10 13 95 63 1.53 48
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 [2]

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance
Third round 11 January 1947 Fulham A W 2–1 Jones, Dorman 22,398
Fourth round 25 January 1947 Portsmouth H W 1–0 Harris 50,155
Fifth round 8 February 1947 Manchester City H W 5–0 Bodle, Trigg 2, Mitchell pen, Mulraney 56,056
Sixth round 1 March 1947 Liverpool A L 1–4 Mitchell pen 51,911

Appearances and goals

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Players marked † left the club during the playing season.
Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; FB – Full back; HB – Half back; FW – Forward
Players' appearances and goals by competition
Pos. Nat. Name League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   ENG Gil Merrick 41 0 4 0 45 0
GK   ENG Jack Wheeler 1 0 0 0 1 0
FB   WAL Don Dearson 25 1 2 0 28 1
FB   WAL Billy Hughes 28 0 0 0 28 0
FB   ENG Dennis Jennings 18 0 4 0 22 0
HB   ENG Ray Devey 1 0 0 0 1 0
HB   ENG Ted Duckhouse 25 2 4 0 29 2
HB   ENG Fred Harris 29 1 4 1 33 2
HB   ENG Frank Mitchell 41 2 2 2 43 4
HB   ENG Syd Owen 5 0 0 0 5 0
HB   ENG Ray Shaw 5 0 0 0 5 0
HB   ENG Arthur Turner 27 0 4 0 31 0
FW   ENG Harold Bodle 36 15 3 1 39 16
FW   ENG Don Dorman 2 0 1 1 3 1
FW   SCO Neil Dougall 35 9 3 0 38 9
FW   WAL George Edwards 39 7 4 0 43 7
FW   ENG Ken Faulkner 2 0 0 0 2 0
FW   ENG Jackie Goodwin 15 2 0 0 15 2
FW   ENG Fred Hall 3 1 0 0 3 1
FW   WAL Wilson Jones 9 4 1 1 10 5
FW   SCO Alex McIntosh 14 3 0 0 14 3
FW   ENG Dave Massart 3 0 0 0 3 0
FW   SCO Jock Mulraney 27 9 4 1 31 10
FW   ENG Doug Pimbley 2 0 0 0 2 0
FW   ENG Cyril Trigg 29 17 4 2 33 19

See also

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References

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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.
  • Source for match dates and results: "Birmingham City 1946–1947: Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 328–29.
  • Source for kit: "Birmingham City". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

Specific

  1. ^ "Clubs: Birmingham City: 1946/47". The English National Football Archive. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Birmingham City 1946–1947: English Division Two (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2012.