1914–15 in English football
# 1914–15 in English football

The 1914–15 season was the 44th season of competitive football in England.

## Overview

The 1914 Charity Shield was not contested due to suspension of football during World War I.

## Events

* Suspicious patterns of betting on the game between Liverpool and Manchester United led to allegations of match fixing and the 1915 British football betting scandal. Eventually seven players (three from United, four from Liverpool) were banned from football.
* Tom Watson, Liverpool's manager for the last 19 years, died on 6 May 1915.

## Honours

| First Division | Everton (2) |
| - | - |
| Second Division | Derby County |
| Southern League | Watford |
| FA Cup | Sheffield United (3) |

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

## League tables

### Football League First Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Everton (C) | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 76 | 47 | 1.617 | 46 | |
| 2 | Oldham Athletic | 38 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 70 | 56 | 1.250 | 45 | |
| 3 | Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 83 | 61 | 1.361 | 43 | |
| 4 | Burnley | 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 61 | 47 | 1.298 | 43 | |
| 5 | Manchester City | 38 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 49 | 39 | 1.256 | 43 | |
| 6 | Sheffield United | 38 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 49 | 41 | 1.195 | 43 | |
| 7 | The Wednesday | 38 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 61 | 54 | 1.130 | 43 | |
| 8 | Sunderland | 38 | 18 | 5 | 15 | 81 | 72 | 1.125 | 41 | |
| 9 | Bradford Park Avenue | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 69 | 65 | 1.062 | 41 | |
| 10 | West Bromwich Albion | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 49 | 43 | 1.140 | 40 | |
| 11 | Bradford City | 38 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 55 | 49 | 1.122 | 40 | |
| 12 | Middlesbrough | 38 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 62 | 74 | 0.838 | 38 | |
| 13 | Liverpool | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 65 | 75 | 0.867 | 37 | |
| 14 | Aston Villa | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 62 | 72 | 0.861 | 37 | |
| 15 | Newcastle United | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 46 | 48 | 0.958 | 32 | |
| 16 | Notts County | 38 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 41 | 57 | 0.719 | 31 | |
| 17 | Bolton Wanderers | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 68 | 84 | 0.810 | 30 | |
| 18 | Manchester United | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 46 | 62 | 0.742 | 30 | |
| 19 | Chelsea | 38 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 51 | 65 | 0.785 | 29 | |
| 20 | Tottenham Hotspur (R) | 38 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 57 | 90 | 0.633 | 28 | Relegation to the Second Division |

### Football League Second Division

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Derby County | 38 | 23 | 7 | 8 | 71 | 33 | 2.152 | 53 | Division Champions, Promoted |
| 2 | Preston North End | 38 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 61 | 42 | 1.452 | 50 | Promoted |
| 3 | Barnsley | 38 | 22 | 3 | 13 | 51 | 51 | 1.000 | 47 | |
| 4 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 38 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 77 | 52 | 1.481 | 45 | |
| 5 | Arsenal | 38 | 19 | 5 | 14 | 69 | 41 | 1.683 | 43 | Promoted |
| 6 | Birmingham | 38 | 17 | 9 | 12 | 62 | 39 | 1.590 | 43 | |
| 7 | Hull City | 38 | 19 | 5 | 14 | 65 | 54 | 1.204 | 43 | |
| 8 | Huddersfield Town | 38 | 17 | 8 | 13 | 61 | 42 | 1.452 | 42 | |
| 9 | Clapton Orient | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 50 | 48 | 1.042 | 41 | |
| 10 | Blackpool | 38 | 17 | 5 | 16 | 58 | 57 | 1.018 | 39 | |
| 11 | Bury | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 61 | 56 | 1.089 | 38 | |
| 12 | Fulham | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 53 | 47 | 1.128 | 37 | |
| 13 | Bristol City | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 62 | 56 | 1.107 | 37 | |
| 14 | Stockport County | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 54 | 60 | 0.900 | 37 | |
| 15 | Leeds City | 38 | 14 | 4 | 20 | 65 | 64 | 1.016 | 32 | |
| 16 | Lincoln City | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 46 | 65 | 0.708 | 31 | |
| 17 | Grimsby Town | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 48 | 76 | 0.632 | 31 | |
| 18 | Nottingham Forest | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 43 | 77 | 0.558 | 29 | |
| 19 | Leicester Fosse | 38 | 10 | 4 | 24 | 47 | 88 | 0.534 | 24 | Re-elected |
| 20 | Glossop | 38 | 6 | 6 | 26 | 31 | 87 | 0.356 | 18 | Failed re-election |

* 1 2 3 Derby County, Preston North End and Arsenal were promoted to First Division after WW I, as the number of teams in both divisions was expanded to 22.
* 1 2 The official Football League records originally showed Birmingham in 5th place and Arsenal in 6th place. In 1975 it was discovered that an error in the calculation of Goal Average had been made and the table was corrected.
* ↑ Glossop failed to be re-elected to the Football League, never to return again, and Stoke were elected in their place at the Football League's AGM in 1915. In March 1919 Coventry City, South Shields, Rotherham County and West Ham United joined the Second Division.

### Southern League Division 1

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Watford | 38 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 68 | 46 | 1.478 | 52 | |
| 2 | Reading | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 68 | 43 | 1.581 | 49 | |
| 3 | Cardiff City | 38 | 22 | 4 | 12 | 72 | 38 | 1.895 | 48 | |
| 4 | West Ham United | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 58 | 47 | 1.234 | 45 | Elected to the 1919–20 Football League Second Division after World War I |
| 5 | Northampton Town | 38 | 19 | 5 | 14 | 56 | 51 | 1.098 | 43 | |
| 6 | Southampton | 38 | 19 | 5 | 14 | 78 | 74 | 1.054 | 43 | |
| 7 | Portsmouth | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 54 | 42 | 1.286 | 42 | |
| 8 | Millwall | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 50 | 51 | 0.980 | 42 | |
| 9 | Swindon Town | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 77 | 59 | 1.305 | 41 | |
| 10 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 38 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 46 | 47 | 0.979 | 39 | |
| 11 | Exeter City | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 50 | 41 | 1.220 | 38 | |
| 12 | Queens Park Rangers | 38 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 55 | 56 | 0.982 | 38 | |
| 13 | Norwich City | 38 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 53 | 56 | 0.946 | 36 | |
| 14 | Luton Town | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 61 | 73 | 0.836 | 34 | |
| 15 | Crystal Palace | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 47 | 61 | 0.770 | 34 | |
| 16 | Bristol Rovers | 38 | 14 | 3 | 21 | 53 | 75 | 0.707 | 31 | |
| 17 | Plymouth Argyle | 38 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 51 | 61 | 0.836 | 30 | |
| 18 | Southend United | 38 | 10 | 8 | 20 | 44 | 64 | 0.688 | 28 | |
| 19 | Croydon Common | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 47 | 63 | 0.746 | 27 | Relegated to Division Two, but did not rejoin league after World War I |
| 20 | Gillingham | 38 | 6 | 8 | 24 | 43 | 83 | 0.518 | 20 | |
