1908–09 Football League

Football League
Second Division
Season	1908–09
Champions	Bolton Wanderers (1st title)
Failed re-election	Chesterfield
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1,026 (2.7 per match)
Top goalscorer	Alf Bentley (Derby County), 24
Biggest home win	West Brom – Grimsby Town 7–0 (2 Jan 1909)
Biggest away win	Chesterfield – Hull 0–4 (24 Oct 1909)
Highest scoring	Burnley – Wolverhampton 3–5 (7 Nov 1909)
	← 1907–08 1909–10 →

Football League
First Division
Season	1908–09
Champions	Newcastle United (3rd English title)
Relegated	Leicester Fosse,; Manchester City
FA Cup winners	Manchester United (1st FA Cup title)
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1,185 (3.12 per match)
Top goalscorer	Bert Freeman (Everton), 38
Biggest home win	Nottingham Forest – Leicester Fosse 12–0 (21 Apr 1909)
Biggest away win	Newcastle – Sunderland 1–9 (5 Dec 1908)
Highest scoring	Nottingham Forest – Leicester Fosse 12–0 (21 Apr 1909)
	← 1907–08 1909–10 →

The Football League
Season	1908–09
Champions	Newcastle United
Relegated	Chesterfield
	← 1907–08 1909–10 →

The 1908–1909 season was the 21st season of The Football League.

Tottenham Hotspur played their first ever season in the Football League, gaining promotion to the First Division in the process. Spurs, along with Bradford Park Avenue entered the Second Division to replace Lincoln City and Stoke.

Final league tables

The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website^[1] and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79,^[2] with home and away statistics separated.

Beginning with the season 1894–95, clubs finishing level on points were separated according to goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded), or more properly put, goal ratio. In case one or more teams had the same goal difference, this system favoured those teams who had scored fewer goals. The goal average system was eventually scrapped beginning with the 1976–77 season.

Since the goal average was used for this purpose for such a long time, it is presented in the tables below even for the seasons prior to 1894–95, and since the goal difference is a more informative piece of information for a modern reader than the goal average, the goal difference is added in this presentation after the goal average.

From the 1894–95 season and until the 1920–21 season the re-election process was required of the clubs which finished in the bottom three of the league.^[2]

First Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GA	GD	Pts
1	Newcastle United	38	14	1	4	32	20	10	4	5	33	21	65	41	1.585	+24	53
2	Everton	38	11	3	5	51	28	7	7	5	31	29	82	57	1.439	+25	46
3	Sunderland	38	14	0	5	41	23	7	2	10	37	40	78	63	1.238	+15	44
4	Blackburn Rovers	38	6	6	7	29	26	8	7	4	32	24	61	50	1.220	+11	41
5	The Wednesday	38	15	0	4	48	24	2	6	11	19	37	67	61	1.098	+6	40
6	Woolwich Arsenal	38	9	3	7	24	18	5	7	7	28	31	52	49	1.061	+3	38
7	Aston Villa	38	8	7	4	31	22	6	3	10	27	34	58	56	1.036	+2	38
8	Bristol City	38	7	7	5	24	25	6	5	8	21	33	45	58	0.776	–13	38
9	Middlesbrough	38	11	2	6	38	21	3	7	9	21	32	59	53	1.113	+6	37
10	Preston North End	38	8	7	4	29	17	5	4	10	19	27	48	44	1.091	+4	37
11	Chelsea	38	8	7	4	33	22	6	2	11	23	39	56	61	0.918	–5	37
12	Sheffield United	38	9	5	5	31	25	5	4	10	20	34	51	59	0.864	–8	37
13	Manchester United	38	10	3	6	37	33	5	4	10	21	35	58	68	0.853	–10	37
14	Nottingham Forest	38	9	2	8	39	24	5	6	8	27	33	66	57	1.158	+9	36
15	Notts County	38	9	4	6	31	23	5	4	10	20	25	51	48	1.063	+3	36
16	Liverpool	38	9	5	5	36	25	6	1	12	21	40	57	65	0.877	–8	36
17	Bury	38	9	6	4	35	27	5	2	12	28	50	63	77	0.818	–14	36
18	Bradford City	38	7	6	6	27	20	5	4	10	20	27	47	47	1.000	±0	34
19	Manchester City	38	12	3	4	50	23	3	1	15	17	46	67	69	0.971	–2	34
20	Leicester Fosse	38	6	6	7	32	41	2	3	14	22	61	54	102	0.529	–48	25

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against;
GA = Goal average; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Key
	League Champions
	FA Cup Winners
	Relegated

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GA	GD	Pts
1	Bolton Wanderers	38	14	3	2	37	8	10	1	8	22	20	59	28	2.107	+31	52
2	Tottenham Hotspur	38	12	5	2	42	12	8	6	5	25	20	67	32	2.094	+35	51
3	West Bromwich Albion	38	13	5	1	35	9	6	8	5	21	18	56	27	2.074	+29	51
4	Hull City	38	14	2	3	44	15	5	4	10	19	24	63	39	1.615	+24	44
5	Derby County	38	13	5	1	38	11	3	6	10	17	30	55	41	1.341	+14	43
6	Oldham Athletic	38	14	4	1	39	9	3	2	14	16	34	55	43	1.279	+12	40
7	Wolverhampton Wanderers	38	10	6	3	32	12	4	5	10	24	36	56	48	1.167	+8	39
8	Glossop	38	11	5	3	35	17	4	3	12	22	36	57	53	1.075	+4	38
9	Gainsborough Trinity	38	12	3	4	30	20	3	5	11	19	50	49	70	0.700	–21	38
10	Fulham	38	8	4	7	39	26	5	7	7	19	22	58	48	1.208	+10	37
11	Birmingham	38	10	6	3	35	21	4	3	12	23	40	58	61	0.951	–3	37
12	Leeds City	38	12	3	4	35	19	2	4	13	8	34	43	53	0.811	–10	35
13	Grimsby Town	38	9	5	5	23	14	5	2	12	18	40	41	54	0.759	–13	35
14	Burnley	38	8	4	7	33	28	5	3	11	18	30	51	58	0.879	–7	33
15	Clapton Orient	38	7	7	5	25	19	5	2	12	12	30	37	49	0.755	–12	33
16	Bradford Park Avenue	38	9	2	8	30	25	4	4	11	21	34	51	59	0.864	–8	32
17	Barnsley	38	11	3	5	36	19	0	7	12	12	38	48	57	0.842	–9	32
18	Stockport County	38	11	2	6	25	19	3	1	15	14	52	39	71	0.549	–32	31
19	Chesterfield^[4]	38	10	3	6	30	28	1	5	13	7	39	37	67	0.552	–30	30
20	Blackpool	38	9	6	4	30	22	0	5	14	16	46	46	68	0.676	–22	29

v t e 1908–09 in European football
« 1907–08 1909–10 »
Domestic leagues	Belgium Denmark England Germany Greece Hungary Italy Netherlands Ireland Scotland Switzerland
Domestic cups	England Netherlands Ireland Norway '08 '09 Scotland Spain '08 '09 Sweden '08 '09 Wales

Final league tables

First Division

Results

Maps

Second Division

Results

Maps

See also

References