1951–52 in English football

The 1951–52 season was the 72nd season of competitive football in England.

Overview

Four years after guiding them to glory in the FA Cup, Matt Busby guided Manchester United to their first league title triumph in 41 years. While still captained by Johnny Carey and featuring several other players from the 1948 FA Cup winning team, Busby was now giving regular action to young players including Roger Byrne, Johnny Berry and Jackie Blanchflower, and had already invested in the future by making a move for the young goalkeeper Ray Wood.

Tottenham Hotspur, the previous season's champions, had to settle for second place this season.

Newcastle United retained the FA Cup, the centrepiece of their team being the forward line-up of Jackie Milburn and the Chilean brothers George and Ted Robledo.

Honours

Competition	Winner	Runner-up
First Division	Manchester United (3)	Tottenham Hotspur
Second Division	Sheffield Wednesday	Cardiff City
Third Division North	Lincoln City	Grimsby Town
Third Division South	Plymouth Argyle	Reading
FA Cup	Newcastle United (5)	Arsenal
Charity Shield	Tottenham Hotspur	Newcastle United
Home Championship	Shared by England & Wales

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

Football League

First Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manchester United	42	23	11	8	95	52	1.827	57
2	Tottenham Hotspur	42	22	9	11	76	51	1.490	53
3	Arsenal	42	21	11	10	80	61	1.311	53
4	Portsmouth	42	20	8	14	68	58	1.172	48
5	Bolton Wanderers	42	19	10	13	65	61	1.066	48
6	Aston Villa	42	19	9	14	79	70	1.129	47
7	Preston North End	42	17	12	13	74	54	1.370	46
8	Newcastle United	42	18	9	15	98	73	1.342	45
9	Blackpool	42	18	9	15	64	64	1.000	45
10	Charlton Athletic	42	17	10	15	68	63	1.079	44
11	Liverpool	42	12	19	11	57	61	0.934	43
12	Sunderland	42	15	12	15	70	61	1.148	42
13	West Bromwich Albion	42	14	13	15	74	77	0.961	41
14	Burnley	42	15	10	17	56	63	0.889	40
15	Manchester City	42	13	13	16	58	61	0.951	39
16	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	12	14	16	73	73	1.000	38
17	Derby County	42	15	7	20	63	80	0.788	37
18	Middlesbrough	42	15	6	21	64	88	0.727	36
19	Chelsea	42	14	8	20	52	72	0.722	36
20	Stoke City	42	12	7	23	49	88	0.557	31
21	Huddersfield Town	42	10	8	24	49	82	0.598	28	Relegated to the Second Division
22	Fulham	42	8	11	23	58	77	0.753	27	Relegated to the Second Division

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Second Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Sheffield Wednesday	42	21	11	10	100	66	1.515	53	Promoted to the First Division
2	Cardiff City	42	20	11	11	72	54	1.333	51	Promoted to the First Division
3	Birmingham City	42	21	9	12	67	56	1.196	51
4	Nottingham Forest	42	18	13	11	77	62	1.242	49
5	Leicester City	42	19	9	14	78	64	1.219	47
6	Leeds United	42	18	11	13	59	57	1.035	47
7	Everton	42	17	10	15	64	58	1.103	44
8	Luton Town	42	16	12	14	77	78	0.987	44
9	Rotherham United	42	17	8	17	73	71	1.028	42
10	Brentford	42	15	12	15	54	55	0.982	42
11	Sheffield United	42	18	5	19	90	76	1.184	41
12	West Ham United	42	15	11	16	67	77	0.870	41
13	Southampton	42	15	11	16	61	73	0.836	41
14	Blackburn Rovers	42	17	6	19	54	63	0.857	40
15	Notts County	42	16	7	19	71	68	1.044	39
16	Doncaster Rovers	42	13	12	17	55	60	0.917	38
17	Bury	42	15	7	20	67	69	0.971	37
18	Hull City	42	13	11	18	60	70	0.857	37
19	Swansea Town	42	12	12	18	72	76	0.947	36
20	Barnsley	42	11	14	17	59	72	0.819	36
21	Coventry City	42	14	6	22	59	82	0.720	34	Relegated to the Third Division South
22	Queens Park Rangers	42	11	12	19	52	81	0.642	34	Relegated to the Third Division South

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division North

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Lincoln City	46	30	9	7	121	52	2.327	69	Promoted to the Second Division
2	Grimsby Town	46	29	8	9	96	45	2.133	66
3	Stockport County	46	23	13	10	74	40	1.850	59
4	Oldham Athletic	46	24	9	13	90	61	1.475	57
5	Gateshead	46	21	11	14	66	49	1.347	53
6	Mansfield Town	46	22	8	16	73	60	1.217	52
7	Carlisle United	46	19	13	14	62	57	1.088	51
8	Bradford Park Avenue	46	19	12	15	74	64	1.156	50
9	Hartlepools United	46	21	8	17	71	65	1.092	50
10	York City	46	18	13	15	73	52	1.404	49
11	Tranmere Rovers	46	21	6	19	76	71	1.070	48
12	Barrow	46	17	12	17	57	61	0.934	46
13	Chesterfield	46	17	11	18	65	66	0.985	45
14	Scunthorpe & Lindsey United	46	14	16	16	65	74	0.878	44
15	Bradford City	46	16	10	20	61	68	0.897	42
16	Crewe Alexandra	46	17	8	21	63	82	0.768	42
17	Southport	46	15	11	20	53	71	0.746	41
18	Wrexham	46	15	9	22	63	73	0.863	39
19	Chester	46	15	9	22	72	85	0.847	39
20	Halifax Town	46	14	7	25	61	97	0.629	35
21	Rochdale	46	11	13	22	47	79	0.595	35
22	Accrington Stanley	46	10	12	24	61	92	0.663	32
23	Darlington	46	11	9	26	64	103	0.621	31	Re-elected
24	Workington	46	11	7	28	50	91	0.549	29	Re-elected

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division South

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Plymouth Argyle	46	29	8	9	107	53	2.019	66	Promoted to the Second Division
2	Reading	46	29	3	14	112	60	1.867	61
3	Norwich City	46	26	9	11	89	50	1.780	61
4	Millwall	46	23	12	11	74	53	1.396	58
5	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	24	10	12	87	63	1.381	58
6	Newport County	46	21	12	13	77	76	1.013	54
7	Bristol Rovers	46	20	12	14	89	53	1.679	52
8	Northampton Town	46	22	5	19	93	74	1.257	49
9	Southend United	46	19	10	17	75	66	1.136	48
10	Colchester United	46	17	12	17	56	77	0.727	46
11	Torquay United	46	17	10	19	86	98	0.878	44
12	Aldershot	46	18	8	20	78	89	0.876	44
13	Port Vale	46	14	15	17	50	66	0.758	43	Transferred to the Third Division North
14	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	46	16	10	20	69	75	0.920	42
15	Bristol City	46	15	12	19	58	69	0.841	42
16	Swindon Town	46	14	14	18	51	68	0.750	42
17	Ipswich Town	46	16	9	21	63	74	0.851	41
18	Leyton Orient	46	16	9	21	55	68	0.809	41
19	Crystal Palace	46	15	9	22	61	80	0.763	39
20	Shrewsbury Town	46	13	10	23	62	86	0.721	36
21	Watford	46	13	10	23	57	81	0.704	36
22	Gillingham	46	11	13	22	71	81	0.877	35
23	Exeter City	46	13	9	24	65	86	0.756	35	Re-elected
24	Walsall	46	13	5	28	55	94	0.585	31	Re-elected