{"id":750,"date":"2020-04-26T09:05:09","date_gmt":"2020-04-26T08:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=750"},"modified":"2020-05-02T00:24:24","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T23:24:24","slug":"the-great-lull-or-football-in-the-time-of-covid-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=750","title":{"rendered":"The Great Lull, or Football in the Time of Covid, part II"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Since writing the first part<\/a> of this piece, two weeks ago, the numbers of Covid-19 cases worldwide have nearly doubled, and the deaths. Football has slowly receded into the background for those forced into isolation, and its importance has paled compared to the health and protection of loved ones, finding enough to do during the days so they don\u2019t bleed together into a timeless morass, and making sure we have enough toilet paper (loo roll, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that new order given unto us by \u201csheltering in place\u201d we have time to understand our history. Lessons from then can be interlineated with those we\u2019re setting forth in the face of the current pandemic. And, hopefully the results on the pitch over the next two decades will be as successful for Arsenal as they were in the two decades between the World Wars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 1919 and 1939 there were 10 different winners of the First Division, including Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday twice, Huddersfield Town three times, Everton 3 times, and Arsenal 5 times (in those glory years of Alex James, Ted Drake, Denis and Leslie Compton, and Cliff Bastin, from 1930-31 through 1937-38). Radio had been introduced so the masses could follow games announced from the stadia in the comfort of their homes; one wonders if broadcasters thought they\u2019d stop fans from going to the games if they could just stay at home with a bottle and a smoke and hear the game called by professionals. If so, what naivete! Despite radio the crowds came in increasing numbers as World War 2 approached, averaging 23,468 per game in the First Division across those 20 years, an increase in nearly 10,000 per game from the years between 1900-1915.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And who was being watched the most? In addition to the five titles and 2 FA Cup victories between wars, Arsenal led the attendance league 10 of those 20 years, including 9 straight years between 1930-31 and 1938-39. Our highest average attendance at Highbury in those years was over 46,000, in 1935-36. This seems odd. We\u2019d won the league in three straight years, but could only manage 6th that season (behind Sunderland, but 21 places above Spurs, languishing in 5th in the Second Division). Nonetheless, before the war came we\u2019d win our fifth title in 1937-38, making the Bank of England club the most successful of any in the First Division by almost every measure. The numbered red shirt with the white sleeves became as famous as the Art Deco stands of Highbury and games under the floodlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The events from the German Anschluss of 1938 and the annexation of Czechoslovakia the following year brought the first response of Football League players and teams to the crisis: a number of players from West Ham, Liverpool, and Bolton joined the Territorial Army. Nonetheless, the 1939 season started in fine fettle on 26 August 1939, with 88 League teams scheduled to play 1848 games throughout the season. Arsenal opened with a 2-2 draw at Wolverhampton, then came home to Highbury; they squeaked past Rovers 1-0 on the 30th. Two days later Germany invaded Poland. Our game on 2 September went forward, and the Gunners smashed Sunderland in a 5-2 win. Contrary to Neville Chamberlain\u2019s 1938 claim that he\u2019d achieved \u201cpeace for our time\u201d, he declared war against Germany on 3 September. The win against Sunderland was last League game played at Highbury until 7 years, 2 days later, when we lost to Rovers 1-3 on 4 September 1946. Yes, that\u2019s giving a bit away, there was League football after the war!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As opposed to the dithering about continuing to play by the Football League in 1915 (and continue they did), the League decided that day to cancel the season in its entirety. The FA Cup, which started with preliminary rounds on 2 September, also cancelled the competition; it would not return until the Fall of 1945. Forty-two of Arsenal\u2019s 44 professional footballers joined the Royal Air Force, serving as physical training instructors at home and in various capacities abroad; Tom Whittaker became an Air Raid Warden at the start of the war, was accepted by the RAF and promoted to Squadron Leader as a pilot, and was granted an MBE for his part in planning British operations of D-Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The immediate fear, across England, of attack by Germany\u2019s Blitzkrieg brought the country to a standstill. Unlike the worries of the Great War, the threat of German bombs raining down on packed football matches was brought to mind by memories and images of destruction from aerial attacks in the Spanish Civil War; immediately, all places of public entertainment were closed, including football stadia. As September of 1939 drew towards its end and no bombs fell, and the authorities allowed some friendlies to be played between league clubs. However, even those games were subject to limits on attendance and ticketing, and could be cancelled by the local constabulary at the last moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Football League met at the end of September they discussed how to work with these restrictions, and others imposed by the Home Office (such as setting maximum capacities for stadia at 8,000; stadia with capacities of more than 60,000 could have crowds of 15,000, and in all cases fans must be evenly distributed in the stands and terraces\u2026socially distant, as it were). The Home Office also dictated any season must end by the end of April in 1940, and banned travel of more than 50 miles within England. Out of the September meeting came League decisions (home\/away club revenue sharing, player registrations remaining with their club but allowing for guest players when soldier-players were stationed near a club to which they were not registered) and restrictions, such as maximum per-match payments, limits to squad size, and minimum admissions charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The League was determined to create regional competitions as it had during World War I, and the scope of each region was set out by the Home Office\u2019s travel limit. It was decided to create 8 divisions from the 88 League clubs: Western, North Western, North Eastern, East Midland, Midland, London and Home Counties (divided into 10-team A and B leagues), and South Western. Arsenal was joined in South A by Charlton, plus other, smaller teams such as Southend United, Clapton Orient, and Spurs. Stadia had been taken over by the Home Office for the war effort led to a variety or issues. Exeter City\u2019s St. James Park was requisitioned, and with no ground sharing available they didn\u2019t participate in the War Leagues. Highbury was also unavailable, having been turned into an Air Raid Precautions post, protected by a barrage balloon over the Clock End. In the reverse of World War I, Arsenal played its \u201chome\u201d matches at White Hart Lane; fair play to them, returning the favor. Football would begin on 28 October 1939, with the War Leagues scheduled to play a total of 1068 games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1939-40 London and Home Counties South A regional division, Arsenal reigned supreme. Despite an increase in players leaving for the armed services, Arsenal managed to win 13 and draw 4, losing only once, ending the season eight places and 12 points ahead of Spurs. The season progressed in all regions with no bombing raids; cold weather in January and February required the Home Office to extend the season, though it kept the games limited to Saturday (excepting the usual festive period gamedays). The London and Home Counties divisions were re-drawn to group First and Second Division teams into South C, and Everyone Else in South D. Arsenal came third to Spurs, just 3 points back. However, as the season progressed many teams had to forfeit games, or had difficulty getting players to fill out a first eleven, so change was to come in the 1940-41 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after the first War League season ended in May Hitler ordered his troops to step up their attack on Britain, Winston Churchill became Prime Minister, and the \u201cPhony War\u201d ended as the first phase of the Battle of Britain began. Combined with the logistical issues involved in supplying so many teams with players, and staging so many games at stadia that made perfect targets for German bombers, in July the Football League restructured the 10 divisions into two, the Northern and the Southern Regional Leagues. Seventy teams would play 848 games when it was all said and done. There was no way to have a symmetric season in either region, due to travel restrictions, games postponed or abandoned due to German bombardment, and the potential lack of players. As a result, it was decided that league positions would be based on goal average. Other, smaller leagues were established in the South Coast and the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1940-41 season opened on 31 August, in a quiet spot between aerial battles. However, the following weekend, on 7 September, Arsenal \u201chosted\u201d Fulham at White Hart Lane. The game was called off with Arsenal leading 5-0 due to a massive, 350-plane German aerial assault that brought the Blitz to London. In 2010 the Guardian printed a diary entry from a young Londoner who was at the game:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSaturday 7 September – This afternoon went to see Arsenal v Fulham on Spurs\u2019 ground. It\u2019s a lovely ground too. Arsenal played a magnificent first half, and all five of their goals were snorters. At 4:55 pm, 15 minutes from time, the air raid came and the game was called off. Five minutes later I watched a formation of Junker bombers, protected by fighters, attacked by two of our planes. There were at least 50 [German] planes and two came crashing down before they went out of sight. Boy, what a thrill it was.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This match was one of six stopped before time due to that same raid. From that day forward, the East Stand at White Hart Lane was closed, being as it was needed to be a mortuary for North London\u2019s bomb victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These air raids continued into October, forcing abandonment of the Arsenal derby with Spurs on the 19th. Soon after, in spite of its protective barrage balloon, the terraces of the Clock End were damaged when a German bomb blew up just outside the stadium, blowing tons of concrete from Arsenal\u2019s half-sized training pitch onto the South Bank, requiring extensive repair. The Blitz continued to pummel London and England\u2019s industrial heartland, killing thousands during 71 different raids, driving attendances to half of what they were in 1939-40. Later in the season, the roof over the North Bank was destroyed by an incendiary bomb, setting fire to the wartime goods stored there, bringing the shed to the ground. Festive-period fixtures were not allowed, excepting Christmas and Easter Monday. The number of abandoned games dropped after the New Year, and in spite of Highbury\u2019s destruction Arsenal came in 4th in the South Regional Championship, behind Crystal Palace in first; Tottenham could barely manage 10th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The end of the Blitz in May, 1941 brought an end to frequent German bombing raids and allowed more games to be played across Britain. As we\u2019ve seen today with the proposals for a European Super League, for 1941-42 the Football League had to contend with a breakaway of the London clubs from the League\u2019s Regional Championship format\u2026but at that time it was successful. The London clubs that broke away had their League registrations cancelled; this could have had serious consequences for the London League teams, but the Football League would allow them to re-register later in the War. Nonetheless. the 16 clubs in the new London League played home and away from August 1941-May 1942. The London League was administered by the pre-war London Combination, and affiliated with the London FA; the League allowed guest players to move freely between the London League and the North and South Regional Championships. Through all of this attendance increased, nearly doubling compared with 1940-41, even as rationing of clothing, petrol, and other necessities caused hardship among the population. Arsenal played 30 matches in the London League, and ended the season in May, 1942 in first place, winning 23, drawing 2, and losing 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June of 1942 the London clubs were brought back to the Football League fold, apologizing in writing and paying a \u00a310 fine. They continued with the London League, which expanded to 18 teams (adding Southampton and Luton Town) for the 1942-43 season. Not all teams played both home and away; a total of 28 games were played between the teams. The 1942-43 season was played against a backdrop of reduced civilian casualties in Britain, against rising casualties on the continent and in Africa. Attendances rose again by nearly 1\/3 when compared with 1941-42. Arsenal again finished the London League in first place, with 43 points from 28 games, in May of 1943. It would be the last of Arsenal\u2019s London League titles; Highbury would not see another title until Arsenal\u2019s First Division winners of 1948.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the war stretched on through 1943, the Germans concentrated their efforts on the Eastern Front, England focused on Tunisia, and had a respite from the bombing and the battle for Europe. Arsenal played again in the London League in 1943-44, coming in 4th behind Spurs. Rationing, and the limits set by the Home Office, continued to make life difficult for the people of England, yet attendances grew again by nearly 1\/2 compared with the previous season. On a personal note, US Army Air Force troops were stationed around Britain beginning in early 1943, increasing in number through the year. My mother\u2019s uncle, 2nd Lieut. Alan S. Grant, a B-17 bombardier with the US 8th Army Air Force, was among them. He was stationed at RAF Station Horham, and participated in 25 daylight bombing raids into Germany between October and December, 1943. He left Horham on 29 December, bound for Chicago and his new wife Mary Lois. The B-17 ferry flight bringing him to his debarkation point at Woodvale, near Southport, crashed into Cwm Dyserth in Wales killing all aboard. Uncle Al is buried at the Cambridge Military Cemetery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just after the end of the 1943-44 season came Operation Overlord, the invasion of Europe from England by the Allies. The heavy fighting in France and Germany from Summer 1944 through spring of 1945 was the backdrop for yet another season organized by the Football League in the same manner as the previous 3 years. A major difference from the previous season were the attacks of the V1 and V2 flying bombs on London and its surrounding areas. The British Government blamed many of these bombings on \u201cgas main explosions\u201d to prevent panic; fortunately, none of these “flying gas mains” landed on a football pitch while a match was being played. Just as Hitler gave himself lead poisoning with his pistol in his Berlin bunker the London League season of 1944-45 ended, with Arsenal in 8th, having never getting on track, losing one less than they won and drawing 5 from 30 games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, after six long years, the War in Europe was over. It didn\u2019t end in the Pacific Theater until September, and so the planning by the Football League for the 1945-46 season looked much the same as it did for the 1941-42 season. The London League was dissolved, and Arsenal played in the Football League South, coming in 11th behind Birmingham City; for the season, 86 teams played 1324 games in six leagues across 3 Divisions. Arsenal also played in various friendlies, providing an Arsenal XI that played Russian Champions Dynamo Moscow in November, only to lose 3-4 at White Hart Lane in front of nearly 55,000 fans. The FA Cup restarted in the Fall of 1945, with the early rounds seeded regionally to reduce traveling (though the rationing of petrol and the 50-mile travel limit were relaxed by the Home Office). Arsenal lost 0-6 in their first game, a Third Round tie against West Ham on 5 January of 1946; while they beat the Hammers 1-0 in the return leg on 9 January, they lost the tie on aggregate and were out of the cup. True League football would finally return in September of 1946, with the 1946-47 season playing the same teams and same slate of games as was cancelled in 1939.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the wartime regional leagues, the Football League created a War Cup competition with 5 rounds and a final at Wembley. This started in early 1940, with 137 games played over 9 weeks; West Ham won the cup on 8 June in front of more than 40,000 fans, including evacuees from Dunkirk\u2019s beaches. The War Cup was played through the 1944-45 season, with Arsenal playing for the cup in the finals of 1940-41 and 1942-43, winning neither. The 1941 final against Preston North End was 2-legged; the first tie at Wembley ended in a draw. Leslie Compton missed a penalty in the opening stages of the game, and Preston scored shortly thereafter. But Denis Compton (the brothers Compton played cricket for Middlesex and football for Arsenal) leveled the tie just before the half with a fine strike from inside the box. The second leg was played at Ewood Park, where Arsenal couldn\u2019t find the back of the net, losing 2-1 courtesy of a brace from Preston\u2019s Bobbie Beattie, and an own goal from their Frank Gallimore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1943 War Cup final was structured differently. In the South Region final Arsenal destroyed Charlton 7-1 at Wembley in front of 75,000 fans, a record score for the stadium at the time. Reg Lewis, foreshadowing his heroics in the 1950 FA Cup Final, scored the first. Denis Compton scored the 2nd before Charlton got one back with a penalty, then Lewis put in his<\/strong> second before Ted Drake, who continued to play occasionally for Arsenal on leave from the Royal Air Force, got the 4th for the team. Drake got the 5th just after halftime, then Lewis completed his Arshavin with two more goals past Charlton\u2019s hapless Hobbins before the final whistle. The 1943 final was Drake\u2019s last for Arsenal; he injured his spine in a regional match in 1945, ending his career as a player. In the North Region final Blackpool defeated Wednesday across two legs. The overall final was played at the Bus Stop in Fulham; 55,000 watched as Arsenal lost 2-4 to Blackpool. While we won neither, we were the only club in the League to reach two War Cup Finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

World War 2 was a much more intense time for the people of Britain than was World War 1. The clubs of the Football League provided 780 players to the armed forces; of the 42 professionals on Arsenal\u2019s books in 1939, 9 died in the War: Sid Pugh, Henry Cook, Will Parr, Leslie Martin, Bob Daniel, Hugh Glass, Cyril Tooze, Herbert Roberts, and Bill Dean. The oldest was Lieutenant Herbert Roberts; at 39 he was part of the great 1930s teams, starting 335 times for Arsenal over 11 years, winning 4 titles and an FA Cup medal as the club\u2019s centre-half before retiring in 1937 to train Arsenal\u2019s reserve side. He died in 1944 of erysipelas while on duty with the Royal Fusiliers\u2019 City of London Regiment. As far as I can tell, no other club lost as many to the War as did Arsenal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relative to World War 1, British life in the Second World War was much more complicated. Germany\u2019s aggression against Britain from the air created an environment where little was known, yet life had to go on as normally as possible. Restrictions of movement, restrictions of teams and how the leagues were formed made the Wartime leagues less than optimal for the fans and players alike. Does any of this sound at all familiar to what’s happening now, in this time of Covid?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we saw in the part I some of the same concerns raised by the Football League in World War 1 were raised in World War 2, and have been raised again today. That the League restarted the 1946-47 season with the same teams and same schedule as they had at the start of 1939-40 leaves it a possibility that whenever League football resumes (after the current season that appears to be being abandoned) it will simply be started anew with no 2019-20 title winner. As well, depending on how points are counted some of the potentially odd results from the current season may echo the results from before and after the War to end all Wars (namely, that Arsenal might benefit at the expense of Tottenham, but FOYS, ha!). We are fortunate that the number of dead from Covid-19 has come nowhere close to either the dead under Flanders\u2019 poppies, those taken by the so-called \u201cSpanish Influenza\u201d of 1918, or those lost to the specter of Nazi aggression in the fields of World War 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet, what can be said of the future, after football resumes, at least in England and the English leagues? One can only hope there\u2019s an unbroken number of years with no pandemics, no Great Wars, and many Arsenal league and cup trophies, including old Big Ears itself\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

I am indebted to the following websites, videos, and authors for their research, from which I culled the information to write this piece:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.european-football-statistics.co.uk\/attn\/nav\/attnengleague.htm<\/a>
https:\/\/www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk\/Blog\/ww2.html<\/a> (Dave Coalman\u2019s blog)
www.rsssf.com<\/a>
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Gm05ILo9g2I<\/a> (1941 Cup Final)
htt<\/a>ps:\/\/youtu.be\/4BApHjH9r7c?t=1<\/a> (1943 South Region Cup Final)
https:\/\/m.youtube.com\/watch?v=tKXO75zNSlc#<\/a> (Same video of 1941 Cup Final but different of 1943 South Region Cup Final)
https:\/\/londonist.com\/london\/history\/football-wartime-blitz-1940s<\/a> (Contains image of newspaper article for 1943 South Region Cup Final)
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Vw_Gy3ECmHI<\/a> (North Bank destruction)
https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/sport\/blog\/2010\/nov\/10\/blitz-football-grounds-bomb-damage<\/a> (Arsenal-Fulham 7\/9\/40)
Gas Masks for Goal Posts: Football in Britain during the Second World War<\/a>. Anton Rippon, 2005<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since writing the first part of this piece, two weeks ago, the numbers of Covid-19 cases worldwide have nearly doubled, and the deaths. Football has slowly receded into the background for those forced into isolation, and its importance has paled compared to the health and protection of loved ones, finding enough to do during the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12,3,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=750"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":800,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750\/revisions\/800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}