The 1952–53 season was the 54th completed season of The Football League.
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 and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79,Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980. 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.
From the 1922–23 season, the bottom two teams of both Third Division North and Third Division South were required to apply for re-election.
First Division
Arsenal won their second league title of the postwar era, finishing ahead of runners-up Preston North End on goal average - denying them a first league title since they won the first two English Football League titles more than 60 years earlier. Preston defeated Arsenal in a 2-0 home win in the second last match of the season on 25 April, which was followed by another win at Derby four days later. But Arsenal's 3-2 win in their final match against Burnley on 1 May meant that it was Arsenal who clinched the title on goal average.
Wolverhampton Wanderers bounced back after two disappointing seasons to finish third, three points short of the title. They finished one point ahead of their local rivals West Bromwich Albion. Twelve goals were scored when Blackpool defeated Charlton Athletic 8-4 on 25 September, but Charlton would eventually finish two places higher in the table at fifth place. Defending champions Manchester United, in a period of transition as the team captained by Johnny Carey started to make way for a younger generation of players, finished eighth.
Stoke City and Derby County, who had been among the First Division's leading lights in the first few postwar seasons, went down to the Second Division after several seasons of gradually declining form. Liverpool, the 1947 champions, avoided the drop by just two points.
Results
Maps
Second Division
Sheffield United were champions of the Second Division, scoring 97 goals in the process. Their season included two runs of eleven league matches in a row without defeat, in October-December and February-April respectively.
Huddersfield Town finished second, two points behind and were promoted to the First Division. Luton Town were contenders for promotion, but a poor finish without a win in their last four games left them six points behind Huddersfield in third place.
Everton recorded their lowest ever league position, finishing 16th in an uneven season that included a 7-1 victory over Doncaster and a 8-2 defeat against Huddersfield.
Southampton were relegated along with Barnsley, who finished bottom after a poor season that included just five wins, 108 conceded goals and a late run of nine consecutive defeats.
Results
Maps
Third Division North
Results
Maps
Third Division South
Results
Maps
Attendances
Source:
Division One
No. Club Average 1 Arsenal FC 49,191 2 Newcastle United FC 44,521 3 Tottenham Hotspur FC 44,106 4 Chelsea FC 43,937 5 Sheffield Wednesday FC 42,634 6 Liverpool FC 39,971 7 Sunderland AFC 39,767 8 Cardiff City FC 37,933 9 Manchester United 37,571 10 Wolverhampton Wanderers FC 36,608 11 Manchester City FC 34,058 12 Aston Villa FC 32,189 13 Bolton Wanderers FC 32,066 14 Portsmouth FC 31,578 15 West Bromwich Albion FC 31,381 16 Preston North End FC 30,586 17 Burnley FC 28,480 18 Stoke City FC 27,883 19 Middlesbrough FC 27,077 20 Blackpool FC 25,835 21 Charlton Athletic FC 25,298 22 Derby County FC 21,627
Division Two
No. Club Average 1 Everton FC 32,629 2 Sheffield United FC 31,027 3 Huddersfield Town AFC 27,765 4 Leicester City FC 26,250 5 Hull City AFC 25,918 6 Plymouth Argyle FC 23,345 7 Blackburn Rovers FC 23,157 8 Fulham FC 23,134 9 Nottingham Forest FC 22,816 10 Swansea City AFC 20,469 11 Leeds United FC 20,432 12 West Ham United FC 19,797 13 Birmingham City FC 19,747 14 Notts County FC 19,391 15 Brentford FC 17,474 16 Luton Town FC 17,210 17 Lincoln City FC 16,775 18 Rotherham United FC 16,384 19 Southampton FC 16,159 20 Doncaster Rovers FC 15,862 21 Bury FC 13,420 22 Barnsley FC 11,358
Division Three
No. Club Average 1 Bristol Rovers FC 23,411 2 Norwich City FC 21,121 3 Millwall FC 19,289 4 Bristol City FC 18,763 5 Oldham Athletic FC 17,928 6 Brighton & Hove Albion FC 16,161 7 Port Vale FC 14,504 8 Grimsby Town FC 14,298 9 Watford FC 13,957 10 Coventry City FC 13,430 11 Northampton Town FC 12,484 12 Crystal Palace FC 12,415 13 Reading FC 12,401 14 Queens Park Rangers FC 12,190 15 Gillingham FC 11,558 16 Bradford City AFC 10,892 17 AFC Bournemouth 10,768 18 Leyton Orient FC 10,562 19 Exeter City FC 10,339 20 Wrexham AFC 10,306 21 Bradford Park Avenue AFC 9,945 22 Ipswich Town FC 9,434 23 Swindon Town FC 9,326 24 Chesterfield FC 9,216 25 Newport County AFC 8,868 26 Southend United FC 8,697 27 York City FC 8,654 28 Shrewsbury Town FC 8,540 29 Carlisle United FC 8,103 30 Hartlepool United FC 8,074 31 Halifax Town AFC 8,060 32 Colchester United FC 8,046 33 Stockport County FC 8,006 34 Tranmere Rovers 7,798 35 Mansfield Town FC 7,680 36 Scunthorpe United FC 7,407 37 Workington AFC 7,212 38 Torquay United FC 6,980 39 Crewe Alexandra FC 6,822 40 Aldershot Town FC 6,553 41 Rochdale AFC 6,182 42 Walsall FC 5,991 43 Darlington FC 5,847 44 Southport FC 5,761 45 Gateshead AFC 5,616 46 Accrington Stanley FC 5,549 47 Barrow AFC 5,450 48 Chester City FC 5,271
See also 1952-53 in English football
References
Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.