1939–40 Liverpool F.C. season

The 1939–40 season was the 48th season in Liverpool F.C.'s existence, however only 3 matches were played before the season was abandoned due to the outbreak of World War 2. A replacement wartime league was subsequently formed.

Liverpool F.C.

1939–40 season
Manager	George Kay
Stadium	Anfield
West Regional League	2nd
League War Cup	1st Round
Top goalscorer	League: Berry Nieuwenhuys All: Berry Nieuwenhuys
Home colours Away colours

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Division 1		Regional League West		War League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	DF	ENG	Jack Balmer	11	6	3	1	7	5	1	0
	DF	ENG	Alan Brown	4	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Matt Busby	19	1	3	0	14	1	2	0
	DF	ENG	Tom Bush	11	0	3	0	7	0	1	0
	FW	ENG	Len Carney	15	5	0	0	13	5	2	0
	DF	ENG	Doug Cole	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Dennis Cook	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Tom Cooper	9	0	0	0	9	0	0	0
	FW	NIR	Peter Doherty	1	2	0	0	1	2	0	0
	FW	ENG	Cyril Done	5	5	1	1	4	4	0	0
	DF	SCO	John Easdale	3	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
	MF	ENG	Stan Eastham	10	1	0	0	9	1	1	0
	FW	SCO	Willie Fagan	16	15	3	0	12	14	1	1
	DF	ENG	Ron Guttridge	3	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Wally Halsall	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	MF	ENG	Alf Hanson	2	1	0	0	2	1	0	0
	DF	SCO	Jim Harley	9	0	3	0	5	0	1	0
	GK	[[|South Africa]]	Dirk Kemp	7	0	3	0	4	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Bill Kinghorn	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	DF	WAL	Ray Lambert	7	0	0	0	5	0	2	0
	MF	ENG	George Leadbetter	4	1	0	0	4	1	0	0
	MF	SCO	Billy Liddell	16	9	0	0	14	9	2	0
	GK	ENG	Eric Mansley	7	0	0	0	6	0	1	0
	DF	SCO	Jimmy McInnes	14	1	3	1	11	0	0	0
	FW	WAL	George Murphy	3	1	0	0	3	1	0	0
	MF	[[|South Africa]]	Berry Nieuwenhuys	25	18	3	0	20	18	2	0
	DF	ENG	Bob Paisley	7	0	0	0	5	0	2	0
	DF	SCO	George Paterson	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Stan Palk	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Barney Ramsden	15	0	3	0	11	0	1	0
	GK	[[|South Africa]]	Arthur Riley	11	0	0	0	10	0	1	0
	DF	ENG	Fred Rogers	6	0	0	0	5	0	1	0
	DF	ENG	Eddie Spicer	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Bobby Stuart	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	GK	ENG	Frank Swift	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Phil Taylor	13	2	2	2	11	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Jack Tennant	15	1	0	0	15	1	0	0
	MF	[[|South Africa]]	Harman van den Berg	17	4	3	1	13	3	1	0
	FW	ENG	George Walton	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0

Competitions

Football League First division

Main article: 1939–40 Football League

Sheffield United v Liverpool

26 August  1939 (1939 -08-26) 1	Sheffield United	2–1	Liverpool	Sheffield
	Hampson 3' Hagan 85'	Report	McInnes 33'	Stadium: Bramall Lane Attendance: 25,483 Referee: W.E. Ross-Gower

Liverpool v Middlesbrough

30 August  1939 (1939 -08-30) 2	Liverpool	4–1	Middlesbrough	Liverpool
	Van Den Berg Taylor Balmer	Report	Fenton 5'	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 16,762 Referee: H. Berry

Liverpool v Chelsea

2 September  1939 (1939 -09-02) 3	Liverpool	1–0	Chelsea	Liverpool
	Done 32' Harley	Report		Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 18,386 Referee: G.W. Jones

Regional League - West Division

Main article: 1939–40 in English football

Stockport County v Liverpool

21 October  1939 (1939 -10-21) 1	Stockport County	0–3	Liverpool	Stockport
		Report	Balmer 15', 88' Fagan 89'	Stadium: Edgeley Park Attendance: 5,000

Liverpool v Port Vale

28 October  1939 (1939 -10-28) 2	Liverpool	1–1	Port Vale	Liverpool
	Balmer 15'	Report	Nolan	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 4,000

Tranmere Rovers v Liverpool

11 November  1939 (1939 -11-11) 3	Tranmere Rovers	1–3	Liverpool	Birkenhead
		Report	Fagan Nieuwenhuys	Stadium: Prenton Park Attendance: 6,000

Liverpool v Manchester United

18 November  1939 (1939 -11-18) 4	Liverpool	1–0	Manchester United	Liverpool
	Fagan 16' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 5,000

Wrexham v Liverpool

25 November  1939 (1939 -11-25) 5	Wrexham	2–1	Liverpool	Wrexham
		Report	Nieuwenhuys	Stadium: Racecourse Ground Attendance: 2,000

Liverpool v Everton

2 December  1939 (1939 -12-02) 6	Liverpool	2–2	Everton	Liverpool
	Nieuwenhuys 50' Fagan 51' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 8,000

Stoke City v Liverpool

9 December  1939 (1939 -12-09) 7	Stoke City	3–1	Liverpool	Stoke-on-Trent
	Sale Liddle Bowyer	Report	Fagan	Stadium: Victoria Ground Attendance: 1,300

Liverpool v New Brighton

23 December  1939 (1939 -12-23) 8	Liverpool	6–2	New Brighton	Liverpool
	Carney Done Eastham	Report		Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 2,000

Liverpool v Crewe Alexandra

1 January  1940 (1940 -01-01) 9	Liverpool	7–3	Crewe Alexandra	Liverpool
	Nieuwenhuys Busby Carney Leadbetter Liddell	Report		Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 2,000

Manchester City v Liverpool

6 January  1940 (1940 -01-06) 10	Manchester City	3–7	Liverpool	Manchester
		Report	Liddell Nieuwenhuys Fagan	Stadium: Maine Road Attendance: 6,000

Liverpool v Chester

20 January  1940 (1940 -01-20) 11	Liverpool	1–1	Chester	Liverpool
	Nieuwenhuys	Report		Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 1,000

Port Vale v Liverpool

24 February  1940 (1940 -02-24) 12	Port Vale	3–8	Liverpool	Stoke-on-Trent
	Sproson Roberts Griffiths	Report	Fagan (pen.) Liddell Tennant Van Den Berg	Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 2,000

Manchester United v Liverpool

16 March  1940 (1940 -03-16) 13	Manchester United	1–0	Liverpool	Manchester
	Pearson	Report		Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 6,000

Crewe Alexandra v Liverpool

22 March  1940 (1940 -03-22) 14	Crewe Alexandra	3–6	Liverpool	Crewe
		Report	Carney Fagan (pen.) (pen.) Liddell Balmer	Stadium: Gresty Road Attendance: 4,300

Liverpool v Wrexham

23 March  1940 (1940 -03-23) 15	Liverpool	0–0	Wrexham	Liverpool
		Report		Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 8,000

Everton v Liverpool

30 March  1940 (1940 -03-30) 16	Everton	1–3	Liverpool	Liverpool
		Report	Nieuwenhuys 28', 29' Liddell	Stadium: Goodison Park Attendance: 12,896

Liverpool v Stoke City

6 April  1940 (1940 -04-06) 17	Liverpool	1–2	Stoke City	Liverpool
	Balmer	Report	Steele Peppitt	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 5,000

Liverpool v Stockport County

11 May  1940 (1940 -05-11) 18	Liverpool	4–3	Stockport County	Liverpool
	Van Den Berg Nieuwenhuys	Report		Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 6,000

Chester v Liverpool

18 May  1940 (1940 -05-18) 19	Chester	4–0	Liverpool	Chester
		Report		Stadium: Sealand Road Attendance: 1,500

Liverpool v Manchester City

25 May  1940 (1940 -05-25) 20	Liverpool	3–2	Manchester City	Liverpool
	Liddell 80' (pen.) Murphy 83' Nieuwenhuys	Report		Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 2,000

Liverpool v Tranmere Rovers

29 May  1940 (1940 -05-29) 21	Liverpool	8–3	Tranmere Rovers	Liverpool
	Nieuwenhuys Carney Doherty Hanson Liddell	Report		Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 5,000

New Brighton v Liverpool

1 June  1940 (1940 -06-01) 22	New Brighton	0–0	Liverpool	Birkenhead
		Report		Stadium: Sandheys Park Attendance: 1,500

Football League War Cup

Main article: Football League War Cup

Barrow v Liverpool

20 April  1940 (1940 -04-20) 1	Barrow	2–0	Liverpool	Barrow-in-Furness
		Report		Stadium: Holker Street Attendance: 5,963

Liverpool v Barrow

27 April  1940 (1940 -04-27) 1	Liverpool	1–2 (1–4 agg.)	Barrow	Liverpool
	Fagan (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 9,147

References

• LFC History.net – 1939–40 season
• 11v11
• Soccer At War 1939-45 by Jack Rollin ISBN 9780755314317