1946–47 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa
1946–47 season
Manager	Alex Massie
Stadium	Villa Park
First Division	8th
FA Cup	Third round
Home colours	Away colours

Trevor Ford, top scorer 1947–48 1948-49 and 1949-50

The 1938–39 English football season was Aston Villa's 48th season in The Football League, Villa playing in the Football League First Division. The 1946–47 season was the first to feature a full football programme since the 1938–39 campaign.

George Cummings was the Villains club captain from 1945 to his retirement in 1949, and was popular with supporters due to his never-say-die spirit and no-nonsense defending.^[1]

Ernie Callaghan (125) previously held the Aston Villa club record for the oldest first team player, being 39 years 86 days old when he played against Grimsby Town in 1946. In his last game in April 1947, he was 39 years and 257 days. On 1 February 2011, American goalkeeper Brad Friedel set a new club record by playing a first-team game away at Manchester United ages 39 years and 259 days.^[2]

In September 1946, Dicky Dorsett (257) joined Aston Villa for £3,000. He would be top scorer for the season. In January 1947, following a disagreement over preparations for a cup tie, Trevor Ford (120) left Swansea for first division Aston Villa. He would become the club's top scorer for three consecutive seasons.^[3]^[4] There were also debuts for Johnny Dixon, Tommy Dodds,^[5] Derek Ashton, John Graham, Arthur Haynes,^[6] Amos Moss, Ron Guttridge^[7] and Billy Evans.^[8]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
6	Sheffield United	42	21	7	14	89	75	1.187	49
7	Preston North End	42	18	11	13	76	74	1.027	47
8	Aston Villa	42	18	9	15	67	53	1.264	45
9	Sunderland	42	18	8	16	65	66	0.985	44
10	Everton	42	17	9	16	62	67	0.925	43

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Score	Notes	Scorers
31 Aug 1946	Middlesbrough	Home	0–1	—	— ^[9]
2 Sep 1946	Everton	Home	0–1	—	—
7 Sep 1946	Derby County	Away	2–1	—	Johnny Dixon 21'; George Edwards 51'
11 Sep 1946	Wolves	Away	2–1	—	Les Smith 30'; Billy Goffin 43'
14 Sep 1946	Arsenal	Home	0–2	—	—
16 Sep 1946	Wolves	Home	3–0	—	Les Smith 6'; George Edwards 10', 40'
21 Sep 1946	Blackpool	Away	0–1	—	—
28 Sep 1946	Brentford	Home	5–2	—	Own Goal 10'; Jackie Martin 19'; Billy Goffin 49', 87'; John Graham 59'
5 Oct 1946	Blackburn	Away	1–0	—	George Edwards 76'
12 Oct 1946	Portsmouth	Home	1–1	—	Les Smith 40'
19 Oct 1946	Charlton	Home	4–0	—	Dicky Dorsett 19'; George Edwards 30'; Johnny Dixon 84', 90'
26 Oct 1946	Preston	Away	1–3	—	Bob Iverson 37'
2 Nov 1946	Manchester United	Home	0–0	—	—
9 Nov 1946	Stoke	Away	0–0	—	—
16 Nov 1946	Bolton	Home	1–1	—	Dicky Dorsett 54' (pen)
23 Nov 1946	Chelsea	Away	3–1	—	George Edwards 17'; Jackie Martin 58'; Les Smith 3–1
30 Nov 1946	Sheffield United	Home	2–3	—	George Edwards 10'; Jackie Martin 79'
7 Dec 1946	Grimsby	Away	3–0	—	Jackie Martin 23'; George Edwards 64'; Dicky Dorsett 87'
14 Dec 1946	Leeds United	Home	2–1	—	Dicky Dorsett 10'; Les Smith 28'
21 Dec 1946	Liverpool	Away	1–4	—	Dicky Dorsett 24'
25 Dec 1946	Huddersfield	Home	2–2	—	Harry Parkes 1–0; Jackie Martin 2–0
26 Dec 1946	Huddersfield	Away	0–1	—	—
28 Dec 1946	Middlesbrough	Away	2–1	—	Les Smith 32'; George Edwards 77'
1 Jan 1947	Everton	Away	0–2	—	—
4 Jan 1947	Derby County	Home	2–0	—	Jackie Martin 47'; John Graham 80'
18 Jan 1947	Arsenal	Away	2–0	—	Les Smith 3'; Dicky Dorsett 15'
25 Jan 1947	Blackpool	Home	1–1	—	Trevor Ford 80'
1 Feb 1947	Brentford	Away	2–0	—	Trevor Ford 59', 81'
15 Feb 1947	Portsmouth	Away	2–3	—	Jackie Martin 28'; Trevor Ford 42'
22 Feb 1947	Charlton	Away	1–1	—	Own Goal 49'
8 Mar 1947	Manchester United	Away	1–2	—	Dicky Dorsett 36'
22 Mar 1947	Bolton	Away	1–2	—	Jackie Martin 31'
29 Mar 1947	Chelsea	Home	2–0	—	Trevor Ford 9'; Dicky Dorsett 40'
4 Apr 1947	Sunderland	Away	1–4	—	Johnny Dixon 33'
5 Apr 1947	Sheffield United	Away	2–1	—	Dicky Dorsett 33', 70'
8 Apr 1947	Sunderland	Home	4–0	—	Trevor Ford 33', 64'; Bob Iverson 35'; Dicky Dorsett 43'
12 Apr 1947	Grimsby	Home	3–3	—	Trevor Ford 26', 33'; George Edwards 40'
19 Apr 1947	Leeds United	Away	1–1	—	Dicky Dorsett 77'
26 Apr 1947	Liverpool	Home	1–2	—	Billy Evans 6'
10 May 1947	Blackburn	Home	2–1	—	Dicky Dorsett 49'; Johnny Dixon 78'
17 May 1947	Preston	Home	4–2	—	Billy Evans 10', 53'; Bob Iverson 41'; Johnny Dixon 61'
26 May 1947	Stoke	Home	0–1	—	—

Source: avfchistory.co.uk

FA Cup

References

↑ George Cummings, Aston Villa Player Database
↑ Our Grumpy Old Man. "Brad Friedel is Villa's record-breaker " Express & Star". Expressandstar.com. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
↑ Brian Halford (10 January 2014). "How Aston Villa star Trevor Ford played a big role in Sobers' big day". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
↑ Ford, Trevor (1923–2003), footballer, Huw Richards, ODNB, 4 January 2007
↑ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/tommy-dodds
↑ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/arthur-haynes
↑ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/ron-guttridge
↑ "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.
↑ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1946

External links

AVFC History: 1946–47 season

[avpd-1] George Cummings, Aston Villa Player Database

[2] Our Grumpy Old Man. "Brad Friedel is Villa's record-breaker " Express & Star". Expressandstar.com. Retrieved 1 February 2011.

[Sobers-3] Brian Halford (10 January 2014). "How Aston Villa star Trevor Ford played a big role in Sobers' big day". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 12 May 2016.

[4] Ford, Trevor (1923–2003), footballer, Huw Richards, ODNB, 4 January 2007

[5] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/tommy-dodds

[6] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/arthur-haynes

[7] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/ron-guttridge

[8] "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.

[9] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1946

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

Aston Villa F.C. seasons
1870s	1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80
1880s	1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90
1890s	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900
1900s	1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10
1910s	1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26 2026–27