// Workers AI · dad joke modeDid 1945–46 Aston Villa F.C. season go downhill? It had a Villa-in decline.

Aston Villa
1945–46 season
Manager	Alex Massie
Stadium	Villa Park
Football League South	2nd
FA Cup	Sixth round
	← 1938–39 1946–47 →

The 1945–46 English football season was the Aston Villa's only season in the Football League South and Villa's 56th season in Football Association competition.

1945–46 was the first peacetime football season since the 1939–40 season was cut short due to World War II. On 7 May (as the war was ending), it was announced that the FA Cup would be resumed, and that the 44 clubs in the top two divisions of the 1938–39 season would play in the Football League North and Football League South^[1] without promotion and relegation from the previous peacetime season. This arrangement was debated by the clubs over the following two months – with Wolverhampton Wanderers proposing an immediate return to a peacetime Football League as was to happen in France – before it was agreed at The Football League's annual meeting in London on 25 July that regional leagues should continue for one more season.^[2]

To make up for the lack of quality matches, all FA Cup rounds from round one up to and including the quarter-finals were made two-legged ties (rather than the traditional single matches) with the aggregate score determining who went through to the next round. Derby County eventually won the Cup.

From the next season, a full football programme was restored, including The Football League and international matches.

Like all English clubs, Villa lost seven seasons to the Second World War, and that conflict brought several careers to a premature end.^[3] The team was rebuilt under the guidance of former player Alex Massie for the remainder of the 1940s. 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.^[4] There were debuts for Harry Parkes, Jack Morby,^[5] Les Smith, Eddie Lowe and Vic Potts.^[6]^[7]

FA Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Notes	Scorers
5 Jan 1946	Coventry City	Highfield Road	1–2 ^[8]	—	—
8 Jan 1946	Coventry City	Villa Park	2–0 ^[9]	—	—
26 Jan 1946	Millwall	The Den	4–2 ^[10]	—	—
28 Jan 1946	Millwall	Villa Park	9–1 ^[11]	—	—
9 Feb 1946	Chelsea	Stamford Bridge	1–0 ^[12]	—	—
12 Feb 1946	Chelsea	Villa Park	1–0	—	— ^[13]
2 Mar 1946	Derby County	Villa Park	3–4	76,588 - Villa's record attendance	— ^[14]
9 Mar 1946	Derby County	Baseball Ground	1–1	—	— ^[15]

Source: 1945-46 season www.avfchistory.co.uk

Football League South

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts
1	Birmingham City	42	28	5	9	96	45	2.133	61
2	Aston Villa	42	25	11	6	106	58	1.828	61
3	Charlton Athletic	42	25	10	7	92	45	2.044	60
4	Derby County	42	22	8	12	104	62	1.677	52
5	West Bromwich Albion	42	22	8	12	104	69	1.507	52

Source: rsssf.com and War Hammers II^[16]

References

↑ ‘Association Football’; The Times, 8 May 1945, p. 8
↑ ‘Association Football – Plans for Next Season’; The Times, 26 July 1945, p. 8
↑ Ward, Adam; Griffin, Jeremy; p. 75.
↑ George Cummings, Aston Villa Player Database
↑ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/jack-morby
↑ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/vic-potts
↑ "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.
↑ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1938
↑ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1939
↑ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1940
↑ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1941
↑ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1942
↑ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1943
↑ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1944
↑ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1945
↑ Belton, Brian (2015). War Hammers II: The Story of West Ham United During the Second World War. The History Press. ISBN 978-0750956024.

External links

AVFC History: 1945–46 season

This article about an English association football club season is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

[1] ‘Association Football’; The Times, 8 May 1945, p. 8

[2] ‘Association Football – Plans for Next Season’; The Times, 26 July 1945, p. 8

[3] Ward, Adam; Griffin, Jeremy; p. 75.

[avpd-4] George Cummings, Aston Villa Player Database

[5] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/jack-morby

[6] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/vic-potts

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

[8] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1938

[9] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1939

[10] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1940

[11] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1941

[12] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1942

[13] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1943

[14] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1944

[15] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1945

[16] Belton, Brian (2015). War Hammers II: The Story of West Ham United During the Second World War. The History Press. ISBN 978-0750956024.

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v t e 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