Season: 1946–47
Football League First Division
League
The Football League returned after the wartime break, and Billy Birrell’s Chelsea opened the first peacetime First Division season in seven years with a 4–3 home win over Bolton Wanderers.
- Division
- Football League First Division (Tier 1)
- Manager
- Billy Birrell
- Top scorer (league)
- Tommy Lawton (26)
- Top scorer (all comps)
- Tommy Lawton (30)
- Avg. league attendance
- 44,517
Cups & Europe
- FA Cup
- Fourth round
- League Cup
- —
- Europe
- —
- Other
- London Challenge Cup: Round 1 (drew Charlton Athletic 1–1, 14 Oct 1946; lost replay 0–5, 21 Oct 1946)
Notes
The Football League returned after the wartime break, and Billy Birrell’s Chelsea opened the first peacetime First Division season in seven years with a 4–3 home win over Bolton Wanderers. They finished 15th of 22 on 39 points (16 wins, 7 draws, 19 defeats, 69–84) — solid enough to stay clear of the bottom six, but never a real push for the top half. Tommy Lawton, signed from Everton in November 1945 for about £14,000, scored a then club-record 26 league goals in 34 appearances and 30 in all competitions; Len Goulden added 10 in the league and Tommy Walker 9 (10 in all comps). The FA Cup brought the biggest night of the winter: Arsenal were held 1–1 at Stamford Bridge in front of 70,257, then 1–1 away, before Chelsea won the second replay 2–0 at Tottenham (Lawton scored twice). The run ended in the fourth round with a 2–2 home draw and a 0–1 replay defeat at Derby County. Home league gates averaged 44,517 (league high 67,935; low 17,896 vs Grimsby Town). In the London Challenge Cup they went out in the first round to Charlton Athletic after a 1–1 draw and a 0–5 replay.
Kits
Home stayed on the classic royal-blue rugby-collar look through the mid-1950s (HFK has finer panels including Sept–Oct 1934 hooped-sock experiments, Nov 1934–1944, wartime 1944–46, and 1946–48 / 1948–49 / 1949–55). Away remained red with a white collar from the 1933–34 switch; the 1955 champions wore this era’s home look.
- https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Chelsea/Chelsea.htm
- https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Chelsea/Chelsea-change-kits.html
Illustration from hex colours (not official kit photography).
On this day (related years)
History
Eras, trophies, and great matches in the History section.
Explore history →Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chelsea_F.C._seasons
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946%E2%80%9347_Chelsea_F.C._season
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946%E2%80%9347_Football_League
- https://www.fchd.info/CHELSEA.HTM
- https://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/Summaries/1946.htm
- https://bounder.friardale.co.uk/Results/1946.htm
- http://free-elements.com/England/Goals/CheL/CheL1946.html
- http://www.mychelseafc.com/chelsea_news/previous_cup_results/1946.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Lawton
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Birrell
- https://www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk/stats/Report/gate/a1946-47.html
- https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Chelsea/Chelsea.htm
- https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Chelsea/Chelsea-change-kits.html