The 1946–47 Southampton F.C. season was the club's 18th season in the Football League Second Division and their 20th in the Football League.[1] Southampton finished the season in 14th place in the league table, having won 15, drawn 9 and lost 18 of their 42 matches.[2] The club also made it to the fourth round of the FA Cup.[3] Inside forward Jack Bradley finished the season as the club's top scorer in the league with 14 goals,[4] while centre forward George Lewis finished as joint top scorer in all competitions alongside Bradley, with 15 goals.
League football in England resumed in 1946 following the Second World War.[5] The first post-war season was Southampton's first to feature Bill Dodgin as manager, who had previously played for the club during wartime and was appointed in March 1946.[6] In the summer the club signed a number of new players, including Bill Rochford and George Lewis, and due to the lack of official competition during wartime many first team players made their official debuts for the club during the campaign (including eight in the first game of the season).[5]
In preparation for the 1946–47 season, Southampton played two pre-season friendly matches.[5] On 14 August 1946 the Saints won 4–1 against Irish club Bohemians, with new signing George Lewis and Don Roper scoring two goals each.[7] They then beat French side Le Havre 7–0 at home thanks to a hat-trick from Don Roper, two goals from Doug McGibbon, and one each from Jack Bradley and Bobby Veck.[7]
Southampton began the 1946–47 season well with a 4–0 win over Swansea Town at home, with Doug McGibbon scoring a hat-trick.[5] The team dropped down to 10th in the table with a draw and a loss, before beating Nottingham Forest convincingly 5–2 thanks to goals from McGibbon (two), Alf Freeman (two) and Jack Bradley.[5] The Saints began to drop down the league table in October thanks to a winless run, but picked their form back up at the end of the month with wins over Newport County and Plymouth Argyle.[5][8] The club's fortunes continued to change week on week, although they finished the year off strongly with a 5–1 win over Newport County to remain in the top ten going into 1947.[8]
January–May 1947
The year began poorly for the Saints with three consecutive losses away from home in which the side conceded 11 goals,[8] prompting Dodgin to replace regular goalkeeper George Ephgrave with Len Stansbridge for much of the rest of the season.[4] Through February and March, the team won four out of seven matches to move away from the relegation zone and back up to the top ten, although four straight losses saw them drop back down to 15th in April.[9] Seven players were released by the club near the end of the month.[9] Three wins from their last six matches meant that Southampton finished 14th in the Second Division table, compared to 18th in the last pre-war season.[9]
Southampton entered the 1946–47 FA Cup in the third round, facing Bury at home on 11 January 1947. The Saints controlled the game from the early exchanges, with Jack Bradley, George Lewis and Billy Bevis scoring within the first 16 minutes to put the hosts 3–0 up.[10] Bury pulled one back before the break through a penalty, which was awarded due to a handball in the area by George Smith.[10] In the second half, the Saints quickly reasserted their dominance and made it 4–1 through a second goal from Lewis in the 52nd minute.[10] After he was initially denied by the crossbar earlier on, Lewis did later complete his hat-trick (the club's first in the competition proper) when he converted following a run by Eric Webber.[10]
Newcastle United (25 January 1947)
In the fourth round Southampton travelled to face Newcastle United, who were then second in the Second Division league table.[11] The Saints took the lead in the 11th minute, as Don Roper shot from the outside of the box and scored due to a deflection off centre-half Frank Brennan.[12] The lead remained until the break, before Charlie Wayman equalised for the hosts shortly after half-time.[12] Nine minutes later he scored again, heading in a Doug Wright free-kick.[12] Wayman completed his hat-trick later in the game to put Newcastle through to the fifth round.[12] The Magpies went on to make it to the semi-finals of the tournament, before being knocked out by eventual champions Charlton Athletic.[3]
Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (November 2013), All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC, Bristol, England: Hagiology Publishing, ISBN978-0-9926864-0-6
Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003), Bull, David (ed.), In That Number: A Post-War Chronicle of Southampton FC, Bristol, England: Hagiology Publishing, ISBN0-9534474-3-X
