# 1931–32 in English football

The 1931–32 season was the 57th season of competitive football in England.
With a full programme of New Year fixtures across all four divisions, The Times highlighted in particular Aston Villa's clash with high-flying Newcastle United. Villa had recently beaten Newcastle 3-0. Sheffield United were noted as a young team showing splendid form, while Blackburn Rovers were improving after a disastrous start. The Highlight of the Second Division was Bury v Plymouth Argyle.

## Events

* 7 November 1931: William Richardson 'Ginger' Richardson scored four goals in five minutes for West Bromwich Albion against West Ham United at Upton Park, a record that is still in the Guinness Book of Records.
* 19 March 1932: Stanley Matthews, 17-year-old winger, makes his debut for Stoke City in a 2-1 league win over Bury at Gigg Lane.

## Honours

| Competition | Winner | Runner-up |
| First Division | Everton (4) | Arsenal |
| Second Division | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Leeds United |
| Third Division North | Lincoln City | Gateshead |
| Third Division South | Fulham | Reading |
| FA Cup | Newcastle United (3) | Arsenal |
| Charity Shield | Arsenal | West Bromwich Albion |
| Home Championship | England | Scotland |
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

## Football League
### First Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Everton | 42 | 26 | 4 | 12 | 116 | 64 | 1.813 | 56 | |
| 2 | Arsenal | 42 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 90 | 48 | 1.875 | 54 | |
| 3 | Sheffield Wednesday | 42 | 22 | 6 | 14 | 96 | 82 | 1.171 | 50 | |
| 4 | Huddersfield Town | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 80 | 63 | 1.270 | 48 | |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 104 | 72 | 1.444 | 46 | |
| 6 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 77 | 55 | 1.400 | 46 | |
| 7 | Sheffield United | 42 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 80 | 75 | 1.067 | 46 | |
| 8 | Portsmouth | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 62 | 62 | 1.000 | 45 | |
| 9 | Birmingham | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 78 | 67 | 1.164 | 44 | |
| 10 | Liverpool | 42 | 19 | 6 | 17 | 81 | 93 | 0.871 | 44 | |
| 11 | Newcastle United | 42 | 18 | 6 | 18 | 80 | 87 | 0.920 | 42 | |
| 12 | Chelsea | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 69 | 73 | 0.945 | 40 | |
| 13 | Sunderland | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 67 | 73 | 0.918 | 40 | |
| 14 | Manchester City | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 83 | 73 | 1.137 | 38 | |
| 15 | Derby County | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 71 | 75 | 0.947 | 38 | |
| 16 | Blackburn Rovers | 42 | 16 | 6 | 20 | 89 | 95 | 0.937 | 38 | |
| 17 | Bolton Wanderers | 42 | 17 | 4 | 21 | 72 | 80 | 0.900 | 38 | |
| 18 | Middlesbrough | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 64 | 89 | 0.719 | 38 | |
| 19 | Leicester City | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 74 | 94 | 0.787 | 37 | |
| 20 | Blackpool | 42 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 65 | 102 | 0.637 | 33 | |
| 21 | Grimsby Town | 42 | 13 | 6 | 23 | 67 | 98 | 0.684 | 32 | Relegated to the Second Division |
| 22 | West Ham United | 42 | 12 | 7 | 23 | 62 | 107 | 0.579 | 31 | Relegated to the Second Division |

### Second Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 24 | 8 | 10 | 115 | 49 | 2.347 | 56 | Promoted to the First Division |
| 2 | Leeds United | 42 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 78 | 54 | 1.444 | 54 | Promoted to the First Division |
| 3 | Stoke City | 42 | 19 | 14 | 9 | 69 | 48 | 1.438 | 52 | |
| 4 | Plymouth Argyle | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 100 | 66 | 1.515 | 49 | |
| 5 | Bury | 42 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 70 | 58 | 1.207 | 49 | |
| 6 | Bradford Park Avenue | 42 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 72 | 63 | 1.143 | 49 | |
| 7 | Bradford City | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 80 | 61 | 1.311 | 45 | |
| 8 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 87 | 78 | 1.115 | 43 | |
| 9 | Millwall | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 61 | 61 | 1.000 | 43 | |
| 10 | Charlton Athletic | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 61 | 66 | 0.924 | 43 | |
| 11 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 77 | 72 | 1.069 | 42 | |
| 12 | Manchester United | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 71 | 72 | 0.986 | 42 | |
| 13 | Preston North End | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 75 | 77 | 0.974 | 42 | |
| 14 | Southampton | 42 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 66 | 77 | 0.857 | 41 | |
| 15 | Swansea Town | 42 | 16 | 7 | 19 | 73 | 75 | 0.973 | 39 | |
| 16 | Notts County | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 75 | 75 | 1.000 | 38 | |
| 17 | Chesterfield | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 64 | 86 | 0.744 | 37 | |
| 18 | Oldham Athletic | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 62 | 84 | 0.738 | 36 | |
| 19 | Burnley | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 59 | 87 | 0.678 | 35 | |
| 20 | Port Vale | 42 | 13 | 7 | 22 | 58 | 89 | 0.652 | 33 | |
| 21 | Barnsley | 42 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 55 | 91 | 0.604 | 33 | Relegated to the Third Division North |
| 22 | Bristol City | 42 | 6 | 11 | 25 | 39 | 78 | 0.500 | 23 | Relegated to the Third Division South |

### Third Division North

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Lincoln City | 40 | 26 | 5 | 9 | 106 | 47 | 2.255 | 57 | Promoted to the Second Division |
| 2 | Gateshead | 40 | 25 | 7 | 8 | 94 | 48 | 1.958 | 57 | |
| 3 | Chester | 40 | 21 | 8 | 11 | 78 | 60 | 1.300 | 50 | |
| 4 | Tranmere Rovers | 40 | 19 | 11 | 10 | 107 | 58 | 1.845 | 49 | |
| 5 | Barrow | 40 | 24 | 1 | 15 | 86 | 59 | 1.458 | 49 | |
| 6 | Crewe Alexandra | 40 | 21 | 6 | 13 | 95 | 66 | 1.439 | 48 | |
| 7 | Southport | 40 | 18 | 10 | 12 | 58 | 53 | 1.094 | 46 | |
| 8 | Hull City | 40 | 20 | 5 | 15 | 82 | 53 | 1.547 | 45 | |
| 9 | York City | 40 | 18 | 7 | 15 | 76 | 81 | 0.938 | 43 | |
| 10 | Wrexham | 40 | 18 | 7 | 15 | 64 | 69 | 0.928 | 43 | |
| 11 | Darlington | 40 | 17 | 4 | 19 | 66 | 69 | 0.957 | 38 | |
| 12 | Stockport County | 40 | 13 | 11 | 16 | 55 | 53 | 1.038 | 37 | |
| 13 | Hartlepools United | 40 | 16 | 5 | 19 | 78 | 100 | 0.780 | 37 | |
| 14 | Accrington Stanley | 40 | 15 | 6 | 19 | 75 | 80 | 0.938 | 36 | |
| 15 | Doncaster Rovers | 40 | 16 | 4 | 20 | 59 | 80 | 0.738 | 36 | |
| 16 | Walsall | 40 | 16 | 3 | 21 | 57 | 85 | 0.671 | 35 | |
| 17 | Halifax Town | 40 | 13 | 8 | 19 | 61 | 87 | 0.701 | 34 | |
| 18 | Carlisle United | 40 | 11 | 11 | 18 | 64 | 79 | 0.810 | 33 | |
| 19 | Rotherham United | 40 | 14 | 4 | 22 | 63 | 72 | 0.875 | 32 | |
| 20 | New Brighton | 40 | 8 | 8 | 24 | 38 | 76 | 0.500 | 24 | |
| 21 | Rochdale | 40 | 4 | 3 | 33 | 48 | 135 | 0.356 | 11 | Re-elected |
| 22 | Wigan Borough | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | Club resigned |
* ↑ Wigan Borough resigned from the Football League on 21 October and folded. Their record (P12 W3 D1 L8 F12 A32 GA 0.375 Pts 7) was expunged.

### Third Division South

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Fulham | 42 | 24 | 9 | 9 | 111 | 62 | 1.790 | 57 | Promoted to the Second Division |
| 2 | Reading | 42 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 97 | 67 | 1.448 | 55 | |
| 3 | Southend United | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 77 | 53 | 1.453 | 53 | |
| 4 | Crystal Palace | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 74 | 63 | 1.175 | 51 | |
| 5 | Brentford | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 68 | 52 | 1.308 | 48 | |
| 6 | Luton Town | 42 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 95 | 70 | 1.357 | 47 | |
| 7 | Exeter City | 42 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 77 | 62 | 1.242 | 47 | |
| 8 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 73 | 58 | 1.259 | 46 | |
| 9 | Cardiff City | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 87 | 73 | 1.192 | 46 | |
| 10 | Norwich City | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 76 | 67 | 1.134 | 46 | |
| 11 | Watford | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 81 | 79 | 1.025 | 46 | |
| 12 | Coventry City | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 108 | 97 | 1.113 | 44 | |
| 13 | Queens Park Rangers | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 79 | 73 | 1.082 | 42 | |
| 14 | Northampton Town | 42 | 16 | 7 | 19 | 69 | 69 | 1.000 | 39 | |
| 15 | Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 70 | 78 | 0.897 | 38 | |
| 16 | Clapton Orient | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 77 | 90 | 0.856 | 35 | |
| 17 | Swindon Town | 42 | 14 | 6 | 22 | 70 | 84 | 0.833 | 34 | |
| 18 | Bristol Rovers | 42 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 65 | 92 | 0.707 | 34 | |
| 19 | Torquay United | 42 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 72 | 106 | 0.679 | 33 | |
| 20 | Mansfield Town | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 75 | 108 | 0.694 | 32 | Transferred to the Third Division North |
| 21 | Gillingham | 42 | 10 | 8 | 24 | 40 | 82 | 0.488 | 28 | Re-elected |
| 22 | Thames | 42 | 7 | 9 | 26 | 53 | 109 | 0.486 | 23 | Not re-elected |

### Top goalscorers

First Division
* Dixie Dean (Everton) – 44 goals
Second Division
* Cyril Pearce (Swansea Town) – 35 goals
Third Division North
* Alan Hall (Lincoln City) – 42 goals
Third Division South
* Clarrie Bourton (Coventry City) – 49 goals