# 1908–09 in English football

The 1908–09 season was the 38th season of competitive football in England.

## Overview

Tottenham Hotspur played their first ever season in the Football League, gaining promotion to the First Division in the process. Spurs, along with Bradford Park Avenue entered the Second Division to replace Lincoln City and Stoke.
This year started a new competition: the Charity Shield; a match between the champion of the Professional League vs. the champion of the Amateur League. The first championship went to Manchester United, in a replayed final against Queens Park Rangers.

## Events

* 5 December 1908– Sunderland defeat Newcastle United 9-1, after the game was tied 1-1 at half-time. This is the joint biggest away victory in the top division in Football League history. The win was even more remarkable as Newcastle were league champions that season winning the title by 7 points from Everton, conceding only 41 goals all season.

## Honours

| Competition | Winner |
| First Division | Newcastle United (3) |
| Second Division | Bolton Wanderers |
| FA Cup | Manchester United (1) |
| Charity Shield | Manchester United |
| Home Championship | England |
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

## League tables
### First Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | Newcastle United (C) | 38 | 24 | 5 | 9 | 65 | 41 | 1.585 | 53 | |
| 2 | Everton | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 82 | 57 | 1.439 | 46 | |
| 3 | Sunderland | 38 | 21 | 2 | 15 | 78 | 63 | 1.238 | 44 | |
| 4 | Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 61 | 50 | 1.220 | 41 | |
| 5 | The Wednesday | 38 | 17 | 6 | 15 | 67 | 61 | 1.098 | 40 | |
| 6 | Woolwich Arsenal | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 52 | 49 | 1.061 | 38 | |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 58 | 56 | 1.036 | 38 | |
| 8 | Bristol City | 38 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 45 | 58 | 0.776 | 38 | |
| 9 | Middlesbrough | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 59 | 53 | 1.113 | 37 | |
| 10 | Preston North End | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 48 | 44 | 1.091 | 37 | |
| 11 | Chelsea | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 56 | 61 | 0.918 | 37 | |
| 12 | Sheffield United | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 51 | 59 | 0.864 | 37 | |
| 13 | Manchester United | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 58 | 68 | 0.853 | 37 | |
| 14 | Nottingham Forest | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 66 | 57 | 1.158 | 36 | |
| 15 | Notts County | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 51 | 48 | 1.063 | 36 | |
| 16 | Liverpool | 38 | 15 | 6 | 17 | 57 | 65 | 0.877 | 36 | |
| 17 | Bury | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 63 | 77 | 0.818 | 36 | |
| 18 | Bradford City | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 47 | 47 | 1.000 | 34 | |
| 19 | Manchester City (R) | 38 | 15 | 4 | 19 | 67 | 69 | 0.971 | 34 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 20 | Leicester Fosse (R) | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 54 | 102 | 0.529 | 25 | Relegation to the Second Division |

### Second Division

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Bolton Wanderers | 38 | 24 | 4 | 10 | 59 | 28 | 2.107 | 52 | Division Champions |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 20 | 11 | 7 | 67 | 32 | 2.094 | 51 | Promoted |
| 3 | West Bromwich Albion | 38 | 19 | 13 | 6 | 56 | 27 | 2.074 | 51 | |
| 4 | Hull City | 38 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 63 | 39 | 1.615 | 44 | |
| 5 | Derby County | 38 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 55 | 41 | 1.341 | 43 | |
| 6 | Oldham Athletic | 38 | 17 | 6 | 15 | 55 | 43 | 1.279 | 40 | |
| 7 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 56 | 48 | 1.167 | 39 | |
| 8 | Glossop | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 57 | 53 | 1.075 | 38 | |
| 9 | Gainsborough Trinity | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 49 | 70 | 0.700 | 38 | |
| 10 | Fulham | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 58 | 48 | 1.208 | 37 | |
| 11 | Birmingham | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 58 | 61 | 0.951 | 37 | |
| 12 | Leeds City | 38 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 43 | 53 | 0.811 | 35 | |
| 13 | Grimsby Town | 38 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 41 | 54 | 0.759 | 35 | |
| 14 | Burnley | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 51 | 58 | 0.879 | 33 | |
| 15 | Clapton Orient | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 37 | 49 | 0.755 | 33 | |
| 16 | Bradford Park Avenue | 38 | 13 | 6 | 19 | 51 | 59 | 0.864 | 32 | |
| 17 | Barnsley | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 48 | 57 | 0.842 | 32 | |
| 18 | Stockport County | 38 | 14 | 3 | 21 | 39 | 71 | 0.549 | 31 | Re-elected |
| 19 | Chesterfield Town | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 37 | 67 | 0.552 | 30 | Failed re-election |
| 20 | Blackpool | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 46 | 68 | 0.676 | 29 | Re-elected |
* 1 2 New club in the league
* ↑ Chesterfield failed re-election, and Lincoln City were re-admitted to the Football League in their place, after a season away.

## National team

The England national football team had a very successful season, with victory in the 1909 British Home Championship due to a whitewash of the other Home Nations and three heavy victories during a tour of Central Europe for the second year running.

### European tour
#### Players

The players chosen for the tour were:
| Name | Position | Club | Appearances | Goals |
| Arthur Bridgett | LW | Sunderland | 3 | 1 |
| Bob Crompton | RB | Blackburn Rovers | 3 | 0 |
| Harold Fleming | FW | Swindon Town | 2 | 3 |
| Harold Halse | FW | Manchester United | 1 | 2 |
| Sam Hardy | GK | Liverpool | 3 | 0 |
| George Holley | FW | Sunderland | 3 | 4 |
| Evelyn Lintott | LH | Bradford City | 2 | 0 |
| Jesse Pennington | LB | West Bromwich Albion | 3 | 0 |
| Fred Pentland | RW | Middlesbrough | 3 | 0 |
| George Richards | LH | Derby County | 1 | 0 |
| Ben Warren | RH | Chelsea | 3 | 1 |
| Billy Wedlock | CH | Bristol City | 3 | 0 |
| Vivian Woodward | CF | Tottenham Hotspur | 3 | 9 |

##### Key

* GK — Goalkeeper
* RB — Right back
* LB — Left back
* CB — Centre back
* CH — Centre half
* LH — Left half
* RH — Right half
* RW — Right winger
* LW — Left winger
* FW — Forward
* CF — Centre forward