# 1944–45 Arsenal F.C. season

The 1944–45 season was Arsenal Football Club's sixth season playing wartime football during World War II. They finished eighth the Football League South, their poorest performance of the wartime era. Arsenal reached the semifinals in the Football League South Cup.

## Background

Arsenal played their home games at White Hart Lane, as Highbury had been transformed to support Air Raid Precautions.
Arsenal had a poor start to the league and failed to recover, finishing eighth in the Football League South. Arsenal's most reliable scorer Reg Lewis was unavailable due to his military service. Stan Mortensen, a guest player from Blackpool, scored 18 goals for Arsenal in 12 games. Ted Drake, another reliable scorer, was injured with a slipped disk and his career came to an end.
Arsenal reached the semifinals of the Football League South Cup but did not reach the finals, losing to Millwall.

## Results

Arsenal's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League South

Selected results from the league.
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance |
| 2 September 1944 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–4 | |
| 21 October 1944 | West Ham United | H | 0–3 | 27,800 |
| 28 October 1944 | Crystal Palace | A | 3–4 | |
| 25 November 1944 | Chelsea | A | 1–2 | |
| 9 December 1944 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 2–3 | |
| 23 December 1944 | Brentford | H | 5–2 | 18,527 |
| 24 February 1945 | Reading | H | 0–2 | |
| 24 March 1945 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–0 | |
| 2 April 1945 | Brentford | A | 1–3 | |
| 28 April 1945 | Chelsea | H | 3–0 | |
| 5 May 1945 | West Ham United | A | 1–1 | 9,000 |
| | Reading | A | 1–3 | |

#### Final League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts |
| 1 | Tottenham Hotspur (C) | 30 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 81 | 30 | 2.700 | 52 |
| 2 | West Ham United | 30 | 22 | 3 | 5 | 96 | 47 | 2.043 | 47 |
| 3 | Brentford | 30 | 17 | 4 | 9 | 87 | 57 | 1.526 | 38 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 30 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 100 | 55 | 1.818 | 37 |
| 5 | Southampton | 30 | 17 | 3 | 10 | 96 | 69 | 1.391 | 37 |
| 6 | Crystal Palace | 30 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 74 | 70 | 1.057 | 35 |
| 7 | Reading | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 78 | 68 | 1.147 | 34 |
| 8 | Arsenal | 30 | 14 | 3 | 13 | 77 | 67 | 1.149 | 31 |
| 9 | Queen's Park Rangers | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 70 | 61 | 1.148 | 30 |
| 10 | Watford | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 66 | 84 | 0.786 | 28 |
| 11 | Fulham | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 79 | 83 | 0.952 | 26 |
| 12 | Portsmouth | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 59 | 61 | 0.967 | 26 |
| 13 | Charlton Athletic | 30 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 72 | 81 | 0.889 | 26 |
| 14 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 30 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 66 | 95 | 0.695 | 22 |
| 15 | Luton Town | 30 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 59 | 104 | 0.567 | 19 |
| 16 | Aldershot | 30 | 7 | 4 | 19 | 44 | 85 | 0.518 | 18 |
| 17 | Millwall | 30 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 50 | 84 | 0.595 | 17 |
| 18 | Clapton Orient | 30 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 39 | 86 | 0.453 | 17 |

### Football League South Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result |
| GS | 3 February 1945 | Reading | A | 3–1 |
| GS | 10 February 1945 | Clapton Orient | H | 5–0 |
| GS | 17 February 1945 | Portsmouth | A | 4–2 |
| GS | 24 February 1945 | Reading | H | 3–0 |
| GS | 3 March 1945 | Clapton Orient | A | 3–1 |
| GS | 10 March 1945 | Portsmouth | H | 2–4 |
| SF | 17 March 1945 | Millwall | N | 0–1 |