# 1938–39 Chester F.C. season

The 1938–39 season was the eighth season of competitive association football in the Football League played by Chester, an English club based in Chester, Cheshire.
It was the club's eighth consecutive season in the Third Division North since the election to the Football League. Alongside competing in the league, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the Welsh Cup.

## Football League

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | HW | HD | HL | HGF | HGA | AW | AD | AL | AGF | AGA | GAv | Pts |
| 4 | Southport | 42 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 47 | 16 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 28 | 38 | 1.389 | 50 |
| 5 | Oldham Athletic | 42 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 51 | 21 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 25 | 38 | 1.288 | 49 |
| 6 | Chester | 42 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 54 | 31 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 34 | 39 | 1.257 | 49 |
| 7 | Hull City | 42 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 57 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 26 | 49 | 1.122 | 46 |
| 8 | Crewe Alexandra | 42 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 54 | 23 | 7 | 1 | 13 | 28 | 47 | 1.171 | 44 |

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 88 | 70 | 1.257 | 49 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 54 | 31 | 29 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 34 | 39 | 20 |
Source: rsssf.com

### Results by matchday

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Result | D | L | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | D | L | W | L | L | L | W | D | L | W | W | D | D | L | W | D | W | L | W | W | D | D | L | L | L | L | W | W | W | D | W | W | W |
| Position | 11 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 6 |

### Matches

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| 27 August | Hull City | H | D | 1–1 | Howarth (pen.) | 8,986 |
| 31 August | New Brighton | H | L | 1–3 | Roberts | 6,306 |
| 3 September | Lincoln City | A | W | 3–0 | Pendergast, Horsman, Howarth | 4,544 |
| 5 September | Bradford City | A | L | 0–1 | | 6,229 |
| 10 September | Stockport County | H | W | 4–3 | Pendergast (3), Keeley | 9,779 |
| 17 September | Accrington Stanley | A | W | 3–2 | Keeley, Pendergast, Sanders | 4,728 |
| 24 September | Barnsley | H | W | 2–1 | Horsman, Pendergast | 9,479 |
| 1 October | Oldham Athletic | A | W | 3–1 | Pendergast (2), Rogers | 12,144 |
| 8 October | Halifax Town | H | W | 5–1 | Keeley (3), Pendergast, Horsman (pen.) | 6,792 |
| 15 October | Gateshead | H | D | 2–2 | Pendergast, McGough | 9,033 |
| 22 October | Wrexham | A | L | 2–3 | Pendergast, Keeley | 15,785 |
| 29 October | York City | H | W | 5–1 | Wass (o.g.), Pendergast, Sanders (2), Keeley | 7,315 |
| 5 November | Rochdale | A | L | 2–5 | Howarth, Pendergast | 6,732 |
| 12 November | Rotherham United | H | L | 1–4 | Pendergast | 7,082 |
| 19 November | Doncaster Rovers | A | L | 1–4 | Pendergast | 14,675 |
| 3 December | Crewe Alexandra | A | W | 2–0 | Keeley, Pendergast | 7,431 |
| 17 December | Darlington | A | D | 3–3 | Keeley, McGough (2) | 2,647 |
| 24 December | Hull City | A | L | 0–3 | | 5,911 |
| 26 December | Hartlepools United | A | W | 5–2 | Pendergast (2), Horsman (2), Keeley | 5,177 |
| 27 December | Hartlepools United | H | W | 8–2 | Keeley (2), Pendergast (2, 1pen.), Sanders (3), Gregg (pen.) | 7,748 |
| 31 December | Lincoln City | H | D | 0–0 | | 6,079 |
| 14 January | Stockport County | A | D | 0–0 | | 10,781 |
| 28 January | Barnsley | A | L | 0–3 | | 13,161 |
| 4 February | Oldham Athletic | H | W | 4–2 | Pendergast, Roberts, Keeley, Sanders | 5,983 |
| 11 February | Halifax Town | A | D | 1–1 | Pendergast | 5,217 |
| 15 February | Accrington Stanley | H | W | 1–0 | McGough | 1,728 |
| 18 February | Gateshead | A | L | 0–3 | | 4,492 |
| 25 February | Wrexham | H | W | 4–2 | Keeley (2), Sanders, Pendergast | 10,364 |
| 1 March | Carlisle United | H | W | 6–1 | Sanders (3), Pendergast (2), Keeley | 1,735 |
| 4 March | York City | A | D | 2–2 | Pendergast, Horsman | 4,108 |
| 11 March | Rochdale | H | D | 0–0 | | 4,375 |
| 18 March | Rotherham United | A | L | 0–2 | | 5,317 |
| 25 March | Doncaster Rovers | H | L | 0–4 | | 4,982 |
| 1 April | Southport | A | L | 0–2 | | 4,257 |
| 7 April | Barrow | H | L | 1–2 | Howarth | 6,057 |
| 8 April | Crewe Alexandra | H | W | 4–0 | Horsman, Gregg (pen.), Worswick (2) | 4,235 |
| 10 April | Barrow | A | W | 1–0 | Warburton | 8,977 |
| 15 April | Carlisle United | A | W | 3–1 | Horsman (3) | 2,601 |
| 22 April | Darlington | H | D | 0–0 | | 2,406 |
| 26 April | Southport | H | W | 2–0 | Worswick, Pendergast | 1,727 |
| 29 April | New Brighton | A | W | 3–1 | Howarth, Bulloch (o.g.), Keeley | 2,553 |
| 6 May | Bradford City | H | W | 3–2 | Warburton, Worswick, Keeley | 3,033 |

## FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| First round | 26 November | Bradford City (3N) | H | W | 3–1 | Horsman, Pendergast, Hinsley (o.g.) | 6,672 |
| Second round | 10 December | Hull City (3N) | H | D | 2–2 | Horsman, Gregg (pen.) | 9,905 |
| Second round replay | 15 December | Hull City (3N) | A | W | 1–0 | Horsman | 8,184 |
| Third round | 7 January | Coventry City (2) | H | W | 1–0 | Pendergast | 11,248 |
| Fourth round | 21 January | Sheffield Wednesday (2) | A | D | 1–1 | Sanders | 29,237 |
| Fourth round replay | 25 January | Sheffield Wednesday (2) | H | D | 1–1 | Hanford (o.g.) | 18,816 |
| Fourth round replay | 25 January | Sheffield Wednesday (2) | N | D | 0–2 | | 15,321 |

## Welsh Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| Sixth round | 8 February | Rhyl Athletic (CCL) | H | W | 4–0 | Horsman, Roberts, Keeley, Pendergast | 1,558 |
| Semiinal | 22 March | South Liverpool (LC) | N | L | 2–5 | Horsman, Keeley | |
Chester get a bye in the seventh round.

## Season statistics

| Nat | Player | Total | Total | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Welsh Cup | Welsh Cup |
| Nat | Player | A | G | A | G | A | G | A | G |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| | Alf Hobson | 17 | – | 17 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Eric Mansley | 4 | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Cliff Owen | 30 | – | 21 | – | 7 | – | 2 | – |
| Field players ||||||||||
| | David Beynon | 12 | – | 12 | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| | Reg Butcher | 31 | – | 23 | – | 7 | – | 1 | – |
| | Ted Common | 31 | – | 23 | – | 7 | – | 1 | – |
| | Jackie Coulter | 4 | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Stan Duff | 2 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Arthur Gale | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Willis Gregg | 38 | 3 | 29 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | – |
| | George Griffiths | 7 | – | 6 | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| | Bill Horsman | 51 | 15 | 41 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| | Harold Howarth | 46 | 5 | 38 | 5 | 7 | – | 1 | – |
| | Arthur Keeley | 45 | 20 | 36 | 18 | 7 | – | 2 | 2 |
| | John McCreary | 22 | – | 20 | – | – | – | 2 | – |
| | Joe McGough | 41 | 4 | 34 | 4 | 7 | – | – | – |
| | Bill Pendergast | 43 | 30 | 34 | 27 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| | Syd Roberts | 14 | 3 | 12 | 2 | – | – | 2 | 1 |
| | Chris Robertson | 13 | – | 13 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Joe Rogers | 11 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 3 | – | – | – |
| | Albert Ross | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Bob Sanders | 22 | 12 | 18 | 11 | 4 | 1 | – | – |
| | Bos Trevis | 3 | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Trevor Walters | 49 | – | 41 | – | 7 | – | 1 | – |
| | Albert Watford | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | George Warburton | 12 | 2 | 10 | 2 | – | – | 2 | – |
| | Tommy White | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Randall Worswick | 8 | 4 | 8 | 4 | – | – | – | – |
| | Paddy Wrightson | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Own goals | – | 4 | – | 2 | – | 2 | – | – |
| | Total | 51 | 103 | 42 | 88 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 6 |