1946/47 SEASON REVIEW
After a nine year gap league football returned and City started the season in Division Two with Wilf Wild in charge of the team as Secretary and Manager. Only three players who played for the first team before World War II returned, most were now too old and Arthur Kelling was killed and George Smith had lost his right hand in combat.
The first three fixtures mirrored those abandoned in the last season of 1939/40 which was called to a halt due to the commencement of the War.
City gained a great start with a 3-0 victory at Leicester and a 3-1 win at home to Bury , but then stuttered slightly drawing 0-0 against Chesterfield at Maine Road.
The Blues continued their unbeaten start winning 3-1 at Millwall, drawing 2-2 at Bury , which was followed by an emphatic 7-2 win over Bradford Park Avenue at Maine Road. The early 2nd Division table showed City in 2nd place, three points behind Burnley with a game in hand.
September finished with a 0-0 draw at Tottenham . City’s first defeat of the season occured at The Boleyn Ground where West Ham won 1-0, however back at Maine Road they were unbeaten, winning 2-1 against Sheffield Wednesday and drawing 1-1 against Swansea .
October finished with a 3-2 defeat at Newcastle which saw City slip down to 7th in Division Two, 4 points behind leaders Barnsley but with two games in hand.
November started well with a 5-0 win over West Brom at Maine Road, then despite a 3-1 defeat at Birmingham , City won two further games, 1-0 at home to Coventry and 1-0 away at Nottingham Forest where the game was played at Meadow Lane due to The City ground being flooded.
November finished with a 1-1 draw against Southampton at Maine Road.
Wilf Wild stepped down as manager to continue his job as City’s secretary. Former City player Sam Cowan, who had been employed as a trainer at Brighton, took up the management reins.
Cowan, certainly seemed to make a difference as City beat Newport 3-0 at Somerton Park and then at Maine Road they beat Barnsley 5-1.
A 0-0 draw away at promotion rivals Burnley saw City go into the Christmas period in fourth place in the league on 26 points, just two points behind leaders Newcastle with a game in hand.
Three straight wins over the Festive period saw City go second in the league, with goal average keeping them off top spot, Plymouth lost 4-3 at Maine Road on Christmas day and then at Home Park on Boxing Day City beat Plymouth 3-2. two days later The Blues beat Leicester 1-0 in Manchester.
Moving into the New Year and City made it seven wins on the trot, a 4-0 victory over Fulham at Maine Road and a 1-0 win at Chesterfield saw City go three points clear at the top of Division 2, The Blues then overcame a possible FA Cup 3rd Round banana skin as they beat Gateshead 3-0 in Moss Side and then City became promotion favourites as they beat Millwall 1-0, again at Maine Road.
In the FA Cup 4th Round City drew 3-3 at Bolton and then in the Replay Bolton were eased out as Cowan’s side won 1-0.
William Murray then joined City from Arbroath.
Moving into February Cowans made it 13 games unbeaten since he took charge as they beat Tottenham 1-0 at Maine Road, however a surprising 5-0 defeat to Birmingham in the 5th round of the FA Cup brought his run to an end.
City’s promotion push continued though and they beat Swansea 2-1 at the Vetch Field and then drew 2-2 at Fulham to stay two points clear with a game in hand on the chasing pack.
The Blues brought in another player to try and seal promotion, Jackie Wharton signed from Preston for £7,000, and after playing just one game for the Blues Johnny Rudd moved to York City.
March saw City continue unbeaten in the league since early November, they beat Birmingham 1-0 at Maine Road, drew 1-1 at Coventry then again at home beat Nottingham Forest 2-1, with just a quarter of the season to go City were 3 points clear at the top and 9 points clear of third place Birmingham.
Easter was a success as City beat Luton 2-0 at Maine Road and Southampton 1-0 at the Dell before drawing 0-0 at Luton .
After beating Barnsley 2-0 at Oakwell City just needed one win from their last seven games to guarantee promotion and inevitably City lost their first home league game for over a year when they lost 2-0 to Newcastle at Maine Road. However over 67,000 fans crammed into Maine Road to see City guarantee first division football as they beat Burnley 1-0.
Jack Percival then left Maine Road to join Bournemouth as City planned for a new campaign in Division 1 and they splashed out £12,000 on Roy Clarke to bring in the winger from Cardiff.
The first three fixtures mirrored those abandoned in the last season of 1939/40 which was called to a halt due to the commencement of the War.
City gained a great start with a 3-0 victory at Leicester and a 3-1 win at home to Bury , but then stuttered slightly drawing 0-0 against Chesterfield at Maine Road.
The Blues continued their unbeaten start winning 3-1 at Millwall, drawing 2-2 at Bury , which was followed by an emphatic 7-2 win over Bradford Park Avenue at Maine Road. The early 2nd Division table showed City in 2nd place, three points behind Burnley with a game in hand.
September finished with a 0-0 draw at Tottenham . City’s first defeat of the season occured at The Boleyn Ground where West Ham won 1-0, however back at Maine Road they were unbeaten, winning 2-1 against Sheffield Wednesday and drawing 1-1 against Swansea .
October finished with a 3-2 defeat at Newcastle which saw City slip down to 7th in Division Two, 4 points behind leaders Barnsley but with two games in hand.
November started well with a 5-0 win over West Brom at Maine Road, then despite a 3-1 defeat at Birmingham , City won two further games, 1-0 at home to Coventry and 1-0 away at Nottingham Forest where the game was played at Meadow Lane due to The City ground being flooded.
November finished with a 1-1 draw against Southampton at Maine Road.
Wilf Wild stepped down as manager to continue his job as City’s secretary. Former City player Sam Cowan, who had been employed as a trainer at Brighton, took up the management reins.
Cowan, certainly seemed to make a difference as City beat Newport 3-0 at Somerton Park and then at Maine Road they beat Barnsley 5-1.
A 0-0 draw away at promotion rivals Burnley saw City go into the Christmas period in fourth place in the league on 26 points, just two points behind leaders Newcastle with a game in hand.
Three straight wins over the Festive period saw City go second in the league, with goal average keeping them off top spot, Plymouth lost 4-3 at Maine Road on Christmas day and then at Home Park on Boxing Day City beat Plymouth 3-2. two days later The Blues beat Leicester 1-0 in Manchester.
Moving into the New Year and City made it seven wins on the trot, a 4-0 victory over Fulham at Maine Road and a 1-0 win at Chesterfield saw City go three points clear at the top of Division 2, The Blues then overcame a possible FA Cup 3rd Round banana skin as they beat Gateshead 3-0 in Moss Side and then City became promotion favourites as they beat Millwall 1-0, again at Maine Road.
In the FA Cup 4th Round City drew 3-3 at Bolton and then in the Replay Bolton were eased out as Cowan’s side won 1-0.
William Murray then joined City from Arbroath.
Moving into February Cowans made it 13 games unbeaten since he took charge as they beat Tottenham 1-0 at Maine Road, however a surprising 5-0 defeat to Birmingham in the 5th round of the FA Cup brought his run to an end.
City’s promotion push continued though and they beat Swansea 2-1 at the Vetch Field and then drew 2-2 at Fulham to stay two points clear with a game in hand on the chasing pack.
The Blues brought in another player to try and seal promotion, Jackie Wharton signed from Preston for £7,000, and after playing just one game for the Blues Johnny Rudd moved to York City.
March saw City continue unbeaten in the league since early November, they beat Birmingham 1-0 at Maine Road, drew 1-1 at Coventry then again at home beat Nottingham Forest 2-1, with just a quarter of the season to go City were 3 points clear at the top and 9 points clear of third place Birmingham.
Easter was a success as City beat Luton 2-0 at Maine Road and Southampton 1-0 at the Dell before drawing 0-0 at Luton .
After beating Barnsley 2-0 at Oakwell City just needed one win from their last seven games to guarantee promotion and inevitably City lost their first home league game for over a year when they lost 2-0 to Newcastle at Maine Road. However over 67,000 fans crammed into Maine Road to see City guarantee first division football as they beat Burnley 1-0.
Jack Percival then left Maine Road to join Bournemouth as City planned for a new campaign in Division 1 and they splashed out £12,000 on Roy Clarke to bring in the winger from Cardiff.
City then drew 1-1 at Bradford Park Avenue, won 2-0 at home to West Ham, then despite being beaten 1-0 at Hillsborough by Sheffield Wednesday they were crowned League Division 2 Champions.
The season finished with a 3-1 defeat at West Brom and a 5-1 victory over Newport in the final game of the season.
The Blues played an end of season friendly at Hyde Road beating Glasgow Rangers 2-1, then went on a short tour of Ireland, losing 4-2 against Shelbourne and drawing 1-1 against Linfield.
In the close season Maurice Dunkley left City to join Kettering Town.
The season finished with a 3-1 defeat at West Brom and a 5-1 victory over Newport in the final game of the season.
The Blues played an end of season friendly at Hyde Road beating Glasgow Rangers 2-1, then went on a short tour of Ireland, losing 4-2 against Shelbourne and drawing 1-1 against Linfield.
In the close season Maurice Dunkley left City to join Kettering Town.
Saturday 26th April 1947
Manchester City 2 Rangers 1
Swift, Sproston, Williams, Fagan, McDowall, Emptage,
Dunkley, Herd, Constantine, Smith, Westwood.
Goals: Herd (first-half), Smith (second-half).
Referee: Boardman (Altrincham).
Attendance: 46,570.