1940-41: Brighton & Liverpool Albion crowned War Champions

Quiz question for you: Who are the only club in football history to lift a league title despite not winning a single match in the opening five months of the season? The answer is Brighton & Hove Albion… or rather, Brighton & Liverpool Albion in the 1940-41 campaign.

Plenty of weird and wonderful stuff happened during wartime football, explaining why historians tend not to include matches and statistics from 1939 to 1945 in their records. Officially, every game played is recorded as a friendly.

But even by the strange standards of football in World War II, 1940-41 was bizarre season for Brighton. It began with a run of 13 matches without a victory, including that very famous 18-0 defeat away at Norwich City on Christmas Day.

It ended with a big falling out with Watford, a playoff game to decide who would be crowned Football League South champions and a big Brighton win to give the people of Sussex something to cheer between the sound of air-raid sirens and warning of imminent attack.

The Football League was initially split into north and south regions at the start of the 1940-41 season, leaving Brighton to compete in a single table with 33 other clubs.

Because there were no guarantees that teams would complete the same number of fixtures – Stoke City played 33 times whilst Coventry City and Swansea managed just 10 games due to the extensive bombing campaigns those cities suffered – the standings were decided on goal average.

Brighton were left out of the stipulated fixture list, meaning they had to arrange their own matches. This proved difficult as opponents were reluctant to travel to the Goldstone Ground – and some who agreed to visit pulled out at the last minute.

Clapton Orient and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic could not raise sides and there was immense disappointment when the visit of Arsenal was also canned for the same reason.

Facing the Gunners was easily the most attractive match of the season, although the Albion did get some compensation when paired with Arsenal in the first round of the Football League War Cup.

The 12,000 who turned up for the first leg at the Goldstone was the biggest crowd Brighton drew in wartime football.

Arsenal won 4-1 and the game was covered live by BBC radio. The Gunners would go onto lift the War Cup, beating Preston North End in a replay.

Brighton’s struggles to get fixtures arranged meant that by the turn of the year, the Albion had played just 13 matches.

Their record read zero wins, four draws and nine defeats and they were bottom of the South Region, 34th out of 34. If ever you don’t want a table to be decided on goal average, it is the season where you suffer an 18-0 defeat.

The London clubs decided to organise their own cup competition for the second half of the 1940-41 campaign, focussing on playing only each other with results counting towards the South Region table.

That left Brighton and other clubs outside the capital with an even smaller pool of opponents to approach for games.

In response, Albion director Charles Wakeling formed the Football League South. Eight clubs ended up taking part and like the London competition, results counted towards both the South Region table and the Football League South.

Unlike the South Region, the Football League South would be decided on points rather than goal average. A wise move from Mr Wakeling presumably based on that Christmas Day experience at Carrow Road.

Brighton lost their opening game in the Football League South 2-0 away at Southend on January 25th. February 1st belatedly brought a first Albion win of the 1940-41 season, Brighton beating Bournemouth 2-1 at the Goldstone Ground.

A 2-2 draw at Watford followed before the turning point of the campaign. The guest player system introduced during World War II meant clubs could borrow professional players from regiments stationed in their area with the permission of the commanding officer.

At the start of March, the King’s Liverpool Regiment were posted to Newhaven – and rather handily for Albion manager Charlie Webb, most of Liverpool’s players were serving with them.

Brighton & Hove Albion became Brighton & Liverpool Albion for the remainder of the 1940-41 season. Eight Reds players in total pulled on the blue and white stripes over the next two months, making the Albion almost unbeatable.

Forward Jack Balmer scored nine times from eight matches in a Brighton shirt. He would spend his entire peacetime career at Anfield, scoring three consecutive hat-tricks during Liverpool’s 1946-47 title winning campaign.

Phil Taylor made four appearances in 1940-41 for the Albion. His Liverpool career either side of the war was phenomenal; a champion in 1947, captain of the Reds side that reached the 1950 FA Cup final and winner of three England caps.

Taylor went onto manage Liverpool between 1956 and 1959, handing over the reigns to a bloke called Bill Shankly. Wonder how he did?

Jimmy McInnes had been a Scottish Cup finalist for Third Lanark against Rangers in 1936 before moving to Anfield. He played six times as a guest for Brighton in 1940-41.

Outside right Harry Eastham made five Albion appearances. Another who would go onto be part of Liverpool’s 1947 title winners, Eastham would spend eight years making 150 appearances for Tranmere after leaving Anfield.

Defender Barney Ramsden made Brighton four appearances. Winger Bill Killhorn, centre half Tom Bush and inside left Ron Jones all played once with Jones marking his only game with a goal in a 3-1 win over Southampton.

With the Liverpools as they became known, Brighton won seven, drew two and lost just one of their next 10 matches.

That was enough to leave the Albion top of the Football League South table, two points clear of Watford with a superior goal average despite having played a game less.

By every metric, the Albion were worthy champions. The Hornets though disputed Brighton’s claim to the title based on Luton Town and Norwich entering the Football League South late, meaning that some fixtures had not been completed.

A challenge match was therefore set for Saturday 31st May 1941 at the Goldstone Ground. The Albion would host Watford with the winner declared the true champions.

The score was locked at 0-0 going into half time before Brighton ran riot after the break to win 4-1. Albion stalwart Bert Stephens scored twice with Balmer contributing the other two goals.

Balmer was one of five Liverpools to play in the decider. Ramsden, Taylor, McInnes and Eastham all started as Brighton rounded off one of the strangest seasons in their history with a rare league title.

That was not the end of Brighton & Liverpool Albion. The eight Liverpools continued to play whenever based in Sussex and invited by Webb throughout the war.

Further Reds players John Shafto, Jack Easdale, Dirk Kemp and George Paterson would join them over the next few seasons, taking the total number of Liverpools to guest for Brighton to 12.

Three seasons later and the Liverpools came close to an achievement which would have rivalled helping the Albion to the Football League South championship.

Six Reds played as Brighton led a ridiculously strong Arsenal side 1-0 at the Goldstone in league game through an early Shafto goal.

The Gunners needed a penalty 15 minutes from time converted by the legendary Cliff Bastin to rescue a 1-1 draw on a day another big wartime crowd of 8,000 came down Old Shoreham Road… to see the Brighton (and Liverpool) aces.