The third title
Back row: W Connell (Trainer), Harry Chambers, Jock McNab,
Elisha Scott, Walter Wadsworth, Tom Bromilow, Dick Forshaw.
Front row: Dave Ashworth (Manager), Bill Lacey, Ephraim Longworth,
Donald MacKinlay, Tommy Lucas, Fred Hopkin, George Patterson (Secretary).
On ground: Danny Shone, Harry Lewis.
An opening day
thrashing at Sunderland's Roker Park hardly boded well for a renewed assault on
the league title, but Liverpool recovered from the 3-0 reverse to bring a third
Championship back to Anfield.
The close season
saw manager David Ashworth draft in Manchester United winger Fred Hopkin for a
hefty £2,800, and the Yorkshireman proved an effective ever-present as the Reds
brought sides such as Bradford, Huddersfield, Preston and Aston Villa to heel.
Up front, Harry
Chambers and Dick Forshaw battled it out for the title of top scorer, netting
an impressive 21 and 20 respectively.
Dick Forshaw
The biggest win of
the league campaign came in front of 50,000 supporters at Anfield, Chambers
claiming a hat-trick in a 5-1 demolition of high-flying Cardiff. At the other
end of the spectrum, a 4-0 defeat at Oldham's Boundary Park was hard to
swallow.
Still, despite
losing two of the final three games of the season, Liverpool ended 1921-22 as
comfortable champions, six points ahead of second-placed Tottenham.
To make things
even sweeter, north-west rivals Manchester United were relegated after
finishing bottom.
|
#
|
Team
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
G.Avg
|
Pts
|
|
1
|
Liverpool FC
|
42
|
15
|
4
|
2
|
43
|
15
|
7
|
9
|
5
|
20
|
21
|
1.75
|
57
|
|
2
|
Tottenham
|
42
|
15
|
3
|
3
|
43
|
17
|
6
|
6
|
9
|
22
|
22
|
1.67
|
51
|
|
3
|
Burnley
|
42
|
16
|
3
|
2
|
49
|
18
|
6
|
2
|
13
|
23
|
36
|
1.33
|
49
|
|
4
|
Cardiff
City
|
42
|
13
|
2
|
6
|
40
|
26
|
6
|
8
|
7
|
21
|
27
|
1.15
|
48
|
|
5
|
Aston
Villa
|
42
|
16
|
3
|
2
|
50
|
19
|
6
|
0
|
15
|
24
|
36
|
1.35
|
47
|
|
6
|
Bolton
Wanderers
|
42
|
12
|
4
|
5
|
40
|
24
|
8
|
3
|
10
|
28
|
35
|
1.15
|
47
|
|
7
|
Newcastle
United
|
42
|
11
|
5
|
5
|
36
|
19
|
7
|
5
|
9
|
23
|
26
|
1.31
|
46
|
|
8
|
Middlesbrough
|
42
|
12
|
6
|
3
|
46
|
19
|
4
|
8
|
9
|
33
|
50
|
1.14
|
46
|
|
9
|
Chelsea
|
42
|
9
|
6
|
6
|
17
|
16
|
8
|
6
|
7
|
23
|
27
|
0.93
|
46
|
|
10
|
Manchester
City
|
42
|
13
|
7
|
1
|
44
|
21
|
5
|
2
|
14
|
21
|
49
|
0.93
|
45
|
|
11
|
Sheffield
United
|
42
|
11
|
3
|
7
|
32
|
17
|
4
|
7
|
10
|
27
|
37
|
1.09
|
40
|
|
12
|
Sunderland
|
42
|
13
|
4
|
4
|
46
|
23
|
3
|
4
|
14
|
14
|
39
|
0.97
|
40
|
|
13
|
WBA
|
42
|
8
|
6
|
7
|
26
|
23
|
7
|
4
|
10
|
25
|
40
|
0.81
|
40
|
|
14
|
Huddersfield
Town
|
42
|
12
|
3
|
6
|
33
|
14
|
3
|
6
|
12
|
20
|
40
|
0.98
|
39
|
|
15
|
Blackburn
Rovers
|
42
|
7
|
6
|
8
|
35
|
31
|
6
|
6
|
9
|
19
|
26
|
0.95
|
38
|
|
16
|
Preston
North End
|
42
|
12
|
7
|
2
|
33
|
20
|
1
|
5
|
15
|
9
|
45
|
0.65
|
38
|
|
17
|
Arsenal
|
42
|
10
|
6
|
5
|
27
|
19
|
5
|
1
|
15
|
20
|
37
|
0.84
|
37
|
|
18
|
Birmingham
City
|
42
|
9
|
2
|
10
|
25
|
29
|
6
|
5
|
10
|
23
|
31
|
0.80
|
37
|
|
19
|
Oldham
Athletic
|
42
|
8
|
7
|
6
|
21
|
15
|
5
|
4
|
12
|
17
|
35
|
0.76
|
37
|
|
20
|
Everton
|
42
|
10
|
7
|
4
|
42
|
22
|
2
|
5
|
14
|
15
|
33
|
1.04
|
36
|
|
21
|
Bradford
City
|
42
|
8
|
5
|
8
|
28
|
30
|
3
|
5
|
13
|
20
|
42
|
0.67
|
32
|
|
22
|
Manchester
United
|
42
|
7
|
7
|
7
|
25
|
26
|
1
|
5
|
15
|
16
|
47
|
0.56
|
28
|
Back to Back
titles
1st and 2nd row are players
that made less contribution to the title triumph among them in top row: Danny Shone (3rd from left), John Bamber (7th)
and Cyril Gilhespy (8th).
Harold Wadsworth, Walter's brother is second from right in the 2nd row and Joe
Hewitt (Trainer) on the extreme right.
3rd row: Charlie Wilson (Trainer), Billy Lacey, Dick Forshaw, Jock
McNab, Walter Wadsworth, Elisha Scott, Donald MacKinlay, Ephraim Longworth, Tom
Bromilow, Dick Johnson, Harry Chambers, Fred Hopkin, W Connell (Trainer).
Front row: Matt McQueen (Director), W. Cartwright (Director), E.
Bainbridge (Director), R. Martindale (Director), W.R. Williams (Chairman), J.
Astbury (Vice Chairman), T. Compton (Director), W. Webb (director), ?, George
Patterson (Secretary).
They say it's
harder to retain the Championship than to win it in the first place – and the
task is made even tougher when your manager jumps ship midway through the
season.
But this is
exactly what the Reds did in 1922-23 despite the departure in February of boss
David Ashworth, who, with his side on the brink of back to back titles, decided
to return to the club where he started out, Oldham Athletic.
His decision was
never fully explained to the Anfield faithful. It seemed even more bizarre
given the fact Oldham were bottom of the League at the time, and indeed went on
to suffer relegation.
Thankfully,
Ashworth's bombshell didn't affect things on the pitch and Liverpool went on to
clinch the Championship by finishing six points ahead of Sunderland.
There were
memorable victories against Arsenal (5-2) and Sunderland (5-1) along the way,
though the highlight of the campaign undoubtedly came with a 5-1 victory in the
Merseyside derby. Liverpool had
actually fallen behind early in the game, but an unforgettable victory was
sealed thanks largely to top scorer Harry Chambers.
It was he who
netted a bullet header to level things up before firing again shortly after the
restart. Match reports suggest many Kopites missed the latter because they were
still drinking Brown Ale at the bar.
The former
shipyard worker went on to complete a hat-trick against the old enemy with a
curler from outside the box.
Chambers finished
the season with an impressive tally of 25 goals in all competitions, but he
wasn't the only star in the title-winning side of 1922-23.
There was Dick
Forshaw, who bagged 20 goals including a hat-trick against Preston North End.
Legend: Elisha Scott
Then there
was legendary goalkeeper Elisha Scott, an ever present in what was the 10th
of his 22-year Anfield career. What he lacked in size, he made up for in
courage and agility, and it's unlikely the title would have once again found
its way back to Merseyside without him.
|
#
|
Team
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
G.Avg
|
Pts
|
|
1
|
Liverpool FC
|
42
|
17
|
3
|
1
|
50
|
13
|
9
|
5
|
7
|
20
|
18
|
2.26
|
60
|
|
2
|
Sunderland
|
42
|
15
|
5
|
1
|
50
|
25
|
7
|
5
|
9
|
22
|
29
|
1.33
|
54
|
|
3
|
Huddersfield
Town
|
42
|
14
|
2
|
5
|
35
|
15
|
7
|
9
|
5
|
25
|
17
|
1.88
|
53
|
|
4
|
Newcastle
United
|
42
|
13
|
6
|
2
|
31
|
11
|
5
|
6
|
10
|
14
|
26
|
1.22
|
48
|
|
5
|
Everton
|
42
|
14
|
4
|
3
|
41
|
20
|
6
|
3
|
12
|
22
|
39
|
1.07
|
47
|
|
6
|
Aston
Villa
|
42
|
15
|
3
|
3
|
42
|
11
|
3
|
7
|
11
|
22
|
40
|
1.25
|
46
|
|
7
|
WBA
|
42
|
12
|
7
|
2
|
38
|
10
|
5
|
4
|
12
|
20
|
39
|
1.18
|
45
|
|
8
|
Manchester
City
|
42
|
14
|
6
|
1
|
38
|
16
|
3
|
5
|
13
|
12
|
33
|
1.02
|
45
|
|
9
|
Cardiff
City
|
42
|
15
|
2
|
4
|
51
|
18
|
3
|
5
|
13
|
22
|
41
|
1.24
|
43
|
|
10
|
Sheffield
United
|
42
|
11
|
7
|
3
|
41
|
20
|
5
|
3
|
13
|
27
|
44
|
1.06
|
42
|
|
11
|
Arsenal
|
42
|
13
|
4
|
4
|
38
|
16
|
3
|
6
|
12
|
23
|
46
|
0.98
|
42
|
|
12
|
Tottenham
|
42
|
11
|
3
|
7
|
34
|
22
|
6
|
4
|
11
|
16
|
28
|
1.00
|
41
|
|
13
|
Bolton
Wanderers
|
42
|
11
|
8
|
2
|
36
|
17
|
3
|
4
|
14
|
14
|
41
|
0.86
|
40
|
|
14
|
Blackburn
Rovers
|
42
|
12
|
7
|
2
|
32
|
19
|
2
|
5
|
14
|
15
|
43
|
0.76
|
40
|
|
15
|
Burnley
|
42
|
12
|
3
|
6
|
39
|
24
|
4
|
3
|
14
|
19
|
35
|
0.98
|
38
|
|
16
|
Preston
North End
|
42
|
12
|
3
|
6
|
41
|
26
|
1
|
8
|
12
|
19
|
38
|
0.94
|
37
|
|
17
|
Birmingham
City
|
42
|
10
|
4
|
7
|
25
|
19
|
3
|
7
|
11
|
16
|
38
|
0.72
|
37
|
|
18
|
Middlesbrough
|
42
|
11
|
4
|
6
|
41
|
25
|
2
|
6
|
13
|
16
|
38
|
0.90
|
36
|
|
19
|
Chelsea
|
42
|
5
|
13
|
3
|
29
|
20
|
4
|
5
|
12
|
16
|
33
|
0.85
|
36
|
|
20
|
Nottingham
Forest
|
42
|
12
|
2
|
7
|
25
|
23
|
1
|
6
|
14
|
16
|
47
|
0.59
|
34
|
|
21
|
Stoke
City
|
42
|
7
|
9
|
5
|
28
|
19
|
3
|
1
|
17
|
19
|
48
|
0.70
|
30
|
|
22
|
Oldham
Athletic
|
42
|
9
|
6
|
6
|
21
|
20
|
1
|
4
|
16
|
14
|
45
|
0.54
|
30
|
Spion Kop gets a
roof
The summer of 1928
would mark a significant day in Liverpool Football Club's history.
Spion Kop
But it was not a
date that would see the emergence of one of our most illustrious players. Nor
was it the fact that club Secretary George Patterson had just replaced the
retiring Matt McQueen in the managerial hot-seat.
The Spion Kop opening program
souvenir
Instead it saw the
development of what would become one of football's most famous stands.
The Spion Kop had
already developed a reputation for being one of the most vocal stands in the
country, but after undergoing a major revamp that saw it extended to 425 feet
by 131 feet, it transformed into an imposing sight for opposition players,
housing up to 30,000 standing spectators.
The most important
addition saw it topped by an iron cantilever roof, a feature that would act an
as an amplifier for the deafening roars of a passionate crowd that would go on
to become one of world football's most talked about stands.
Mr. John McKenna
was on hand to officially open it and thus begin a tradition that would stretch
well into the 1990s and beyond with fans arriving as early as 11.30am on a
match day in order to secure their much coveted place in the famous Kop.
Balmer sets the
quickest goal record
Jack Balmer
achieved much in his 17-year Anfield career, not least the feat of scoring
hat-tricks in three consecutive games in 1946.
Jack Balmer
This wasn't his
first entry into the record books, however, because in February 1938 he netted
what is thought to be the fastest goal in Liverpool Football Club's long and
illustrious history.
Just 10 seconds
had passed in the season's second Merseyside derby at Goodison Park when Balmer
rippled the back of the net in front of 33,465 largely baffled spectators.
The game finished
3-1 to Liverpool – and what a day it was for their talented striker, who as a
boy had been on Everton's books.
#WECOMENOTTOPLAY
Next: WWII to The Shankly Era.
