| 1944–45 in Scottish football | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Southern League champions | |
| Rangers | |
| North-Eastern League (Autumn) champions | |
| Dundee | |
| North-Eastern League (Spring) champions | |
| Aberdeen | |
| Summer Cup winners | |
| Partick Thistle | |
| Southern League Cup winners | |
| Rangers | |
| North-Eastern League Cup (Autumn) winners | |
| Aberdeen | |
| North-Eastern League Cup (Spring) winners | |
| Aberdeen | |
| Junior Cup winners | |
| Burnbank Athletic |
The1944–45 season was the 72nd season of competitivefootball in Scotland and the sixth season of special wartime football duringWorld War II.
Between 1939 and 1946 normal competitive football was suspended in Scotland. Many footballers signed up to fight in the war and as a result many teams were depleted, and fielded guest players instead. TheScottish Football League andScottish Cup were suspended and in their place regional league competitions were set up. Appearances in these tournaments do not count in players' official records.
League competition was split into two regional leagues, theSouthern League and theNorth-Eastern League.[1] No country-wide cup competition took place, theGlasgow Cup,[2]East of Scotland Shield andRenfrewshire Cup continued, theForfarshire Cup was revived andSouthern[3] andNorth-Eastern[4] League Cups were competed for, the Southern League Cup would later form the basis ofthe League Cup. TheSummer Cup was played for bySouthern League teams during May and June once league competition had been completed.
Due to the war official international football was suspended and so officially theScotland team was inactive. However unofficial internationals featuring scratch teams representing Scotland continued. Appearances in these matches are not, however, included in a players total international caps.
Scotland facedEngland in a wartime international on 14 October 1944 atWembley in front of 90,000 fans. The Scotland team lost 6–2 with their goals coming fromTommy Walker andArthur Milne. The Scotland team that day comprised:David Cumming,Jimmy Stephen,George Cummings,Bob Thyne,Bobby Baxter,Archie Macaulay,Gordon Smith, Tommy Walker, Arthur Milne,Andy Black andJimmy Caskie.[8]
The two teams met again on 3 February 1945 atVilla Park,Birmingham in front of a crowd of 65,780. England won again, this time 3–2, withJimmy Delaney andJock Dodds accounting for Scotland's goals. The Scotland team featured:Bobby Brown,Jim Harley, Jimmy Stephen,Matt Busby, Bob Thyne, Archie Macaulay, Jimmy Delaney,Willie Fagan, Jock Dodds, Andy Black,Billy Liddell.
They met for a third time atHampden Park on 14 April where a crowd of 133,000 saw England win 6–1.Leslie Johnston scored for Scotland after, unusually at the time, coming on a substitute. The line up was: Bobby Brown, Jim Harley, Jimmy Stephen,Matt Busby,John Harris, Archie Macaulay,Willie Waddell,Tommy Bogan (Leslie Johnston 2'),Tony Harris, Andy Black andJohn Kelly.[9]