| Season | 1951–52 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's football | ||||
| First Division | Manchester United | |||
| Second Division | Sheffield Wednesday | |||
| FA Cup | Newcastle United | |||
| ||||
The1951–52 season was the 72nd season of competitivefootball inEngland.
Four years after guiding them to glory in theFA Cup,Matt Busby guidedManchester United to their first league title triumph in 41 years. While still captained byJohnny Carey and featuring several other players from the 1948FA Cup winning team, Busby was now giving regular action to young players includingRoger Byrne,Johnny Berry andJackie Blanchflower, and had already invested in the future by making a move for the young goalkeeperRay Wood.[citation needed]
Tottenham Hotspur, the previous season's champions, had to settle for second place this season.[citation needed]
Newcastle United retained theFA Cup, the centrepiece of their team being the forward line-up ofJackie Milburn and theChilean brothersGeorge andTed Robledo.[citation needed]

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United(C) | 42 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 95 | 52 | 1.827 | 57 | |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 76 | 51 | 1.490 | 53 | |
| 3 | Arsenal | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 80 | 61 | 1.311 | 53 | |
| 4 | Portsmouth | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 68 | 58 | 1.172 | 48 | |
| 5 | Bolton Wanderers | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 65 | 61 | 1.066 | 48 | |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 79 | 70 | 1.129 | 47 | |
| 7 | Preston North End | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 74 | 54 | 1.370 | 46 | |
| 8 | Newcastle United | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 98 | 73 | 1.342 | 45 | |
| 9 | Blackpool | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 64 | 64 | 1.000 | 45 | |
| 10 | Charlton Athletic | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 68 | 63 | 1.079 | 44 | |
| 11 | Liverpool | 42 | 12 | 19 | 11 | 57 | 61 | 0.934 | 43 | |
| 12 | Sunderland | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 70 | 61 | 1.148 | 42 | |
| 13 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 74 | 77 | 0.961 | 41 | |
| 14 | Burnley | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 56 | 63 | 0.889 | 40 | |
| 15 | Manchester City | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 58 | 61 | 0.951 | 39 | |
| 16 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 73 | 73 | 1.000 | 38 | |
| 17 | Derby County | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 63 | 80 | 0.788 | 37 | |
| 18 | Middlesbrough | 42 | 15 | 6 | 21 | 64 | 88 | 0.727 | 36 | |
| 19 | Chelsea | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 52 | 72 | 0.722 | 36 | |
| 20 | Stoke City | 42 | 12 | 7 | 23 | 49 | 88 | 0.557 | 31 | |
| 21 | Huddersfield Town(R) | 42 | 10 | 8 | 24 | 49 | 82 | 0.598 | 28 | Relegation to theSecond Division |
| 22 | Fulham(R) | 42 | 8 | 11 | 23 | 58 | 77 | 0.753 | 27 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheffield Wednesday(C, P) | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 100 | 66 | 1.515 | 53 | Promotion to theFirst Division |
| 2 | Cardiff City(P) | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 72 | 54 | 1.333 | 51 | |
| 3 | Birmingham City | 42 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 67 | 56 | 1.196 | 51 | |
| 4 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 77 | 62 | 1.242 | 49 | |
| 5 | Leicester City | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 78 | 64 | 1.219 | 47 | |
| 6 | Leeds United | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 59 | 57 | 1.035 | 47 | |
| 7 | Everton | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 64 | 58 | 1.103 | 44 | |
| 8 | Luton Town | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 77 | 78 | 0.987 | 44 | |
| 9 | Rotherham United | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 73 | 71 | 1.028 | 42 | |
| 10 | Brentford | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 54 | 55 | 0.982 | 42 | |
| 11 | Sheffield United | 42 | 18 | 5 | 19 | 90 | 76 | 1.184 | 41 | |
| 12 | West Ham United | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 67 | 77 | 0.870 | 41 | |
| 13 | Southampton | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 61 | 73 | 0.836 | 41 | |
| 14 | Blackburn Rovers | 42 | 17 | 6 | 19 | 54 | 63 | 0.857 | 40 | |
| 15 | Notts County | 42 | 16 | 7 | 19 | 71 | 68 | 1.044 | 39 | |
| 16 | Doncaster Rovers | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 55 | 60 | 0.917 | 38 | |
| 17 | Bury | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 67 | 69 | 0.971 | 37 | |
| 18 | Hull City | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 60 | 70 | 0.857 | 37 | |
| 19 | Swansea Town | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 72 | 76 | 0.947 | 36 | |
| 20 | Barnsley | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 59 | 72 | 0.819 | 36 | |
| 21 | Coventry City(R) | 42 | 14 | 6 | 22 | 59 | 82 | 0.720 | 34 | Relegation to theThird Division South |
| 22 | Queens Park Rangers(R) | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 52 | 81 | 0.642 | 34 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lincoln City(C, P) | 46 | 30 | 9 | 7 | 121 | 52 | 2.327 | 69 | Promotion to theSecond Division |
| 2 | Grimsby Town | 46 | 29 | 8 | 9 | 96 | 45 | 2.133 | 66 | |
| 3 | Stockport County | 46 | 23 | 13 | 10 | 74 | 40 | 1.850 | 59 | |
| 4 | Oldham Athletic | 46 | 24 | 9 | 13 | 90 | 61 | 1.475 | 57 | |
| 5 | Gateshead | 46 | 21 | 11 | 14 | 66 | 49 | 1.347 | 53 | |
| 6 | Mansfield Town | 46 | 22 | 8 | 16 | 73 | 60 | 1.217 | 52 | |
| 7 | Carlisle United | 46 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 62 | 57 | 1.088 | 51 | |
| 8 | Bradford (Park Avenue) | 46 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 74 | 64 | 1.156 | 50 | |
| 9 | Hartlepools United | 46 | 21 | 8 | 17 | 71 | 65 | 1.092 | 50 | |
| 10 | York City | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 73 | 52 | 1.404 | 49 | |
| 11 | Tranmere Rovers | 46 | 21 | 6 | 19 | 76 | 71 | 1.070 | 48 | |
| 12 | Barrow | 46 | 17 | 12 | 17 | 57 | 61 | 0.934 | 46 | |
| 13 | Chesterfield | 46 | 17 | 11 | 18 | 65 | 66 | 0.985 | 45 | |
| 14 | Scunthorpe & Lindsey United | 46 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 65 | 74 | 0.878 | 44 | |
| 15 | Bradford City | 46 | 16 | 10 | 20 | 61 | 68 | 0.897 | 42 | |
| 16 | Crewe Alexandra | 46 | 17 | 8 | 21 | 63 | 82 | 0.768 | 42 | |
| 17 | Southport | 46 | 15 | 11 | 20 | 53 | 71 | 0.746 | 41 | |
| 18 | Wrexham | 46 | 15 | 9 | 22 | 63 | 73 | 0.863 | 39 | |
| 19 | Chester | 46 | 15 | 9 | 22 | 72 | 85 | 0.847 | 39 | |
| 20 | Halifax Town | 46 | 14 | 7 | 25 | 61 | 97 | 0.629 | 35 | |
| 21 | Rochdale | 46 | 11 | 13 | 22 | 47 | 79 | 0.595 | 35 | |
| 22 | Accrington Stanley | 46 | 10 | 12 | 24 | 61 | 92 | 0.663 | 32 | |
| 23 | Darlington | 46 | 11 | 9 | 26 | 64 | 103 | 0.621 | 31 | Re-elected |
| 24 | Workington | 46 | 11 | 7 | 28 | 50 | 91 | 0.549 | 29 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plymouth Argyle(C, P) | 46 | 29 | 8 | 9 | 107 | 53 | 2.019 | 66 | Promotion to theSecond Division |
| 2 | Reading | 46 | 29 | 3 | 14 | 112 | 60 | 1.867 | 61 | |
| 3 | Norwich City | 46 | 26 | 9 | 11 | 89 | 50 | 1.780 | 61 | |
| 4 | Millwall | 46 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 74 | 53 | 1.396 | 58 | |
| 5 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 46 | 24 | 10 | 12 | 87 | 63 | 1.381 | 58 | |
| 6 | Newport County | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 77 | 76 | 1.013 | 54 | |
| 7 | Bristol Rovers | 46 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 89 | 53 | 1.679 | 52 | |
| 8 | Northampton Town | 46 | 22 | 5 | 19 | 93 | 74 | 1.257 | 49 | |
| 9 | Southend United | 46 | 19 | 10 | 17 | 75 | 66 | 1.136 | 48 | |
| 10 | Colchester United | 46 | 17 | 12 | 17 | 56 | 77 | 0.727 | 46 | |
| 11 | Torquay United | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 86 | 98 | 0.878 | 44 | |
| 12 | Aldershot | 46 | 18 | 8 | 20 | 78 | 89 | 0.876 | 44 | |
| 13 | Port Vale | 46 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 50 | 66 | 0.758 | 43 | Transferred to theThird Division North |
| 14 | Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | 46 | 16 | 10 | 20 | 69 | 75 | 0.920 | 42 | |
| 15 | Bristol City | 46 | 15 | 12 | 19 | 58 | 69 | 0.841 | 42 | |
| 16 | Swindon Town | 46 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 51 | 68 | 0.750 | 42 | |
| 17 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 16 | 9 | 21 | 63 | 74 | 0.851 | 41 | |
| 18 | Leyton Orient | 46 | 16 | 9 | 21 | 55 | 68 | 0.809 | 41 | |
| 19 | Crystal Palace | 46 | 15 | 9 | 22 | 61 | 80 | 0.763 | 39 | |
| 20 | Shrewsbury Town | 46 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 62 | 86 | 0.721 | 36 | |
| 21 | Watford | 46 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 57 | 81 | 0.704 | 36 | |
| 22 | Gillingham | 46 | 11 | 13 | 22 | 71 | 81 | 0.877 | 35 | |
| 23 | Exeter City | 46 | 13 | 9 | 24 | 65 | 86 | 0.756 | 35 | Re-elected |
| 24 | Walsall | 46 | 13 | 5 | 28 | 55 | 94 | 0.585 | 31 |
First Division
Second Division
Third Division North
Third Division South