1921–22 Tranmere Rovers F.C. season

Tranmere Rovers F.C.

1921–22 season
Chairman	WH Stott
Manager	Bert Cooke
Stadium	Prenton Park
Football League Third Division North	18th (of 20)
FA Cup	Fourth Qualifying Round (eliminated by Altrincham)
Top goalscorer	League: Groves (7) All: Bullough, Groves (7)
Highest home attendance	10,000 vs Southport (18 April 1922)
Lowest home attendance	3,000 vs Durham City (1 April 1922)
Average home league attendance	6,287
Team colours
← 1920–21 1922–23 →

The 1921–22 season was the first season of league football played by Tranmere Rovers. They joined the Football League Third Division North, when it was established after the restructuring of the English league system. The club played their first fixture, against Crewe Alexandra, at Prenton Park on 27 August 1921, winning 4–1.

Rovers ended the season in 18th place out of 20 teams, finishing ahead on goal average from Halifax Town, who had to apply for re-election. They were eliminated from the FA Cup in the Fourth Qualifying Round, losing a replay to non-league Altrincham.

Review

Before first Football League match^[1]

Prior to the start of the 1919–20 season, The Football League had formed a new Third Division, composed primarily of southern teams.^[2] On 7 March 1921, Tranmere – then members of the Central League – were invited to become founder members of the new Division Three North.^[2][3] At this time the team were managed by Bert Cooke, who did so for 23 years in total, the club record for longest serving manager.^[4]

In preparation for their new football league status, Tranmere made eleven new signings, meaning there were 25 professional players by the start of the season. They also bought the freehold on their ground, Prenton Park, for £7,500. Unlike their neighbours Everton and Liverpool, Tranmere could not sustain such growth and were forced to raise admission prices, causing an outcry amongst fans.^[5]

On 27 August 1921 at 3:15 pm, Tranmere started their first Football League match against Crewe Alexandra at Prenton Park.^[6] Attendance was affected by the new ticket prices, with 7,011 spectators present. Billy Caulfield scored first for Crewe, with Charles Milnes equalising for Tranmere as they went on to a 4–1 victory.^[6]

Tranmere's first six games produced two wins, two draws and two defeats. However, they performed poorly over the rest of the season. They were eliminated from the FA Cup in the Fourth Qualifying Round, losing 4–2 to non-league Altrincham at home, after a 4–4 away draw, and thus being the Robins' first ever league victims.^[7] They finished 18th of 20 in the league, only finishing ahead of Halifax Town on goal average, who had to apply for re-election.^[8]

The optimism felt by the directors at the start of the season about being on par with their Merseyside rivals changed to uncertainty.^[5] This is reflected in the statistics for the season: thirty-one players were used in total, with only seven making more than twenty appearances; the top league scorer was Fred Groves, with seven goals.^[5]

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GA	GD		Pts
1	Stockport County	38		13	5	1	36	10		11	3	5	24	11		60	21	2.857	+39		56
2	Darlington	38		15	2	2	52	7		7	4	8	29	30		81	37	2.189	+44		50
3	Grimsby Town	38		15	4	0	54	15		6	4	9	18	32		72	47	1.532	+25		50
4	Hartlepools United	38		10	6	3	33	11		7	2	10	19	28		52	39	1.333	+13		42
5	Accrington Stanley	38		15	1	3	50	15		4	2	13	23	42		73	57	1.281	+16		41
6	Crewe Alexandra	38		13	1	5	39	21		5	4	10	21	35		60	56	1.071	+4		41
7	Stalybridge Celtic	38		14	3	2	42	15		4	2	13	20	48		62	63	0.984	–1		41
8	Walsall	38		15	2	2	52	17		3	1	15	14	48		66	65	1.015	+1		39
9	Southport	38		11	6	2	39	12		3	4	12	16	32		55	44	1.250	+11		38
10	Ashington	38		13	2	4	42	22		4	2	13	17	44		59	66	0.894	–7		38
11	Durham City	38		14	0	5	43	20		3	3	13	25	47		68	67	1.015	+1		37
12	Wrexham	38		12	4	3	40	17		2	5	12	11	39		51	56	0.911	–5		37
13	Chesterfield	38		12	2	5	33	15		4	1	14	15	52		48	67	0.716	–19		35
14	Lincoln City	38		11	2	6	32	20		3	4	12	16	39		48	59	0.814	–11		34
15	Barrow	38		11	2	6	29	18		3	3	13	13	36		42	54	0.778	–12		33
16	Nelson	38		7	6	6	27	23		6	1	12	21	43		48	66	0.727	–18		33
17	Wigan Borough	38		9	4	6	32	28		2	5	12	14	44		46	72	0.639	–26		31
18	Tranmere Rovers	38		7	5	7	41	25		2	6	11	10	36		51	61	0.836	–10		29
19	Halifax Town	38		9	4	6	37	28		1	5	13	19	48		56	76	0.737	–20		29
20	Rochdale	38		9	2	8	34	24		2	2	15	18	53		52	77	0.675	–25		26

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against;
GA = Goal average; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	New club in the league: all except Stockport County, Grimsby Town
	Re-elected
	Failed re-election (none)

Results

All data relating to league,^[9] FA Cup^[9] and other matches,^[10] and own goal scorers^[11] are sourced from Upton and Wilson (1997). In the results column, Tranmere's score is given first. H, A and N refer to home, away and neutral venues, respectively.

Football League Third Division North

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score	Scorers	Attendance
27 August 1921	Crewe Alexandra	H	W	4–1	Stuart, Milnes, Groves, Ford	7,011
3 September 1921	Crewe Alexandra	A	D	1–1	Prentice	8,000
10 September 1921	Walsall	H	L	0–1		8,446
17 September 1921	Walsall	A	L	0–2		11,000
24 September 1921	Halifax Town	H	D	2–2	Bullough, Prentice	7,000
1 October 1921	Halifax Town	A	W	2–0	Groves, Bullough	8,000
8 October 1921	Rochdale	A	L	1–2	Bullough	6,000
15 October 1921	Rochdale	H	W	7–0	Groves (2), Bullough, Cunningham (4)	6,000
22 October 1921	Stalybridge Celtic	H	W	4–1	Campbell, Ford, Groves, Cunningham	5,000
29 October 1921	Stalybridge Celtic	A	L	0–4		6,000
5 November 1921	Wigan Borough	A	D	0–0		10,000
12 November 1921	Wigan Borough	H	W	2–0	Groves (2)	8,000
26 November 1921	Hartlepools United	A	D	0–0		6,000
10 December 1921	Southport	A	D	1–1	Bullough	5,000
17 December 1921	Stockport County	H	L	0–2		8,000
24 December 1921	Stockport County	A	D	0–0		8,000
26 December 1921	Ashington	H	L	2–3	Hilton, Cunningham	8,000
27 December 1921	Hartlepools United	H	L	1–2	Prentice	7,000
31 December 1921	Grimsby Town	H	D	2–2	Roberts, Lloyy	6,000
14 January 1922	Grimsby Town	A	L	1–5	Hilton	7,000
21 January 1922	Accrington Stanley	H	L	2–4	Moreton, Ford	4,000
28 January 1922	Accrington Stanley	A	L	0–3		5,000
4 February 1922	Darlington	A	L	0–4		3,000
11 February 1922	Darlington	H	L	0–1		6,000
18 February 1922	Lincoln City	A	L	1–4	Stuart	4,000
25 February 1922	Lincoln City	H	W	4–0	Mercer, Moreton, Fulton, Ward (o.g.)	5,000
4 March 1922	Ashington	A	L	0–1		4,200
18 March 1922	Barrow	H	D	2–2	Stuart, Fulton	4,000
25 March 1922	Barrow	A	L	0–2		4,000
1 April 1922	Durham	H	D	3–3	Ford, Fulton, Musgrove (o.g.)	3,000
8 April 1922	Durham	A	L	0–3		1,500
14 April 1922	Chesterfield	H	W	2–0	Moreton, Lloyd	8,000
15 April 1922	Wrexham	H	D	0–0		6,000
17 April 1922	Chesterfield	A	L	0–3		6,000
18 April 1922	Southport	H	L	0–1		10,000
22 April 1922	Wrexham	A	W	3–1	Stuart, Rainford (2)	3,700
29 April 1922	Nelson	H	W	4–0	Campbell, Milnes, Moreton, Rainford	3,000
6 May 1922	Nelson	A	D	0–0

FA Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score	Scorers	Attendance	Notes
19 November 1921	Altrincham	A	D	4–4	Cook, Bullough, Prentice (2)	2,000	Fourth Qualifying Round
24 November 1921	Altrincham	H	L	2–4	Cook, Bullough	4,000	Replay

Secondary fixtures

Date	Competition	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score	Scorers	Attendance	Notes
28 September 1921	Cheshire Senior Medals	Stockport County	A	L	0–3
5 April 1922	Liverpool Senior Cup	New Brighton	A	W	4–2
1 May 1922	Liverpool Senior Cup	Everton	N	L	0–1			At Anfield
8 May 1922	Liverpool County Medals	Skelmersdale United	N	W	2–0			At Goodison Park
11 May 1922	Liverpool County Medals	Marine	N	W	2–0			At Anfield, semi-final
13 May 1922	Liverpool County Medals	Liverpool	A	W	2–0		14,000	Final
23 February 1922	Friendly	Unemployed XI	H	W	4–0			Raised £33 for the National Unemployed Workers' Movement
11 March 1922	Friendly	Crewe Alexandra	H	W	5–1
22 April 1922	Friendly	League XI	H	L	0–2
4 May 1922	Friendly	Stoke City	H	W	4–3		1,000	Testimonial for Moreton, Cunningham and Leck

Player statistics

Bert Cooke used a total of 31 players during the 1921–22 season and there were fifteen different goalscorers. The team played in a 2–3–5 formation (the standard formation at the time) throughout the campaign, with two fullbacks, three halfbacks, two outside forwards, two inside forwards and a centre forward. Harry Bradshaw – the goalkeeper – played in every league and cup game, whilst Tom Stuart – a left back – missed just one match, the defeat to Accrington Stanley on 21 January. All data relating to appearances^[9] and first names^[12] are sourced from Upton and Wilson (1997).

Name	Position	League apps	League goals	FA Cup apps	FA Cup goals	Total apps	Total goals
Baldwin, EdmundEdmund Baldwin	CF	1	0	0	0	1	0
Bradshaw, HarryHarry Bradshaw	G	38	0	2	0	40	0
Bullough, DenisDenis Bullough	CF	9	5	2	2	11	7
Campbell, JohnnyJohnny Campbell	WH	26	2	2	0	28	0
Cook, FredFred Cook	OR	16	0	2	2	18	2
Cunningham, CharlieCharlie Cunningham	IL	32	6	2	0	38	6
Fairclough, PeterPeter Fairclough	LH	8	0	0	0	8	0
Ford, JohnJohn Ford	IR	15	4	0	0	15	4
Forshaw, AllenAllen Forshaw	RB	1	0	0	0	1	0
Fulton, DavidDavid Fulton	CF	8	3	0	0	8	3
Grainger, JohnJohn Grainger	RB	1	0	0	0	1	0
Groves, FredFred Groves	IR	12	7	0	0	12	7
Hayes, CharlieCharlie Hayes	RB	17	0	2	0	19	0
Heslop, TomTom Heslop	LH	8	0	0	0	8	0
Hilton, HaroldHarold Hilton	IR	18	2	0	0	18	2
Hughes, ThomasThomas Hughes	OL	3	0	0	0	3	0
Hyam, JamesJames Hyam	CF	1	0	0	0	1	0
Lloyd, EvanEvan Lloyd	CF	11	2	0	0	11	2
Mercer, JoeJoe Mercer	CH	16	1	2	0	18	1
Milnes, CharlesCharles Milnes	CH	16	2	0	0	16	2
Moorhouse, GeorgeGeorge Moorhouse	OL	2	0	0	0	2	0
Moreton, JimmyJimmy Moreton	OR	26	4	2	0	28	4
Niven, JamesJames Niven	LB	17	0	0	0	17	0
Prentice, JohnJohn Prentice	OL	23	3	2	2	25	4
Rainford, BillyBilly Rainford	IL	15	3	0	0	15	3
Roberts, JamesJames Roberts	OL	32	1	2	0	34	1
Robinson, AlfredAlfred Robinson	IR	4	0	0	0	4	0
Stott, TomTom Stott	CF	1	0	0	0	1	0
Stuart, TomTom Stuart	LB	37	4	2	0	39	4
Sugden, ArthurArthur Sugden	RB	3	0	0	0	3	0
Winn, EdwardEdward Winn	CH	1	0	0	0	1	0

Notes

1. Bishop (1998).
2. Upton (1991). "Football League via Central – 1919–21". Tranmere Rovers, 1881–1921: A New History. pp. 61–68.
3. Felton, Paul; Spencer, Barry (14 June 2000). "England 1921–22". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
4. "Tranmere Rovers Managers Since 1912". Tranmere Rovers F.C. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
5. Upton (1991). "Epilogue and Epitaph – 1921". Tranmere Rovers, 1881–1921: A New History. pp. 69–76.
6. "Club History". Tranmere Rovers F.C. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
7. Rowley, Terry (June 2005). "Altrincham FC A to Z". Altrincham F.C. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
8. "Division 3 (North) 1921/22". FootballSite.co.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
9. Upton; Wilson (1997). "1921–1922". Tranmere Rovers 1921–1997: A Complete Record. p. 12.
10. Upton; Wilson (1997). "Secondary Fixtures". Tranmere Rovers 1921–1997: A Complete Record. pp. 124–130.
11. Upton; Wilson (1997). "Own Goals". Tranmere Rovers 1921–1997: A Complete Record. pp. 115–117.
12. Upton; Wilson (1997). "Players' Data". Tranmere Rovers 1921–1997: A Complete Record. pp. 101–108.

References

• Bishop, Peter (1990). The A–Z of Tranmere Rovers. Ellesmere Port: Chester IV Graphics. ASIN B0011SRSOG.

• Upton, Gilbert (December 1991). Tranmere Rovers, 1881–1921: A New History. ISBN 978-0-9518648-0-7.

• Upton, Gilbert; Wilson, Steve (November 1997). Tranmere Rovers 1921–1997: A Complete Record. ISBN 978-0-9518648-2-1.

• Bishop, Peter (1 November 1998). Tranmere Rovers Football Club. Images of England. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 978-0-7524-1505-5.