1931–32 West Ham United F.C. season

West Ham United

1931–32 season
Chairman	William White
Manager	Syd King
Stadium	Boleyn Ground
First Division	First Division 22nd
FA Cup	Fourth round
Top goalscorer	League: Vic Watson (23) All: Vic Watson (25)
← 1930–31 1932–33 →

Season summary

The 1931–32 season was West Ham's eighth season in the First Division since their promotion in season 1922–23. The club were managed by Syd King.^[1] As a warm-up to the season West Ham completed a three match unbeaten tour of Switzerland and began the season with their first ever win at Bolton's Burnden Park. This would be one of only 12 wins all season which saw poor form for the team.^[2] West Ham gained a single point from their last 10 games, finished 22nd and bottom and were relegated to the Second Division.^[3] Vic Watson was the top scorer with 25 goals in all competitions. He was also top scorer in the league with 23. Jimmy Ruffell made the most appearances; 41 in all competitions.^[3] West Ham made the fourth round of the FA Cup before being eliminated by Chelsea. Relegation for West Ham had a dramatic effect on the mental health of manager King. Suffering from delusions these became chronic during the season a were a factor towards his sacking and death the following season.^[4]

First Division

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Everton	42	26	4	12	116	64	1.813	56
2	Arsenal	42	22	10	10	90	48	1.875	54
3	Sheffield Wednesday	42	22	6	14	96	82	1.171	50
4	Huddersfield Town	42	19	10	13	80	63	1.270	48
5	Aston Villa	42	19	8	15	104	72	1.444	46
6	West Bromwich Albion	42	20	6	16	77	55	1.400	46
7	Sheffield United	42	20	6	16	80	75	1.067	46
8	Portsmouth	42	19	7	16	62	62	1.000	45
9	Birmingham	42	18	8	16	78	67	1.164	44
10	Liverpool	42	19	6	17	81	93	0.871	44
11	Newcastle United	42	18	6	18	80	87	0.920	42
12	Chelsea	42	16	8	18	69	73	0.945	40
13	Sunderland	42	15	10	17	67	73	0.918	40
14	Manchester City	42	13	12	17	83	73	1.137	38
15	Derby County	42	14	10	18	71	75	0.947	38
16	Blackburn Rovers	42	16	6	20	89	95	0.937	38
17	Bolton Wanderers	42	17	4	21	72	80	0.900	38
18	Middlesbrough	42	15	8	19	64	89	0.719	38
19	Leicester City	42	15	7	20	74	94	0.787	37
20	Blackpool	42	12	9	21	65	102	0.637	33
21	Grimsby Town	42	13	6	23	67	98	0.684	32
22	West Ham United	42	12	7	23	62	107	0.579	31

Results

West Ham United's score comes first^[3]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
29 August 1931	Bolton Wanderers	A	1–0	15,740	Watson
31 August 1931	Chelsea	H	3–1	28,338	Norris, Weldon, Watson
5 September 1931	Middlesbrough	H	0–2	23,129
7 September 1931	Sheffield United	A	0–6	11,055
12 September 1931	Huddersfield	A	1–3	11,986	Watson
19 September 1931	Newcastle United	H	2–1	21,558	Watson, Ruffell
21 September 1931	Sheffield United	H	1–2	12,075	Ruffell
26 September 1931	Aston Villa	A	2–5	39,619	Wood, Tate (og)
3 October 1931	Leicester City	H	1–4	20,196	Weldon
10 October 1931	Liverpool	A	2–2	23,819	Weldon, Gibbins
17 October 1931	Manchester City	A	1–0	18,310	Ruffell
24 October 1931	Portsmouth	H	2–1	18,092	Ruffell (2)
31 October 1931	Derby County	A	1–5	10,424	Watson
7 November 1931	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–5	20,685	Ruffell
14 November 1931	Arsenal	A	1–4	41,028	Watson
21 November 1931	Blackpool	H	1–1	14,800	Ruffell
28 November 1931	Blackburn Rovers	A	4–2	8,426	Barrett, Phillips, Gibbins, Watson
5 December 1931	Everton	H	4–2	34,109	Ruffell (3), Wood
12 December 1931	Birmingham City	A	1–4	19,725	Watson
19 December 1931	Sunderland	H	2–2	6,505	Barrett, Watson
25 December 1931	Grimsby	A	1–2	15,132	Barrett
26 December 1931	Grimsby Town	H	3–1	23,859	Watson, Ruffell (2)
2 January 1932	Bolton Wanderers	H	3–1	15,997	Ruffell, Watson (2)
16 January 1932	Middlesbrough	A	2–3	8,287	Watson (2)
30 January 1932	Newcastle United	A	2–2	31,942	Cadwell, Watson
1 February 1932	Huddersfield Town	H	1–1	8,631	Watson
6 February 1932	Aston Villa	H	2–1	25,438	Yews, Phillips
18 February 1932	Leicester City	A	1–2	9,983	Ruffell
20 February 1932	Liverpool	H	1–0	15,721	Ruffell
2 March 1932	Manchester City	H	1–1	13,524	Chalkley
5 March 1932	Portsmouth	A	0–3	14,031
12 March 1932	Derby County	H	2–1	19,635	Watson, Ruffell
19 March 1932	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–3	19,002	Phillips
23 March 1932	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–2	19,794	Ruffell
26 March 1932	Arsenal	H	1–1	34,852	Watson
28 March 1932	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–6	14,848	Watson
2 April 1932	Blackpool	A	2–7	13,092	Morton, Watson
9 April 1932	Blackburn Rovers	H	1–3	10,136	Watson
16 April 1932	Everton	A	1–6	26,997	Cresswell (og)
23 April 1932	Birmingham City	H	2–4	10,983	Watson, Weldon
30 April 1932	Sunderland	A	0–2	13,528
7 May 1932	Chelsea	A	2–3	24,386	Yews, Barrett

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	9 January 1932	Charlton Athletic	A	2–1	26,500	Watson (2)
R4	23 January 1932	Chelsea	A	1–3	36,657	Weldon

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player DF Jim Barrett MF Albert Cadwell DF Alfred Chalkley DF Jimmy Collins DF Charlie Cox (captain) DF Bob Dixon DF Alfred Earl FW Vivian Gibbins DF Reg Goodacre FW Jim Harris GK Ted Hufton FW Wilf James FW Jackie Morton

No. Position Player FW Joe Musgrave MF Fred Norris FW Wilf Phillips FW Walter Pollard FW Syd Puddefoot MF Wally St Pier DF Reg Wade DF William Wade FW Vic Watson MF Tony Weldon FW Jim Wood MF Tommy Yews

References

1. "Ted Fenton". www.leaguemanagers.com. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
2. Blows, Kirk (2000). The Essential History of West Ham United. Headline Book Publishing. p. 66. ISBN 0747270368.
3. "Welcome to the Wonderful World of West Ham United Statistics – 1st Division 1931–32". www.westhamstats.info. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
4. Ronay, Barney (2010). The Manager: The absurd ascent of the most important man in football. ISBN 9780751542790.