26 January

[Dean Stanley]

The last matches of the Football League's inaugural season were played and Preston North End were convincing winners with a record of:
P22,W18,D4,L0,F74,A15,40 Points.
Aston Villa finished runners-up with:
P22,W12,D5,L5,F61,A43,29 Points.

[Dean Stanley]

Aston Villa and Clapton Orient fought out a goalless draw in their Fourth Round F.A. Cup tie at Villa Park. Five days later Villa won the replay 8-0 at Orient's ground.

[Dean Stanley]

Dr K.P. O'Flanagan (Arsenal) played rugby for Ireland against France in Dublin. Seven days later he played soccer for Ireland against Scotland. This represents the shortest period in history that this particular feat has been achieved.

[Dean Stanley]

For the fifth successive week very few matches were played in England and Scotland due to the severity of the weather. As a result, for Football Pools purposes, a panel of experts sat to assess the likely outcome of postponed matches. This was the first Pools Panel and was chaired by Lord Brabazon with Ted Drake, Arthur Ellis, Tom Finney, Tommy Lawton and George Young. A different panel of celebrities sat for each of the next three wekks until the weather relented.

[Dean Stanley]

Ten professional or ex-professional footballers were found guilty at Nottingham Assizes of conspiracy to defraud by fixing match results. All received prison sentences ranging from four months to four years. The players involved were Jimmy Gauld, Peter Swan, Tony Kay, Ken Thomson, Dick Beattie, David Layne, John Fountain, Brian Phillips, Ron Howells and Sam Chapman. Swan and Kay were both England internationals with 19 and 14 caps respectively while Beattie was a Scottish under-23 international.

[Dean Stanley]

Kettering Town became the first club to carry advertising on their team strip.