By Russell Plummer

The 1940s opened with a move to disband Peterborough United and although it was heavily defeated, the club then came worryingly close to losing its London Road home. Fortunately, Posh weathered all the storms and survived to resume in the Midland League in the 1945-46 season and, thanks to the introduction of players with Football League experience, started to make progress on the field.

The beginning of the Second World War in September 1939 brought an almost immediate suspension of Midland League action after the Posh's first full time manager Sam Haden had built what was widely regarded as the strongest side since the club's formation in 1934. Posh began the 1939-40 season in great style winning their first three league games, following an 8-0 demolition of Notts Country Reserves, with four of the goals scored by Jack Haycox, a recruit from Northampton Town, by putting four goals past both Lincoln City Reserves and Shrewsbury Town.

With no regular league programme Posh then took part with seven other Midland League clubs - Scunthorpe and Lindsey United, Boston, Denaby, Grantham, Frickley, Gainsborough and Newark - in two wartime mini-league competitions. They finished second in the opening series before topping the table in the second. It was decided there would be a play-off between the two league winners and Posh duly defeated Scunthorpe and Lindsay United 3-2 at London Road in May 1940.

It was rather pointless exercise, however, the Midland League's annual meeting having already decided there would be no championship trophy or winners' medals awarded. The public was left to regard Scunthorpe as champions for the first half of the campaign with Posh top dogs in the second. For a long time afterwards, Posh fans described this as the season their side won half a championship!

Even in the rather unreal competitive atmosphere of that season it was clear just what Posh might have achieved with consistently impressive displays from an attack in which the star players were Tommy Rudkin, signed the previous summer from Lincoln City, and left winger Tommy Johnstone.

Before the start of the 1940-41 season, the Midland League was completely suspended and in July 1940 a suggestion from a group of shareholders that Posh should also disband for the duration of the war was heavily defeated. Posh reported a loss of £218 on the previous season and in a patriotic gesture from the Supporters' Club, £100 was invested in War Loans.

With many of the players by then drafted into the armed force, Posh played only friendly matches, using the players available, but crowds dwindled to just a few hundred. This put a strain on finances and Posh were in arrears with the City Council for the rent of London Road, matters coming to a head in March 1942 when the local Newalls Sports Club offered to take the ground for £80 a year over a 10 period.

Posh were still a year's rent of £50 in arrears and Sam Haden, then serving in the RAF, insisted that if Posh lost London Road they would not get back into the Midland League when the competition resumed. A worrying spell was finally ended when County Councillor W.H.Tebbs and his brother paid the outstanding rent and a 'fighting fund' was then started to keep things going.

Matches were still few and far between, although Posh beat a Czech Army XI and in November 1943 a soccer starved crowd of 1,700 turned out to see a game between two Anti-aircraft Command teams. Playing for one of them was a young goalkeeper called George Swindin who let in eight on his first appearance at London Road. He later went on to star for Arsenal in the old First Division and returned to London Road as manager guiding Posh to their first Midland League championships a decade later.

During May 1944, Posh sold Tommy Johnstone to Nottingham Forest for the princely sum of £50 - and with the promise of a further £50 if he was retained at the City Ground. The deal also included a visit of Forest for a friendly at the start of the following season, 3,200 watching the September game when Forest, with Everton's Dixie Dean guesting at centre forward, won 5-2.

Posh players training at London Road during the 1945-46
season with the old wooden stand in the background.

Shareholders at the club's 11th annual meeting in the summer of 1945 were told of a balance of £520 and, with the end of the war in Europe, Posh started looking to the future and there was some heated debate whether the club should return to the Midland League or join the Southern League when competition resumed in August 1945.

In the end, support for the Midland League won the day and a crowd of 2,002 saw Posh start with a 4-2 home win against Notts. County Reserves after a large number of fans turned out during August out to help get the ground back into shape. With a lot of players still away with the forces, more than half the side, including Bernie Bryan, Cyril Parrott and Cliff Woods were local players and this set a tone for the season when the names of no fewer than 54 different players appeared on the team sheets. Yet Posh still managed to finish a creditable ninth in the final table.

Colin Beardshaw captained the side from the centre half spot but shortage of players was a problem with star forward Rudkin only able to turn out when he could get leave. Things were so desperate for a match at Shrewsbury near the end of the season that manager Haden had to get out his boots and turn out in the forward line for the first time since 1938. Memorable games included a 3-1 Easter home victory over Grantham Town and a 9-1 FA Cup mauling of Rushden Town when Laxton hit six of the Posh goals.

Before the start of 1946-47 season Peterborough United put up admission prices for the first time since the formation of the club in 1934 with an increase of three old pence from one shilling (5p) to 1-3d (7.5p). Three new directors were appointed at the annual meeting, among them Frank Stimson who later became an inspirational club chairman as Posh intensified efforts to gain Football League status in the 1950s.

Peterborough United 1945-46 - the club's first post-war
squad with trainer Harry Willis standing right

There were 25 players on the Peterborough United books when the 1946-47 campaign started with Posh looking smart in a new kit that was a very welcome gift of the people of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Improvements included a new public address system and lights were fitted to the London Road grandstand to allow evening training sessions in preparation for FA Cup action, including a visit to Yeovil.

The infamous sloping pitch held no terrors for Posh who looked to be coasting to victory when goalkeeper Shallcross unaccountably gave away a penalty from which Yeovil equalised. A record of 8,691 saw the replay at London Road settled by a Rudkin goal and Posh's reward was a home tie against Northampton Town that ended all square at 1-1.

This was also the final score after a County Ground replay went to extra time - but in a second replay at Coventry the Cobblers stormed to an 8-1 success, inflicting what is still Posh's biggest FA Cup reverse. It also turned out to be star winger Rudkin's last Posh appearance as he was sold to Arsenal for £1,800 just a couple of days before Christmas 1946.