THE advent of the Second World War in 1939 put an abrupt end to League football in England until 1946.

As our young men returned home from the War to take up their lives and careers, they looked for recreation to try to drive away the misery of the previous five years.

And, just as after the 1914-18 War, it was to football that they turned - and they just didn't come much bigger than Deepdale and Preston North End.

The fans packed the grounds in their thousands and, as photographs of the era show, the men and boys all wore headgear of some sort.

The men in trilby's or flat caps, the schoolboys in their 'Just William' caps.

No matter, the quality of the players involved was excellent and provided an ideal rebuilding platform for everyday life.

In that 1946/47 season Preston made a bold bid for the title but had to settle for seventh place, ten points behind champions Liverpool.

The following season North End again finished in seventh place as the title went to Highbury and Arsenal.

But in 1949 it all went horribly wrong for Preston and by a slender single point inferior to Middlesbrough and Huddersfield Town they were relegated, along with Sheffield United, and the town was in mourning.

That had the end of Preston North End in the top flight for the decade, but the fans still turned up in their thousands - and, as we shall see next week, Preston would soon bounce back.

Although they didn't win the First Division title between 1945 and 1950, Manchester United fans had wonderful value for money.

United were runners-up three consecutive seasons from 1947 to 1949, and in between they beat Blackpool to win the 1948 Cup Final by 4 goals to 2.

Earlier in 1947, Charlton Athletic beat Burnley 1-0 with a spectacular goal from Chris Duffy.

The immediate post war period saw a tour by Moscow Dynamo who in front of more than 80,000 fans at Stamford Bridge, drew 3-3 with Chelsea in a classic.

They went on to beat Cardiff City 10-1, drew 2-2 with Rangers and then in typical Russian fashion, with a match schedule to be played at Villa Park against an FA X1, they flew back to Moscow without explanation!

Nothing changes.

The tragic loss of 33 lives took place in March 1946 at Bolton's Burnden Park.

Bolton met Stoke City, with the Trotters leading 2-0 from the first leg.

Although the official attendance was set a 65,000 it was estimated that 85,000 was nearer the mark and people were crushed as fans and gatecrashers invaded the terracing.

In 1947, Stanley Matthews was transferred from Stoke City to Blackpool for £11,500 and Len Shackleton scored six goals on his debut for Newcastle United against Newport County.

In the 1947/48 season, Jack Fairbrother was transferred from Preston North End to Newcastle United for a then record fee of £7,000.

The following season Derby County broke the transfer record when they paid Manchester United £24,500 for inside forward Johnny Morris.

Further disaster struck football when 17 players, eight of them Italian Internationals, died in a plane crash taking Torino players back home from a tour of Portugal.

Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-0 in the 1950 Cup Final with both goals coming from Reg Lewis.

Many feel that Liverpool made the mistake of dropping Bob Paisley who played and scored in the semi-final against Everton at Maine Road.

Portsmouth won the First Division title for the second consecutive year, with Blackpool back in seventh place and Burnley in mid-table.

Uruguay beat Brazil 2-1 to win the World Cup as Rangers completed a hat-trick of championships in Scotland.

Next week we shall look at arguably the decade which changed the face of English football and to an equalling of a record by Preston North End.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.