The closest title races in First Division history

Five of the old First Division's 93 titles ended with the top two level on points, and twelve more were won by a single point. Twelve champions weren't top going into their final match. Fourteen of those races are on this site's race chart, where you can watch them unfold match day by match day. Points are as they were awarded: two for a win until 1980/81, three after.

Settled on goal average

Until 1975/76, clubs level on points were split by goal average: goals scored divided by goals conceded. It decided four titles.

1923/24: Huddersfield over Cardiff. Cardiff led the table for 179 days and went into the last day a point clear. On 3 May 1924 they drew 0–0 at Birmingham while Huddersfield beat Nottingham Forest 3–0, and both finished on 57 points. Huddersfield's 60 goals for and 33 against gave a goal average of 1.818; Cardiff's 61 and 34 gave 1.794. Both had a goal difference of +27, so under today's rules Cardiff, with one more goal scored, would have been champions. It was the first of Huddersfield's three titles in a row.

Replay the 1923/24 race → · The 1923/24 season →

1949/50: Portsmouth over Wolves. Liverpool led for 106 days, and Portsmouth didn't reach the top until 15 April 1950. They went into the last day level with Wolves on 51 points. Both won at home, Portsmouth 5–1 against Aston Villa and Wolves 6–1 against Birmingham, and Portsmouth's goal average of 1.947 beat Wolves' 1.551. It was their second title in a row.

Replay the 1949/50 race → · The 1949/50 season →

1952/53: Arsenal over Preston. Preston beat Arsenal 2–0 on 25 April 1953, won 1–0 at Derby four days later and finished on 54 points with their season over. Arsenal, on 52, had to beat Burnley at Highbury on 1 May. They won 3–2, and their goal average of 1.516 (97 for, 64 against) beat Preston's 1.417.

Replay the 1952/53 race → · The 1952/53 season →

1964/65: Manchester United over Leeds. Chelsea led for 125 days before it narrowed to two. On 26 April 1965 United beat Arsenal 3–1 while Leeds drew 3–3 at Birmingham in their last match: both were on 61 points, and United, with a game left, had a goal average of 2.38 to Leeds' 1.60. Losing 2–1 at Aston Villa two days later made no difference.

Replay the 1964/65 race → · The 1964/65 season →

Top at the last

1937/38: Arsenal pip Wolves. Brentford, in only their third top-flight season, led for 119 days. On the last day Wolves were top, a point ahead of Arsenal but with the worse goal average, so they had to win at Sunderland. They lost 1–0, Arsenal beat Bolton 5–0, and Arsenal were champions by a point.

Replay the 1937/38 race → · The 1937/38 season →

1959/60: Burnley top at the last. Burnley were top on 25 August 1959, early in the season, and not again until its final match. Tottenham led for 180 days. Wolves, chasing a third title in a row, finished on 30 April on 54 points, having scored 106 goals. Burnley, on 53 with a game in hand, won 2–1 at Manchester City on 2 May 1960.

Replay the 1959/60 race → · The 1959/60 season →

1975/76: Liverpool deny QPR. QPR led for 90 days and finished their season on 24 April with 59 points, a point ahead. Liverpool's last match was ten days later at Wolves. A draw would almost certainly have been enough: only a 3–3 or a higher-scoring draw would have tipped goal average QPR's way. Liverpool won 3–1. It was the last season goal average could decide.

Replay the 1975/76 race → · The 1975/76 season →

Won away on the final day

1967/68: City beat United to it. Manchester United led for 150 days. The two Manchester clubs went into their last matches, on 11 May 1968, level on 56 points, City ahead on goal average. City won 4–3 at Newcastle; United lost 2–1 at home to Sunderland.

Replay the 1967/68 race → · The 1967/68 season →

1970/71: Arsenal win it at Spurs. Leeds led for 247 days and finished their season on 64 points. Arsenal, on 63, went to Tottenham on 3 May 1971 for their last match. A win or a goalless draw would make them champions on goal average; a score draw would hand the title to Leeds. They won 1–0.

Replay the 1970/71 race → · The 1970/71 season →

1988/89: Arsenal win it at Anfield. Arsenal led for 147 days, and Norwich for 97. Liverpool beat West Ham 5–1 on 23 May to go three points clear, and three days later hosted Arsenal in the season's last match. Arsenal needed to win by two goals. Michael Thomas's goal in stoppage time made it 2–0, and the clubs finished level on 76 points and on goal difference, +37. Arsenal took the title on goals scored, 73 to 65: the only top-flight title ever decided that way.

Replay the 1988/89 race → · The 1988/89 season →

The waiting games

1946/47: Liverpool wait for Stoke. The first season after the war ran into June. Wolves led for 170 days and were top going into their last match, at home to Liverpool on 31 May, a point ahead. Liverpool won 2–1 to go top on 57 points. But Stoke still had a match to play, on 55 points and with a better goal average than Liverpool: a win at Sheffield United on 14 June would have made them champions. They lost 2–1.

Replay the 1946/47 race → · The 1946/47 season →

1971/72: Derby by a point from three. Derby finished their season on 1 May, beating Liverpool 1–0 to go top on 58 points, and then waited. A week later Leeds needed only a draw at Wolves to win the title on goal average and lost 2–1, and Liverpool needed a win at Arsenal and drew 0–0. Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester City all finished on 57.

Replay the 1971/72 race → · The 1971/72 season →

A first and a last

1961/62: Ipswich, up and champions. Ipswich won the title in their first season in the top flight. Burnley led for 212 days. Ipswich finished on 56 points on 28 April, and Burnley, with two matches left, had to win both. They drew 1–1 with Chelsea that day and lost 4–0 at Sheffield Wednesday two days later.

Replay the 1961/62 race → · The 1961/62 season →

1991/92: Leeds win the last one. Manchester United led for 152 days. On 26 April 1992 Leeds won 3–2 at Sheffield United and United lost 2–0 at Liverpool, which left Leeds four points clear with a match each to play. Leeds finished on 82, four ahead, the last champions of the old First Division. The Premier League began that August.

Replay the 1991/92 race → · The 1991/92 season →

Replay any of them

Every race above is on the race chart: switch to All top flight and pick one from the famous First Division races, or build your own from any season since 1888/89. Each season's page has its final table, scoreline grid and biggest wins, and the seasons list has every champion back to Preston in 1888/89. For the Premier League's own close finishes, from City on goal difference in 2012 to Liverpool's one-point miss in 2019, see the Premier League races.