A historical question

[Gary Wolf]

I wonder if anyone can help me out with 2 historical issues:

1. When was the W-M tactical system first introduced and when did Liverpool switch to it?

2. In what year did the League start using numbered shirts?

[TheLa]

1. The WM system was created in the mid-1920s by Herbert Chapman of Arsenal to counter a change in the offside law in 1925. The change had reduced the number of opposition players that attackers needed between themselves and the goal-line from three to two. This led to the introduction of a centre-back to stop the opposing centre-forward, and tried to balance defensive and offensive playing. The formation became so successful that by the late-1930s most English clubs had adopted the WM. Retrospectively the WM has either been described as a 3-2-5 or as a 3-4-3

 

All my own work......

[Gary Wolf]

Did Chapman already use it when in Huddersfield?

[Kindred]

2. 1939