Sam Small was signed from Birmingham City in 1937. In his next 18 games this hard-working centre-forward scored 11 goals. He was also productive in the next season (1938-39) when he added another 11 in 19 games. The outbreak of the Second World War brought the football league to an end but Small managed to score the goal that beat Blackburn 1-0 in the 1940 FA Cup Final. After the war he was not so prolific and in 1948 was transferred to Brighton. However, the move was not a success and he played 38 league games without scoring.