1959–60 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1959–60 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 57th in the Football League and their 33rd in the First Division. They finished in 19th position in the 22-team division. They lost their opening third-round 1959–60 FA Cup-tie to Watford. In the 1958–60 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Birmingham reached the final, in which they lost 4–1 on aggregate to Barcelona.

Twenty-two players made at least one appearance in senior first-team competition, and there were fifteen different goalscorers. Half backs Trevor Smith and Johnny Watts played in 46 of the 47 first-team matches over the season, and Johnny Gordon finished as leading goalscorer with 19 goals in all competitions, of which 16 were scored in the league.

Pat Beasley resigned as manager at the end of May 1960, to be replaced by club appearance record-holder Gil Merrick following his retirement as a player.Matthews (1995), p. 62.

Football League First Division

DateLeaguepositionOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendance22 August 195919thWolverhampton WanderersHL0–141,24826 August 195910thNewcastle UnitedHW4–3Stubbs, Gordon, Orritt, Hooper pen26,98629 August 195912thTottenham HotspurAD0–045,2432 September 195916thNewcastle UnitedAL0–135,3955 September 195916thManchester UnitedHD1–1Watts38,2429 September 195916thChelseaHD1–1Larkin28,13212 September 195919thPreston North EndAL2–3Stubbs, Neal18,93416 September 195921stChelseaAL2–4Hooper pen, Scott og31,65119 September 195922ndLeicester CityHL3–4Hooper 2 (1 pen), Smith24,95026 September 195922ndBurnleyAL1–3Orritt23,8483 October 195921stLeeds UnitedHW2–0Barrett, Taylor25,30110 October 195921stSheffield WednesdayHD0–021,76917 October 195918thNottingham ForestAW2–0Stubbs, Gordon24,90424 October 195919thFulhamHL2–4Gordon 226,69131 October 195921stArsenalAL0–334,4307 November 195921stLuton TownHD1–1Barrett19,00714 November 195921stEvertonAL0–419,17221 November 195919thBlackpoolHW2–1Larkin, Hooper24,78328 November 195919thBlackburn RoversAL1–2Barrett20,5495 December 195919thManchester CityHW4–2Gordon 2, Barrett, Hooper18,66112 December 195920thBolton WanderersAL1–4Hooper16,07419 December 195921stWolverhampton WanderersAL0–222,36326 December 195920thWest Ham UnitedHW2–0Astall, Hooper29,74528 December 195921stWest Ham UnitedAL1–3Astall26,1542 January 196021stTottenham HotspurHL0–127,55816 January 196021stManchester UnitedAL1–2Larkin47,60623 January 196021stPreston North EndHW2–1Larkin, Neal24,1606 February 196021stLeicester CityAW3–1Weston, Hume, Hooper25,89627 February 196021stManchester CityAL0–323,4795 March 196020thNottingham ForestHW4–1Gordon 2, Neal, Hooper24,8219 March 196020thLeeds UnitedAD3–3Neal, Hooper, McConnell og8,55712 March 196020thFulhamAD2–2Gordon, Hooper25,20819 March 196021stBolton WanderersHL2–5Weston, Gordon24,18326 March 196021stLuton TownAD1–1Weston13,6202 April 196020thEvertonHD2–2Gordon, Astall24,8729 April 196020thBlackpoolAW1–0Gordon13,59516 April 196020thArsenalHW3–0Murphy 2, Gordon27,20118 April 196020thWest Bromwich AlbionHL1–7Gordon28,68519 April 196020thWest Bromwich AlbionAD1–1Gordon37,89423 April 196020thSheffield WednesdayAW4–2Murphy 2, Astall, Hooper25,31027 April 196020thBurnleyHL0–137,03230 April 196019thBlackburn RoversHW1–0Gordon24,476

League table (part)

+Final First Division table (part)PosClubPldWDLFAGAPts17thBlackburn Rovers421652160700.863718thChelsea421491976910.833719thBirmingham City4213101963800.793620thNottingham Forest421392050740.683521stLeeds United4212102063800.7134Key Pos = League position; Pld = Matches played;W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost;F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = PointsSource

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceThird round9 January 1960WatfordAL1–2Hooper31,548

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

The early rounds of the 1958–60 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup were completed during Birmingham's 1958–59 season, leaving the semi-finals and final to be played this season. In the semi-final, Birmingham beat Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise 4–2 in each leg to reach the final, in which they played Barcelona, who had eliminated them at the semi-final stage in the previous edition of the competition.

The first leg of the final was played in "bitter, slanting rain" on a St Andrew's pitch that "almost from one goal to the other down the centre, was a series of little lakes". Birmingham played a "fast, open game" more suited to the conditions, while Barcelona's technical superiority was blunted both by the mud and by the "hard-tackling, grafting, bustling Birmingham defence, in which Smith and Neal in particular stood out like rocks long before the end". In the second half, Barcelona tired; El Mundo Deportivo noted that they had played a league match in Seville only 48 hours earlier and the players were not machines. The home side had three good chances: Ramallets dived at Hooper's feet, Weston ran the ball out of play when under no pressure, and a "sliding tackle from nowhere by Gensana turned away what looked like a certain goal", again for Weston.

The Times correspondent's fears that Birmingham had missed their opportunity – "here was a setting that favoured Birmingham's particular style, and they did not win" – were realised in the second leg. In a one-sided match in front of a crowd of 75,000, Barcelona were two goals up after six minutes, and doubled their tally before Murphy broke down the left and sent a long pass towards Hooper, whose mobility helped him beat Ramallets to the ball and score with a header.

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceSemi-final 1st leg7 October 1959Union Saint-GilloiseAW4–2Hooper, Gordon, Barrett, Orritt20,000Semi-final 2nd leg11 November 1959Union Saint-GilloiseHW4–2Gordon 2, Larkin, Hooper14,152Final 1st leg29 March 1960BarcelonaHD0–040,524Final 2nd leg4 May 1960BarcelonaAL1–4Hooper75,000

Appearances and goals

:Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; FB – Full back; HB – Half back; FW – Forward

+ Players' appearances and goals by competitionNameLeagueFA CupFairs CupTotalGoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGK20001030GK4001030440FB3601030400FB4001040450FB80001090FB10000010HB3931030433HB4111040461HB4111040461FW1941020224FW1041021135FW391600434319FW1100010120FW391311434417FW82000082FW1941011215FW74001084FW1620021183FW40000040FW1831000193FW810020101FW1630020183

1959–60 Birmingham City F.C. season

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