1950–51 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1950–51 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 48th in the Football League and their 20th in the Second Division, having been relegated from the First Division in 1949–50. They finished in 4th position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1950–51 FA Cup at the third round proper and reached the semi-final, in which they lost to Blackpool after a replay.

Twenty-two players made at least one appearance in nationally organised competitive football during the season, and there were thirteen different goalscorers. Goalkeeper Gil Merrick, full-back Arthur Atkins and winger Johnny Berry were ever-present in the 48-game season, and Cyril Trigg was the leading goalscorer with 19 goals, of which 17 came in league matches.

As part of the Festival of Britain, friendly matches were arranged at the end of this season between British clubs and teams from other parts of the British Isles and from continental Europe. Birmingham played in four such matches, against teams from Scotland, Ireland and Yugoslavia.

Football League Second Division

Note that not all teams completed their playing season on the same day. Birmingham were in third position after their last game of the season, on 28 April, but by the time the last game was played, on 5 May, they had been overtaken by Cardiff City and finished fourth, three points behind the promotion places.

DateLeaguepositionOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendance19 August 19501stSwansea TownAW1–0Boyd25,01223 August 19501stLeicester CityHW2–0Trigg, Smith28,34326 August 19504thGrimsby TownHD1–1Powell33,01728 August 19501stLeicester CityAW3–1Trigg, Smith, Stewart31,2912 September 19501stNotts CountyAW1–0Smith34,6486 September 19501stCoventry CityHD1–1Higgins24,7199 September 19501stPreston North EndHW1–0Smith32,63311 September 19502ndCoventry CityAL1–3Berry30,44816 September 19505thBuryAL1–4Dorman16,80923 September 19505thQueens Park RangersHD1–1Heath og26,58330 September 19504thChesterfieldAD1–1Trigg12,3307 October 19504thSouthamptonAW2–0Smith, Green25,49914 October 19503rdBarnsleyHW2–0Smith, Boyd26,61721 October 19504thBrentfordAL1–2Trigg19,27328 October 19503rdBlackburn RoversHW3–2Trigg, Smith, Stewart24,5524 November 19504thHull CityAL2–3Trigg 232,03811 November 19505thDoncaster RoversHL0–226,77918 November 19505thSheffield UnitedAL2–3Smith, Stewart23,87925 November 19505thLuton TownHW3–0Higgins 2, Smith18,6062 December 19507thLeeds UnitedAL0–323,3559 December 19506thWest Ham UnitedHW3–1Higgins, Stewart, Smith18,18016 December 19504thSwansea TownHW5–0Trigg 3, Stewart, Berry15,64923 December 19504thGrimsby TownAD1–1Smith13,14125 December 19506thManchester CityAL1–3Trigg40,17326 December 19504thManchester CityHW1–0Trigg32,09230 December 19505thNotts CountyHL1–4Stewart33,77013 January 19517thPreston North EndAL0–130,66220 January 19517thBuryHD3–3Trigg 2, Stewart25,6533 February 19519thQueens Park RangersAL0–212,29517 February 19517thChesterfieldHW2–1Trigg, Higgins33,76828 February 19517thSouthamptonHW2–1Trigg, Stewart12,5933 March 19515thBarnsleyAW2–0Dailey, Stewart15,45017 March 19515thBlackburn RoversAW3–2Dailey 2, Higgins28,11623 March 19515thCardiff CityHD0–015,05424 March 19514thHull CityHW2–1Dailey, Boyd27,51226 March 19515thCardiff CityAL1–2Rowley36,99231 March 19515thDoncaster RoversAW1–0Trigg16,0917 April 19513rdSheffield UnitedHW3–0Higgins, Rowley, Warhurst21,97414 April 19514thLuton TownAD1–1Warhurst16,32421 April 19514thLeeds UnitedHL0–123,80925 April 19514thBrentfordHD1–1Smith13,64328 April 19513rdWest Ham UnitedAW2–1Rowley, Ferris12,396

League table (part)

+Final Second Division table (part)PosClubPldWDLFAGAPts2ndManchester City421914989611.46523rdCardiff City421716953451.18504thBirmingham City422091364531.21495thLeeds United422081463551.15486thBlackburn Rovers421981565660.9846Key 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

Birmingham beat Manchester City, Bristol City, and First Division teams Derby County and Manchester United, without needing a replay and while conceding only one goal, to reach the semi-final, in which they faced another First Division team, Blackpool. The Times suggested that the fixture, "as always when Matthews plays, will present the problem of how to smother the greatest player in the history of English football", warning that "to smother Matthews—should they even succeed—is not to smother Blackpool." Supporters queued all night for tickets; the 20,000 allocation sold out within two hours. In addition to several special trains, the supporters' club chartered 60 coaches to travel to Maine Road, Manchester, where touts were offering tickets for sale at four times face value.

Blackpool were the class team, but "Birmingham, with their fiery, quick tackling, their spirit and the snapping up of stray chances, have swept class aside before now." Though failing to sweep Blackpool aside, they did stop them scoring, combatting the attacking threat by switching the pacy Jack Badham to the left to man-mark Matthews and using the other defenders, among whom Arthur Atkins stood out, to cut out his crosses. With two minutes left, Jackie Stewart's "terrific left-foot shot struck a post, then passed out, with thousands of horrified Blackpool supporters on the verge of doing likewise."

In the replay, at Goodison Park in front of a 70,000 crowd, "the greatest mystery of all was why the Blackpool inside forwards did not run up a total of five or six goals in the opening hour—to put it conservatively", with Matthews in "his finest form". They scored twice, but within a minute of the second, Bill Smith pulled one back after Johnny Berry's corner rebounded from a post. In the remainder of the match, Birmingham rallied, with shots from all parts; "Blackpool weathered the storm they had brought upon themselves, but how gallantly had Birmingham died."

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceThird round6 January 1951Manchester CityHW2–0Stewart, Higgins30,057Fourth round27 January 1951Derby CountyAW3–1Stewart, Trigg, Smith37,384Fifth round10 February 1951Bristol CityHW2–0Stewart, Trigg47,831Sixth round24 February 1951Manchester UnitedHW1–0Higgins50,764Semi-final10 March 1951BlackpoolMaine Road, ManchesterD0–071,890Semi-final replay14 March 1951BlackpoolGoodison Park, LiverpoolL1–2Smith70,114

Festival of Britain As part of the Festival of Britain, friendly matches were arranged at the end of this season between British clubs and against teams from continental Europe. Birmingham played in four such matches, against teams from Scotland, Ireland and Yugoslavia.Matthews (1995), p. 243.

DateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendance7 May 1951AirdrieoniansHL3–5Berry 2, Kelly og7,98512 May 1951Dinamo (Yugoslavia)HL0–212,05818 May 1951Home Farm (Dublin)AW2–1Stewart, Berry3,00020 May 1951Cork AthleticAW5–2Trigg 2, Higgins, Stewart, Dailey2,750

Appearances and goals

Players marked left the club during the playing season. Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; FB – Full back; HB – Half back; FW – Forward

+ Players' appearances and goals by competitionNameLeagueFA CupTotalGoalsGoalsGoalsGK42060480FB35050400FB39140431FB100010FB10030130HB42060480HB36360423HB21110221HB20160261FW 100010FW300030FW42260482FW640064FW28762239FW400040FW15100151FW10000100FW830083FW3512524014FW259633112FW3017623619FW920092

1950–51 Birmingham City F.C. season

Bron en licentie