1958–59 Birmingham City F.C. season explained

Club:Birmingham City F.C.
Season:1958–59
Mgrtitle:Manager
Chairman:Harry Morris Jr
Stdtitle:Ground
Stadium:St Andrew's
League:Football League First Division
League Result:9th
Cup1:FA Cup
Cup1 Result:Fifth round (eliminated by Nottingham Forest)
Cup2:Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Cup2 Result:Semi-final
Season Topscorer:Bunny Larkin (23)
Highest Attendance:55,300 vs Nottingham Forest, FA Cup 5th round, 14 February 1959
Lowest Attendance:17,241 vs Blackpool, 13 December 1958
Average Attendance:26,893
Pattern La1:_whiteborder
Pattern B1:_vneckwhite
Pattern Ra1:_whiteborder
Pattern So1:_top_on_white
Leftarm1:000099
Body1:000099
Rightarm1:000099
Shorts1:ffffff
Socks1:000099
Prevseason:1957–58
Nextseason:1959–60

The 1958–59 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 56th in the Football League and their 32nd in the First Division. After spending the first half of the season towards the bottom of the division, they finished in 9th position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1958–59 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost to Nottingham Forest in the fifth round after two replays. In the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Birmingham progressed through two rounds to reach the semi-final, which was not played until the 1959–60 season.

Towards the end of the season, Birmingham and England full-back Jeff Hall contracted polio and died, only 14 days after the last match in which he played. The death of a young, fit, international footballer helped to kick-start widespread public acceptance in Britain of the need for vaccination. Though the disease was generally feared and the Salk vaccine was available, takeup had been slow. In the weeks following Hall's death, and after his widow spoke on television about her loss, demand for immunisation rocketed. Emergency vaccination clinics had to be set up and supplies of vaccine flown in from the United States to cope with the demand.[1] [2] [3]

In January 1958, Pat Beasley joined the club. Beasley had believed he was coming as assistant to manager Arthur Turner, but chairman Harry Morris announced to the press that he was to be appointed joint manager. Turner, who found about this arrangement not from the club but from the press, threatened to resign. He was persuaded to stay "for the time being", but finally left in September 1958, and Beasley took over as manager.[4] Twenty-four players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were thirteen different goalscorers. Half backs Dick Neal and Johnny Watts played in 49 and 48 of the 52 first-team matches over the season, and Bunny Larkin finished as leading goalscorer with 23 goals in all competitions, of which 18 were scored in the league.

Football League First Division

See main article: 1958–59 Football League.

DateLeague
position		OpponentsVenueResultScore
F–A		ScorersAttendance
23 August 195810thAston VillaAstyle=background:#ffcD1–1Murphy55,198
27 August 195811thWest Bromwich AlbionAstyle=background:#ffcD2–2Brown, Houghton46,468
30 August 195814thLuton TownHstyle=background:#fccL0–131,943
3 September 195821stWest Bromwich AlbionHstyle=background:#fccL0–635,983
6 September 195821stBolton WanderersAstyle=background:#fccL0–224,707
10 September 195821stLeeds UnitedHstyle=background:#ffcD0–025,228
13 September 195819thBurnleyHstyle=background:#cfcW2–1Brown, Murphy23,926
17 September 195816thLeeds UnitedAstyle=background:#cfcW4–1Brown 424,068
20 September 195818thPreston North EndAstyle=background:#fccL0–324,257
27 September 195814thLeicester CityHstyle=background:#cfcW4–2Gordon, Murphy, Hooper, Astall33,323
4 October 195818thEvertonAstyle=background:#fccL1–3Murphy39,408
11 October 195817thWest Ham UnitedAstyle=background:#cfcW2–1Hooper, Neal29,139
18 October 195817thNottingham ForestHstyle=background:#fccL0–331,610
25 October 195819thWolverhampton WanderersAstyle=background:#fccL1–3Astall36,156
1 November 195820thPortsmouthHstyle=background:#cfcW2–2Brown, Taylor23,723
8 November 195819thBlackburn RoversAstyle=background:#fccL2–3Brown, Larkin28,806
15 November 195819thNewcastle UnitedHstyle=background:#cfcW1–0Larkin28,752
22 November 195817thTottenham HotspurAstyle=background:#cfcW4–0Larkin 2, Hooper, Taylor28,708
29 November 195819thManchester UnitedHstyle=background:#fccL0–428,658
6 December 195820thChelseaAstyle=background:#fccL0–127,773
13 December 195818thBlackpoolHstyle=background:#cfcW4–2Jackson, Gordon, Larkin, Astall17,241
20 December 195815thAston VillaHstyle=background:#cfcW4–1Jackson 2, Astall, Neal31,857
26 December 195815thManchester CityHstyle=background:#cfcW6–1Jackson 2, Gordon, Larkin, Taylor34,290
27 December 195816thManchester CityAstyle=background:#fccL1–4Jackson29,276
3 January 195913thLuton TownAstyle=background:#cfcW1–0Neal15,538
31 January 195912thBurnleyAstyle=background:#cfcW1–0Gordon22,101
7 February 195911thPreston North EndHstyle=background:#cfcW5–1Orritt, Gordon, Larkin, Taylor21,233
21 February 195910thEvertonHstyle=background:#cfcW2–1Larkin, Hooper22,660
28 February 19598thWest Ham UnitedHstyle=background:#cfcW3–0Larkin, Neal19,910
7 March 19598thNottingham ForestAstyle=background:#cfcW7–1Stubbs 2, Gordon, Astall 2, Hooper, Watts18,977
14 March 19598thWolverhampton WanderersHstyle=background:#fccL0–337,725
18 March 19596thLeicester CityAstyle=background:#cfcW4–2Stubbs 3, Gordon15,413
21 March 19596thPortsmouthAstyle=background:#ffcD1–1Larkin18,170
8 April 195910thBolton WanderersHstyle=background:#fccL1–3Stubbs24,608
11 April 195910thTottenham HotspurHstyle=background:#cfcW5–1Stubbs, Gordon, Larkin, Hooper pen, Baker og20,557
14 April 19599thArsenalHstyle=background:#cfcW4–1Stubbs, Larkin 2, Astall25,792
18 April 195910thManchester UnitedAstyle=background:#fccL0–143,006
20 April 195910thBlackpoolAstyle=background:#fccL0–212,260
22 April 195910thBlackburn RoversHstyle=background:#cfcW3–0Larkin 2, Taylor22,958
25 April 19599thChelseaHstyle=background:#cfcW4–1Gordon 2, Hooper, Taylor19,580
29 April 19599thNewcastle UnitedAstyle=background:#ffcD1–1Hooper19,776
4 May 19599thArsenalAstyle=background:#fccL1–2Stubbs25,953

League table (part)

Pos!scope="col"
ClubPldWDLFAGAPts
7thBurnley4219101381701.1648
8thBlackpool4218111366491.3547
9thBirmingham City422061684681.2446
10thBlackburn Rovers4217101576701.0944
11thNewcastle United421771880801.0041
KeyPos = League position; Pld = Matches played;
W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost;
F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points
Source[5]

FA Cup

See main article: 1958–59 FA Cup.

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScore
F–A		ScorersAttendance
Third round25 January 1959MiddlesbroughAstyle=background:#cfcW1–0Harris og36,587
Fourth round28 January 1959FulhamHstyle=background:#ffcD1–1Jackson42,677
Fourth round replay4 February 1959FulhamAstyle=background:#cfcW3–2Hooper 2, Larkin27,521
Fifth round14 February 1959Nottingham ForestHstyle=background:#ffcD1–1Astall55,300
Fifth round replay18 February 1959Nottingham ForestAstyle=background:#ffcD1–1Gordon39,431
Fifth round 2nd replay23 February 1959Nottingham ForestFilbert Street, Leicesterstyle=background:#fccL0–534,458

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

See main article: 1958–60 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScore
F–A		ScorersAttendance
First round 1st leg14 October 1958Cologne XIAstyle=background:#ffcD2–2Neal, Hooper12,000
First round 2nd leg11 November 1958CologneHstyle=background:#cfcW2–0Larkin, Taylor20,266
Second round 1st leg6 May 1959Zagreb XIHstyle=background:#cfcW1–0Larkin21,411
Second round 2nd leg24 May 1959Zagreb XIAstyle=background:#ffcD3–3Larkin 2, Hooper50,000

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 competition
NameLeagueFA CupFairs CupTotal
GoalsGoalsGoalsGoals
data-sort-value=1GK3406020420
data-sort-value=1GK800020100
data-sort-value=2FB2706030360
data-sort-value=2FB1300020150
data-sort-value=2FB1500010160
data-sort-value=2FB2906020370
data-sort-value=3HB20000020
data-sort-value=3HB3946041495
data-sort-value=3HB1600020180
data-sort-value=3HB2706020350
data-sort-value=3HB3816040481
data-sort-value=4FW2685110329
data-sort-value=4FW1780020198
data-sort-value=4FW331061404311
data-sort-value=4FW10000010
data-sort-value=4FW34842424212
data-sort-value=4FW21000021
data-sort-value=4FW664100107
data-sort-value=4FW40000040
data-sort-value=4FW311861344023
data-sort-value=4FW1040010114
data-sort-value=4FW1213010161
data-sort-value=4FW1290020149
data-sort-value=4FW2652021306

See also

References

General

Specific

Notes and References

  1. News: 'I thought my polio was over, but not any longer' . Tony . Gould . The Independent . London . 30 April 1995 . 3 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304232544/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/i-thought-my-polio-was-over-but-not-any-longer-1617651.html . 4 March 2016 . registration . live . In the same month and year that I contracted the disease in Hong Kong, the international footballer Jeff Hall died of it in England. Before the end of the Second World War polio had been a comparatively rare disease in Britain. But the late Forties and early Fifties were the polio years here as elsewhere, the time when parents grew anxious as the summer approached and kept their children away from swimming pools where the disease was thought to spread. Though polio was never a killer on the scale of cancer and heart disease, it was feared because of its capacity to maim young and healthy bodies. Despite this universal fear, take-up of the Salk vaccine when it became available in this country in the mid-Fifties was sluggish. Jeff Hall's death changed that. The message finally got through to teenagers on the terraces at football matches and in the Mecca dance-halls. Emergency clinics were set up, and there was such a run on the vaccine that further supplies had to be flown in from the United States..
  2. News: Dr Salk promotes polio vaccine in UK . On This Day . BBC . 3 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220322012519/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/5/newsid_2510000/2510495.stm . 22 March 2022 . live . There has been a sharp rise in the demand for the vaccine following the death from the disease of Birmingham City full back Jeff Hall last month. Local health departments have been overwhelmed with applicants and have ordered an extra million doses. On 22 April daily inoculations at Manchester Town Hall were suspended because of a shortage of the vaccine..
  3. News: live page has different headline from that used in print newspaper --> The Blues ace whose death moved a nation to beat polio . Anuji . Varma . Sunday Mercury . Birmingham . 14 June 2009 . 3 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201122070659/https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/tragic-birmingham-city-star-jeff-240917 . 22 November 2020 . live.
  4. Matthews, Complete Record, p. 62.
  5. Web site: Birmingham City 1958–1959: English Division One (old) Table . Statto Organisation . 27 April 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065841/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1958-1959/table . 4 March 2016.

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