1959–60 Liverpool F.C. season explained

Club:	Liverpool
Season:	1959–60
Manager:	Phil Taylor (to 17 November 1959) Bob Paisley (caretaker until 1 December 1959) Bill Shankly (from 1 December 1959)
League:	Second Division
League Result:	3rd
Cup1:	FA Cup
Cup1 Result:	Fourth round
League Topscorer:	Roger Hunt (21)
Season Topscorer:	Roger Hunt (23)
Highest Attendance:	56,736 (v Manchester United, FA Cup, 30 Jan)
Lowest Attendance:	19,411 (v Derby County, League, 6 Apr)
Average Attendance:	31,859
Prevseason:	1958–59
Nextseason:	1960–61
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The 1959–60 season was the 68th season in Liverpool F.C.'s existence, and was their sixth consecutive year in the Second Division.

Pre-season

On 12 June, having spent three years at Liverpool and missing only six matches, 29-year-old goalkeeper Tommy Younger was allowed to leave to take on a player-manager role at Scottish Second Division side Falkirk. In exchange, Liverpool signed Falkirk's 23-year-old goalkeeper Bert Slater. Slater had made 134 appearances for Falkirk, winning a Scottish Cup winners medal in the process, before the club were relegated at the end of the 1958-59 season. Slater was small for a goalkeeper standing at just 5feet and was nicknamed 'Shorty' but he was immediately put into the Liverpool goal upon his arrival.

There were promotions to the first-team for local-born 22-year-old defender John Nicholson and 18-year-old inside forward Willie Carlin - the latter a promising youngster who had represented his country at schoolboy and youth levels; 19-year-old full back Alan Jones, a Welsh schoolboy international who had signed professional forms for Liverpool two years earlier; Wrexham-born forward Reginald Blore who had risen through the junior ranks at Anfield; 17-year-old midfielder Ian Callaghan from Toxteth, considered by Liverpool legend Billy Liddell to be his successor; and 20-year-old striker Roger Hunt, signed a year earlier by Phil Taylor when he was brought to his attention playing for Stockton Heath.

Season Summary

The early stages of the campaign saw Liverpool struggle for consistency, putting manager Phil Taylor under increasing pressure after his previous three seasons in charge had all resulted in narrow failures to achieve promotion. The situation further deteriorated when Liverpool failed to win a single match in October, and while a victory over Aston Villa at the start of November gave hope that the club might have turned the corner, it was followed by a humiliating 4-2 loss to strugglers Lincoln City. This proved the end of the road for Taylor, who resigned three days later with the team stuck in 11th place. First team trainer Bob Paisley stepped in as caretaker manager for the next two matches, which saw a 4-3 win over Leyton Orient, and then a 1-0 loss to Huddersfield Town. As it turned out, it would be the Yorkshire side who would provide Liverpool with their next manager, as Bill Shankly accepted the offer to take over at Anfield shortly after the match.

Liverpool's form picked up under Shankly, leaving a promotion challenge suddenly looking feasible after all. In the end, their mediocre early-season form and then another poor spell of form around Easter would leave promotion out of their hands, though a third-place finish still represented an improvement of one place on the previous season.

Squad

Goalkeepers

• Doug Rudham
• Bert Slater

Defenders

• Gerry Byrne
• Alan Jones
• John Molyneux
• Ronnie Moran
• John Nicholson
• Geoff Twentyman
• Dick White

Midfielders

• Alan A'Court
• Reginald Blore
• Ian Callaghan
• Bobby Campbell
• Jimmy Harrower
• Tommy Leishman
• Billy Liddell
• Jimmy Melia
• Fred Morris
• Johnny Morrissey
• Johnny Wheeler
• Barry Wilkinson

Forwards

• Alan Arnell
• Alan Banks
• Louis Bimpson
• Willie Carlin
• Dave Hickson
• Roger Hunt
• Bobby Murdoch

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

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Results

Second Division

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
22-Aug-59		A	2–3		34,000	Report	Report
26-Aug-59		H	4–2		33,071	Report	Report
29-Aug-59		H	5–3		35,520	Report	Report
01-Sep-59		A	0–1		22,528	Report	Report
05-Sep-59		A	1–2		25,073	Report	Report
09-Sep-59		H	2–0		31,713	Report	Report
12-Sep-59		H	1–2		39,000	Report	Report
17-Sep-59		A	1–1		18,851	Report	Report
19-Sep-59		A	2–1		11,822	Report	Report
26-Sep-59		H	4–1		29,278	Report	Report
03-Oct-59		A	4–5		16,500	Report	Report
10-Oct-59		H	2–2		30,366	Report	Report
17-Oct-59		A	1–1		17,000	Report	Report
24-Oct-59		H	1–1		21,075	Report	Report
31-Oct-59		A	1–1		30,208	Report	Report
07-Nov-59		H	2–1		49,981	Report	Report
14-Nov-59		A	2–4		10,801	Report	Report
21-Nov-59		H	4–3		34,321	Report	Report
28-Nov-59		A	0–1		16,185	Report	Report
05-Dec-59		H	3–1		24,843	Report	Report
12-Dec-59		A	2–0		15,615	Report	Report
19-Dec-59		H	0–4		27,291	Report	Report
26-Dec-59		A	0–3		15,491	Report	Report
28-Dec-59		H	2–0		25,658	Report	Report
02-Jan-60		A	1–0		18,681	Report	Report
16-Jan-60		H	3–0		33,297	Report	Report
23-Jan-60		A	3–3		28,550	Report	Report
13-Feb-60		A	1–1		16,996	Report	Report
20-Feb-60		H	4–1		31,663	Report	Report
27-Feb-60		A	2–1		21,118	Report	Report
05-Mar-60		H	5–1		35,101	Report	Report
12-Mar-60		A	1–2		14,622	Report	Report
19-Mar-60		H	2–2		30,009	Report	Report
30-Mar-60		A	4–4		27,000	Report	Report
02-Apr-60		H	1–3		24,081	Report	Report
06-Apr-60		H	4–1		19,411	Report	Report
09-Apr-60		A	0–2		13,007	Report	Report
16-Apr-60		H	4–0		27,317	Report	Report
18-Apr-60		H	3–0		26,776	Report	Report
19-Apr-60		A	2–2		10,123	Report	Report
23-Apr-60		A	1–0		12,048	Report	Report
30-Apr-60		H	3–0		25,916	Report	Report

FA Cup

See main article: 1959–60 FA Cup.

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
09-Jan-60		H	2–1		40,343	Report	Report
30-Jan-60		H	1–3		56,736	Report	Report

References

• LFC History.net – 1959–60 season
• Liverweb - 1959–60 Season