# 1968–69 Football League First Division

Statistics of Football League First Division in the 1968-69 season.

## Overview

Leeds United won the First Division title for the first time in the club's history that season. They wrapped up the title on 28 April 1969, with a 0–0 draw at title challengers Liverpool and finished the season unbeaten at home. Queens Park Rangers went down on 29 March, after losing 2–1 at home to Liverpool. Leicester City joined them after losing 3–2 at Manchester United, where a win would have saved Leicester from relegation at the expense of Coventry City.

## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Leeds United (C) | 42 | 27 | 13 | 2 | 66 | 26 | 2.538 | 67 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Liverpool | 42 | 25 | 11 | 6 | 63 | 24 | 2.625 | 61 | Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 3 | Everton | 42 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 77 | 36 | 2.139 | 57 | |
| 4 | Arsenal | 42 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 56 | 27 | 2.074 | 56 | Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 5 | Chelsea | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 73 | 53 | 1.377 | 50 | |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 14 | 17 | 11 | 61 | 51 | 1.196 | 45 | |
| 7 | Southampton | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 57 | 48 | 1.188 | 45 | Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 8 | West Ham United | 42 | 13 | 18 | 11 | 66 | 50 | 1.320 | 44 | |
| 9 | Newcastle United | 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 61 | 55 | 1.109 | 44 | Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 10 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 64 | 67 | 0.955 | 43 | |
| 11 | Manchester United | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 57 | 53 | 1.075 | 42 | |
| 12 | Ipswich Town | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 59 | 60 | 0.983 | 41 | |
| 13 | Manchester City | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 64 | 55 | 1.164 | 40 | Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 14 | Burnley | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 55 | 82 | 0.671 | 39 | |
| 15 | Sheffield Wednesday | 42 | 10 | 16 | 16 | 41 | 54 | 0.759 | 36 | |
| 16 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 41 | 58 | 0.707 | 35 | |
| 17 | Sunderland | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 43 | 67 | 0.642 | 34 | |
| 18 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 45 | 57 | 0.789 | 33 | |
| 19 | Stoke City | 42 | 9 | 15 | 18 | 40 | 63 | 0.635 | 33 | |
| 20 | Coventry City | 42 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 46 | 64 | 0.719 | 31 | |
| 21 | Leicester City (R) | 42 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 39 | 68 | 0.574 | 30 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 22 | Queens Park Rangers (R) | 42 | 4 | 10 | 28 | 39 | 95 | 0.411 | 18 | Relegation to the Second Division |
* ↑ Everton were ineligible to participate in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup as Liverpool had already qualified. Under the rules of the cup, only one team per city could participate. Arsenal took their place as the highest-ranked team that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.
* ↑ Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur were ineligible to participate in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup as Arsenal had already qualified. Under the rules of the cup, only one team per city could participate. Southampton took their place as the highest-ranked team that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.
* ↑ West Ham United were ineligible to participate in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup as Arsenal had already qualified. Under the rules of the cup, only one team per city could participate. Newcastle United took their place as the highest-ranked team that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.
* ↑ Manchester City qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1968-69 FA Cup winners.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ARS | BUR | CHE | COV | EVE | IPS | LEE | LEI | LIV | MCI | MUN | NEW | NOT | QPR | SHW | SOU | STK | SUN | TOT | WBA | WHU | WOL |
| Arsenal | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| Burnley | 0–1 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Chelsea | 2–1 | 2–3 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Coventry City | 0–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Everton | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | | 2–2 | 0–0 | 7–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Ipswich Town | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Leeds United | 2–0 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Leicester City | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Liverpool | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Manchester City | 1–1 | 7–0 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| Manchester United | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | | 3–1 | 3–1 | 8–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Newcastle United | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 4–1 |
| Nottingham Forest | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–4 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 0–5 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 5–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 | | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Southampton | 1–2 | 5–1 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 2–5 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Stoke City | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–5 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 4–1 |
| Sunderland | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 1–2 | 7–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 5–1 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 6–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 2–5 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 4–3 | | 3–1 | 0–0 |
| West Ham United | 1–2 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 5–2 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 8–0 | 2–2 | 4–0 | | 3–1 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–6 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | |

## Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Queens Park Rangers | Alec Stock | Illness | 1 August 1968 | Pre-season | Bill Dodgin Jr. | 1 August 1968 |
| Queens Park Rangers | Bill Dodgin Jr. | Demoted to coach | 2 November 1968 | 22nd | Tommy Docherty | 2 November 1968 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | Ronnie Allen | Sacked | 17 November 1968 | 14th | Bill McGarry | 23 November 1968 |
| Ipswich Town | Bill McGarry | Signed by Wolverhampton Wanderers | 23 November 1968 | 17th | Cyril Lea (caretaker) | 23 November 1968 |
| Queens Park Rangers | Tommy Docherty | Resigned | 30 November 1968 | 22nd | Les Allen | 1 December 1968 |
| Nottingham Forest | Johnny Carey | Sacked | 30 December 1968 | 19th | Matt Gillies | 2 January 1969 |
| Leicester City | Matt Gillies | Signed by Nottingham Forest | 2 January 1969 | 20th | Frank O'Farrell | 5 January 1969 |
| Ipswich Town | Cyril Lea | End of caretaker spell | 13 January 1969 | 18th | Bobby Robson | 13 January 1969 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | Jack Marshall | Sacked | 2 April 1969 | 13th | Tom McAnearney (caretaker) | 2 April 1969 |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Jimmy Greaves | Tottenham Hotspur | 27 |
| 2 | Geoff Hurst | West Ham United | 25 |
| 3 | Joe Royle | Everton | 22 |
| 4 | Pop Robson | Newcastle United | 21 |
| = | Jeff Astle | West Bromwich Albion | 21 |
| 5 | Ron Davies | Southampton | 20 |