# 1953–54 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1953–54 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 51st in the Football League and their 23rd in the Second Division. They finished in seventh position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1953–54 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost to Ipswich Town in the fourth.
Twenty-eight players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were eleven different goalscorers. Full-back Ken Green played in 41 of the 44 first-team matches over the season, and Ted Purdon was leading goalscorer with 15 goals, all scored in league competition.

## Football League Second Division

Note that not all teams completed their playing season on the same day. Birmingham were in sixth position after their last game of the season, on 24 April, but by the time the last game was played, five days later, they were seventh, having been overtaken by Rotherham United.
| Date | League position | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 19 August 1953 | 1st | Hull City | H | W | 2–0 | Murphy, Govan | 23,846 |
| 22 August 1953 | 1st | Swansea Town | H | W | 6–0 | Purdon 2, Murphy 3, Kinsey | 26,817 |
| 24 August 1953 | 1st | Plymouth Argyle | A | D | 2–2 | Kinsey, Govan | 21,019 |
| 29 August 1953 | 3rd | Rotherham United | A | L | 0–1 | | 12,670 |
| 2 September 1953 | 3rd | Plymouth Argyle | H | W | 3–0 | Purdon, Kinsey, Stewart | 21,440 |
| 5 September 1953 | 6th | Leicester City | H | L | 1–2 | Stewart | 30,973 |
| 9 September 1953 | 2nd | Luton Town | H | W | 5–1 | Murphy, Purdon 2 | 18,881 |
| 12 September 1953 | 8th | Stoke City | A | L | 2–3 | Purdon, Hall | 22,958 |
| 16 September 1953 | 11th | Luton Town | A | L | 0–2 | | 12,231 |
| 19 September 1953 | 11th | Fulham | H | D | 2–2 | Purdon 2 | 21,138 |
| 26 September 1953 | 8th | West Ham United | A | W | 2–1 | Purdon, Kinsey | 36,091 |
| 3 October 1953 | 10th | Leeds United | H | D | 3–3 | Kinsey, Murphy, Govan | 26,434 |
| 10 October 1953 | 6th | Lincoln City | H | W | 1–0 | Stewart | 21,948 |
| 17 October 1953 | 6th | Bristol Rovers | A | D | 1–1 | Purdon | 33,634 |
| 24 October 1953 | 6th | Brentford | H | W | 5–1 | Purdon, Kinsey, Murphy, Govan, Bragg og | 23,582 |
| 31 October 1953 | 6th | Derby County | A | W | 4–2 | Purdon, Stewart, Murphy, Astall | 18,278 |
| 7 November 1953 | 5th | Blackburn Rovers | H | D | 0–0 | | 24,604 |
| 14 November 1953 | 5th | Doncaster Rovers | A | L | 1–3 | Kinsey | 16,586 |
| 21 November 1953 | 5th | Bury | H | D | 0–0 | | 20,723 |
| 28 November 1953 | 4th | Oldham Athletic | A | W | 3–2 | Kinsey, Astall, Govan | 18,264 |
| 5 December 1953 | 4th | Everton | H | W | 5–1 | Trigg, Murphy, Astall 2, Clinton og | 23,557 |
| 12 December 1953 | 5th | Hull City | A | L | 0–3 | | 19,752 |
| 19 December 1953 | 4th | Swansea Town | A | W | 3–1 | Rowley 2, Purdon | 12,493 |
| 25 December 1953 | 4th | Notts County | H | W | 3–0 | Rowley 2, Govan | 30,489 |
| 26 December 1953 | 4th | Notts County | A | L | 1–2 | Astall | 20,986 |
| 2 January 1954 | 6th | Rotherham United | H | L | 2–3 | Purdon 2 | 16,768 |
| 16 January 1954 | 4th | Leicester City | A | W | 4–3 | Murphy, Rowley, Govan 2 | 34,704 |
| 23 January 1954 | 2nd | Stoke City | H | W | 1–0 | Kinsey | 26,206 |
| 6 February 1954 | 6th | Fulham | A | L | 2–5 | Trigg 2 | 20,540 |
| 13 February 1954 | 5th | West Ham United | H | W | 2–0 | Cochrane, Astall | 22,716 |
| 20 February 1954 | 5th | Leeds United | A | D | 1–1 | Rowley | 22,803 |
| 27 February 1954 | 4th | Lincoln City | A | W | 1–0 | Lane | 13,924 |
| 6 March 1954 | 5th | Bristol Rovers | H | D | 1–1 | Boyd | 25,331 |
| 13 March 1954 | 5th | Brentford | A | L | 0–2 | | 12,584 |
| 20 March 1954 | 5th | Derby County | H | W | 3–0 | Trigg 2, Stewart | 18,219 |
| 27 March 1954 | 5th | Bury | A | D | 1–1 | Stewart | 11,293 |
| 3 April 1954 | 5th | Oldham Athletic | H | W | 2–1 | Murphy, Boyd | 15,848 |
| 10 April 1954 | 5th | Blackburn Rovers | A | L | 0–3 | | 31,995 |
| 16 April 1954 | 5th | Nottingham Forest | A | D | 1–1 | Kinsey | 25,285 |
| 17 April 1954 | 5th | Doncaster Rovers | H | L | 0–1 | | 15,266 |
| 19 April 1954 | 5th | Nottingham Forest | H | D | 2–2 | Lane, Stewart | 14,625 |
| 24 April 1954 | 6th | Everton | A | L | 0–1 | | 62,865 |

### League table (part)

Final Second Division table (part) :
| Pos | Club | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GA | Pts |
| 5th | Rotherham United | 42 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 80 | 67 | 1.19 | 49 |
| 6th | Luton Town | 42 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 64 | 59 | 1.08 | 48 |
| 7th | Birmingham City | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 78 | 58 | 1.34 | 47 |
| 8th | Fulham | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 98 | 85 | 1.15 | 44 |
| 9th | Bristol Rovers | 42 | 14 | 16 | 12 | 64 | 58 | 1.10 | 44 |
| Key | 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 = Points | 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 = Points | 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 = Points | 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 = Points | 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 = Points | 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 = Points | 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 = Points | 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 = Points | 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 = Points |
| Source | | | | | | | | | |

## FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Third round | 9 January 1954 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | W | 2–1 | Murphy, Rowley | 36,784 |
| Fourth round | 30 January 1954 | Ipswich Town | A | L | 0–1 | | 25,088 |

## 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 :
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | ENG | Gil Merrick | 38 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| GK | ENG | Johnny Schofield | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FB | ENG | George Allen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FB | ENG | Ken Green | 39 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| FB | ENG | Jeff Hall | 32 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 1 |
| FB | SCO | Roy Martin | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| HB | ENG | Jack Badham | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| HB | ENG | Keith Bannister | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| HB | ENG | Len Boyd | 35 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 2 |
| HB | ENG | Johnny Newman | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| HB | ENG | Trevor Smith | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| HB | ENG | Roy Warhurst | 37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
| HB | ENG | Johnny Watts | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| FW | ENG | Gordon Astall | 24 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 6 |
| FW | ENG | Arthur Atkins | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | ENG | Jimmy Cochrane | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| FW | ENG | Geoff Cox | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | SCO | Alex Govan | 38 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 8 |
| FW | ENG | Dennis Hill | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | ENG | John James | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | WAL | Noel Kinsey | 37 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 10 |
| FW | ENG | Jackie Lane | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
| FW | ENG | Peter Murphy | 32 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 34 | 14 |
| FW | ZAF | Ted Purdon † | 23 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 15 |
| FW | ENG | Ken Rowley | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 7 |
| FW | ENG | Barry Squires | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | SCO | Jackie Stewart | 22 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 7 |
| FW | ENG | Cyril Trigg | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5 |