# 1965–66 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1965–66 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 63rd in the Football League and their 25th in the Second Division, to which they were relegated in 1964–65. Having persuaded former Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Stan Cullis out of retirement as successor to Joe Mallett, who remained with the club as Cullis's assistant, they finished in tenth position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1965–66 FA Cup in the third round proper and lost to Leicester City in the fourth, and were beaten in their opening second-round match in the League Cup by Mansfield Town.
Twenty-two players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were thirteen different goalscorers. Forward Alec Jackson played in all but two of the team's 45 matches, and Geoff Vowden finished as leading scorer with 23 goals, of which 21 came in league competition.
This season saw the introduction of substitutes into the Football League. In the third game of the season, away to Preston North End on 26 August, Brian Sharples replaced the injured Ron Wylie to become Birmingham's first Football League substitute.

## Football League Second Division

| Date | League position | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 21 August 1965 | 7th | Crystal Palace | H | W | 2–1 | Thwaites 2 | 19,205 |
| 25 August 1965 | 6th | Middlesbrough | H | D | 2–2 | Beard | 16,772 |
| 28 August 1965 | 8th | Preston North End | A | D | 3–3 | Vowden, Beard 2 | 16,397 |
| 31 August 1965 | 8th | Middlesbrough | A | D | 1–1 | Vowden | 17,300 |
| 4 September 1965 | 9th | Charlton Athletic | H | D | 2–2 | Beard, Jackson pen | 15,324 |
| 8 September 1965 | 10th | Leyton Orient | H | D | 2–2 | Thomson, Vowden | 7,597 |
| 11 September 1965 | 13th | Plymouth Argyle | A | L | 1–6 | Vowden | 10,777 |
| 13 September 1965 | 14th | Leyton Orient | A | L | 1–2 | Thomson | 7,114 |
| 18 September 1965 | 19th | Portsmouth | H | L | 1–3 | Beard | 11,790 |
| 25 September 1965 | 17th | Bolton Wanderers | A | W | 2–1 | Thomson, Vowden | 12,117 |
| 9 October 1965 | 12th | Norwich City | H | W | 1–0 | Jackson | 11,626 |
| 16 October 1965 | 16th | Bury | A | L | 1–5 | Darrell | 8,184 |
| 23 October 1965 | 17th | Southampton | H | L | 0–1 | | 11,693 |
| 30 October 1965 | 21st | Derby County | A | L | 3–5 | Bullock, Vincent, Page | 12,464 |
| 6 November 1965 | 17th | Cardiff City | H | W | 4–2 | Bullock, Thomson, Lynn pen, Jackson | 10,744 |
| 13 November 1965 | 21st | Carlisle United | A | L | 0–1 | | 10,243 |
| 20 November 1965 | 21st | Coventry City | H | L | 0–1 | | 25,953 |
| 27 November 1965 | 21st | Bristol City | A | L | 0–2 | | 13,727 |
| 4 December 1965 | 20th | Manchester City | H | W | 3–1 | Jackson, Vowden, Thwaites | 10,445 |
| 11 December 1965 | 17th | Rotherham United | A | W | 4–3 | Vowden 3, Jackson | 10,684 |
| 18 December 1965 | 15th | Bury | H | W | 4–0 | Thomson, Thwaites 2, Fenton | 10,998 |
| 28 December 1965 | 14th | Huddersfield Town | H | W | 2–1 | Vowden, Thwaites | 19,763 |
| 1 January 1966 | 13th | Norwich City | A | D | 2–2 | Vowden, Fenton | 15,297 |
| 8 January 1966 | 12th | Carlisle United | H | W | 2–1 | Vowden, Beard | 14,998 |
| 29 January 1966 | 13th | Crystal Palace | A | L | 0–1 | | 14,090 |
| 5 February 1966 | 12th | Preston North End | H | D | 1–1 | Jackson | 14,054 |
| 19 February 1966 | 14th | Charlton Athletic | A | L | 1–2 | Thwaites | 13,742 |
| 26 February 1966 | 11th | Plymouth Argyle | H | W | 1–0 | Thomson | 13,117 |
| 5 March 1966 | 10th | Southampton | A | W | 1–0 | Thwaites | 18,295 |
| 12 March 1966 | 10th | Portsmouth | A | W | 1–0 | Vowden | 12,367 |
| 15 March 1966 | 10th | Huddersfield Town | A | L | 0–2 | | 19,156 |
| 19 March 1966 | 11th | Bolton Wanderers | H | L | 0–1 | | 13,770 |
| 26 March 1966 | 11th | Ipswich Town | A | W | 1–0 | Beard | 9,351 |
| 2 April 1966 | 8th | Cardiff City | A | W | 3–1 | Vowden, Carver og | 8,150 |
| 9 April 1966 | 8th | Derby County | H | D | 5–5 | Vowden, Hockey, Beard 2 (1 pen), Saxton og | 13,078 |
| 11 April 1966 | 10th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | D | 2–2 | Vincent, Vowden | 28,902 |
| 12 April 1966 | 10th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | L | 0–2 | | 32,511 |
| 16 April 1966 | 10th | Coventry City | A | L | 3–4 | Fenton, Vowden, Jackson | 27,111 |
| 22 April 1966 | 11th | Bristol City | H | L | 1–3 | Beard pen | 11,732 |
| 30 April 1966 | 15th | Manchester City | A | L | 1–3 | Vowden | 28,409 |
| 3 May 1966 | 9th | Ipswich Town | H | W | 4–1 | Fenton 2, Vowden, Jackson | 9,331 |
| 17 May 1966 | 10th | Rotherham United | H | W | 3–0 | Barber, Vowden, Hockey | 11,469 |

### League table (part)

Final Second Division table (part) :
| Pos | Club | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GA | Pts |
| 8th | Derby County | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 71 | 68 | 1.04 | 43 |
| 9th | Bolton Wanderers | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 62 | 59 | 1.05 | 41 |
| 10th | Birmingham City | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 70 | 75 | 0.93 | 41 |
| 11th | Crystal Palace | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 47 | 52 | 0.90 | 41 |
| 12th | Portsmouth | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 74 | 78 | 0.95 | 40 |
| 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 |

## FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Third round | 22 January 1966 | Bristol City | H | W | 3–2 | Vowden 2, Thomson | 24,340 |
| Fourth round | 12 February 1966 | Leicester City | H | L | 1–2 | Thwaites | 46,680 |

## League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Second round | 22 September 1965 | Mansfield Town | A | L | 1–2 | Beard | 9,344 |

## Appearances and goals

    Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute.
    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 | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | SCO | Jim Herriot | 35 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| GK | ENG | Johnny Schofield | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| FB | SCO | Cammie Fraser | 33 (1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 (1) | 0 |
| FB | WAL | Colin Green | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| FB | ENG | Ray Martin | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| HB | ENG | Malcolm Beard | 36 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 39 | 11 |
| HB | ENG | Winston Foster | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
| HB | WAL | Terry Hennessey † | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| HB | ENG | Stan Lynn | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| HB | WAL | Malcolm Page | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| HB | ENG | Brian Sharples | 3 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (1) | 0 |
| HB | SCO | Ron Wylie | 38 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| FW | IRL | Eric Barber | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| FW | ENG | Mickey Bullock | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| FW | ENG | Mick Darrell | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| FW | ENG | Ron Fenton | 15 (2) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 (2) | 5 |
| FW | WAL | Trevor Hockey | 24 (1) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 (1) | 2 |
| FW | ENG | Alec Jackson | 40 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 8 |
| FW | SCO | Bobby Thomson | 27 (1) | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 29 (1) | 7 |
| FW | ENG | Denis Thwaites | 30 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 9 |
| FW | ENG | Johnny Vincent | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| FW | ENG | Geoff Vowden | 38 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 23 |