# 1959–60 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1959–60 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 57th in the Football League and their 33rd in the First Division. They finished in 19th position in the 22-team division. They lost their opening third-round 1959–60 FA Cup-tie to Watford. In the 1958–60 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Birmingham reached the final, in which they lost 4–1 on aggregate to Barcelona.
Twenty-two players made at least one appearance in senior first-team competition, and there were fifteen different goalscorers. Half backs Trevor Smith and Johnny Watts played in 46 of the 47 first-team matches over the season, and Johnny Gordon finished as leading goalscorer with 19 goals in all competitions, of which 16 were scored in the league.
Pat Beasley resigned as manager at the end of May 1960, to be replaced by club appearance record-holder Gil Merrick following his retirement as a player.

## Football League First Division

| Date | League position | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 22 August 1959 | 19th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | L | 0–1 | | 41,248 |
| 26 August 1959 | 10th | Newcastle United | H | W | 4–3 | Stubbs, Gordon, Orritt, Hooper pen | 26,986 |
| 29 August 1959 | 12th | Tottenham Hotspur | A | D | 0–0 | | 45,243 |
| 2 September 1959 | 16th | Newcastle United | A | L | 0–1 | | 35,395 |
| 5 September 1959 | 16th | Manchester United | H | D | 1–1 | Watts | 38,242 |
| 9 September 1959 | 16th | Chelsea | H | D | 1–1 | Larkin | 28,132 |
| 12 September 1959 | 19th | Preston North End | A | L | 2–3 | Stubbs, Neal | 18,934 |
| 16 September 1959 | 21st | Chelsea | A | L | 2–4 | Hooper pen, Scott og | 31,651 |
| 19 September 1959 | 22nd | Leicester City | H | L | 3–4 | Hooper 2 (1 pen), Smith | 24,950 |
| 26 September 1959 | 22nd | Burnley | A | L | 1–3 | Orritt | 23,848 |
| 3 October 1959 | 21st | Leeds United | H | W | 2–0 | Barrett, Taylor | 25,301 |
| 10 October 1959 | 21st | Sheffield Wednesday | H | D | 0–0 | | 21,769 |
| 17 October 1959 | 18th | Nottingham Forest | A | W | 2–0 | Stubbs, Gordon | 24,904 |
| 24 October 1959 | 19th | Fulham | H | L | 2–4 | Gordon 2 | 26,691 |
| 31 October 1959 | 21st | Arsenal | A | L | 0–3 | | 34,430 |
| 7 November 1959 | 21st | Luton Town | H | D | 1–1 | Barrett | 19,007 |
| 14 November 1959 | 21st | Everton | A | L | 0–4 | | 19,172 |
| 21 November 1959 | 19th | Blackpool | H | W | 2–1 | Larkin, Hooper | 24,783 |
| 28 November 1959 | 19th | Blackburn Rovers | A | L | 1–2 | Barrett | 20,549 |
| 5 December 1959 | 19th | Manchester City | H | W | 4–2 | Gordon 2, Barrett, Hooper | 18,661 |
| 12 December 1959 | 20th | Bolton Wanderers | A | L | 1–4 | Hooper | 16,074 |
| 19 December 1959 | 21st | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | L | 0–2 | | 22,363 |
| 26 December 1959 | 20th | West Ham United | H | W | 2–0 | Astall, Hooper | 29,745 |
| 28 December 1959 | 21st | West Ham United | A | L | 1–3 | Astall | 26,154 |
| 2 January 1960 | 21st | Tottenham Hotspur | H | L | 0–1 | | 27,558 |
| 16 January 1960 | 21st | Manchester United | A | L | 1–2 | Larkin | 47,606 |
| 23 January 1960 | 21st | Preston North End | H | W | 2–1 | Larkin, Neal | 24,160 |
| 6 February 1960 | 21st | Leicester City | A | W | 3–1 | Weston, Hume, Hooper | 25,896 |
| 27 February 1960 | 21st | Manchester City | A | L | 0–3 | | 23,479 |
| 5 March 1960 | 20th | Nottingham Forest | H | W | 4–1 | Gordon 2, Neal, Hooper | 24,821 |
| 9 March 1960 | 20th | Leeds United | A | D | 3–3 | Neal, Hooper, McConnell og | 8,557 |
| 12 March 1960 | 20th | Fulham | A | D | 2–2 | Gordon, Hooper | 25,208 |
| 19 March 1960 | 21st | Bolton Wanderers | H | L | 2–5 | Weston, Gordon | 24,183 |
| 26 March 1960 | 21st | Luton Town | A | D | 1–1 | Weston | 13,620 |
| 2 April 1960 | 20th | Everton | H | D | 2–2 | Gordon, Astall | 24,872 |
| 9 April 1960 | 20th | Blackpool | A | W | 1–0 | Gordon | 13,595 |
| 16 April 1960 | 20th | Arsenal | H | W | 3–0 | Murphy 2, Gordon | 27,201 |
| 18 April 1960 | 20th | West Bromwich Albion | H | L | 1–7 | Gordon | 28,685 |
| 19 April 1960 | 20th | West Bromwich Albion | A | D | 1–1 | Gordon | 37,894 |
| 23 April 1960 | 20th | Sheffield Wednesday | A | W | 4–2 | Murphy 2, Astall, Hooper | 25,310 |
| 27 April 1960 | 20th | Burnley | H | L | 0–1 | | 37,032 |
| 30 April 1960 | 19th | Blackburn Rovers | H | W | 1–0 | Gordon | 24,476 |

### League table (part)

Final First Division table (part) :
| Pos | Club | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GA | Pts |
| 17th | Blackburn Rovers | 42 | 16 | 5 | 21 | 60 | 70 | 0.86 | 37 |
| 18th | Chelsea | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 76 | 91 | 0.83 | 37 |
| 19th | Birmingham City | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 63 | 80 | 0.79 | 36 |
| 20th | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 50 | 74 | 0.68 | 35 |
| 21st | Leeds United | 42 | 12 | 10 | 20 | 63 | 80 | 0.71 | 34 |
| 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 1960 | Watford | A | L | 1–2 | Hooper | 31,548 |

## Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

The early rounds of the 1958–60 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup were completed during Birmingham's 1958–59 season, leaving the semi-finals and final to be played this season. In the semi-final, Birmingham beat Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise 4–2 in each leg to reach the final, in which they played Barcelona, who had eliminated them at the semi-final stage in the previous edition of the competition.
The first leg of the final was played in "bitter, slanting rain" on a St Andrew's pitch that "almost from one goal to the other down the centre, was a series of little lakes". Birmingham played a "fast, open game" more suited to the conditions, while Barcelona's technical superiority was blunted both by the mud and by the "hard-tackling, grafting, bustling Birmingham defence, in which Smith and Neal in particular stood out like rocks long before the end". In the second half, Barcelona tired; El Mundo Deportivo noted that they had played a league match in Seville only 48 hours earlier and the players were not machines. The home side had three good chances: Ramallets dived at Hooper's feet, Weston ran the ball out of play when under no pressure, and a "sliding tackle from nowhere by Gensana turned away what looked like a certain goal", again for Weston.
The Times' correspondent's fears that Birmingham had missed their opportunity – "here was a setting that favoured Birmingham's particular style, and they did not win" – were realised in the second leg. In a one-sided match in front of a crowd of 75,000, Barcelona were two goals up after six minutes, and doubled their tally before Murphy broke down the left and sent a long pass towards Hooper, whose mobility helped him beat Ramallets to the ball and score with a header.
| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Semi-final 1st leg | 7 October 1959 | Union Saint-Gilloise | A | W | 4–2 | Hooper, Gordon, Barrett, Orritt | 20,000 |
| Semi-final 2nd leg | 11 November 1959 | Union Saint-Gilloise | H | W | 4–2 | Gordon 2, Larkin, Hooper | 14,152 |
| Final 1st leg | 29 March 1960 | Barcelona | H | D | 0–0 | | 40,524 |
| Final 2nd leg | 4 May 1960 | Barcelona | A | L | 1–4 | Hooper | 75,000 |

## Appearances and goals

    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 | Fairs Cup | Fairs Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | ENG | Gil Merrick | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| GK | ENG | Johnny Schofield | 40 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 0 |
| FB | ENG | George Allen | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| FB | ENG | Brian Farmer | 40 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| FB | ENG | Graham Sissons | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| FB | ENG | Pat Wright | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| HB | ENG | Dick Neal | 39 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 43 | 3 |
| HB | ENG | Trevor Smith | 41 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 1 |
| HB | ENG | Johnny Watts | 41 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 1 |
| FW | ENG | Gordon Astall | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 4 |
| FW | ENG | Jim Barrett | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 5 |
| FW | ENG | Johnny Gordon | 39 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 43 | 19 |
| FW | ENG | Mike Hellawell | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| FW | ENG | Harry Hooper | 39 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 44 | 17 |
| FW | SCO | Billy Hume | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| FW | ENG | Bunny Larkin | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 5 |
| FW | ENG | Peter Murphy | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 |
| FW | WAL | Bryan Orritt | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 3 |
| FW | ENG | Billy Rudd | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FW | ENG | Robin Stubbs | 18 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 3 |
| FW | ENG | Brian Taylor | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| FW | ENG | Don Weston | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 3 |