# 1951–52 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1951–52 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 49th in the Football League and their 21st in the Second Division. They finished in third position in the 22-team division, missing out on promotion to Cardiff City on goal average. They entered the 1951–52 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost to Leyton Orient in the fourth.
Twenty-three players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were fourteen different goalscorers. Goalkeeper Gil Merrick played in 43 of the 44 games over the season. Of outfield players, full-back Ken Green played in 41. Tommy Briggs was top scorer with 19 goals, of which 18 came in the league.

## Football League Second Division

Note that not all teams completed their playing season on the same day. Birmingham had been in the promotion positions since 22 March and were in second position after their last game of the season, on 26 April, but by the time the last game was played, on 3 May, Cardiff City had beaten Leeds United in their last game of the season to finish level on points with Birmingham with a better goal average.
| Date | League position | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 18 August 1951 | 6th | Bury | H | W | 2–1 | Trigg, Higgins | 23,861 |
| 22 August 1951 | 4th | Leeds United | H | D | 1–1 | Ferris | 17,801 |
| 25 August 1951 | 15th | Leicester City | A | L | 0–4 | | 24,465 |
| 29 August 1951 | 12th | Leeds United | A | D | 1–1 | Purdon | 15,098 |
| 1 September 1951 | 18th | Nottingham Forest | H | L | 0–2 | | 23,192 |
| 3 September 1951 | 16th | Sheffield Wednesday | A | D | 1–1 | Higgins | 32,506 |
| 8 September 1951 | 19th | Brentford | A | L | 0–1 | | 25,029 |
| 12 September 1951 | 19th | Sheffield Wednesday | H | D | 0–0 | | 13,894 |
| 15 September 1951 | 20th | Doncaster Rovers | H | D | 2–2 | Badham, Dorman | 16,220 |
| 22 September 1951 | 15th | Everton | A | W | 3–1 | Tommy Briggs, Purdon, Wardle | 37,138 |
| 29 September 1951 | 15th | Southampton | H | D | 1–1 | Briggs | 25,786 |
| 6 October 1951 | 13th | Swansea Town | H | D | 1–1 | Higgins | 28,060 |
| 13 October 1951 | 13th | Coventry City | A | D | 1–1 | Rowley | 23,580 |
| 20 October 1951 | 10th | West Ham United | H | W | 2–1 | Stewart, Briggs | 20,295 |
| 27 October 1951 | 16th | Sheffield United | A | L | 2–4 | Rowley, Stewart | 31,190 |
| 3 November 1951 | 13th | Barnsley | H | W | 2–1 | Briggs, Stewart | 19,186 |
| 10 November 1951 | 10th | Hull City | A | W | 1–0 | Briggs | 27,482 |
| 17 November 1951 | 11th | Blackburn Rovers | H | L | 0–1 | | 22,337 |
| 24 November 1951 | 10th | Queens Park Rangers | A | W | 2–0 | Briggs, Smith | 14,945 |
| 1 December 1951 | 9th | Notts County | H | W | 2–0 | Smith 2 | 26,554 |
| 8 December 1951 | 7th | Luton Town | A | W | 4–2 | Purdon, Smith, Stewart, Warhurst | 15,937 |
| 15 December 1951 | 9th | Bury | A | L | 0–3 | | 12,347 |
| 22 December 1951 | 8th | Leicester City | H | W | 2–0 | Briggs, Wardle | 22,230 |
| 25 December 1951 | 5th | Rotherham United | H | W | 4–0 | Smith 3, Purdon | 27,531 |
| 26 December 1951 | 3rd | Rotherham United | A | W | 2–1 | Briggs, Badham | 22,371 |
| 29 December 1951 | 2nd | Nottingham Forest | A | W | 1–0 | Briggs | 34,316 |
| 5 January 1952 | 3rd | Brentford | H | L | 1–2 | Wardle | 28,368 |
| 19 January 1952 | 1st | Doncaster Rovers | A | W | 5–0 | Murphy 3, Briggs, Stewart | 20,282 |
| 26 January 1952 | 2nd | Everton | H | L | 1–2 | Stewart | 32,980 |
| 9 February 1952 | 4th | Southampton | A | L | 0–2 | | 18,688 |
| 16 February 1952 | 5th | Swansea Town | A | L | 0–4 | | 24,230 |
| 1 March 1952 | 5th | Coventry City | H | W | 3–1 | Briggs, Stewart, Murphy | 33,007 |
| 8 March 1952 | 3rd | West Ham United | A | W | 1–0 | Briggs | 24,011 |
| 15 March 1952 | 4th | Sheffield United | H | W | 3–0 | Trigg, Murphy 2 | 28,092 |
| 22 March 1952 | 1st | Barnsley | A | W | 2–1 | Murphy, Stewart | 14,377 |
| 29 March 1952 | 1st | Hull City | H | D | 2–2 | Smith, Briggs | 14,660 |
| 5 April 1952 | 2nd | Blackburn Rovers | A | W | 4–1 | Smith, Briggs 2, Dailey | 19,151 |
| 11 April 1952 | 2nd | Cardiff City | H | W | 3–2 | Briggs, Green, Sherwood og | 32,941 |
| 12 April 1952 | 1st | Queens Park Rangers | H | W | 1–0 | Trigg | 28,286 |
| 14 April 1952 | 2nd | Cardiff City | A | L | 1–3 | Briggs | 25,470 |
| 19 April 1952 | 2nd | Notts County | A | L | 0–5 | | 24,360 |
| 26 April 1952 | 2nd | Luton Town | H | W | 3–1 | Briggs, Purdon, Stewart | 28,816 |

### League table (part)

Final Second Division table (part) :
| Pos | Club | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GA | Pts |
| 1st | Sheffield Wednesday | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 100 | 66 | 1.51 | 53 |
| 2nd | Cardiff City | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 72 | 54 | 1.33 | 51 |
| 3rd | Birmingham City | 42 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 67 | 56 | 1.20 | 51 |
| 4th | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 77 | 62 | 1.24 | 49 |
| 5th | Leicester City | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 78 | 64 | 1.22 | 47 |
| 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 | 12 January 1952 | Fulham | A | W | 1–0 | Tommy Briggs | 25,806 |
| Fourth round | 2 February 1952 | Leyton Orient | H | L | 0–1 | | 49,527 |
* ↑ Matthews (2010) gives the attendances for the two FA Cup matches the other way round. However, contemporary newspapers confirm attendances of approximately 26,000 for the Fulham match and "nearly 50,000" for Leyton Orient.

## 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 | 41 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 0 |
| GK | ENG | Bill Robertson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FB | ENG | Jack Badham | 39 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 2 |
| FB | ENG | Ken Green | 33 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 1 |
| FB | ENG | Jeff Hall | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| FB | SCO | Roy Martin | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| HB | ENG | Arthur Atkins | 31 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| HB | ENG | Len Boyd | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| HB | NIR | Ray Ferris | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| HB | ENG | Johnny Newman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| HB | ENG | Roy Warhurst | 36 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 1 |
| HB | ENG | Johnny Watts | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | ENG | Johnny Berry † | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FW | ENG | Tommy Briggs | 33 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 35 | 19 |
| FW | SCO | Jimmy Dailey | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| FW | ENG | Don Dorman † | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| FW | IRL | Jim Higgins | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 |
| FW | ENG | Peter Murphy | 15 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 7 |
| FW | ZAF | Ted Purdon | 19 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 5 |
| FW | ENG | Ken Rowley | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| FW | ENG | Bill Smith | 19 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 9 |
| FW | SCO | Jackie Stewart | 37 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 9 |
| FW | ENG | Cyril Trigg | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 3 |
| FW | ENG | Billy Wardle | 35 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 3 |