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1951–52 Birmingham City F.C. season

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Birmingham City F.C.
1951–52 season
ChairmanHarry Morris Jr
ManagerBob Brocklebank
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League Second Division3rd
FA CupFourth round
(eliminated by Leyton Orient)
Top goalscorerLeague: Tommy Briggs (18)
All: Tommy Briggs (19)
Highest home attendance49,527 vs Leyton Orient, FA Cup 4th round, 2 February 1952
Lowest home attendance13,894 vs Sheffield Wednesday, 12 September 1951
Average home league attendance24,481

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

Main article: 1951–52 Football League

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
Source [1]

FA Cup

Main article: 1951–52 FA Cup
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance[nb 1]
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
  1. ^ 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[2] and "nearly 50,000" for Leyton Orient.[3]

Appearances and goals

  • Players with name struck through and marked † left the club during the playing season.
Players having played at least one first-team match
Pos. Nat. Name League FA Cup Total
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  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

See also

References

General
  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  • Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: DB Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
  • Source for match dates and results: "Birmingham City 1951–1952: Results". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 338–39.
Specific
  1. ^ "Birmingham City 1951–1952: English Division Two (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  2. ^ "F.A. Cup and League Results and Tables". The Observer. London. 13 January 1952. p. 8.
  3. ^ "Heroic Leyton Orient". The Times. London. 4 February 1952. p. 7.
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