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1957–58 Birmingham City F.C. season

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Birmingham City F.C.
1957–58 season
ChairmanHarry Morris Jr
ManagerArthur Turner until February 1958
Turner and Pat Beasley (joint appointment) thereafter
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League First Division13th
FA CupThird round
(eliminated by York City)
Inter-Cities Fairs CupSemi-final
(eliminated by Barcelona)
Top goalscorerLeague: Peter Murphy (20)
All: Peter Murphy (23)
Highest home attendance50,780 vs Aston Villa, 24 August 1957
Lowest home attendance15,937 vs Sheffield Wednesday, 12 March 1958
Average home league attendance29,553

The 1957–58 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 55th in the Football League and their 31st in the First Division. They finished in 13th position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1957–58 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost in that round to York City. In the inaugural edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Birmingham lost in the semi-final in a play-off, having drawn on aggregate score with Barcelona.

In February 1958, Pat Beasley joined the club. Beasley had believed he was coming as assistant to manager Arthur Turner, but chairman Harry Morris announced to the press that he was to be appointed joint manager. Turner, who found about this arrangement not from the club but from the press, threatened to resign. He was persuaded to stay "for the time being", but finally left early in the 1958–59 season.[1]

Twenty-four players made at least one appearance in nationally or internationally organised first-team competition, and there were twelve different goalscorers. Half back Dick Neal played in 44 of the 46 first-team matches over the season, and Peter Murphy finished as leading goalscorer with 23 goals in all competitions, of which 20 were scored in the league.

Football League First Division

Main article: 1957–58 Football League
Date League
position		 Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
24 August 1957 6th Aston Villa H W 3–1 Brown, Kinsey, Murphy 50,780
28 August 1957 5th Nottingham Forest A D 1–1 Brown 29,705
31 August 1957 11th Chelsea A L 1–5 Brown 43,806
4 September 1957 15th Nottingham Forest H L 0–2 26,852
7 September 1957 18th Newcastle United H L 1–4 Hellawell 29,784
11 September 1957 19th Tottenham Hotspur H D 0–0 26,485
14 September 1957 21st Burnley A L 1–3 Neal 20,522
18 September 1957 22nd Tottenham Hotspur A L 1–7 Brown 35,292
21 September 1957 20th Preston North End H W 3–1 Neale, Murphy, Govan pen 24,894
28 September 1957 21st Sheffield Wednesday A L 3–5 Orritt 2, Murphy 20,129
1 October 1957 21st West Bromwich Albion A D 0–0 39,738
5 October 1957 15th Manchester City H W 4–0 Murphy 3, Brown 28,059
12 October 1957 17th Wolverhampton Wanderers H L 1–5 Astall 43,005
19 October 1957 15th Arsenal A W 3–1 Orritt, Neal 2 39,031
26 October 1957 14th Bolton Wanderers H W 5–1 Brown 2, Orritt, Murphy, Watts 26,225
2 November 1957 15th Luton Town A L 0–3 17,316
9 November 1957 16th Sunderland H L 2–3 Murphy, Govan 25,315
16 November 1957 15th Everton A W 2–0 Murphy 2 34,875
23 November 1957 15th Blackpool H D 0–0 32,178
30 November 1957 15th Leeds United A D 1–1 Orritt 21,358
7 December 1957 15th Manchester United H D 3–3 Kinsey, Murphy, Astall 35,191
14 December 1957 15th Leicester City A D 2–2 Kinsey, Astall 28,680
21 December 1957 15th Aston Villa A W 2–0 Brown, Kinsey 41,118
26 December 1957 15th West Bromwich Albion H L 3–5 Brown, Hooper pen, Neal 48,396
28 December 1957 15th Chelsea H D 3–3 Brown, Murphy 2 37,436
11 January 1958 15th Newcastle United A W 2–1 Brown, Kinsey 34,825
18 January 1958 15th Burnley H L 2–3 Murphy, Hooper 22,281
1 February 1958 15th Preston North End A L 0–8 21,511
22 February 1958 17th Wolverhampton Wanderers A L 1–5 Murphy 36,941
1 March 1958 15th Arsenal H W 4–1 Brown 2, Murphy, Hooper 26,834
5 March 1958 15th Manchester City A D 1–1 Murphy 30,655
8 March 1958 16th Bolton Wanderers A L 0–1 18,309
12 March 1958 15th Sheffield Wednesday H W 1–0 Orritt 15,937
15 March 1958 15th Luton Town H D 1–1 Orritt 25,225
22 March 1958 15th Blackpool A L 2–4 Astall, Hooper pen 11,549
29 March 1958 15th Everton H W 2–1 Hooper 2 21,628
4 April 1958 15th Portsmouth A L 2–3 Murphy, Hooper 33,075
5 April 1958 14th Sunderland A W 6–1 Murphy, Astall, Brown, Hooper, Orritt 2 34,194
7 April 1958 12th Portsmouth H W 4–1 Brown, Orritt, Murphy, Hooper 23,380
12 April 1958 13th Leeds United H D 1–1 Orritt 23,112
19 April 1958 12th Manchester United A W 2–0 Hooper, Green 39,215
26 April 1958 13th Leicester City H L 0–1 27,607

League table (part)

Final First Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
11th Chelsea 42 15 12 15 82 79 1.05 42
12th Arsenal 42 16 7 19 73 85 0.86 39
13th Birmingham City 42 14 11 17 76 89 0.85 39
14th Aston Villa 42 16 7 19 73 86 0.85 39
15th Bolton Wanderers 42 14 10 18 65 87 0.75 38
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 [2]

FA Cup

Main article: 1957–58 FA Cup
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
Third round 8 January 1958 York City A L 0–3 19,750

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Main article: 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

The group stage of the inaugural edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was completed during the 1956–57 playing season. The score at half time in the first leg of the semi-final, at St Andrew's, was 3–3, and Peter Murphy scored the winner after an hour. In the away leg, in the recently opened Camp Nou, El Mundo Deportivo expected a comfortable victory for the hosts,[3] but the result was rather less clear-cut. The only goal of the game was scored after 82 minutes by Kubala, who saw Gil Merrick off his line and neatly lobbed him.[4] With no away goals rule, the game went into 30 minutes of extra time, which remained goalless, so a replay was to be played on a neutral ground. Controversy arose when Birmingham were prevented from substituting the injured Bunny Larkin, contrary to what they believed had been agreed before the match; Barcelona manager Domènec Balmanya claimed the agreement allowed for two substitutes, but outfield players could only be replaced in the first half.[5][6] Asked what he thought of Barcelona, Birmingham trainer Dave Fairhurst said he thought they played better in the first leg, where they concentrated on playing; here, they spent too much time complaining. Balmanya's opinion of Birmingham had not changed since the first leg: he saw them as a physical team with crude technique, too concerned with the opponent to think much about the ball.[6]

El Mundo Deportivo was more complimentary about Birmingham's style of play in the replay. While they had come to Barcelona to avoid losing, and nearly succeeded, they went to St. Jakob-Park, in Basel, Switzerland, to win, and to be worthy of the victory. It also suggested that the playing surface – rough, and covered with long wet grass – was better suited to an open, long-ball game than to precise passing and close marking.[7] Barcelona scored first through Evaristo, Murphy equalised early in the second half, then with seven minutes left, Suárez picked up the ball in midfield and passed to Kubala who drew Merrick out of his goal and gave him no chance with his shot.[5][7]

Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
Semi-final 1st leg 23 October 1957 Barcelona H W 4–3 Murphy 2, Brown, Orritt 30,791
Semi-final 2nd leg 13 November 1957 Barcelona A L 0–1
aet		 60,000
Semi-final playoff 26 November 1957 Barcelona St. Jakob-Park, Basel L 1–2 Murphy 20,000

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 Fairs Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK  ENG Gil Merrick 28 0 1 0 3 0 32 0
GK  ENG Johnny Schofield 14 0 0 0 0 0 14 0
FB  ENG George Allen 4 0 0 0 2 0 6 0
FB  ENG Brian Farmer 13 0 1 0 2 0 16 0
FB  ENG Ken Green 31 1 0 0 0 0 31 1
FB  ENG Jeff Hall 37 0 1 0 2 0 40 0
HB  ENG Bunny Larkin 22 0 0 0 2 0 24 0
HB  ENG Joe Mullett 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
HB  ENG Dick Neal 40 4 1 0 3 0 44 4
HB  ENG Johnny Newman† 6 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
HB  ENG Graham Sissons 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
HB  ENG Trevor Smith 37 0 1 0 3 0 41 0
HB  ENG Johnny Watts 22 1 1 0 2 0 25 1
FW  ENG Gordon Astall 37 5 1 0 3 0 41 5
FW  ENG Eddy Brown 37 15 1 0 3 1 41 16
FW  SCO Alex Govan† 20 2 0 0 2 0 22 2
FW  ENG Mike Hellawell 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
FW  ENG Harry Hooper 22 10 1 0 0 0 23 10
FW  ENG David Jones 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
FW  ENG Bud Houghton 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
FW  WAL Noel Kinsey† 15 5 1 0 1 0 17 5
FW  ENG Peter Murphy 36 20 1 0 3 3 40 23
FW  ENG Keith Neale† 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 1
FW  WAL Bryan Orritt 25 11 0 0 2 1 27 12

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 1957–1958: Results". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 350–51, 473.
Specific
  1. ^ Matthews, Complete Record, p. 62.
  2. ^ "Birmingham City 1957–1958: English Division One (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  3. ^ "Anoche en Birmingham". El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Barcelona. 24 October 1957. Retrieved 2 May 2012. el resultado último de la semifinal ... que verá – o mucho nos equivocamos – un triunfo claro del equipo azulgrana. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Pardo, Carlos (14 November 1957). "Barcelona 1, – Birmingham 0". El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Barcelona. p. 3. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  5. ^ a b "Blues in Europe – Part One 1956–1958". Birmingham City F.C. Archived from the original on 7 April 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Hablan los entrenadores". El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Barcelona. 14 November 1957. p. 3. Retrieved 2 May 2012. Buena, aunque creo que jugaron mejor en Birmingham; allí se dedicaron más a jugar... aquí protestaron demasiado. ... Lo mismo que opiné después del partido jugado en Inglaterra, que se trata de un conjunto durísimo, de técnica un tanto rudimentaria, que se preocupan demasiado del contrario, olvidándose con frecuencia del balón. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b "Barcelona 2, – Birmingham 1". El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Barcelona. 27 November 1957. p. 3. Retrieved 2 May 2012. Vino al estadio barcelonista, no a ganar un partido. Vino a no perderlo. Y a punto de ello estuvo. Hoy en cambio, venía a hacerse merecedor del triunfo y, además, alcanzarlo. ... El terreno, accidentado, de hierba larga, tierra húmeda y muy resbaladiza, se prestaba muchísimo más al juego abierto y de largos desplazamientos del balón y de aperturas fáciles, que no al estilo de juego de pase concreto, tiro colocado y marcaje próximo.
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