1962–63 Birmingham City F.C. season

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Birmingham City F.C.
1962–63 season
ChairmanHarry Morris, Jr
ManagerGil Merrick
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League First Division20th
FA CupThird round
(eliminated by Bury)
Football League CupWinners
Top goalscorerLeague: Ken Leek (20)
All: Ken Leek (29)
Highest home attendance42,228 vs Aston Villa, 27 October 1962
Lowest home attendance11,293 vs Bury, League Cup semi-final 1st leg, 27 March 1963
Average home league attendance22,559

The 1962–63 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 60th in the Football League and their 36th in the First Division. They finished in 20th position in the 22-team division, two points clear of the relegation places. They entered the 1962–63 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost in that round to Bury after a replay. They entered the League Cup at the second round and reached the final, in which they defeated local rivals Aston Villa 3–1 on aggregate score to win the first (and, until 2011, only) major trophy in their history.

Because of the severe winter weather – the so-called "Big Freeze of 1963" – Birmingham played no matches for ten weeks, between 22 December and 2 March. Their third-round FA Cup-tie was played in the first week of March, two months later than the usual date of the first weekend in January.

Twenty-three players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were eleven different goalscorers. Half back Terry Hennessey played in 52 of the 53 first-team matches over the season (forwards Ken Leek and Mike Hellawell missed only two), and Leek finished as leading goalscorer with 29 goals, of which 20 were scored in league competition.

Football League First Division[edit]

Main article: 1962–63 Football League
Date League
position		 Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
18 August 1962 22nd Tottenham Hotspur A L 0–3 51,140
21 August 1962 22nd Arsenal A L 0–2 34,004
25 August 1962 20th Leyton Orient H D 2–2 Bullock, Hellawell 23,411
29 August 1962 19th Arsenal H D 2–2 Leek, Lynn pen 27,038
1 September 1962 20th Manchester United A L 0–2 40,618
8 September 1962 21st Burnley H W 5–1 Hellawell 2, Leek, Bloomfield, Bullock 24,463
12 September 1962 21st West Bromwich Albion A L 0–1 25,560
15 September 1962 22nd Sheffield Wednesday A L 0–5 22,255
19 September 1962 22nd West Bromwich Albion H D 0–0 28,660
22 September 1962 18th Fulham H W 4–1 Harris, Leek, Auld, Lynn pen 20,439
29 September 1962 20th Leicester City A L 0–3 22,210
6 October 1962 22nd West Ham United A L 0–5 21,150
13 October 1962 22nd Manchester City H D 2–2 Regan, Stubbs 21,114
24 October 1962 19th Wolverhampton Wanderers A W 2–0 Leek 2 26,226
27 October 1962 17th Aston Villa H W 3–2 Leek 2, Lynn pen 42,228
3 November 1962 13th Sheffield United A W 2–0 Stubbs, Hellawell 19,186
10 November 1962 14th Nottingham Forest H D 2–2 Harris, Leek 22,024
17 November 1962 12th Ipswich Town A W 5–1 Harris 2, Leek 2, Auld 16,775
24 November 1962 15th Liverpool H L 0–2 27,050
1 December 1962 14th Blackpool A D 1–1 Leek 12,955
8 December 1962 15th Blackburn Rovers H D 3–3 Bloomfield, Leek 2 16,108
15 December 1962 16th Tottenham Hotspur H L 0–2 36,623
22 December 1962 15th Leyton Orient A D 2–2 Bloomfield 2 11,646
2 March 1963 18th Manchester City A L 1–2 Harris 28,798
9 March 1963 20th Wolverhampton Wanderers H L 3–4 Auld, Lynn 2 (1 pen) 18,219
16 March 1963 20th Aston Villa A L 0–4 40,400
23 March 1963 21st Sheffield United H L 0–1 18,056
30 March 1963 20th Sheffield Wednesday H D 1–1 Auld pen 12,275
3 April 1963 19th Bolton Wanderers H D 2–2 Leek 2 13,200
6 April 1963 20th Ipswich Town H L 0–1 16,756
13 April 1963 21st Nottingham Forest A W 2–0 Leek 2 15,556
15 April 1963 21st Everton A D 2–2 Bloomfield, Leek 50,122
16 April 1963 21st Everton H L 0–1 29,719
20 April 1963 21st Blackpool H L 3–6 Bloomfield, Leek, Auld 15,396
24 April 1963 21st Bolton Wanderers A D 0–0 12,949
27 April 1963 21st Blackburn Rovers A L 1–6 Auld 9,482
1 May 1963 20th West Ham United H W 3–2 Harris, Auld, Hennessey 14,410
4 May 1963 20th Fulham A D 3–3 Harris, Hellawell, Auld 20,179
8 May 1963 20th Liverpool A L 1–5 Leek 23,684
10 May 1963 20th Manchester United H W 2–1 Bloomfield 2 21,855
14 May 1963 20th Burnley A L 1–3 Bloomfield 14,350
18 May 1963 20th Leicester City H W 3–2 Harris, Auld, Lynn pen 23,971

League table (part)[edit]

Final First Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
18th Bolton Wanderers 42 15 5 22 55 75 0.73 35
19th Manchester United 42 12 10 20 67 81 0.83 34
20th Birmingham City 42 10 13 19 63 90 0.70 33
21st Manchester City 42 10 11 21 58 102 0.57 31
22nd Leyton Orient 42 6 9 27 37 81 0.46 21
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[edit]

Main article: 1962–63 FA Cup

Because of the severe winter weather – the so-called "Big Freeze of 1963" – Birmingham played no matches for ten weeks, between 22 December and 2 March. Their opening third-round FA Cup-tie against Bury was postponed 14 times and abandoned once before finally being played two months after the originally scheduled date.[2]

Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
Third round 5 March 1963 Bury H D 3–3 Leek, Harris, Lynn pen 37,913
Third round replay 7 March 1963 Bury A L 0–2 16,525

League Cup[edit]

Main articles: 1962–63 Football League Cup and 1963 Football League Cup Final

The first leg of the final, against Birmingham's near neighbours Aston Villa, was played on 23 May at St Andrew's. Birmingham took the lead when Jimmy Harris fed Bertie Auld who crossed for Ken Leek's powerful shot, but Aston Villa equalised via Bobby Thomson. Seven minutes into the second half, the same combination of players made it 2–1, and after 66 minutes Jimmy Bloomfield "ended an excellent run by scoring from a narrow angle, earning even the applause of Villa players"[3] to give Birmingham a 3–1 lead.[4] The second leg, four days later at Villa Park, was goalless. Former England centre half Trevor Smith marked Thomson out of the game,[5] Birmingham's defensive tactics included repeatedly kicking the ball out for throw-ins,[6] and Aston Villa were unable to break their opponents down.

Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
Second round 26 September 1962 Doncaster Rovers H W 5–0 Leek 2, Bloomfield, Harris, Auld 11,384
Third round 15 October 1962 Barrow A D 1–1 Wolstenholme 6,289
Third round replay 29 October 1962 Barrow H W 5–1 Harris, Stubbs, Leek, Arrowsmith og 11,765
Fourth round 14 November 1962 Notts County H W 3–2 Lynn pen, Harris, Auld 13,187
Fifth round 11 December 1962 Manchester City H W 6–0 Lynn 2 (1 pen), Leek, Auld, Leivers og, Sear og 18,012
Semi-final 1st leg 27 March 1963 Bury H W 3–2 Bullock, Leek, Auld 11,293
Semi-final 2nd leg 8 April 1963 Bury A D 1–1 Leek 9,177
Final 1st leg 23 May 1963 Aston Villa H W 3–1 Leek 2, Bloomfield 31,902
Final 2nd leg 27 May 1963 Aston Villa A D 0–0 37,949

Appearances and goals[edit]

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 League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK  ENG Johnny Schofield 18 0 0 0 4 0 22 0
GK  ENG Colin Withers 24 0 2 0 5 0 31 0
FB  WAL Colin Green 17 0 2 0 3 0 22 0
FB  ENG Stan Lynn 33 6 2 1 7 3 42 10
FB  ENG Brian Rushton 9 0 0 0 2 0 11 0
FB  ENG Brian Sharples 3 0 0 0 1 0 4 0
FB  ENG Graham Sissons 17 0 0 0 3 0 20 0
HB  ENG Malcolm Beard 34 0 2 0 7 0 43 0
HB  ENG Winston Foster 5 0 0 0 1 0 6 0
HB  WAL Terry Hennessey 42 1 2 0 8 0 52 1
HB  ENG Trevor Smith 37 0 2 0 7 0 46 0
HB  ENG Johnny Watts 13 0 0 0 5 0 18 0
FW  SCO Bertie Auld 36 9 2 0 9 4 47 13
FW  ENG Jimmy Bloomfield 28 9 2 0 6 2 36 11
FW  ENG Peter Bullock 14 2 0 0 1 1 15 3
FW  ENG Greg Farrell 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
FW  ENG Jimmy Harris 29 8 2 1 6 4 37 13
FW  ENG Mike Hellawell 40 5 2 0 9 0 51 5
FW  WAL Ken Leek 41 20 2 1 8 8 51 29
FW  ENG John Regan 2 1 0 0 2 0 4 1
FW  ENG Robin Stubbs 12 2 0 0 3 1 15 3
FW  ENG Denis Thwaites 6 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
FW  ENG Trevor Wolstenholme 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 1

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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 1962–1963: Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 360–61.
  • Source for kit: "Birmingham City". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

Specific

  1. ^ "Birmingham City 1962–1963: English Division One (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  2. ^ "Bury Deserve To Replay". The Times. London. 6 March 1963. p. 3.
    "Replay The Big Freeze 1962–63" (reprint hosted at NewsBank). The Independent on Sunday. London. 19 January 2003. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  3. ^ "Birmingham's lead". The Guardian. London. 24 May 1963. p. 15.
  4. ^ Matthews (1995), p. 33.
  5. ^ Ponting, Ivan (15 September 2003). "Obituary: Trevor Smith – Tough and fearless footballer for the most successful side in Birmingham City history" (reprint hosted at NewsBank). The Independent. London. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  6. ^ Jawad, Hyder (6 March 2005). Strange Magic: Birmingham City v Aston Villa. Birmingham Post. pp. 27–28.
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