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1959–60 Burnley F.C. season

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Burnley
1959–60 season
ChairmanEngland Bob Lord
ManagerEngland Harry Potts
First DivisionChampions
FA CupQuarter-finals
Top goalscorerLeague: John Connelly (20)
All: John Connelly (24)
Highest home attendance52,850 v Bradford City
(23 February 1960)
Lowest home attendance20,327 v Arsenal
(19 March 1960)
Average home league attendance26,869[1]

The 1959–60 season was the 78th season in Burnley Football Club's existence, and their 13th consecutive season in the top flight. Under manager Harry Potts, they were crowned champions of England for the second time, and as of 2020 for the last time. The team also reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, in which they were knocked out by local rivals Blackburn Rovers in a replay, preventing a possible historical 20th century double.

The season

The pinnacle of a strong period in the club's history came this season. Burnley, a young team with several internationals, endured a tense season in which Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers were the other protagonists in the chase for the league title. The team ultimately clinched their second First Division championship on the last day of the season with a 2–1 victory at Manchester City, with goals from Brian Pilkington and Trevor Meredith.[2] Although the team had been in contention all season, Burnley had never led the table until this last match was played out.[3] Manager Harry Potts only used eighteen players throughout the whole season, as John Connelly became Burnley's league top scorer with 20 goals.[4] The Lancastrians' title-winning squad only cost £13,000 in transfer fees (a post-war record) — £8,000 on Jimmy McIlroy in 1950 and £5,000 on left-back Alex Elder in 1959.[5] The other players all came from the Burnley youth academy.[5] The town of Burnley became the smallest to have an English first tier champion, since it counted 80,000 inhabitants.[6] After the season finished, the club went to the United States to participate in the inaugural international football tournament in North America, the International Soccer League.[7]

Matches

Source:[8]

Football League First Division

Main article: 1959–60 Football League
Key
Results
Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
22 August 1959 Leeds United A W 3–2 Pilkington, Connelly, Pointer 20,233
25 August 1959 Everton H W 5–2 Connelly (2), Pilkington, Pointer, Robson 29,165
29 August 1959 West Ham United H L 1–3 Connelly 26,756
2 September 1959 Everton A W 2–1 Pointer (2) 39,416
5 September 1959 Chelsea A L 1–4 Connelly 36,023
8 September 1959 Preston North End H W 2–1 Pointer, Robson 29,195
12 September 1959 West Bromwich Albion H W 2–1 Robson, Pilkington 23,907
15 September 1959 Preston North End A L 0–1 27,299
19 September 1959 Newcastle United A W 3–1 McIlroy, Connelly (2) 38,576
26 September 1959 Birmingham City H W 3–1 Pointer, McIlroy, Connelly 23,848
3 October 1959 Tottenham Hotspur A D 1–1 Miller 42,717
10 October 1959 Blackpool H L 1–4 Robson 28,104
17 October 1959 Blackburn Rovers A L 2–3 Pilkington, Douglas (o.g.) 33,316
24 October 1959 Manchester City H W 4–3 Pilkington, Pointer, White (2) 28,653
31 October 1959 Luton Town A D 1–1 Pointer 15,638
7 November 1959 Wolverhampton Wanderers H W 4–1 Pointer (2), Robson, Connelly 27,793
14 November 1959 Sheffield Wednesday A D 1–1 Robson 18,420
21 November 1959 Nottingham Forest H W 8–0 Robson (5), Pilkington, Pointer (2) 24,349
28 November 1959 Fulham A L 0–1 29,582
5 December 1959 Bolton Wanderers H W 4–0 Pointer, Connelly, McIlroy (2) 26,510
12 December 1959 Arsenal A W 4–2 Adamson (pen.), Connelly (3) 26,056
19 December 1959 Leeds United H L 0–1 17,398
26 December 1959 Manchester United A W 2–1 Robson, Lawson 62,673
28 December 1959 Manchester United H L 1–4 Robson 47,696
2 January 1960 West Ham United A W 5–2 Lawson (2), Pilkington, Connelly (2) 25,752
16 January 1960 Chelsea H W 2–1 Robson (2) 21,916
23 January 1960 West Bromwich Albion A D 0–0 23,512
6 February 1960 Newcastle United H W 2–1 Robson, Pointer 26,998
27 February 1960 Bolton Wanderers A L 1–2 Connelly 28,772
1 March 1960 Tottenham Hotspur H W 2–0 Pointer, Connelly 32,992
5 March 1960 Blackburn Rovers H W 1–0 Robson 32,331
19 March 1960 Arsenal H W 3–2 Pointer, Miller, Connelly 20,327
30 March 1960 Wolverhampton Wanderers A L 1–6 Pointer 33,953
2 April 1960 Sheffield Wednesday H D 3–3 Connelly, McIlroy (pen.), Miller 23,123
9 April 1960 Nottingham Forest A W 1–0 Pointer 24,640
15 April 1960 Leicester City H W 1–0 Connelly 23,777
16 April 1960 Luton Town H W 3–0 Pointer, Robson, McIlroy (pen.) 20,893
18 April 1960 Leicester City A L 1–2 Meredith 24,429
23 April 1960 Blackpool A D 1–1 Meredith 23,753
27 April 1960 Birmingham City A W 1–0 Pilkington 37,032
30 April 1960 Fulham H D 0–0 30,807
2 May 1960 Manchester City A W 2–1 Pilkington, Meredith 65,981

League table (part)

Final First Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
1st Burnley 42 24 7 11 85 61 1.39 55
2nd Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 24 6 12 106 67 1.58 54
3rd Tottenham Hotspur 42 21 11 10 86 50 1.72 53
4th West Bromwich Albion 42 19 11 12 83 57 1.46 49
5th Sheffield Wednesday 42 19 11 12 80 59 1.36 49
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 [9]

FA Cup

Main article: 1959–60 FA Cup
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
Third round 9 January 1960 Lincoln City A D 1–1 Pointer 21,693
Third round replay 12 January 1960 Lincoln City H W 2–0 McIlroy (pen.), Pilkington 35,456
Fourth round 30 January 1960 Swansea Town A D 0–0 29,976
Fourth round replay 2 February 1960 Swansea Town H W 2–1 Robson (2) 37,040
Fifth round 20 February 1960 Bradford City A D 2–2 Connelly (2) 26,244
Fifth round replay 23 February 1960 Bradford City H W 5–0 Pointer (2), Robson (2), Connelly 52,850
Sixth round 12 March 1960 Blackburn Rovers H D 3–3 Pilkington, Pointer, Connelly 51,501
Sixth round replay 16 March 1960 Blackburn Rovers A L 0–2 53,892

Player details

Source:[10]

The frequently used line-up by manager Harry Potts
Players having played at least one first-team match
Pos. Nat. Name League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK  SCO Adam Blacklaw 41 0 8 0 49 0
GK  ENG Jim Furnell 1 0 0 0 1 0
DF  ENG John Angus 41 0 8 0 49 0
DF  ENG Tommy Cummings 23 0 0 0 23 0
DF  NIR Alex Elder 34 0 8 0 42 0
DF  NIR Billy Marshall 1 0 0 0 1 0
DF  ENG Brian Miller 42 3 8 0 50 3
DF  SCO Bobby Seith 27 0 8 0 35 0
MF  ENG Jimmy Adamson 42 1 8 0 50 1
MF  ENG John Connelly 34 20 8 4 42 24
MF  ENG Gordon Harris 2 0 0 0 2 0
MF  NIR Jimmy McIlroy 32 6 6 1 38 7
MF  ENG Trevor Meredith 7 3 0 0 7 3
MF  ENG Brian Pilkington 41 9 8 2 49 11
FW  ENG Ian Lawson 8 3 1 0 9 3
FW  ENG Ray Pointer 42 19 8 4 50 23
FW  ENG Jimmy Robson 38 18 8 4 46 22
FW  ENG Billy White 6 2 1 0 7 2

GK = Goalkeeper, DF = Defender, MF = Midfielder, FW = Forward

References

Specific
  1. ^ Quelch (2015), p. 266
  2. ^ Marshall, Tyrone (20 June 2016). "'We weren't jumping around, we'd only won the league' – Burnley legend on the day the Clarets were crowned Kings of England". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 26 January 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ Boden, Chris (29 April 2020). "Burnley legend Jimmy Robson reflects on a famous night at Maine Road when the Clarets were last crowned champions of England". The Clitheroe Advertiser and Times. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  4. ^ Quelch (2015), p. 265
  5. ^ a b Quelch (2015), pp. 202–203
  6. ^ Quelch (2015), pp. 199–200
  7. ^ Posnanski, Joe (14 October 2014). "David and Goliath and Burnley". NBC SportsWorld. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  8. ^ Simpson (2007), p. 294
  9. ^ Quelch (2015), p. 197
  10. ^ Simpson (2007), p. 295
General
  • Quelch, Tim (2015). Never Had It So Good: Burnley's Incredible 1959/60 League Title Triumph. Pitch Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1909626546.
  • Simpson, Ray (2007). The Clarets Chronicles: The Definitive History of Burnley Football Club 1882-2007. Burnley Football Club. ISBN 978-0955746802.
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