The 1960–61 season was Leicester City's 56th season in the Football League and their 18th (non-consecutive) season in the first tier of English football.

Season summary Leicester finished in their highest league position since finishing league runners-up 34 years previously. The club also reached the FA Cup final for the second time, eventually losing to Tottenham Hotspur who completed the first double of the 20th century. Though most of the talk about the Leicester cup final side was about the lack of Ken Leek, who had been controversially dropped for his off-the-field antics despite scoring in every round of the club's run to the final.

Final league table

Results Leicester City's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Football League First Division DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 20 August 1960 BlackpoolH1–127,062Appleton 24 August 1960 ChelseaA3–124,691Wills (2), Walsh 27 August 1960 EvertonA1–345,215Cheesebrough 31 August 1960 ChelseaH1–321,087Walsh 3 September 1960 Blackburn RoversH2–417,455Walsh, Wills 7 September 1960 Wolverhampton WanderersA2–333,313Wills, Leek 10 September 1960 Manchester UnitedA1–135,493Walsh 14 September 1960 Wolverhampton WanderersH2–020,044Walsh, King (pen) 17 September 1960 Tottenham HotspurH1–225,567Riley 24 September 1960 Newcastle UnitedA3–121,161Leek (2), Cheesebrough 1 October 1960 Aston VillaA3–129,623Walsh (2), Wills 8 October 1960 ArsenalH2–122,501Leek (2) 15 October 1960 Manchester CityA1–330,193Leek 22 October 1960 West Bromwich AlbionH2–220,770Lornie, Cheesebrough 28 October 1960 Cardiff CityA1–219,136Walsh 4 November 1960 Preston North EndH5–216,920Leek (2), Walsh, Cheesebrough, Riley 12 November 1960 FulhamA2–416,617King (pen), Cheesebrough 19 November 1960 Sheffield WednesdayH2–125,567Walsh, Wills 26 November 1960 Birmingham CityA2–025,583Leek, Wills 3 December 1960 Nottingham ForestH1–120,545Cheesebrough 10 December 1960 BurnleyA2–320,640Wills, Leek 17 December 1960 BlackpoolA1–58,752Walsh 24 December 1960 Bolton WanderersA0–211,534 26 December 1960 Bolton WanderersH2–023,806Wills, Keyworth 31 December 1960 EvertonH4–123,495Riley, Walsh, Leek (2) 14 January 1961 Blackburn RoversA1–114,752Leek 21 January 1961 Manchester UnitedH6–031,308Walsh (2), Keyworth (2), Wills, Riley (pen) 4 February 1961 Tottenham HotspurA3–253,627Leek, Walsh (2) 11 February 1961 Newcastle UnitedH5–326,449King (2 pens), Cheesebrough, Leek, Dalton (own goal) 25 February 1961 ArsenalA3–131,721Keyworth (2), Appleton 11 March 1961 West Bromwich AlbionA0–125,168 25 March 1961 Preston North EndA0–012,567 31 March 1961 West Ham UnitedA0–122,010 1 April 1961 BurnleyH2–227,838Leek, Walsh 3 April 1961 West Ham UnitedH5–123,776Cheesebrough (3), Riley, McIlmoyle 8 April 1961 Sheffield WednesdayA2–229,904Walsh, McLintock 10 April 1961 Cardiff CityH3–032,042Walsh (2), McIlmoyle 15 April 1961 FulhamH1–230,980Walsh 19 April 1961 Aston VillaH3–121,219McIlmoyle (2), Keyworth 22 April 1961 Nottingham ForestA2–225,830Cheesebrough, Leek 26 April 1961 Manchester CityH1–222,248Walsh 29 April 1961 Birmingham CityH3–219,920Cross, Riley, Leek

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR37 January 1961 Oxford UnitedH3–125,601Walsh, Leek, RileyR431 January 1961 Bristol CityH5–127,701Wills, Leek (2), Walsh (2)R518 February 1961 Birmingham CityA1–153,589RileyR5R22 February 1961 Birmingham CityH2–141,916Leek (2)QF4 March 1961 BarnsleyH0–038,744QFR8 March 1961 BarnsleyA2–1 39,250Riley, LeekSF18 March 1961 Sheffield UnitedN0–052,095SFR23 March 1961 Sheffield UnitedN0–0 43,500SFR227 March 1961 Sheffield UnitedN2–037,190Walsh 47', Leek 58'F6 May 1961 Tottenham HotspurN0–2100,000

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR112 October 1960 Mansfield TownH4–07,070Cheesebrough, Walsh (3)R226 October 1960 Rotherham UnitedH1–26,244King (pen)

Squad

Club statistics All data from: Dave Smith and Paul Taylor, Of Fossils and Foxes: The Official Definitive History of Leicester City Football Club (2001) ()

Top goalscorers Pos.Nat.NameDiv 1FACLCTotal 1 Jimmy Walsh 22 4 3 29 2 Ken Leek 18 7 0 25 3 Albert Cheesebrough 11 0 1 12 4 Gordon Wills 10 1 0 11 5 Howard Riley 6 3 0 9 7 Ken Keyworth 6 0 0 6 8 Ian King 4 0 1 6 9 Hugh McIlmoyle 4 0 0 4 10 Colin Appleton 2 0 0 2 11 Frank McLintock 1 0 0 1 = Jack Lornie 1 0 0 1 = Graham Cross 1 0 0 1Own goals 1 0 0 1

References