1958–59 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1958–59 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 56th in the Football League and their 32nd in the First Division. After spending the first half of the season towards the bottom of the division, they finished in 9th position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1958–59 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost to Nottingham Forest in the fifth round after two replays. In the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Birmingham progressed through two rounds to reach the semi-final, which was not played until the 1959–60 season.

Towards the end of the season, Birmingham and England full-back Jeff Hall contracted polio and died, only 14 days after the last match in which he played. The death of a young, fit, international footballer helped to kick-start widespread public acceptance in Britain of the need for vaccination. Though the disease was generally feared and the Salk vaccine was available, takeup had been slow. In the weeks following Hall's death, and after his widow spoke on television about her loss, demand for immunisation rocketed. Emergency vaccination clinics had to be set up and supplies of vaccine flown in from the United States to cope with the demand.

In January 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 in September 1958, and Beasley took over as manager.Matthews, Complete Record, p. 62. Twenty-four players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were thirteen different goalscorers. Half backs Dick Neal and Johnny Watts played in 49 and 48 of the 52 first-team matches over the season, and Bunny Larkin finished as leading goalscorer with 23 goals in all competitions, of which 18 were scored in the league.

Football League First Division

DateLeaguepositionOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendance23 August 195810thAston VillaAD1–1Murphy55,19827 August 195811thWest Bromwich AlbionAD2–2Brown, Houghton46,46830 August 195814thLuton TownHL0–131,9433 September 195821stWest Bromwich AlbionHL0–635,9836 September 195821stBolton WanderersAL0–224,70710 September 195821stLeeds UnitedHD0–025,22813 September 195819thBurnleyHW2–1Brown, Murphy23,92617 September 195816thLeeds UnitedAW4–1Brown 424,06820 September 195818thPreston North EndAL0–324,25727 September 195814thLeicester CityHW4–2Gordon, Murphy, Hooper, Astall33,3234 October 195818thEvertonAL1–3Murphy39,40811 October 195817thWest Ham UnitedAW2–1Hooper, Neal29,13918 October 195817thNottingham ForestHL0–331,61025 October 195819thWolverhampton WanderersAL1–3Astall36,1561 November 195820thPortsmouthHW2–2Brown, Taylor23,7238 November 195819thBlackburn RoversAL2–3Brown, Larkin28,80615 November 195819thNewcastle UnitedHW1–0Larkin28,75222 November 195817thTottenham HotspurAW4–0Larkin 2, Hooper, Taylor28,70829 November 195819thManchester UnitedHL0–428,6586 December 195820thChelseaAL0–127,77313 December 195818thBlackpoolHW4–2Jackson, Gordon, Larkin, Astall17,24120 December 195815thAston VillaHW4–1Jackson 2, Astall, Neal31,85726 December 195815thManchester CityHW6–1Jackson 2, Gordon, Larkin, Taylor34,29027 December 195816thManchester CityAL1–4Jackson29,2763 January 195913thLuton TownAW1–0Neal15,53831 January 195912thBurnleyAW1–0Gordon22,1017 February 195911thPreston North EndHW5–1Orritt, Gordon, Larkin, Taylor21,23321 February 195910thEvertonHW2–1Larkin, Hooper22,66028 February 19598thWest Ham UnitedHW3–0Larkin, Neal19,9107 March 19598thNottingham ForestAW7–1Stubbs 2, Gordon, Astall 2, Hooper, Watts18,97714 March 19598thWolverhampton WanderersHL0–337,72518 March 19596thLeicester CityAW4–2Stubbs 3, Gordon15,41321 March 19596thPortsmouthAD1–1Larkin18,1708 April 195910thBolton WanderersHL1–3Stubbs24,60811 April 195910thTottenham HotspurHW5–1Stubbs, Gordon, Larkin, Hooper pen, Baker og20,55714 April 19599thArsenalHW4–1Stubbs, Larkin 2, Astall25,79218 April 195910thManchester UnitedAL0–143,00620 April 195910thBlackpoolAL0–212,26022 April 195910thBlackburn RoversHW3–0Larkin 2, Taylor22,95825 April 19599thChelseaHW4–1Gordon 2, Hooper, Taylor19,58029 April 19599thNewcastle UnitedAD1–1Hooper19,7764 May 19599thArsenalAL1–2Stubbs25,953

League table (part)

+Final First Division table (part)PosClubPldWDLFAGAPts7thBurnley4219101381701.16488thBlackpool4218111366491.35479thBirmingham City422061684681.244610thBlackburn Rovers4217101576701.094411thNewcastle United421771880801.0041Key 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 = PointsSource

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceThird round25 January 1959MiddlesbroughAW1–0Harris og36,587Fourth round28 January 1959FulhamHD1–1Jackson42,677Fourth round replay4 February 1959FulhamAW3–2Hooper 2, Larkin27,521Fifth round14 February 1959Nottingham ForestHD1–1Astall55,300Fifth round replay18 February 1959Nottingham ForestAD1–1Gordon39,431Fifth round 2nd replay23 February 1959Nottingham ForestFilbert Street, LeicesterL0–534,458

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceFirst round 1st leg14 October 1958Cologne XIAD2–2Neal, Hooper12,000First round 2nd leg11 November 1958CologneHW2–0Larkin, Taylor20,266Second round 1st leg6 May 1959Zagreb XIHW1–0Larkin21,411Second round 2nd leg24 May 1959Zagreb XIAD3–3Larkin 2, Hooper50,000

Appearances and goals

Players marked left the club during the playing season. Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; FB – Full back; HB – Half back; FW – Forward

+ Players' appearances and goals by competitionNameLeagueFA CupFairs CupTotalGoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGK3406020420GK800020100FB2706030360FB1300020150FB1500010160FB2906020370HB20000020HB3946041495HB1600020180HB2706020350HB3816040481FW2685110329FW 1780020198FW331061404311FW10000010FW34842424212FW 21000021FW 664100107FW40000040FW311861344023FW1040010114FW1213010161FW1290020149FW2652021306

1958–59 Birmingham City F.C. season

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