1957–58 Birmingham City F.C. season


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.
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

DateLeague
position		OpponentsVenueResultScore
F–A		ScorersAttendance
24 August 19576thAston VillaHW3–1Brown, Kinsey, Murphy50,780
28 August 19575thNottingham ForestAD1–1Brown29,705
31 August 195711thChelseaAL1–5Brown43,806
4 September 195715thNottingham ForestHL0–226,852
7 September 195718thNewcastle UnitedHL1–4Hellawell29,784
11 September 195719thTottenham HotspurHD0–026,485
14 September 195721stBurnleyAL1–3Neal20,522
18 September 195722ndTottenham HotspurAL1–7Brown35,292
21 September 195720thPreston North EndHW3–1Neale, Murphy, Govan pen24,894
28 September 195721stSheffield WednesdayAL3–5Orritt 2, Murphy20,129
1 October 195721stWest Bromwich AlbionAD0–039,738
5 October 195715thManchester CityHW4–0Murphy 3, Brown28,059
12 October 195717thWolverhampton WanderersHL1–5Astall43,005
19 October 195715thArsenalAW3–1Orritt, Neal 239,031
26 October 195714thBolton WanderersHW5–1Brown 2, Orritt, Murphy, Watts26,225
2 November 195715thLuton TownAL0–317,316
9 November 195716thSunderlandHL2–3Murphy, Govan25,315
16 November 195715thEvertonAW2–0Murphy 234,875
23 November 195715thBlackpoolHD0–032,178
30 November 195715thLeeds UnitedAD1–1Orritt21,358
7 December 195715thManchester UnitedHD3–3Kinsey, Murphy, Astall35,191
14 December 195715thLeicester CityAD2–2Kinsey, Astall28,680
21 December 195715thAston VillaAW2–0Brown, Kinsey41,118
26 December 195715thWest Bromwich AlbionHL3–5Brown, Hooper pen, Neal48,396
28 December 195715thChelseaHD3–3Brown, Murphy 237,436
11 January 195815thNewcastle UnitedAW2–1Brown, Kinsey34,825
18 January 195815thBurnleyHL2–3Murphy, Hooper22,281
1 February 195815thPreston North EndAL0–821,511
22 February 195817thWolverhampton WanderersAL1–5Murphy36,941
1 March 195815thArsenalHW4–1Brown 2, Murphy, Hooper26,834
5 March 195815thManchester CityAD1–1Murphy30,655
8 March 195816thBolton WanderersAL0–118,309
12 March 195815thSheffield WednesdayHW1–0Orritt15,937
15 March 195815thLuton TownHD1–1Orritt25,225
22 March 195815thBlackpoolAL2–4Astall, Hooper pen11,549
29 March 195815thEvertonHW2–1Hooper 221,628
4 April 195815thPortsmouthAL2–3Murphy, Hooper33,075
5 April 195814thSunderlandAW6–1Murphy, Astall, Brown, Hooper, Orritt 234,194
7 April 195812thPortsmouthHW4–1Brown, Orritt, Murphy, Hooper23,380
12 April 195813thLeeds UnitedHD1–1Orritt23,112
19 April 195812thManchester UnitedAW2–0Hooper, Green39,215
26 April 195813thLeicester CityHL0–127,607

League table (part)

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScore
F–A		ScorersAttendance
Third round8 January 1958York CityAL0–319,750

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, 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. 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. 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.
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. 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.
RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScore
F–A		ScorersAttendance
Semi-final 1st leg23 October 1957BarcelonaHW4–3Murphy 2, Brown, Orritt30,791
Semi-final 2nd leg13 November 1957BarcelonaAL0–1
aet		60,000
Semi-final playoff26 November 1957BarcelonaSt. Jakob-Park, BaselL1–2Murphy20,000

Appearances and goals