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. 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

DateLeague
position		OpponentsVenueResultScore
F–A		ScorersAttendance
23 August 195810thAston VillaAD1–1Murphy55,198
27 August 195811thWest Bromwich AlbionAD2–2Brown, Houghton46,468
30 August 195814thLuton TownHL0–131,943
3 September 195821stWest Bromwich AlbionHL0–635,983
6 September 195821stBolton WanderersAL0–224,707
10 September 195821stLeeds UnitedHD0–025,228
13 September 195819thBurnleyHW2–1Brown, Murphy23,926
17 September 195816thLeeds UnitedAW4–1Brown 424,068
20 September 195818thPreston North EndAL0–324,257
27 September 195814thLeicester CityHW4–2Gordon, Murphy, Hooper, Astall33,323
4 October 195818thEvertonAL1–3Murphy39,408
11 October 195817thWest Ham UnitedAW2–1Hooper, Neal29,139
18 October 195817thNottingham ForestHL0–331,610
25 October 195819thWolverhampton WanderersAL1–3Astall36,156
1 November 195820thPortsmouthHW2–2Brown, Taylor23,723
8 November 195819thBlackburn RoversAL2–3Brown, Larkin28,806
15 November 195819thNewcastle UnitedHW1–0Larkin28,752
22 November 195817thTottenham HotspurAW4–0Larkin 2, Hooper, Taylor28,708
29 November 195819thManchester UnitedHL0–428,658
6 December 195820thChelseaAL0–127,773
13 December 195818thBlackpoolHW4–2Jackson, Gordon, Larkin, Astall17,241
20 December 195815thAston VillaHW4–1Jackson 2, Astall, Neal31,857
26 December 195815thManchester CityHW6–1Jackson 2, Gordon, Larkin, Taylor34,290
27 December 195816thManchester CityAL1–4Jackson29,276
3 January 195913thLuton TownAW1–0Neal15,538
31 January 195912thBurnleyAW1–0Gordon22,101
7 February 195911thPreston North EndHW5–1Orritt, Gordon, Larkin, Taylor21,233
21 February 195910thEvertonHW2–1Larkin, Hooper22,660
28 February 19598thWest Ham UnitedHW3–0Larkin, Neal19,910
7 March 19598thNottingham ForestAW7–1Stubbs 2, Gordon, Astall 2, Hooper, Watts18,977
14 March 19598thWolverhampton WanderersHL0–337,725
18 March 19596thLeicester CityAW4–2Stubbs 3, Gordon15,413
21 March 19596thPortsmouthAD1–1Larkin18,170
8 April 195910thBolton WanderersHL1–3Stubbs24,608
11 April 195910thTottenham HotspurHW5–1Stubbs, Gordon, Larkin, Hooper pen, Baker og20,557
14 April 19599thArsenalHW4–1Stubbs, Larkin 2, Astall25,792
18 April 195910thManchester UnitedAL0–143,006
20 April 195910thBlackpoolAL0–212,260
22 April 195910thBlackburn RoversHW3–0Larkin 2, Taylor22,958
25 April 19599thChelseaHW4–1Gordon 2, Hooper, Taylor19,580
29 April 19599thNewcastle UnitedAD1–1Hooper19,776
4 May 19599thArsenalAL1–2Stubbs25,953

League table (part)

FA Cup

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

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

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

Appearances and goals