1963–64 in English football


The 1963–1964 season was the 84th season of competitive football in England, from August 1963 to May 1964.

Diary of the season

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

Awards

Football Writers' Association
Top goalscorer

First Division

Liverpool clinched the First Division title just two seasons after winning promotion, finishing four points ahead of runners-up Manchester United while defending champions Everton finished third.
Tottenham Hotspur managed to finish fourth despite not winning any silverware and being without many key players for much of the season due to injury, while captain Danny Blanchflower announced his retirement from playing just before the season's end. Tragedy then struck the club after the season was over, when forward John White was struck by lightning and killed on a North London golf course.
Chelsea enjoyed a strong return to the First Division by finishing fifth, while Leicester City finally got their hands on a major trophy by winning the League Cup.
With Alf Ramsey having now left Ipswich Town to manage the England team, Ipswich Town struggled badly under his successor Jackie Milburn, and went down in bottom place having conceded 121 goals just two seasons after being league champions. Bolton Wanderers, who had gradually faded away since the retirement of centre-forward Nat Lofthouse in 1960, also went down.

Second Division

Leeds United returned to the First Division after seven years away by clinching the Second Division title under ambitious manager Don Revie, while Sunderland's six-year exile from the First Division was ended by promotion as Second Division runners-up.
Grimsby Town and Scunthorpe United slipped into the Third Division.

Third Division

Coventry City made the breakthrough into the Second Division as champions of the Third Division, finishing level on points at the top of the league with Crystal Palace.
Notts County, Wrexham, Crewe Alexandra and Millwall were all relegated to the Fourth Division.

Fourth Division

Gillingham finished champions of the Fourth Division, ahead of runners-up Carlisle United on goal average. They enjoyed a narrow lead over third placed Workington and fourth placed Exeter City. Bradford City bounced back from having to apply for re-election to just missing out on promotion in the space of a season.

Top goalscorers

First Division
Second Division
Third Division
Fourth Division

European Champions' Cup

The England national football team had an eventful season with a shared victory in the 1964 British Home Championship, another success against a Rest of the World XI in one of the most famous matches ever played at Wembley and a tour of the Americas upon the season's conclusion which culminated in a dire performance in Brazil during the 1964 Taça de Nações.

American tour

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Taça das Nações
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Other matches