1950–51 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1950–51 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 48th in the Football League and their 20th in the Second Division, having been relegated from the First Division in 1949–50. They finished in 4th position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1950–51 FA Cup at the third round proper and reached the semi-final, in which they lost to Blackpool after a replay.

Birmingham City F.C.
1950–51 season
ChairmanHarry Morris Jr
ManagerBob Brocklebank
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League Second Division4th
FA CupSemi-final
(eliminated by Blackpool)
Top goalscorerLeague: Cyril Trigg (17)
All: Cyril Trigg (19)
Highest home attendance50,764 vs Manchester United, FA Cup sixth round, 24 February 1951
Lowest home attendance12,593 vs Southampton, 28 February 1951
Average home league attendance25,333

Twenty-two players made at least one appearance in nationally organised competitive football during the season, and there were thirteen different goalscorers. Goalkeeper Gil Merrick, full-back Arthur Atkins and winger Johnny Berry were ever-present in the 48-game season, and Cyril Trigg was the leading goalscorer with 19 goals, of which 17 came in league matches.

As part of the Festival of Britain, friendly matches were arranged at the end of this season between British clubs and teams from other parts of the British Isles and from continental Europe. Birmingham played in four such matches, against teams from Scotland, Ireland and Yugoslavia.

Football League Second Division
Main article: 1950–51 Football League

Note that not all teams completed their playing season on the same day. Birmingham were in third position after their last game of the season, on 28 April, but by the time the last game was played, on 5 May, they had been overtaken by Cardiff City and finished fourth, three points behind the promotion places.

DateLeague
position		Opponents VenueResultScore
F–A		Scorers Attendance
19 August 1950 1stSwansea TownA W1–0Boyd 25,012
23 August 1950 1stLeicester CityH W2–0Trigg, Smith 28,343
26 August 1950 4thGrimsby TownH D1–1Powell 33,017
28 August 1950 1stLeicester CityA W3–1Trigg, Smith, Stewart 31,291
2 September 1950 1stNotts CountyA W1–0Smith 34,648
6 September 1950 1stCoventry CityH D1–1Higgins 24,719
9 September 1950 1stPreston North EndH W1–0Smith 32,633
11 September 1950 2ndCoventry CityH L1–3Berry 30,448
16 September 1950 5thBuryA L1–4Dorman 16,809
23 September 1950 5thQueens Park RangersH D1–1Heath og 26,583
30 September 1950 4thChesterfieldA D1–1Trigg 12,330
7 October 1950 4thSouthamptonA W2–0Smith, Green 25,499
14 October 1950 3rdBarnsleyH W2–0Smith, Boyd 26,617
21 October 1950 4thBrentfordA L1–2Trigg 19,273
28 October 1950 3rdBlackburn RoversH W3–2Trigg, Smith, Stewart 24,552
4 November 1950 4thHull CityA L2–3Trigg 2 32,038
11 November 1950 5thDoncaster RoversH L0–2 26,779
18 November 1950 5thSheffield UnitedA L2–3Smith, Stewart 23,879
25 November 1950 5thLuton TownH W3–0Higgins 2, Smith 18,606
2 December 1950 7thLeeds UnitedA L0–3 23,355
9 December 1950 6thWest Ham UnitedH W3–1Higgins, Stewart, Smith 18,180
16 December 1950 4thSwansea TownH W5–0Trigg 3, Stewart, Berry 15,649
23 December 1950 4thGrimsby TownA D1–1Smith 13,141
25 December 1950 6thManchester CityA L1–3Trigg 40,173
26 December 1950 4thManchester CityH W1–0Trigg 32,092
30 December 1950 5thNotts CountyH L1–4Stewart 33,770
13 January 1951 7thPreston North EndA L0–1 30,662
20 January 1951 7thBuryH D3–3Trigg 2, Stewart 25,653
3 February 1951 9thQueens Park RangersA L0–2 12,295
17 February 1951 7thChesterfieldH W2–1Trigg, Higgins 33,768
28 February 1951 7thSouthamptonH W2–1Trigg, Stewart 12,593
3 March 1951 5thBarnsleyA W2–0Dailey, Stewart 15,450
17 March 1951 5thBlackburn RoversA W3–2Dailey 2, Higgins 28,116
23 March 1951 5thCardiff CityH D0–0 15,054
24 March 1951 4thHull CityH W2–1Dailey, Boyd 27,512
26 March 1951 5thCardiff CityA L1–2Rowley 36,992
31 March 1951 5thDoncaster RoversA W1–0Trigg 16,091
7 April 1951 3rdSheffield UnitedH W3–0Higgins, Rowley, Warhurst 21,974
14 April 1951 4thLuton TownA D1–1Warhurst 16,324
21 April 1951 4thLeeds UnitedH L0–1 23,809
25 April 1951 4thBrentfordH D1–1Smith 13,643
28 April 1951 3rdWest Ham UnitedA W2–1Rowley, Ferris 12,396

League table (part)
Final Second Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
2nd Manchester City421914989611.4652
3rd Cardiff City421716953451.1850
4th Birmingham City422091364531.2149
5th Leeds United422081463551.1548
6th Blackburn Rovers421981565660.9846
Key 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 = Points
Source [1]

FA Cup
Main article: 1950–51 FA Cup

Birmingham beat Manchester City, Bristol City, and First Division teams Derby County and Manchester United, without needing a replay and while conceding only one goal, to reach the semi-final, in which they faced another First Division team, Blackpool. The Times suggested that the fixture, "as always when Matthews plays, will present the problem of how to smother the greatest player in the history of English football", warning that "to smother Matthews—should they even succeed—is not to smother Blackpool."[2] Supporters queued all night for tickets; the 20,000 allocation sold out within two hours.[3] In addition to several special trains, the supporters' club chartered 60 coaches to travel to Maine Road, Manchester, where touts were offering tickets for sale at four times face value.[4]

Blackpool were the class team, but "Birmingham, with their fiery, quick tackling, their spirit and the snapping up of stray chances, have swept class aside before now."[5] Though failing to sweep Blackpool aside, they did stop them scoring, combatting the attacking threat by switching the pacy Jack Badham to the left to man-mark Matthews and using the other defenders, among whom Arthur Atkins stood out, to cut out his crosses.[6] With two minutes left, Jackie Stewart's "terrific left-foot shot struck a post, then passed out, with thousands of horrified Blackpool supporters on the verge of doing likewise."[7]

In the replay, at Goodison Park in front of a 70,000 crowd, "the greatest mystery of all was why the Blackpool inside forwards did not run up a total of five or six goals in the opening hour—to put it conservatively",[8] with Matthews in "his finest form".[9] They scored twice, but within a minute of the second, Bill Smith pulled one back after Johnny Berry's corner rebounded from a post.[9] In the remainder of the match, Birmingham rallied, with shots from all parts; "Blackpool weathered the storm they had brought upon themselves, but how gallantly had Birmingham died."[8]

Round DateOpponentsVenue ResultScore
F–A		Scorers Attendance
Third round 6 January 1951Manchester CityH W2–0Stewart, Higgins 30,057
Fourth round 27 January 1951Derby CountyA W3–1Stewart, Trigg, Smith 37,384
Fifth round 10 February 1951Bristol CityH W2–0Stewart, Trigg 47,831
Sixth round 24 February 1951Manchester UnitedH W1–0Higgins 50,764
Semi-final 10 March 1951BlackpoolMaine Road, Manchester D0–0 71,890
Semi-final replay 14 March 1951BlackpoolGoodison Park, Liverpool L1–2Smith 70,114

Festival of Britain

As part of the Festival of Britain, friendly matches were arranged at the end of this season between British clubs and against teams from continental Europe. Birmingham played in four such matches, against teams from Scotland, Ireland and Yugoslavia.[10]

DateOpponentsVenue ResultScore
F–A		Scorers Attendance
7 May 1951 AirdrieoniansH L3–5Berry 2, Kelly og 7,985
12 May 1951 Dinamo (Yugoslavia)H L0–2 12,058
18 May 1951 Home Farm (Dublin)A W2–1Stewart, Berry 3,000
20 May 1951 Cork AthleticA W5–2Trigg 2, Higgins, Stewart, Dailey 2,750

Appearances and goals
  • Players with name struck through and marked left the club during the playing season.
Players having played at least one first-team match
Pos. Nat. Name League FA Cup Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
GK ENG Gil Merrick 42060480
FB ENG Jack Badham 35050400
FB ENG Ken Green 39140431
FB ENG Jeff Hall 100010
FB SCO Roy Martin 10030130
HB ENG Arthur Atkins 42060480
HB ENG Len Boyd 36360423
HB ENG Don Dorman 21110221
HB NIR Ray Ferris 20160261
FW ZAF Hymie Kloner 100010
FW SCO Frank McKee 300030
FW ENG Johnny Berry 42260482
FW SCO Jimmy Dailey 640064
FW IRL Jim Higgins 28762239
FW IRL Eddie O'Hara 400040
FW WAL Aubrey Powell 15100151
FW ENG Harold Roberts 10000100
FW ENG Ken Rowley 830083
FW ENG Bill Smith 3512524014
FW SCO Jackie Stewart 259633112
FW ENG Cyril Trigg 3017623619
FW ENG Roy Warhurst 920092

See also

References

General

  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  • Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: DB Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
  • Source for match dates and results: "Birmingham City 1950–1951: Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 336–37.
  • Source for kit: "Birmingham City". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

Specific

  1. "Birmingham City 1950–1951: English Division Two (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  2. "The F.A. Cup. Semi-Final Draw". The Times. London. 27 February 1951. p. 2.
  3. "All-Night Wait for Cup Tickets". The Manchester Guardian. 5 March 1951. p. 6.
  4. "Cup-Tie Invasion of Manchester". The Manchester Guardian. 12 March 1951. p. 2.
  5. "The F.A. Cup. Semi-Final Round". The Times. London. 10 March 1951. p. 4.
  6. "No Goals at Maine Road. Birmingham Hold Blackpool". The Times. London. 12 March 1951. p. 2.
  7. An Old International (12 March 1951). "Two Goalless Semi-Finals". The Manchester Guardian. p. 2.
  8. "The F.A. Cup. Blackpool's Second Final". The Times. London. 15 March 1951. p. 2.
  9. "Blackpool Reach Final". The Manchester Guardian. 15 March 1951. p. 6.
  10. Matthews (1995), p. 243.
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