1959–60 in English football

Diary of the season

17 November 1959: Phil Taylor resigns as manager of lowly Liverpool, languishing in the lower depths of the Second Division, after three years as manager, with all three of his seasons in charge ending with a narrow failure to win promotion to the First Division.

1 December 1959: Bill Shankly of Huddersfield Town accepts the offer to become Second Division club Liverpool's new manager.[1]

25 December 1959: The last Football League games to be played on Christmas Day are held - Blackburn defeated Blackpool 1-0 in the First Division and Coventry beat Wrexham 5-3 in the Third Division.

15 March 1960 Second Division Manchester City pay Huddersfield Town a club record £55,000 transfer fee for Denis Law.[2]

7 May 1960: Wolverhampton Wanderers defeat Blackburn Rovers 3–0 in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, with two goals from Norman Deeley and an own goal from Mick McGrath.

Honours
CompetitionWinnerRunner-up
First DivisionBurnley (2)Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second DivisionAston VillaCardiff City
Third DivisionSouthamptonNorwich City
Fourth DivisionWalsallNotts County
FA CupWolverhampton Wanderers (4)Blackburn Rovers
Charity ShieldWolverhampton WanderersNottingham Forest
Home Championship England,  Scotland &  Wales shared

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

Awards

Football Writers' Association

Football League
Main article: 1959–60 Football League

First Division

Burnley failed to top the First Division all season, but pipped Wolves to top spot on the final day of their season to clinch the title. Wolves finished their season on 30-April on 54 points. Burnley's last game of the season was on Monday, May 2, which they won to move to 55 points. The runners-up Wolves, while missing out on a third successive league title and becoming the first team this century to win the elusive double, went on to win the FA Cup this season. Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion and newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday completed the top five. Manchester United, last season's runners-up, dipped to seventh in the league this season despite 32 goals from forward Dennis Viollet and the mid-season signing of half-back Maurice Setters. Luton Town, last season's FA Cup finalists, went down in bottom place, and were joined in relegation by Leeds United.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Burnley 42 24 7 11 85 61 1.393 55 Qualified for the European Cup
2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 24 6 12 106 67 1.582 54
3 Tottenham Hotspur 42 21 11 10 86 50 1.720 53
4 West Bromwich Albion 42 19 11 12 83 57 1.456 49
5 Sheffield Wednesday 42 19 11 12 80 59 1.356 49
6 Bolton Wanderers 42 20 8 14 59 51 1.157 48
7 Manchester United 42 19 7 16 102 80 1.275 45
8 Newcastle United 42 18 8 16 82 78 1.051 44
9 Preston North End 42 16 12 14 79 76 1.039 44
10 Fulham 42 17 10 15 73 80 0.913 44
11 Blackpool 42 15 10 17 59 71 0.831 40
12 Leicester City 42 13 13 16 66 75 0.880 39
13 Arsenal 42 15 9 18 68 80 0.850 39
14 West Ham United 42 16 6 20 75 91 0.824 38
15 Everton 42 13 11 18 73 78 0.936 37
16 Manchester City 42 17 3 22 78 84 0.929 37
17 Blackburn Rovers 42 16 5 21 60 70 0.857 37
18 Chelsea 42 14 9 19 76 91 0.835 37
19 Birmingham City 42 13 10 19 63 80 0.788 36
20 Nottingham Forest 42 13 9 20 50 74 0.676 35
21 Leeds United 42 12 10 20 65 92 0.707 34 Relegated to the Second Division
22 Luton Town 42 9 12 21 50 73 0.685 30
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Second Division

Aston Villa earned an immediate return to the First Division as Second Division champions, and were joined in promotion by runners-up Cardiff City. Liverpool's change of manager from Phil Taylor to Bill Shankly was not enough to earn them promotion, as they finished in third place, eight points adrift of promotion. Huddersfield Town could only finish sixth in the Second Division despite the goals of brilliant young forward Denis Law, who was sold to Manchester City towards the end of the season for a national record fee.

Hull City and Bristol City went down to the Third Division.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Aston Villa 42 25 9 8 89 43 2.070 59 Promoted to the First Division
2 Cardiff City 42 23 12 7 90 62 1.452 58
3 Liverpool 42 20 10 12 90 66 1.364 50
4 Sheffield United 42 19 12 11 68 51 1.333 50
5 Middlesbrough 42 19 10 13 90 64 1.406 48
6 Huddersfield Town 42 19 9 14 73 52 1.404 47
7 Charlton Athletic 42 17 13 12 90 87 1.034 47
8 Rotherham United 42 17 13 12 61 60 1.017 47
9 Bristol Rovers 42 18 11 13 72 78 0.923 47
10 Leyton Orient 42 15 14 13 76 61 1.246 44
11 Ipswich Town 42 19 6 17 78 68 1.147 44
12 Swansea Town 42 15 10 17 82 84 0.976 40
13 Lincoln City 42 16 7 19 75 78 0.962 39
14 Brighton & Hove Albion 42 13 12 17 67 76 0.882 38
15 Scunthorpe United 42 13 10 19 57 71 0.803 36
16 Sunderland 42 12 12 18 52 65 0.800 36
17 Stoke City 42 14 7 21 66 83 0.795 35
18 Derby County 42 14 7 21 61 77 0.792 35
19 Plymouth Argyle 42 13 9 20 61 89 0.685 35
20 Portsmouth 42 10 12 20 59 77 0.766 32
21 Hull City 42 10 10 22 48 76 0.632 30 Relegated to the Third Division
22 Bristol City 42 11 5 26 60 97 0.619 27
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division

The Third Division promotion race was very much a two-horse race for much of the season, ending with Southampton going up as champions and Norwich City as runners-up.

Accrington Stanley, Wrexham, York City and Mansfield Town went down to the Fourth Division.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Southampton 46 26 9 11 106 75 1.413 61 Promoted to the Second Division
2 Norwich City 46 24 11 11 82 54 1.519 59
3 Shrewsbury Town 46 18 16 12 97 75 1.293 52
4 Grimsby Town 46 18 16 12 87 70 1.243 52
5 Coventry City 46 21 10 15 78 63 1.238 52
6 Brentford 46 21 9 16 78 61 1.279 51
7 Bury 46 21 9 16 64 51 1.255 51
8 Queens Park Rangers 46 18 13 15 73 54 1.352 49
9 Colchester United 46 18 11 17 83 74 1.122 47
10 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 46 17 13 16 72 72 1.000 47
11 Reading 46 18 10 18 84 77 1.091 46
12 Southend United 46 19 8 19 76 74 1.027 46
13 Newport County 46 20 6 20 80 79 1.013 46
14 Port Vale 46 19 8 19 80 79 1.013 46
15 Halifax Town 46 18 10 18 70 72 0.972 46
16 Swindon Town 46 19 8 19 69 78 0.885 46
17 Barnsley 46 15 14 17 65 66 0.985 44
18 Chesterfield 46 18 7 21 71 84 0.845 43
19 Bradford City 46 15 12 19 66 74 0.892 42
20 Tranmere Rovers 46 14 13 19 72 75 0.960 41
21 York City 46 13 12 21 57 73 0.781 38 Relegated to the Fourth Division
22 Mansfield Town 46 15 6 25 81 112 0.723 36
23 Wrexham 46 14 8 24 68 101 0.673 36
24 Accrington Stanley 46 11 5 30 57 123 0.463 27
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Fourth Division

Walsall sealed the Fourth Division title and with it a place in the Third Division. They were joined in the higher division by Notts County, Torquay United and Watford.

Gateshead were voted out of the Football League and replaced by ambitious Southern League side Peterborough United, who boasted a 30,000-capacity stadium.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Walsall 46 28 9 9 102 60 1.700 65 Promoted to the Third Division
2 Notts County 46 26 8 12 107 69 1.551 60
3 Torquay United 46 26 8 12 84 58 1.448 60
4 Watford 46 24 9 13 92 67 1.373 57
5 Millwall 46 18 17 11 84 61 1.377 53
6 Northampton Town 46 22 9 15 85 63 1.349 53
7 Gillingham 46 21 10 15 74 69 1.072 52
8 Crystal Palace 46 19 12 15 84 64 1.313 50
9 Exeter City 46 19 11 16 80 70 1.143 49
10 Stockport County 46 19 11 16 58 54 1.074 49
11 Bradford Park Avenue 46 17 15 14 70 68 1.029 49
12 Rochdale 46 18 10 18 65 60 1.083 46
13 Aldershot 46 18 9 19 77 74 1.041 45
14 Crewe Alexandra 46 18 9 19 79 88 0.898 45
15 Darlington 46 17 9 20 63 73 0.863 43
16 Workington 46 14 14 18 68 60 1.133 42
17 Doncaster Rovers 46 16 10 20 69 76 0.908 42
18 Barrow 46 15 11 20 77 87 0.885 41
19 Carlisle United 46 15 11 20 51 66 0.773 41
20 Chester 46 14 12 20 59 77 0.766 40
21 Southport 46 10 14 22 48 92 0.522 34 Re-elected
22 Gateshead 46 12 9 25 58 86 0.674 33 Not re-elected
23 Oldham Athletic 46 8 12 26 41 83 0.494 28 Re-elected
24 Hartlepools United 46 10 7 29 59 109 0.541 27
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Top goalscorers

First Division

Second Division

Third Division

Fourth Division

References
  2. "15 March 1960 - Sometimes, You Have To Spend Money To Make Money". www.thisdayinfootballhistory.blogspot.com. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  3. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  4. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
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