1959–60 in English football

The 1959–60 season was the 80th season of competitive football in England.

Football in England

Season	1959–60
Men's football
First Division	Burnley
Second Division	Aston Villa
Third Division	Southampton
Fourth Division	Walsall
FA Cup	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Charity Shield	Wolverhampton Wanderers
← 1958–59 1960–61 →

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][better source needed]}

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

Competition	Winner	Runner-up
First Division	Burnley (2)	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second Division	Aston Villa	Cardiff City
Third Division	Southampton	Norwich City
Fourth Division	Walsall	Notts County
FA Cup	Wolverhampton Wanderers (4)	Blackburn Rovers
Charity Shield	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Nottingham 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

• Footballer of the Year – Bill Slater (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

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, 2 May, 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	Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup
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

• Dennis Viollet (Manchester United) – 32 goals^[3]

Second Division

• Brian Clough (Middlesbrough) – 39 goals^[3]

Third Division

• Derek Reeves (Southampton) – 39 goals^[4]

Fourth Division

• Cliff Holton (Watford) – 42 goals^[4]

References

1. "A timeline for Liverpool Football Club - LFChistory - Stats galore for Liverpool FC!".
2. "15 March 1960 – Sometimes, You Have To Spend Money To Make Money". thisdayinfootballhistory.blogspot.com. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
3. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
4. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.