Final League Table -
Division I
Teams in a silver box denotes a player
representing England in 1959-60
Teams in
italics were
relegated to the second division for the following season |
|
Team |
P |
Home |
Away |
₧
|
|
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
|
Burnley |
42 |
15 |
2 |
4 |
52 |
28 |
9 |
5 |
7 |
33 |
33 |
55 |
|
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
42 |
15 |
3 |
3 |
63 |
28 |
9 |
3 |
9 |
43 |
39 |
54 |
|
Tottenham Hotspur |
42 |
10 |
6 |
5 |
43 |
24 |
11 |
5 |
5 |
43 |
26 |
53 |
|
West Bromwich Albion |
42 |
12 |
4 |
5 |
48 |
25 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
35 |
32 |
49 |
|
Sheffield Wednesday |
42 |
12 |
7 |
2 |
48 |
20 |
7 |
4 |
10 |
32 |
39 |
49 |
|
Bolton Wanderers |
42 |
12 |
5 |
4 |
37 |
27 |
8 |
3 |
10 |
22 |
24 |
48 |
|
Manchester United |
42 |
13 |
3 |
5 |
53 |
30 |
6 |
4 |
11 |
49 |
50 |
45 |
|
Newcastle United |
42 |
10 |
5 |
6 |
42 |
32 |
8 |
3 |
10 |
40 |
46 |
44 |
|
Preston North End |
42 |
10 |
6 |
5 |
43 |
34 |
6 |
6 |
9 |
36 |
42 |
44 |
|
Fulham |
42 |
12 |
4 |
5 |
42 |
28 |
5 |
6 |
10 |
31 |
52 |
44 |
|
Blackpool |
42 |
9 |
6 |
6 |
32 |
32 |
6 |
4 |
11 |
27 |
39 |
40 |
|
Leicester City |
42 |
8 |
6 |
7 |
38 |
32 |
5 |
7 |
9 |
28 |
43 |
39 |
|
Arsenal |
42 |
9 |
5 |
7 |
39 |
38 |
6 |
4 |
11 |
29 |
42 |
39 |
|
West Ham United |
42 |
12 |
3 |
6 |
47 |
33 |
4 |
3 |
14 |
28 |
58 |
38 |
|
Everton |
42 |
13 |
3 |
5 |
50 |
20 |
0 |
8 |
13 |
23 |
58 |
37 |
|
Manchester City |
42 |
11 |
2 |
8 |
47 |
34 |
6 |
1 |
14 |
31 |
50 |
37 |
|
Blackburn Rovers |
42 |
12 |
3 |
6 |
38 |
29 |
4 |
2 |
15 |
22 |
41 |
37 |
|
Chelsea |
42 |
7 |
5 |
9 |
44 |
50 |
7 |
4 |
10 |
32 |
41 |
37 |
|
Birmingham City |
42 |
9 |
5 |
7 |
37 |
36 |
4 |
5 |
12 |
26 |
44 |
36 |
|
Nottingham Forest |
42 |
8 |
6 |
7 |
30 |
28 |
5 |
3 |
13 |
20 |
46 |
35 |
|
Leeds United |
42 |
7 |
5 |
9 |
37 |
46 |
5 |
5 |
11 |
28 |
46 |
34 |
|
Luton Town |
42 |
6 |
5 |
10 |
25 |
29 |
3 |
7 |
11 |
25 |
44 |
30 |
|
Preston North End
recorded a seven-match winning run from 17 October 1959:
Arsenal
(a) 3-0, Wolves (h) 4-3, Blackpool (a) 2-0, Nottingham F. (h) 1-0,
Fulham (a) 2-1,
Bolton (h) 1-0, Luton (a) 3-1, before a goalless draw at home to Everton on
5 December 1959. Burnley's biggest winning sequence was of three matches.
Huddersfield Town, Middlesbrough and
Stoke City, from the second division, plus Hibernian from the
Scottish first division,
also
had players representing England.
|
|
How The League Was Won 1959-60 Season |
|
Timeline |
|
37 Saturdays from 22 August 1959 to 30 April 1959 (a week later than
the previous season), plus the first four midweeks, Monday, 28 December 1959, Good Friday,
15 April 1960 and Easter Monday, 18 April 1960.
One other game was played on a Monday
in September, and one on Christmas Day, a Friday (Boxing Day was a
Saturday), but there were no other midweek games
until the last full week in February, when there was one game on a Tuesday, and
three on
a Wednesday.
In March, games were played on Wednesdays, with three on a Tuesday,
and one on a Friday, and in April, apart from Easter, there was one
other game on a Monday, three on Wednesdays, and three on the day
after Easter Monday, with
the last game played on the first Monday in May (and deciding the
league champions). The
FA Cup took precedence on six weekends from the
third round on 9 January 1960 to the
final on 7 May 1960 (a week later than the previous season).
There were three weeks between
each round, apart from two weeks before the
semi-finals,
and six weeks before the
final. Last first-division match
was played on Monday, 2 May 1960 (Manchester C. 1-2 Burnley).
|
Saturday, 30 April 1960 |
Burnley 0 Fulham 0
Turf
Moor, Burnley
(30,807) |
With Burnley moving ahead
of Tottenham, and level on points with Wolves, three days
earlier, and having two more games to play, the outsiders had
suddenly become serious challengers, but then drawing their last
home game, enabled Wolves to pull clear again, with a ruthless
demolition of Chelsea in their final game.
If Burnley had lost, Wolves would have completed a hat-trick of
league titles, seven days before their FA Cup Final, and a shot
at the elusive 'double'. Wolves' victory also ended Tottenham's
chances, even though Spurs had the best goal average of the
three, and finished by beating Blackpool, 4-1. Only a win away
at Manchester City, two days later, could give Burnley the title
for the first time since 1921. |
Chelsea 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 5
Stamford
Bridge, London
(61,567)
Tindall 6 ~ Murray
19, Flowers (pen) 30, Broadbent 43, Horne 54, 70 |
|
Monday, 2 May 1960 |
Manchester City 1 Burnley 2
Maine Road, Manchester
(65,981)
Hayes
18 ~ Pilkington 4, Meredith 31 |
|
When Burnley took the lead for the
second time, it meant that they had an hour to defend it, but
roared on by their travelling support they managed it to go top
of the table for the only time in that season, after the twenty
other clubs had all completed their fixtures. Wolves were left
to ponder on how they could have finished second to a team that
they'd thrashed 6-1, almost five weeks earlier, but five days
after losing their title, they won the FA Cup to give their fans
a triumphant end to the season. |
|
|
European Qualification
Timeline |
Monday, 2
May 1960:
Burnley qualified for the European Cup for the
first time, when they
won the Football League Championship for the first time since 1921.
Wednesday, 4 May 1960:
Chelsea were denied entry to a second successive Inter-Cities Fairs
Cup competition, having reached the quarter-finals, a year earlier.
Leeds United also applied to enter, having just been relegated to
the second division, but they were also denied.
Thursday, 5 May 1960:
On the day after losing the final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup to
Barcelona, Birmingham City were drawn to face
Újpesti Dózsa of Hungary in the first round of the
following season's competition, the first to be completed over a
single season.
Saturday, 7 May 1960:
Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Blackburn Rovers, 3-0 at Wembley to win
the FA Cup for the first time since 1949, and qualified for the new
European Cup Winners' Cup competition for the following season. They
had already been drawn to face the yet-to-be-decided Austrian ÖFB-Cup
winners in the quarter-finals.
Tuesday, 31 May 1960:
Wolverhampton Wanderers were given permission to enter the Cup
Winners' Cup by the Football League, who insisted on being
represented on the new competition's organising committee. For its
first season, UEFA had delegated this to the organisers of the
annual Mitropa Cup, competed for by central European clubs (in
Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Italy and Yugoslavia).
Saturday, 25 June 1960:
Austria Wien beat Rapid Wien in the ÖFB-Cup Final in Vienna to
qualify to meet Wolverhampton Wanderers in the European Cup Winners'
Cup quarter-finals.
Friday, 1 July 1960:
Wolverhampton Wanderers were one of six clubs not to enter the new
Football League Cup competition, their chairman feeling that there
was more to be gained in European competitions than additional
domestic cups. Football League Champions and European Cup entrants,
Burnley did enter, however.
Thursday, 7 July 1960:
Burnley were given a bye into the European Cup first round,
exempting them from the preliminary round.
Like Wolves, a year earlier, Burnley reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup
for the first time, where they lost to Hamburg, despite winning the
first leg, 3-1. Wolverhampton Wanderers reached the semi-finals of
the European Cup Winners' Cup, before losing to Scottish League Cup
winners, and soon-to-be champions, Rangers. Birmingham City reached the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
semi-finals
for the third successive edition, and the final for the second year
in succession, but lost again, to Roma, on
aggregate. |
|
The Elite League 1959-60 Season
(games between the top four) |
Once again, only Wolverhampton Wanderers remained
from the previous
season's top four.
Arsenal, Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United were replaced by
Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur and West Bromwich Albion.
Games played between the top two:-
|
Saturday, 7 November 1959 |
Burnley 4 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
Turf Moor, Burnley
(27,793)
Pointer
(2),
Robson, Connelly
~ Mason |
|
Wednesday, 30 March 1960 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers 6 Burnley 1
Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton
(33,953)
Murray, Mannion (2), Horne,
Broadbent, Mason ~ Pointer |
|
|
The Continuous Post-War League
1946-60
(14 seasons) |
|
Wolves reduced United's lead to
22 points.
Wolves increased their lead to
nine points. |
Manager:
Harry
Potts
1959-60
Most Appearances
by England Players |
|
Name |
Played |
Goals |
|
Brian Miller |
42 |
3 |
|
Ray Pointer |
42 |
19 |
|
John Angus |
41 |
|
|
Brian Pilkington |
41 |
9 |
|
John Connelly |
34 |
20 |
|
Brian Pilkington won his only cap
for England in 1954, and John Angus, Brian Miller and Ray Pointer did not play for England until
after the end of the following season. |
|
|
Manchester United's Dennis Viollet was top scorer with
32 goals. Joint-second on the list were Chelsea's Jimmy Greaves (the
previous season's joint-top scorer) and Jimmy Murray of Wolves, with 29 goals each.
|
|
|
England and the Football
League 1959-60 Season |
|
England's impact on the Football League |
Including the three games at the end of the season,
eleven of the 22 first division clubs were
represented, plus Huddersfield Town, Middlesbrough and Stoke City from the
second division, and Hibernian from the Scottish first division.
17
Football League games had a direct impact on
two of England's games, on 17 October 1959 and 9 April 1960,
including in the days prior to the Scotland game.
As a
result, on 17 October, England took
Birmingham's Trevor Smith,
Blackburn's Ronnie Clayton, Bolton's Eddie Hopkinson, Burnley's John
Connelly, Chelsea's Jimmy Greaves, Manchester United's Bobby Charlton,
Middlesbrough's Brian Clough and Eddie Holliday,
Stoke's Tony Allen,
West Brom's Don Howe, West Ham's John Smith,
and Ron Flowers of Wolves. On 9
April, Charlton, Clayton and Connelly were again absent from their clubs, as were
Blackpool's Jimmy Armfield, Bolton's Ray Parry, Huddersfield's Ray
Wilson, Sheffield Wednesday's Ron Springett, and Bobby Robson of West
Brom. Three days
before the game, on 6 April, Springett was unavailable for the first of two club fixtures, due to
his England
call-up. |
|
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