1961–62 in English football

The 1961–62 season was the 82nd season of competitive Football in England.

Overview

The season was notable for the remarkable achievement of Ipswich Town winning the League Championship. Under the managership of Alf Ramsey, the club progressed from the old Third Division South to the First Division. Ipswich were dismissed by most of the media at the time as relegation candidates, but Ramsey's tactics baffled the big clubs in the division such as favourites Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley, and other big names such as Manchester United and Arsenal. Before Ramsey's tenure Ipswich had no tradition to speak of, and indeed had never even played in the top flight of English Football. Ramsey's triumph led him to being offered the job of the England football team manager, which he duly accepted in 1963; England won the World Cup three years later. Liverpool were promoted from the Second Division after eight years. Manager Bill Shankly would soon take the club to unparalleled heights in the years to come. Accrington Stanley resigned from the league because of financial difficulties on 11 March 1962. As a consequence, all their previous results for the season in the Fourth Division were expunged from the records. They were replaced in 1962–63 by Oxford United.

Diary of the season

22 August 1961: Rotherham United beat Aston Villa 2–0 in the first leg of the first ever Football League Cup final. Fixture congestion has meant that last season's competition has stretched into this season.

11 September 1961: The floodlights at the City Ground are officially turned on for the first time as Nottingham Forest face Gillingham in the League Cup.[1]

11 October 1961: Reports surface indicating Welsh internationalist John Charles of Juventus will soon be back in English football after joining the Bianconeri in 1957: the Italian club's vice-president told the press "[Charles] had already told me of his wish to return to England to look after his children's education".[2]

18 November 1961: Table-topping Burnley drop their first points of the season by drawing 3–3 with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Elsewhere in the top-flight, Ipswich Town rack up a fifth win in a row by beating Manchester United 4–1, Tottenham Hotspur play out a goalless draw at Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham City put four without reply past West Ham United, who slump into fifth, below both Ipswich and Spurs. In the rest of the Football League, Liverpool are seven points clear of Scunthorpe United at the top of the Second Division, South Coast clubs Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic and Portsmouth lead Division Three, and Welsh club Wrexham, who have recorded 14 wins already this season, are top of the Fourth Division.[3]

23 April 1962: Ipswich beat Arsenal 3–0 and Burnley are held by Blackburn Rovers in the East Lancashire derby, giving Town a two-point lead over Burnley at the top of Division One. In the race to evade joining already-relegated Chelsea in next season's second-tier, Cardiff City pick up a useful win against West Ham United, while fellow strugglers Fulham were beaten by West Bromwich Albion. Both Cardiff and Fulham are on 31 points, but the West Londoners have one game more left to play compared with the Bluebirds. In the Second Division, Leyton Orient's win over Luton Town ensures the East London club continue to chase Scunthorpe and Sunderland for the last remaining promotion spot.[4]

28 April 1962: Ipswich, in the First Division for the first time, are crowned champions of English club football with a 2–0 win at home Aston Villa on the last day of the league season. It is the first major trophy of their history, and the first time that an English club has won the title in their first season as a top division club.[5]

5 May 1962: Tottenham Hotspur retain the FA Cup with a 3–1 win over Burnley at Wembley Stadium with goals from Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Smith and Danny Blanchflower.

July 1962: Manchester United pay a British record fee of £115,000 for Scottish striker Denis Law from Torino of Italy.

Awards

Football Writers' Association

Top goalscorer

Honours
CompetitionWinnerRunner-up
First DivisionIpswich Town (1)Burnley
Second DivisionLiverpoolLeyton Orient
Third DivisionPortsmouthGrimsby Town
Fourth DivisionMillwallColchester United
FA CupTottenham Hotspur (4)Burnley
League CupNorwich City (1)Rochdale
Charity ShieldTottenham HotspurFootball Association XI
British Home Championship Scotland Wales

Football League
Main article: 1961–62 Football League

First Division

Ipswich Town achieved a superb debut in the First Division as champions, finishing three points ahead of runners-up Burnley. Third placed Tottenham Hotspur were unable to retain their league title but at least managed to retain the FA Cup, while Everton and Sheffield United completed the top five.

Manchester United endured their worst postwar finish by finishing 15th despite the expensive signing of forward David Herd before the start of the season, which prompted Matt Busby to strengthen United's attack by bringing Denis Law back to England from Italy in British football's first six-figure transfer.

Chelsea, who had gradually lost touch with the First Division's leading pack since their 1955 title triumph, went down in bottom place, and were joined by Cardiff City in relegation.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Ipswich Town 42 24 8 10 93 67 1.388 56 Qualified for the European Cup
2 Burnley 42 21 11 10 101 67 1.507 53
3 Tottenham Hotspur 42 21 10 11 88 69 1.275 52
4 Everton 42 20 11 11 88 54 1.630 51
5 Sheffield United 42 19 9 14 61 69 0.884 47
6 Sheffield Wednesday 42 20 6 16 72 58 1.241 46
7 Aston Villa 42 18 8 16 65 56 1.161 44
8 West Ham United 42 17 10 15 76 82 0.927 44
9 West Bromwich Albion 42 15 13 14 83 67 1.239 43
10 Arsenal 42 16 11 15 71 72 0.986 43
11 Bolton Wanderers 42 16 10 16 62 66 0.939 42
12 Manchester City 42 17 7 18 78 81 0.963 41
13 Blackpool 42 15 11 16 70 75 0.933 41
14 Leicester City 42 17 6 19 72 71 1.014 40
15 Manchester United 42 15 9 18 72 75 0.960 39
16 Blackburn Rovers 42 14 11 17 50 58 0.862 39
17 Birmingham City 42 14 10 18 65 81 0.802 38
18 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 13 10 19 73 86 0.849 36
19 Nottingham Forest 42 13 10 19 63 79 0.797 36
20 Fulham 42 13 7 22 66 74 0.892 33
21 Cardiff City 42 9 14 19 50 81 0.617 32 Relegated to the Second Division
22 Chelsea 42 9 10 23 63 94 0.670 28
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Second Division

Liverpool finally secured a First Division comeback as champions of the Second Division, with forward Roger Hunt being instrumental with 41 league goals. They were joined in promotion by a Leyton Orient side who had never appeared in the top flight before. Sunderland missed out on promotion by a single point, while Scunthorpe United (with just over a decade of league football behind them) emerged as surprise promotion contenders before having to settle for a fourth-place finish - still their best finish yet.

Norwich City had a disappointing season in the league after last season's promotion push, but compensated for this by winning the Football League Cup - the first major trophy of their history.

Brighton and Bristol Rovers went down.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Liverpool 42 27 8 7 99 43 2.302 62 Promoted to the First Division
2 Leyton Orient 42 22 10 10 69 40 1.725 54
3 Sunderland 42 22 9 11 85 50 1.700 53
4 Scunthorpe United 42 21 7 14 86 71 1.211 49
5 Plymouth Argyle 42 19 8 15 75 75 1.000 46
6 Southampton 42 18 9 15 77 62 1.242 45
7 Huddersfield Town 42 16 12 14 67 59 1.136 44
8 Stoke City 42 17 8 17 55 57 0.965 42
9 Rotherham United 42 16 9 17 70 76 0.921 41
10 Preston North End 42 15 10 17 55 57 0.965 40
11 Newcastle United 42 15 9 18 64 58 1.103 39
12 Middlesbrough 42 16 7 19 76 72 1.056 39
13 Luton Town 42 17 5 20 69 71 0.972 39
14 Walsall 42 14 11 17 70 75 0.933 39
15 Charlton Athletic 42 15 9 18 69 75 0.920 39
16 Derby County 42 14 11 17 68 75 0.907 39
17 Norwich City 42 14 11 17 61 70 0.871 39
18 Bury 42 17 5 20 52 76 0.684 39
19 Leeds United 42 12 12 18 50 61 0.820 36
20 Swansea Town 42 12 12 18 61 83 0.735 36
21 Bristol Rovers 42 13 7 22 53 81 0.654 33 Relegated to the Third Division
22 Brighton & Hove Albion 42 10 11 21 42 86 0.488 31
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division

Portsmouth achieved an instant return to the Second Division as champions of the Third Division. They were joined in promotion by Grimsby Town.

Newport County, Brentford, Lincoln City and Torquay United went down to the Fourth Division.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Portsmouth 46 27 11 8 87 47 1.851 65 Promoted to the Second Division
2 Grimsby Town 46 28 6 12 80 56 1.429 62
3 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 46 21 17 8 69 45 1.533 59
4 Queens Park Rangers 46 24 11 11 111 73 1.521 59
5 Peterborough United 46 26 6 14 107 82 1.305 58
6 Bristol City 46 23 8 15 94 72 1.306 54
7 Reading 46 22 9 15 77 66 1.167 53
8 Northampton Town 46 20 11 15 85 57 1.491 51
9 Swindon Town 46 17 15 14 78 71 1.099 49
10 Hull City 46 20 8 18 67 54 1.241 48
11 Bradford Park Avenue 46 20 7 19 80 78 1.026 47
12 Port Vale 46 17 11 18 65 58 1.121 45
13 Notts County 46 17 9 20 67 74 0.905 43
14 Coventry City 46 16 11 19 64 71 0.901 43
15 Crystal Palace 46 14 14 18 83 80 1.038 42
16 Southend United 46 13 16 17 57 69 0.826 42
17 Watford 46 14 13 19 63 74 0.851 41
18 Halifax Town 46 15 10 21 62 84 0.738 40
19 Shrewsbury Town 46 13 12 21 73 84 0.869 38
20 Barnsley 46 13 12 21 71 95 0.747 38
21 Torquay United 46 15 6 25 76 100 0.760 36 Relegated to the Fourth Division
22 Lincoln City 46 9 17 20 57 87 0.655 35
23 Brentford 46 13 8 25 53 93 0.570 34
24 Newport County 46 7 8 31 46 102 0.451 22
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Fourth Division

Millwall clinched the Fourth Division title, and were joined in promotion by Colchester United, Wrexham and Carlisle United.

Accrington Stanley were forced to resign from the season several weeks before the end of the Fourth Division campaign, and their place in the Fourth Division went to Football League newcomers Oxford United.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Millwall 44 23 10 11 87 62 1.403 56 Promoted to the Third Division
2 Colchester United 44 23 9 12 104 71 1.465 55
3 Wrexham 44 22 9 13 96 56 1.714 53
4 Carlisle United 44 22 8 14 64 63 1.016 52
5 Bradford City 44 21 9 14 94 86 1.093 51
6 York City 44 20 10 14 84 53 1.585 50
7 Aldershot 44 22 5 17 81 60 1.350 49
8 Workington 44 19 11 14 69 70 0.986 49
9 Barrow 44 17 14 13 74 58 1.276 48
10 Crewe Alexandra 44 20 6 18 79 70 1.129 46
11 Oldham Athletic 44 17 12 15 77 70 1.100 46
12 Rochdale 44 19 7 18 71 71 1.000 45
13 Darlington 44 18 9 17 61 73 0.836 45
14 Mansfield Town 44 19 6 19 77 66 1.167 44
15 Tranmere Rovers 44 20 4 20 70 81 0.864 44
16 Stockport County 44 17 9 18 70 69 1.014 43
17 Southport 44 17 9 18 61 71 0.859 43
18 Exeter City 44 13 11 20 62 77 0.805 37
19 Chesterfield 44 14 9 21 70 87 0.805 37
20 Gillingham 44 13 11 20 73 94 0.777 37
21 Doncaster Rovers 44 11 7 26 60 85 0.706 29 Re-elected
22 Hartlepools United 44 8 11 25 52 101 0.515 27
23 Chester 44 7 12 25 54 96 0.563 26
24 Accrington Stanley 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 Resigned from the league[lower-alpha 1]
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. Accrington Stanley resigned from the Football League on 11 March. Their record (P33 W5 D8 L20 F19 A60 GA 0.317 Pts 18) was expunged.

Top goalscorers

First Division

Second Division

Third Division

Fourth Division

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References
  1. "Undefined Headline". Nottingham Post. 27 September 2014. p. 20–21. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  2. "Charles to Leave Italy". The Herald. Glasgow. 11 October 1961. p. 6. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  3. "Ipswich Town In Spotlight". Montreal Gazette. Reuters. 20 November 1961. p. 27. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  4. "Ipswich Town Near Soccer Title". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. 24 April 1962. p. 36. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  5. Entertainment & Sports Agency Limited. "2008/9 Results – Ipswich Town FC – BluesWeb.co.uk". Archived from the original on 27 May 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  6. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  7. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
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