1962–63 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1962–63 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 60th in the Football League and their 36th in the First Division. They finished in 20th position in the 22-team division, two points clear of the relegation places. They entered the 1962–63 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost in that round to Bury after a replay. They entered the League Cup at the second round and reached the final, in which they defeated local rivals Aston Villa 3–1 on aggregate score to win the first (and, until 2011, only) major trophy in their history.

Birmingham City F.C.
1962–63 season
ChairmanHarry Morris, Jr
ManagerGil Merrick
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League First Division20th
FA CupThird round
(eliminated by Bury)
Football League CupWinners
Top goalscorerLeague: Ken Leek (20)
All: Ken Leek (29)
Highest home attendance42,228 vs Aston Villa, 27 October 1962
Lowest home attendance11,293 vs Bury, League Cup semi-final 1st leg, 27 March 1963
Average home league attendance22,559

Because of the severe winter weather – the so-called "Big Freeze of 1963" – Birmingham played no matches for ten weeks, between 22 December and 2 March. Their third-round FA Cup-tie was played in the first week of March, two months later than the usual date of the first weekend in January.

Twenty-three players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were eleven different goalscorers. Half back Terry Hennessey played in 52 of the 53 first-team matches over the season (forwards Ken Leek and Mike Hellawell missed only two), and Leek finished as leading goalscorer with 29 goals, of which 20 were scored in league competition.

Football League First Division
Main article: 1962–63 Football League
DateLeague
position		Opponents VenueResultScore
F–A		Scorers Attendance
18 August 1962 22ndTottenham HotspurA L0–3 51,140
21 August 1962 22ndArsenalA L0–2 34,004
25 August 1962 20thLeyton OrientH D2–2Bullock, Hellawell 23,411
29 August 1962 19thArsenalH D2–2Leek, Lynn pen 27,038
1 September 1962 20thManchester UnitedA L0–2 40,618
8 September 1962 21stBurnleyH W5–1Hellawell 2, Leek, Bloomfield, Bullock 24,463
12 September 1962 21stWest Bromwich AlbionA L0–1 25,560
15 September 1962 22ndSheffield WednesdayA L0–5 22,255
19 September 1962 22ndWest Bromwich AlbionH D0–0 28,660
22 September 1962 18thFulhamH W4–1Harris, Leek, Auld, Lynn pen 20,439
29 September 1962 20thLeicester CityA L0–3 22,210
6 October 1962 22ndWest Ham UnitedA L0–5 21,150
13 October 1962 22ndManchester CityH D2–2Regan, Stubbs 21,114
24 October 1962 19thWolverhampton WanderersA W2–0Leek 2 26,226
27 October 1962 17thAston VillaH W3–2Leek 2, Lynn pen 42,228
3 November 1962 13thSheffield UnitedA W2–0Stubbs, Hellawell 19,186
10 November 1962 14thNottingham ForestH D2–2Harris, Leek 22,024
17 November 1962 12thIpswich TownA W5–1Harris 2, Leek 2, Auld 16,775
24 November 1962 15thLiverpoolH L0–2 27,050
1 December 1962 14thBlackpoolA D1–1Leek 12,955
8 December 1962 15thBlackburn RoversH D3–3Bloomfield, Leek 2 16,108
15 December 1962 16thTottenham HotspurH L0–2 36,623
22 December 1962 15thLeyton OrientA D2–2Bloomfield 2 11,646
2 March 1963 18thManchester CityA L1–2Harris 28,798
9 March 1963 20thWolverhampton WanderersH L3–4Auld, Lynn 2 (1 pen) 18,219
16 March 1963 20thAston VillaA L0–4 40,400
23 March 1963 21stSheffield UnitedH L0–1 18,056
30 March 1963 20thSheffield WednesdayH D1–1Auld pen 12,275
3 April 1963 19thBolton WanderersH D2–2Leek 2 13,200
6 April 1963 20thIpswich TownH L0–1 16,756
13 April 1963 21stNottingham ForestA W2–0Leek 2 15,556
15 April 1963 21stEvertonA D2–2Bloomfield, Leek 50,122
16 April 1963 21stEvertonH L0–1 29,719
20 April 1963 21stBlackpoolH L3–6Bloomfield, Leek, Auld 15,396
24 April 1963 21stBolton WanderersA D0–0 12,949
27 April 1963 21stBlackburn RoversA L1–6Auld 9,482
1 May 1963 20thWest Ham UnitedH W3–2Harris, Auld, Hennessey 14,410
4 May 1963 20thFulhamA D3–3Harris, Hellawell, Auld 20,179
8 May 1963 20thLiverpoolA L1–5Leek 23,684
10 May 1963 20thManchester UnitedH W2–1Bloomfield 2 21,855
14 May 1963 20thBurnleyA L1–3Bloomfield 14,350
18 May 1963 20thLeicester CityH W3–2Harris, Auld, Lynn pen 23,971

League table (part)
Final First Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
18th Bolton Wanderers421552255750.7335
19th Manchester United4212102067810.8334
20th Birmingham City4210131963900.7033
21st Manchester City42101121581020.5731
22nd Leyton Orient42692737810.4621
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: 1962–63 FA Cup

Because of the severe winter weather – the so-called "Big Freeze of 1963" – Birmingham played no matches for ten weeks, between 22 December and 2 March. Their opening third-round FA Cup-tie against Bury was postponed 14 times and abandoned once before finally being played two months after the originally scheduled date.[2]

Round DateOpponentsVenue ResultScore
F–A		Scorers Attendance
Third round 5 March 1963BuryH D3–3Leek, Harris, Lynn pen 37,913
Third round replay 7 March 1963BuryA L0–2 16,525

League Cup
Main articles: 1962–63 Football League Cup and 1963 Football League Cup Final

The first leg of the final, against Birmingham's near neighbours Aston Villa, was played on 23 May at St Andrew's. Birmingham took the lead when Jimmy Harris fed Bertie Auld who crossed for Ken Leek's powerful shot, but Aston Villa equalised via Bobby Thomson. Seven minutes into the second half, the same combination of players made it 2–1, and after 66 minutes Jimmy Bloomfield "ended an excellent run by scoring from a narrow angle, earning even the applause of Villa players"[3] to give Birmingham a 3–1 lead.[4] The second leg, four days later at Villa Park, was goalless. Former England centre half Trevor Smith marked Thomson out of the game,[5] Birmingham's defensive tactics included repeatedly kicking the ball out for throw-ins,[6] and Aston Villa were unable to break their opponents down.

Round DateOpponentsVenue ResultScore
F–A		Scorers Attendance
Second round 26 September 1962Doncaster RoversH W5–0Leek 2, Bloomfield, Harris, Auld 11,384
Third round 15 October 1962BarrowA D1–1Wolstenholme 6,289
Third round replay 29 October 1962BarrowH W5–1Harris, Stubbs, Leek, Arrowsmith og 11,765
Fourth round 14 November 1962Notts CountyH W3–2Lynn pen, Harris, Auld 13,187
Fifth round 11 December 1962Manchester CityH W6–0Lynn 2 (1 pen), Leek, Auld, Leivers og, Sear og 18,012
Semi-final 1st leg 27 March 1963BuryH W3–2Bullock, Leek, Auld 11,293
Semi-final 2nd leg 8 April 1963BuryA D1–1Leek 9,177
Final 1st leg 23 May 1963Aston VillaH W3–1Leek 2, Bloomfield 31,902
Final 2nd leg 27 May 1963Aston VillaA D0–0 37,949

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 League Cup Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
GK ENG Johnny Schofield 1800040220
GK ENG Colin Withers 2402050310
FB WAL Colin Green 1702030220
FB ENG Stan Lynn 33621734210
FB ENG Brian Rushton 900020110
FB ENG Brian Sharples 30001040
FB ENG Graham Sissons 1700030200
HB ENG Malcolm Beard 3402070430
HB ENG Winston Foster 50001060
HB WAL Terry Hennessey 4212080521
HB ENG Trevor Smith 3702070460
HB ENG Johnny Watts 1300050180
FW SCO Bertie Auld 36920944713
FW ENG Jimmy Bloomfield 28920623611
FW ENG Peter Bullock 1420011153
FW ENG Greg Farrell 20000020
FW ENG Jimmy Harris 29821643713
FW ENG Mike Hellawell 4052090515
FW WAL Ken Leek 412021885129
FW ENG John Regan 21002041
FW ENG Robin Stubbs 1220031153
FW ENG Denis Thwaites 60000060
FW ENG Trevor Wolstenholme 00002121
gollark: Also, I'm not old enough.
gollark: Our electoral system is awful (first past the post) so this would not do much.
gollark: To this day, the government continues to do the thing.
gollark: I once had an issue with the government here doing a thing, so I contacted my local politician to complain about them doing the thing, by email. About a week later, I got back, *by letter*, a response from some other politician which was tangentially related to the thing but did not address any of my concerns.
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See also
  • Birmingham City F.C. seasons

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 1962–1963: Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 360–61.
  • Source for kit: "Birmingham City". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

Specific

  1. "Birmingham City 1962–1963: English Division One (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  2. "Bury Deserve To Replay". The Times. London. 6 March 1963. p. 3.
    "Replay The Big Freeze 1962–63" (reprint hosted at NewsBank). The Independent on Sunday. London. 19 January 2003. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  3. "Birmingham's lead". The Guardian. London. 24 May 1963. p. 15.
  4. Matthews (1995), p. 33.
  5. Ponting, Ivan (15 September 2003). "Obituary: Trevor Smith – Tough and fearless footballer for the most successful side in Birmingham City history" (reprint hosted at NewsBank). The Independent. London. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  6. Jawad, Hyder (6 March 2005). Strange Magic: Birmingham City v Aston Villa. Birmingham Post. pp. 27–28.
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