1957–58 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1957–58 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 55th in the Football League and their 31st in the First Division. They finished in 13th position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1957–58 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost in that round to York City. In the inaugural edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Birmingham lost in the semi-final in a play-off, having drawn on aggregate score with Barcelona.

In February 1958, Pat Beasley joined the club. Beasley had believed he was coming as assistant to manager Arthur Turner, but chairman Harry Morris announced to the press that he was to be appointed joint manager. Turner, who found about this arrangement not from the club but from the press, threatened to resign. He was persuaded to stay "for the time being", but finally left early in the 1958–59 season.Matthews, Complete Record, p. 62.

Twenty-four players made at least one appearance in nationally or internationally organised first-team competition, and there were twelve different goalscorers. Half back Dick Neal played in 44 of the 46 first-team matches over the season, and Peter Murphy finished as leading goalscorer with 23 goals in all competitions, of which 20 were scored in the league.

Football League First Division

DateLeaguepositionOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendance24 August 19576thAston VillaHW3–1Brown, Kinsey, Murphy50,78028 August 19575thNottingham ForestAD1–1Brown29,70531 August 195711thChelseaAL1–5Brown43,8064 September 195715thNottingham ForestHL0–226,8527 September 195718thNewcastle UnitedHL1–4Hellawell29,78411 September 195719thTottenham HotspurHD0–026,48514 September 195721stBurnleyAL1–3Neal20,52218 September 195722ndTottenham HotspurAL1–7Brown35,29221 September 195720thPreston North EndHW3–1Neale, Murphy, Govan pen24,89428 September 195721stSheffield WednesdayAL3–5Orritt 2, Murphy20,1291 October 195721stWest Bromwich AlbionAD0–039,7385 October 195715thManchester CityHW4–0Murphy 3, Brown28,05912 October 195717thWolverhampton WanderersHL1–5Astall43,00519 October 195715thArsenalAW3–1Orritt, Neal 239,03126 October 195714thBolton WanderersHW5–1Brown 2, Orritt, Murphy, Watts26,2252 November 195715thLuton TownAL0–317,3169 November 195716thSunderlandHL2–3Murphy, Govan25,31516 November 195715thEvertonAW2–0Murphy 234,87523 November 195715thBlackpoolHD0–032,17830 November 195715thLeeds UnitedAD1–1Orritt21,3587 December 195715thManchester UnitedHD3–3Kinsey, Murphy, Astall35,19114 December 195715thLeicester CityAD2–2Kinsey, Astall28,68021 December 195715thAston VillaAW2–0Brown, Kinsey41,11826 December 195715thWest Bromwich AlbionHL3–5Brown, Hooper pen, Neal48,39628 December 195715thChelseaHD3–3Brown, Murphy 237,43611 January 195815thNewcastle UnitedAW2–1Brown, Kinsey34,82518 January 195815thBurnleyHL2–3Murphy, Hooper22,2811 February 195815thPreston North EndAL0–821,51122 February 195817thWolverhampton WanderersAL1–5Murphy36,9411 March 195815thArsenalHW4–1Brown 2, Murphy, Hooper26,8345 March 195815thManchester CityAD1–1Murphy30,6558 March 195816thBolton WanderersAL0–118,30912 March 195815thSheffield WednesdayHW1–0Orritt15,93715 March 195815thLuton TownHD1–1Orritt25,22522 March 195815thBlackpoolAL2–4Astall, Hooper pen11,54929 March 195815thEvertonHW2–1Hooper 221,6284 April 195815thPortsmouthAL2–3Murphy, Hooper33,0755 April 195814thSunderlandAW6–1Murphy, Astall, Brown, Hooper, Orritt 234,1947 April 195812thPortsmouthHW4–1Brown, Orritt, Murphy, Hooper23,38012 April 195813thLeeds UnitedHD1–1Orritt23,11219 April 195812thManchester UnitedAW2–0Hooper, Green39,21526 April 195813thLeicester CityHL0–127,607

League table (part)

+Final First Division table (part)PosClubPldWDLFAGAPts11thChelsea4215121582791.054212thArsenal421671973850.863913thBirmingham City4214111776890.853914thAston Villa421671973860.853915thBolton Wanderers4214101865870.7538Key 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 = PointsSource

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceThird round8 January 1958York CityAL0–319,750

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

The group stage of the inaugural edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was completed during the 1956–57 playing season. The score at half time in the first leg of the semi-final, at St Andrew's, was 3–3, and Peter Murphy scored the winner after an hour. In the away leg, in the recently opened Camp Nou, El Mundo Deportivo expected a comfortable victory for the hosts, but the result was rather less clear-cut. The only goal of the game was scored after 82 minutes by Kubala, who saw Gil Merrick off his line and neatly lobbed him. With no away goals rule, the game went into 30 minutes of extra time, which remained goalless, so a replay was to be played on a neutral ground. Controversy arose when Birmingham were prevented from substituting the injured Bunny Larkin, contrary to what they believed had been agreed before the match; Barcelona manager Domènec Balmanya claimed the agreement allowed for two substitutes, but outfield players could only be replaced in the first half. Asked what he thought of Barcelona, Birmingham trainer Dave Fairhurst said he thought they played better in the first leg, where they concentrated on playing; here, they spent too much time complaining. Balmanya's opinion of Birmingham had not changed since the first leg: he saw them as a physical team with crude technique, too concerned with the opponent to think much about the ball.

El Mundo Deportivo was more complimentary about Birmingham's style of play in the replay. While they had come to Barcelona to avoid losing, and nearly succeeded, they went to St. Jakob-Park, in Basel, Switzerland, to win, and to be worthy of the victory. It also suggested that the playing surface – rough, and covered with long wet grass – was better suited to an open, long-ball game than to precise passing and close marking. Barcelona scored first through Evaristo, Murphy equalised early in the second half, then with seven minutes left, Suárez picked up the ball in midfield and passed to Kubala who drew Merrick out of his goal and gave him no chance with his shot.

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceSemi-final 1st leg23 October 1957BarcelonaHW4–3Murphy 2, Brown, Orritt30,791Semi-final 2nd leg13 November 1957BarcelonaAL0–1aet60,000Semi-final playoff26 November 1957BarcelonaSt. Jakob-Park, BaselL1–2Murphy20,000

Appearances and goals

Players marked left the club during the playing season. Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; FB – Full back; HB – Half back; FW – Forward

+ Players' appearances and goals by competitionNameLeagueFA CupFairs CupTotalGoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGK2801030320GK1400000140FB40002060FB1301020160FB3110000311FB3701020400HB2200020240HB30000030HB4041030444HB 60000060HB20000020HB3701030410HB2211020251FW3751030415FW371510314116FW 2020020222FW11000011FW221010002310FW50000050FW20000020FW 1551010175FW362010334023FW 31000031FW251100212712

1957–58 Birmingham City F.C. season

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