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1954–55 Birmingham City F.C. season

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}

{{Use British English|date=December 2014}}

{{Infobox football club season

| club = Birmingham City F.C.

| season = 1954–55

| manager = Bob Brocklebank {{nowrap|until October 1954}}
Arthur Turner thereafter

| chairman = Harry Morris Jr

| stdtitle = Ground

| stadium = St Andrew's

| league = Football League Second Division

| league result = 1st

| cup1 = FA Cup

| cup1 result = Sixth round
(eliminated by Manchester City)

| league topscorer = {{nowrap|Peter Murphy (20)}}

| season topscorer = Peter Murphy (20)

| highest attendance = 57,960 vs Manchester City, FA Cup 6th round, 20 April 1955

| lowest attendance = 6,441 vs Doncaster Rovers, 16 March 1955

| average attendance = 20,973

| pattern_la1 = _whiteborder

| pattern_b1 = _whitecollarplain

| pattern_ra1 = _whiteborder

| pattern_sh1 =

| pattern_so1 = _whitetop

| leftarm1 = 000099

| body1 = 000099

| rightarm1 = 000099

| shorts1 = ffffff

| socks1 = 000099

| prevseason = 1953–54

| nextseason = 1955–56

}}

The 1954–55 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 52nd in the Football League and their 24th in the Second Division. They finished top of the 22-team division on goal average, thus winning the Second Division title for the fourth time and gaining promotion to the First Division for 1955–56. They entered the 1954–55 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost to Manchester City in the sixth round (quarter-final).

Bob Brocklebank and chief scout Walter Taylor laid the foundations for the club's successes of the 1950s, introducing future England internationals Trevor Smith and Jeff Hall to the side, and bringing in the likes of Peter Murphy, Eddy Brown, Roy Warhurst and Alex Govan.Matthews, Complete Record, p. 61.

Arthur Turner took over from Brocklebank as manager in November 1954 with the club mid-table in the Second Division, having gained only one point away from home. By the end of the season they had scored 92 goals,Matthews (1995), pp. 25–27.

inflicted Liverpool's record defeat, by nine goals to one,{{cite web |url=http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/history/records/matches |title=LFC Records |publisher=Liverpool F.C |access-date=10 October 2010}} which was also Birmingham's widest margin of victory in a league match since the 19th century, and, needing five points from the last three games, all away from home, to be sure of promotion, confirmed themselves as champions with a 5–1 win in the last game of the season away at Doncaster Rovers.

Twenty-five players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were eleven different goalscorers. Half-back Len Boyd played in 43 of the 46 first-team matches over the season, and Peter Murphy was leading goalscorer with 20 goals, all scored in league competition. All five first-choice forwards – Gordon Astall, Noel Kinsey, Brown, Murphy and Govan – reached double figures.

Football League Second Division

{{main|1954–55 Football League}}

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"|Datescope="col"|League
position		scope="col"|Opponents

!scope="col"|Venue

scope="col"|Resultscope="col"|Score
F–A		scope="col"|Scorers

!scope="col"|Attendance

scope="row"|21 August 1954

|17th||align="left"|Stoke City||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||1–2||align="left"|Warhurst

|27,820

scope="row"|25 August 1954

|7th||align="left"|Bristol Rovers||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||2–1||align="left"|Kinsey, Rowley

|25,890

scope="row"|28 August 1954

|3rd||align="left"|Rotherham United||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||3–1||align="left"|Govan 2, Warhurst

|27,260

scope="row"|30 August 1954

|6th||align="left"|Bristol Rovers||A

|style=background:#ffc|D||1–1||align="left"|Warhurst

|26,218

scope="row"|4 September 1954

|11th||align="left"|Luton Town||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–1||align="left"|

|16,347

scope="row"|8 September 1954

|8th||align="left"|Ipswich Town||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||4–0||align="left"|Kinsey, Warmington, Astall

|21,238

scope="row"|11 September 1954

|7th||align="left"|Hull City||H

|style=background:#ffc|D||0–0||align="left"|

|23,846

scope="row"|15 September 1954

|6th||align="left"|Ipswich Town||A

|style=background:#cfc|W||2–1||align="left"|Warmington, Murphy

|16,746

scope="row"|18 September 1954

|6th||align="left"|Lincoln City||A

|style=background:#ffc|D||1–1||align="left"|Kinsey

|14,581

scope="row"|25 September 1954

|10th||align="left"|Bury||H

|style=background:#fcc|L||1–3||align="left"|Lane

|21,242

scope="row"|2 October 1954

|11th||align="left"|Leeds United||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–1||

|21,200

scope="row"|9 October 1954

|12th||align="left"|Fulham||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||1–2||align="left"|Astall

|30,293

scope="row"|16 October 1954

|12th||align="left"|Swansea Town||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||2–0||align="left"|Murphy 2

|19,998

scope="row"|30 October 1954

|14th||align="left"|Derby County||H

|style=background:#ffc|D||1–1||align="left"|Brown

|20,568

scope="row"|6 November 1954

|13th||align="left"|West Ham United||A

|style=background:#ffc|D||2–2||align="left"|Murphy 2

|25,366

scope="row"|13 November 1954

|11th||align="left"|Blackburn Rovers||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||3–1||align="left"|Brown, Astall, Govan

|23,829

scope="row"|20 November 1954

|12th||align="left"|Plymouth Argyle||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–1||

|19,204

scope="row"|27 November 1954

|10th||align="left"|Port Vale||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||7–2||align="left"|Brown, Murphy 3, Kinsey 2, Govan

|16,352

scope="row"|4 December 1954

|14th||align="left"|Notts County||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||2–3||align="left"|Murphy, Govan

|13,477

scope="row"|11 December 1954

|13th||align="left"|Liverpool||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||9–1||align="left"|Brown 3, Lane, Murphy 2, Astall, Govan

|17,067

scope="row"|18 December 1954

|11th||align="left"|Stoke City||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||2–0||align="left"|Brown, Govan

|22,427

scope="row"|25 December 1954

|12th||align="left"|Nottingham Forest||H

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–1||

|33,007

scope="row"|27 December 1954

|10th||align="left"|Nottingham Forest||A

|style=background:#cfc|W||2–0||align="left"|Murphy, Burkitt og

|25,875

scope="row"|1 January 1955

|8th||align="left"|Rotherham United||A

|style=background:#cfc|W||2–0||align="left"|Kinsey, Govan

|17,166

scope="row"|5 February 1955

|10th||align="left"|Lincoln City||H

|style=background:#ffc|D||3–3||align="left"|Murphy 2, Kinsey

|20,313

scope="row"|12 February 1955

|9th||align="left"|Bury||A

|style=background:#cfc|W||1–0||align="left"|Brown

|12,547

scope="row"|2 March 1955

|7th||align="left"|Leeds United||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||2–0||align="left"|Lane, Govan

|10,774

scope="row"|5 March 1955

|6th||align="left"|Swansea Town||A

|style=background:#cfc|W||3–0||align="left"|Lane, Kinsey, Boyd

|22,565

scope="row"|16 March 1955

|5th||align="left"|Doncaster Rovers||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||4–1||align="left"|Kinsey, Murphy, Astall, Warhurst

|6,441

scope="row"|19 March 1955

|7th||align="left"|Derby County||A

|style=background:#ffc|D||0–0||

|19,489

scope="row"|26 March 1955

|7th||align="left"|West Ham United||H

|style=background:#fcc|L||1–2||align="left"|Brown

|9,132

scope="row"|30 March 1955

|5th||align="left"|Fulham||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||3–2||align="left"|Lane, Astall 2

|9,686

scope="row"|2 April 1955

|6th||align="left"|Blackburn Rovers||A

|style=background:#ffc|D||3–3||align="left"|Lane, Murphy, Kinsey

|27,673

scope="row"|8 April 1955

|5th||align="left"|Middlesbrough||A

|style=background:#cfc|W||5–2||align="left"|Lane, Brown 2, Govan 2

|32,519

scope="row"|9 April 1955

|4th||align="left"|Plymouth Argyle||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||3–1||align="left"|Kinsey, Lane, Govan

|25,078

scope="row"|11 April 1955

|4th||align="left"|Middlesbrough||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||3–0||align="left"|Kinsey, Murphy, Govan

|23,657

scope="row"|16 April 1955

|5th||align="left"|Port Vale||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–2||

|24,036

scope="row"|20 April 1955

|3rd||align="left"|Luton Town||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||2–1||align="left"|Murphy 2

|34,612

scope="row"|23 April 1955

|5th||align="left"|Notts County||H

|style=background:#ffc|D||1–1||align="left"|Brown

|28,018

scope="row"|25 April 1955

|3rd||align="left"|Hull City||A

|style=background:#cfc|W||3–0||align="left"|Bradbury, Govan

|12,848

scope="row"|30 April 1955

|3rd||align="left"|Liverpool||A

|style=background:#ffc|D||2–2||align="left"|Brown, Astall

|38,060

scope="row"|4 May 1955

|1st||align="left"|Doncaster Rovers||A

|style=background:#cfc|W||5–1||align="left"|Brown, Murphy, Astall 2, Govan

|21,305

=League table (part)=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Final Second Division table (part)

!scope="col"|Pos

!scope="col"|Club

!scope="col"|Pld

!scope="col"|W

!scope="col"|D

!scope="col"|L

!scope="col"|F

!scope="col"|A

!scope="col"|GA

!scope="col"|Pts

style="font-Weight:bold"

!scope="row"|1st

|align="left"|Birmingham City

4222101092491.9654
scope="row"|2nd

|align="left"|Luton Town||42||23||8||11||88||53||1.66||54

scope="row"|3rd

|align="left"|Rotherham United||42||25||4||13||94||64||1.47||54

scope="row"|4th

|align="left"|Leeds United||42||23||7||12||70||57||1.32||53

scope="row"|5th

|align="left"|Stoke City||42||21||10||11||69||46||1.50||52

scope="row"|Key

|colspan="9"| 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

scope="row"|Source

|colspan="9"|{{cite web |url=http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1954-1955/table |title=Birmingham City 1954–1955: English Division Two (old) Table |publisher=Statto Organisation |access-date=3 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070528/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1954-1955/table |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}

FA Cup

{{main|1954–55 FA Cup}}

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"|Round

!scope="col"|Date

scope="col"|Opponentsscope="col"|Venue

!scope="col"|Result

scope="col"|Score
F–A		scope="col"|Scorers

!scope="col"|Attendance

scope="row"|Third round

|align="left"|8 January 1955||align="left"|Hull City||A

|style=background:#cfc|W||2–0||align="left"|Kinsey, Brown

|25,920

scope="row"|Fourth round

|align="left"|29 January 1955||align="left"|Bolton Wanderers||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||2–1||align="left"|Govan, Wheeler og

|56,852

scope="row"|Fifth round

|align="left"|19 February 1955||align="left"|Doncaster Rovers||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||2–1||align="left"|Brown 2

|57,800

scope="row"|Sixth round

|align="left"|12 March 1955||align="left"|Manchester City||H

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–1||

|57,960

Appearances and goals

:Players marked {{dagger}} left the club during the playing season.

:Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; FB – Full back; HB – Half back; FW – Forward

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ Players' appearances and goals by competition

rowspan="2" scope="col" width="40"|{{abbr|Pos.|Playing position}}

!rowspan="2" scope="col" width="60"|{{abbr|Nat.|Nationality}}

!rowspan="2" scope="col" width="150" scope=col|Name

!colspan="2" width="90"|League

!colspan="2" width="90"|FA Cup

!colspan="2" width="90"|Total

scope="col"|{{abbr|Apps|Appearances}}scope="col"|Goals

!scope="col"|{{abbr|Apps|Appearances}}

scope="col"|Goals

!scope="col"|{{abbr|Apps|Appearances}}

scope="col"|Goals
data-sort-value=1|GK{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Gil|Merrick}}

|27

040310
data-sort-value=1|GK{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Johnny|Schofield}}

|15

000150
data-sort-value=2|FB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|George|Allen|dab=footballer, born 1932}}

|13

000130
data-sort-value=2|FB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Jack|Badham}}

|11

000110
data-sort-value=2|FB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Ken|Green|dab=footballer, born 1924}}

|29

040330
data-sort-value=2|FB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Jeff|Hall|dab=footballer}}

|32

040360
data-sort-value=2|FB{{flag|SCO}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Roy|Martin|dab=footballer}}

|1

00010
data-sort-value=3|HB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Len|Boyd}}

|39

140431
data-sort-value=3|HB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|John|James|dab=footballer, born 1934}}

|0

01010
data-sort-value=3|HB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Johnny|Newman|dab=footballer}}

|17

000170
data-sort-value=3|HB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Trevor|Smith|dab=footballer, born 1936}}

|24

040280
data-sort-value=3|HB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Roy|Warhurst}}

|34

430374
data-sort-value=3|HB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Johnny|Watts|dab=English footballer}}

|10

000100
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Gordon|Astall}}

|33

11403711
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Bill|Bradbury|dab=footballer}}

|2

20022
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Eddy|Brown}}

|28

14433217
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Geoff|Cox|dab=footballer}}

|4

00040
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|SCO}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Alex|Govan}}

|37

15414116
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Dennis|Hill}}

|2

00020
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|WAL}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Noel|Kinsey}}

|35

13413914
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Jackie|Lane|dab=footballer}}

|22

800228
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Peter|Murphy|dab=footballer, born 1922}}

|37

20404120
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| {{sortname|Ken|Rowley}} {{dagger}}

|4

10041
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|SCO}}

!scope="row"| {{sortname|Jackie|Stewart|dab=footballer, born 1921}} {{dagger}}

|1

00010
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Peter|Warmington}}

|5

20052

See also

References

General

  • {{cite book |last=Matthews |first=Tony |title=Birmingham City: A Complete Record |year=1995 |publisher=Breedon Books |location=Derby |isbn=978-1-85983-010-9}}
  • {{cite book |last=Matthews |first=Tony |title=Birmingham City: The Complete Record |year=2010 |publisher=DB Publishing |location=Derby |isbn=978-1-85983-853-2}}
  • Source for match dates and results: {{cite web |url=http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1954-1955/results |title=Birmingham City 1954–1955: Results |publisher=Statto Organisation |access-date=3 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003822/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1954-1955/results |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 344–45.
  • Source for kit: [http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Birmingham_City/Birmingham_City.htm "Birmingham City"]. Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

Specific

{{reflist}}

{{Birmingham City F.C. seasons}}

{{1954–55 in English football}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1954-55 Birmingham City F.C. season}}

Category:Birmingham City F.C. seasons

Birmingham City