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1962–63 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 = 1962–63

| manager = Gil Merrick

| chairman = Harry Morris, Jr

| stdtitle = Ground

| stadium = St Andrew's

| league = Football League First Division

| league result = 20th

| cup1 = FA Cup

| cup1 result = Third round
(eliminated by Bury)

| cup2 = Football League Cup

| cup2 result = Winners

| league topscorer = Ken Leek (20)

| season topscorer = Ken Leek (29)

| highest attendance = 42,228 vs Aston Villa, 27 October 1962

| lowest attendance = 11,293 vs Bury, League Cup semi-final 1st leg, 27 March 1963

| average attendance = 22,559

| pattern_la1 = _whiteborder

| pattern_b1 = _whitecollar

| pattern_ra1 = _whiteborder

| pattern_sh1 =

| pattern_so1 = _top_on_white

| leftarm1 = 000099

| body1 = 000099

| rightarm1 = 000099

| shorts1 = ffffff

| socks1 = 000099

| prevseason = 1961–62

| nextseason = 1963–64

}}

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.

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|1962–63 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"|18 August 1962

|22nd||align="left"|Tottenham Hotspur||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–3||

|51,140

scope="row"|21 August 1962

|22nd||align="left"|Arsenal||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–2||

|34,004

scope="row"|25 August 1962

|20th||align="left"|Leyton Orient||H

|style=background:#ffc|D||2–2||align="left"|Bullock, Hellawell

|23,411

scope="row"|29 August 1962

|19th||align="left"|Arsenal||H

|style=background:#ffc|D||2–2||align="left"|Leek, Lynn pen

|27,038

scope="row"|1 September 1962

|20th||align="left"|Manchester United||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–2||

|40,618

scope="row"|8 September 1962

|21st||align="left"|Burnley||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||5–1||align="left"|Hellawell 2, Leek, Bloomfield, Bullock

|24,463

scope="row"|12 September 1962

|21st||align="left"|West Bromwich Albion||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–1||

|25,560

scope="row"|15 September 1962

|22nd||align="left"|Sheffield Wednesday||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–5||

|22,255

scope="row"|19 September 1962

|22nd||align="left"|West Bromwich Albion||H

|style=background:#ffc|D||0–0||

|28,660

scope="row"|22 September 1962

|18th||align="left"|Fulham||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||4–1||align="left"|Harris, Leek, Auld, Lynn pen

|20,439

scope="row"|29 September 1962

|20th||align="left"|Leicester City||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–3||

|22,210

scope="row"|6 October 1962

|22nd||align="left"|West Ham United||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–5||

|21,150

scope="row"|13 October 1962

|22nd||align="left"|Manchester City||H

|style=background:#ffc|D||2–2||align="left"|Regan, Stubbs

|21,114

scope="row"|24 October 1962

|19th||align="left"|Wolverhampton Wanderers||A

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

|26,226

scope="row"|27 October 1962

|17th||align="left"|Aston Villa||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||3–2||align="left"|Leek 2, Lynn pen

|42,228

scope="row"|3 November 1962

|13th||align="left"|Sheffield United||A

|style=background:#cfc|W||2–0||align="left"|Stubbs, Hellawell

|19,186

scope="row"|10 November 1962

|14th||align="left"|Nottingham Forest||H

|style=background:#ffc|D||2–2||align="left"|Harris, Leek

|22,024

scope="row"|17 November 1962

|12th||align="left"|Ipswich Town||A

|style=background:#cfc|W||5–1||align="left"|Harris 2, Leek 2, Auld

|16,775

scope="row"|24 November 1962

|15th||align="left"|Liverpool||H

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–2||

|27,050

scope="row"|1 December 1962

|14th||align="left"|Blackpool||A

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

|12,955

scope="row"|8 December 1962

|15th||align="left"|Blackburn Rovers||H

|style=background:#ffc|D||3–3||align="left"|Bloomfield, Leek 2

|16,108

scope="row"|15 December 1962

|16th||align="left"|Tottenham Hotspur||H

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–2||

|36,623

scope="row"|22 December 1962

|15th||align="left"|Leyton Orient||A

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

|11,646

scope="row"|2 March 1963

|18th||align="left"|Manchester City||A

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

|28,798

scope="row"|9 March 1963

|20th||align="left"|Wolverhampton Wanderers||H

|style=background:#fcc|L||3–4||align="left"|Auld, Lynn 2 (1 pen)

|18,219

scope="row"|16 March 1963

|20th||align="left"|Aston Villa||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–4||

|40,400

scope="row"|23 March 1963

|21st||align="left"|Sheffield United||H

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–1||

|18,056

scope="row"|30 March 1963

|20th||align="left"|Sheffield Wednesday||H

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

|12,275

scope="row"|3 April 1963

|19th||align="left"|Bolton Wanderers||H

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

|13,200

scope="row"|6 April 1963

|20th||align="left"|Ipswich Town||H

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–1||

|16,756

scope="row"|13 April 1963

|21st||align="left"|Nottingham Forest||A

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

|15,556

scope="row"|15 April 1963

|21st||align="left"|Everton||A

|style=background:#ffc|D||2–2||align="left"|Bloomfield, Leek

|50,122

scope="row"|16 April 1963

|21st||align="left"|Everton||H

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–1||

|29,719

scope="row"|20 April 1963

|21st||align="left"|Blackpool||H

|style=background:#fcc|L||3–6||align="left"|Bloomfield, Leek, Auld

|15,396

scope="row"|24 April 1963

|21st||align="left"|Bolton Wanderers||A

|style=background:#ffc|D||0–0||

|12,949

scope="row"|27 April 1963

|21st||align="left"|Blackburn Rovers||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||1–6||align="left"|Auld

|9,482

scope="row"|1 May 1963

|20th||align="left"|West Ham United||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||3–2||align="left"|Harris, Auld, Hennessey

|14,410

scope="row"|4 May 1963

|20th||align="left"|Fulham||A

|style=background:#ffc|D||3–3||align="left"|Harris, Hellawell, Auld

|20,179

scope="row"|8 May 1963

|20th||align="left"|Liverpool||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||1–5||align="left"|Leek

|23,684

scope="row"|10 May 1963

|20th||align="left"|Manchester United||H

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

|21,855

scope="row"|14 May 1963

|20th||align="left"|Burnley||A

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

|14,350

scope="row"|18 May 1963

|20th||align="left"|Leicester City||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||3–2||align="left"|Harris, Auld, Lynn pen

|23,971

=League table (part)=

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

|+Final First 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

scope="row"|18th

|align="left"|Bolton Wanderers||42||15||5||22||55||75||0.73||35

scope="row"|19th

|align="left"|Manchester United||42||12||10||20||67||81||0.83||34

style="font-weight:bold"

!scope="row"|20th

|align="left"|Birmingham City

4210131963900.7033
scope="row"|21st

|align="left"|Manchester City||42||10||11||21||58||102||0.57||31

scope="row"|22nd

|align="left"|Leyton Orient||42||6||9||27||37||81||0.46||21

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/1962-1963/table |title=Birmingham City 1962–1963: English Division One (old) Table |publisher=Statto Organisation |access-date=11 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062523/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1962-1963/table |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}

FA Cup

{{main|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.{{cite news |title=Bury Deserve To Replay |newspaper=The Times |location=London |date=6 March 1963 |page=3}}
{{cite news |title=Replay The Big Freeze 1962–63 |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:TND1&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=132AD22C52C8BF10&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 |newspaper=The Independent on Sunday |location=London |format=reprint hosted at NewsBank |date=19 January 2003 |access-date=12 April 2012}}

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"|5 March 1963||align="left"|Bury||H

|style=background:#ffc|D||3–3||align="left"|Leek, Harris, Lynn pen

|37,913

scope="row"|Third round replay

|align="left"|7 March 1963||align="left"|Bury||A

|style=background:#fcc|L||0–2||align="left"|

|16,525

League Cup

{{main|1962–63 Football League Cup|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"{{cite news |title=Birmingham's lead |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=24 May 1963 |page=15}} to give Birmingham a 3–1 lead.Matthews (1995), p. 33. The second leg, four days later at Villa Park, was goalless. Former England centre half Trevor Smith marked Thomson out of the game,{{cite news |title=Obituary: Trevor Smith – Tough and fearless footballer for the most successful side in Birmingham City history |last=Ponting |first=Ivan |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:TND1&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=132AD466F6DEE3E8&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |format=reprint hosted at NewsBank |date=15 September 2003 |access-date=14 June 2012}} Birmingham's defensive tactics included repeatedly kicking the ball out for throw-ins,{{cite book |last=Jawad |first=Hyder |title=Strange Magic: Birmingham City v Aston Villa |date=6 March 2005 |publisher=Birmingham Post |pages=27–28}} and Aston Villa were unable to break their opponents down.

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"|Second round

|align="left"|26 September 1962||align="left"|Doncaster Rovers||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||5–0||align="left"|Leek 2, Bloomfield, Harris, Auld

|11,384

scope="row"|Third round

|align="left"|15 October 1962||align="left"|Barrow||A

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

|6,289

scope="row"|Third round replay

|align="left"|29 October 1962||align="left"|Barrow||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||5–1||align="left"|Harris, Stubbs, Leek, Arrowsmith og

|11,765

scope="row"|Fourth round

|align="left"|14 November 1962||align="left"|Notts County||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||3–2||align="left"|Lynn pen, Harris, Auld

|13,187

scope="row"|Fifth round

|align="left"|11 December 1962||align="left"|Manchester City||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||6–0||align="left"|Lynn 2 (1 pen), Leek, Auld, Leivers og, Sear og

|18,012

scope="row"|Semi-final 1st leg

|align="left"|27 March 1963||align="left"|Bury||H

|style=background:#cfc|W||3–2||align="left"|Bullock, Leek, Auld

|11,293

scope="row"|Semi-final 2nd leg

|align="left"|8 April 1963||align="left"|Bury||A

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

|9,177

scope="row"|Final 1st leg

|align="left"|23 May 1963||align="left"|Aston Villa||H

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

|31,902

scope="row"|Final 2nd leg

|align="left"|27 May 1963||align="left"|Aston Villa||A

|style=background:#ffc|D||0–0||

|37,949

Appearances and goals

: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"|League 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

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

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

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

|18

00040220
data-sort-value=1|GK{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Colin|Withers}}

|24

02050310
data-sort-value=2|FB{{flag|WAL}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Colin|Green}}

|17

02030220
data-sort-value=2|FB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Stan|Lynn}}

|33

621734210
data-sort-value=2|FB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Brian|Rushton}}

|9

00020110
data-sort-value=2|FB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Brian|Sharples}}

|3

0001040
data-sort-value=2|FB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Graham|Sissons}}

|17

00030200
data-sort-value=3|HB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Malcolm|Beard}}

|34

02070430
data-sort-value=3|HB{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Winston|Foster}}

|5

0001060
data-sort-value=3|HB{{flag|WAL}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Terry|Hennessey}}

|42

12080521
data-sort-value=3|HB{{flag|ENG}}

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

|37

02070460
data-sort-value=3|HB{{flag|ENG}}

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

|13

00050180
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|SCO}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Bertie|Auld}}

|36

920944713
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Jimmy|Bloomfield}}

|28

920623611
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Peter|Bullock|dab=footballer}}

|14

20011153
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Greg|Farrell}}

|2

0000020
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Jimmy|Harris|dab=footballer, born 1933}}

|29

821643713
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Mike|Hellawell}}

|40

52090515
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|WAL}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Ken|Leek}}

|41

2021885129
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|John|Regan|dab=footballer}}

|2

1002041
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Robin|Stubbs}}

|12

20031153
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Denis|Thwaites}}

|6

0000060
data-sort-value=4|FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"|{{sortname|Trevor|Wolstenholme}}

|0

0002121

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/1962-1963/results |title=Birmingham City 1962–1963: Results |publisher=Statto Organisation |access-date=3 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061905/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1962-1963/results |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 360–61.
  • 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.}}

{{Birmingham City F.C. seasons}}

{{1962–63 in English football}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1962-63 Birmingham City F.C. season}}

Category:Birmingham City F.C. seasons

Birmingham City