1960–61 in English football

The 1960–61 season was the 81st season of competitive football in England. This season was a particularly historic one for domestic football in England, as Tottenham Hotspur became the first club in the twentieth century to "do the Double" by winning both the League and the FA Cup competitions in the same season. It also saw the first contesting of the Football League Cup.

Football in England
Season1960–61
Men's football
First DivisionTottenham Hotspur
Second DivisionIpswich Town
Third DivisionBury
Fourth DivisionPeterborough United
FA CupTottenham Hotspur
Football League CupAston Villa
England

Overview

Tottenham Hotspur sealed the First Division title with a 2–1 home win over Sheffield Wednesday on 17 April 1961. Preston North End, who had been the first team to achieve the League and FA Cup "double", was relegated in last place – and to date have not returned to the top flight of English football. 1960–61 still remains the last time Tottenham Hotspur won the League Championship.

Portsmouth became the first former English League champion to be relegated to the Third Division, ten years after winning their second title.

Peterborough United set a Football League record by scoring the most league goals (134) in a season.

FA Cup

Tottenham Hotspur beat Leicester City 2–0 to win the 1961 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium to become the first team in the 20th Century to win the double.

League Cup

The 1960–61 was the inaugural staging of the Football League Cup, The tournament was won by Aston Villa, who beat Rotherham United 3–2 on aggregate after extra time. Although Aston Villa are credited as the League Cup Winners in 1960–61, both legs of the Final were held over until after the commencement of the 1961–62 season due to fixture congestion. Villa finally lifted the trophy on 5 September 1961.

Transfers

In June 1961, Denis Law left Manchester City for Italian side Torino in a £100,000 deal – a record fee involving a British player.

Honours
CompetitionWinnerRunner-up
First DivisionTottenham Hotspur (2)Sheffield Wednesday
Second DivisionIpswich TownSheffield United
Third DivisionBuryWalsall
Fourth DivisionPeterborough UnitedCrystal Palace
FA CupTottenham Hotspur (3)Leicester City
League CupAston Villa (1)Rotherham United
Charity ShieldBurnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers (shared)
Home Championship England Wales

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

Awards

Football Writers' Association

Football League
Main article: 1960–61 Football League

First Division

Tottenham Hotspur made history by becoming the first team this century to win the double, which in recent seasons had narrowly eluded the likes of Manchester United and Wolves.

Sheffield Wednesday finished runners-up, but an eight-point finishing divide between themselves and the champions meant that they never really looked like claiming the league title which had last been theirs in 1930. Wolves, Everton and defending champions Burnley completed the top five, while FA Cup runners-up Leicester City enjoyed a strong sixth-place finish and Manchester United finished seventh for the second season running.

Aston Villa's failure to mount a title challenge was compensated for by victory in the first-ever edition of the Football League Cup.

Preston North End performed dismally in their first season without retired winger Tom Finney, and went down in bottom place, joined in relegation by Newcastle United.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Tottenham Hotspur 42 31 4 7 115 55 2.091 66 Qualified for the European Cup
2 Sheffield Wednesday 42 23 12 7 78 47 1.660 58
3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 25 7 10 103 75 1.373 57
4 Burnley 42 22 7 13 102 77 1.325 51
5 Everton 42 22 6 14 87 69 1.261 50
6 Leicester City 42 18 9 15 87 70 1.243 45 Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup[lower-alpha 1]
7 Manchester United 42 18 9 15 88 76 1.158 45
8 Blackburn Rovers 42 15 13 14 77 76 1.013 43
9 Aston Villa 42 17 9 16 78 77 1.013 43
10 West Bromwich Albion 42 18 5 19 67 71 0.944 41
11 Arsenal 42 15 11 16 77 85 0.906 41
12 Chelsea 42 15 7 20 98 100 0.980 37
13 Manchester City 42 13 11 18 79 90 0.878 37
14 Nottingham Forest 42 14 9 19 62 78 0.795 37
15 Cardiff City 42 13 11 18 60 85 0.706 37
16 West Ham United 42 13 10 19 77 88 0.875 36
17 Fulham 42 14 8 20 72 95 0.758 36
18 Bolton Wanderers 42 12 11 19 58 73 0.795 35
19 Birmingham City 42 14 6 22 62 84 0.738 34
20 Blackpool 42 12 9 21 68 73 0.932 33
21 Newcastle United 42 11 10 21 86 109 0.789 32 Relegated to the Second Division
22 Preston North End 42 10 10 22 43 71 0.606 30
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. Leicester City qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup runners-up, as Tottenham Hotspur had won the double.

Second Division

Alf Ramsey's impressive Ipswich side reached the First Division for the first time in their history by winning the Second Division title – an impressive showing for a club who had been in non-league football 25 years earlier. They were joined in promotion by a more illustrious club in the shape of Sheffield United, who have been no strangers to the elite of English football. Liverpool just missed out on First Division football once again, while Norwich City achieved their best final position yet by finishing fourth.

Lincoln City went down in bottom place and were joined in the Third Division by Portsmouth, league champions just over a decade earlier.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Ipswich Town 42 26 7 9 100 55 1.818 59 Promoted to the First Division
2 Sheffield United 42 26 6 10 81 51 1.588 58
3 Liverpool 42 21 10 11 87 58 1.500 52
4 Norwich City 42 20 9 13 70 53 1.321 49
5 Middlesbrough 42 18 12 12 83 74 1.122 48
6 Sunderland 42 17 13 12 75 60 1.250 47
7 Swansea Town 42 18 11 13 77 73 1.055 47
8 Southampton 42 18 8 16 84 81 1.037 44
9 Scunthorpe United 42 14 15 13 69 64 1.078 43
10 Charlton Athletic 42 16 11 15 97 91 1.066 43
11 Plymouth Argyle 42 17 8 17 81 82 0.988 42
12 Derby County 42 15 10 17 80 80 1.000 40
13 Luton Town 42 15 9 18 71 79 0.899 39
14 Leeds United 42 14 10 18 75 83 0.904 38
15 Rotherham United 42 12 13 17 65 64 1.016 37
16 Brighton & Hove Albion 42 14 9 19 61 75 0.813 37
17 Bristol Rovers 42 15 7 20 73 92 0.793 37
18 Stoke City 42 12 12 18 51 59 0.864 36
19 Leyton Orient 42 14 8 20 55 78 0.705 36
20 Huddersfield Town 42 13 9 20 62 71 0.873 35
21 Portsmouth 42 11 11 20 64 91 0.703 33 Relegated to the Third Division
22 Lincoln City 42 8 8 26 48 95 0.505 24
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division

Bury won promotion to the Second Division as champions of the Third Division and were joined in the higher division by runners-up Walsall.

Chesterfield, Colchester United and Tranmere Rovers, who had all spent most or all of their history in nothing higher than the league's third tier, went down to the Fourth Division, but were relegated along with a Bradford City side who had played in the First Division for a number of seasons until 1922 and were FA Cup winners in 1911.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Bury 46 30 8 8 108 45 2.400 68 Promoted to the Second Division
2 Walsall 46 28 6 12 98 60 1.633 62
3 Queens Park Rangers 46 25 10 11 93 60 1.550 60
4 Watford 46 20 12 14 85 72 1.181 52
5 Notts County 46 21 9 16 82 77 1.065 51
6 Grimsby Town 46 20 10 16 77 69 1.116 50
7 Port Vale 46 17 15 14 96 79 1.215 49
8 Barnsley 46 21 7 18 83 80 1.038 49
9 Halifax Town 46 16 17 13 71 78 0.910 49
10 Shrewsbury Town 46 15 16 15 83 75 1.107 46
11 Hull City 46 17 12 17 73 73 1.000 46
12 Torquay United 46 14 17 15 75 83 0.904 45
13 Newport County 46 17 11 18 81 90 0.900 45
14 Bristol City 46 17 10 19 70 68 1.029 44
15 Coventry City 46 16 12 18 80 83 0.964 44
16 Swindon Town 46 14 15 17 62 55 1.127 43
17 Brentford 46 13 17 16 56 70 0.800 43
18 Reading 46 14 12 20 72 83 0.867 40
19 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 46 15 10 21 58 76 0.763 40
20 Southend United 46 14 11 21 60 76 0.789 39
21 Tranmere Rovers 46 15 8 23 79 115 0.687 38 Relegated to the Fourth Division
22 Bradford City 46 11 14 21 65 87 0.747 36
23 Colchester United 46 11 11 24 68 101 0.673 33
24 Chesterfield 46 10 12 24 67 87 0.770 32
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Fourth Division

Peterborough United enjoyed a blistering debut in the Football League, finding the net 134 times (with 52 goals coming from centre-forward Terry Bly) and clinching the Fourth Division title. They were joined in promotion by Crystal Palace, Northampton Town and Bradford Park Avenue.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Peterborough United 46 28 10 8 134 65 2.062 94 Promoted to the Third Division
2 Crystal Palace 46 29 6 11 110 69 1.594 93
3 Northampton Town 46 25 10 11 90 62 1.452 85
4 Bradford Park Avenue 46 26 8 12 84 74 1.135 86
5 York City 46 21 9 16 80 60 1.333 72
6 Millwall 46 21 8 17 97 86 1.128 71
7 Darlington 46 18 13 15 78 70 1.114 67
8 Workington 46 21 7 18 74 76 0.974 70
9 Crewe Alexandra 46 20 9 17 61 67 0.910 69
10 Aldershot 46 18 9 19 79 69 1.145 63
11 Doncaster Rovers 46 19 7 20 76 78 0.974 64
12 Oldham Athletic 46 19 7 20 79 88 0.898 64
13 Stockport County 46 18 9 19 57 66 0.864 63
14 Southport 46 19 6 21 69 67 1.030 63
15 Gillingham 46 15 13 18 64 66 0.970 58
16 Wrexham 46 17 8 21 62 56 1.107 59
17 Rochdale 46 17 8 21 60 66 0.909 59
18 Accrington Stanley 46 16 8 22 74 88 0.841 56
19 Carlisle United 46 13 13 20 61 79 0.772 52
20 Mansfield Town 46 16 6 24 71 78 0.910 54
21 Exeter City 46 14 10 22 66 94 0.702 52 Re-elected
22 Barrow 46 13 11 22 52 79 0.658 50
23 Hartlepools United 46 12 8 26 71 103 0.689 44
24 Chester 46 11 9 26 61 104 0.587 42
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Top goalscorers

First Division

Second Division

Third Division

Fourth Division

References
  1. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  2. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
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