The 1957–58 season was the 59th completed season of
The Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...
. The first division title went to
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...
for the second time, while
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
were relegated to the second division for the first time in the club's history, after 57 consecutive seasons in the top flight of English football. The season was marred by the
Munich air disaster, in which eight
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
players died as a result of the crash with two others suffering career-ending injuries. Manchester United were chasing a hat-trick of league championships, but they dropped 21 points in 14 matches after the Munich crash and finished 21 points behind the champions Wolves.
This was the final season in which the Football League was organized into two regional sections on the third tier. Following the season, the bottom twelve clubs of
Third Division North and
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
were assigned to the new, national
Fourth Division. The clubs placed second through twelfth, in addition to the two clubs relegated from the
Second Division, joined the re-organized national
Third Division.
Final league tables
The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found a
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundationwebsite
and in ''Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79'',
[Ian Laschke: ''Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79''. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.] with home and away statistics separated.
Beginning with the season 1894–95, clubs finishing level on points were separated according to goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded), or more properly put, goal ratio. In case one or more teams had the same goal difference, this system favoured those teams who had scored fewer goals. The goal average system was eventually scrapped beginning with the 1976–77 season.
From the 1922–23 season, the bottom two teams of both Third Division North and Third Division South were required to apply for
re-election.
First Division
Results
Maps
Second Division
Results
Maps
Third Division North
Results
Maps
Third Division South
Results
Maps
Attendances
First Division
Second Division
See also
*
1957-58 in English football
References
*Ian Laschke: ''Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79''. Macdonald and Jane's, London & Sydney, 1980.
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English Football League seasons
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