The

1960–61 Football League The 1960– 61 season was the 62nd completed season of The Football League. Final league tables The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found aThe Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundationwebsite and in ''Rothmans Boo ...

season was

Birmingham City Football Club Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first tea ...

's 58th in the Football League and their 34th in the First Division. They finished in 19th position in the 22-team division for the second consecutive season. They entered the

1960–61 FA Cup The 1960–61 FA Cup was the 80th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Tottenham Hotspur won the competition for the third time, beating Leicester City 2–0 ...

in the third round proper and lost to Leicester City in the fifth round after a

replay Replay may refer to: * Replay (sports), a replayed match between two sport teams Technology * Game replay, a recording of a game session. * Instant replay, in motion pictures and television, a showing again of part of a film * Replay Professional, ...

, and entered the inaugural season of the

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

in the second round, losing to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

in the third, again after a replay. In the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...

, Birmingham beat Inter Milan both at home and away in the semi-final to reach their second consecutive final, but the competition schedule meant that the match itself was played in September and October 1962, well into the 1961–62 playing season. Manager

Gil Merrick Gilbert Harold Merrick (26 January 1922 – 3 February 2010) was an English footballer and football manager. Considered one of the best goalkeepers in the UK during the mid-1950s, Merrick was one in a long line of great Birmingham City keepers ...

, appointed to succeed

Pat Beasley Albert "Pat" Beasley (16 July 1913 – 27 February 1986) was an England international footballer who made more than 400 appearances in the Football League. He also became a manager. Football career Born in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, Beasley be ...

at the end of the 1959–60 season, brought in former Spanish international winger

Emilio Aldecoa Emilio Aldecoa Gómez (30 November 1922 – 4 September 1999) was a Spanish professional footballer who played in the English and Spanish football leagues and later managed in Spain and England. He made one appearance for the Spain national team ...

– the first Spaniard to play in the Football League – as

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. Twenty-four players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were twelve different goalscorers. Full back

Brian Farmer Frederick Brian Webb Farmer (29 July 1933 – 1 June 2014) was an English professional footballer who made 249 appearances in the Football League for Birmingham City and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. He played at right back. Born in Wordsl ...

played in 54 of the 55 first-team matches over the season, and Jimmy Harris finished as leading goalscorer with 17 goals in all competitions; in the league, Harris and Mike Hellawell were joint top scorers, each with 10 goals.

Football League First Division

League table (part)

FA Cup

League Cup

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

In the semi-final, Birmingham beat Inter Milan both at home and away; no other English club was to beat them in a competitive match in the San Siro until

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

did so in the Champions League more than 40 years later. Birmingham reached the final for the second consecutive season, having lost to Barcelona in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

. The 1961 final was scheduled for late September and mid-October 1961, well into the 1961–62 playing season, by which time the first round of the 1961–62 competition would already be under way.

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 Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

References

General * * * Source for match dates and results: * Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), ''Complete Record'', pp. 356–57, 474. * Source for kit
"Birmingham City"
''Historical Football Kits''. Retrieved 22 May 2018. Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:1960-61 Birmingham City F.C. season Birmingham City F.C. seasons Birmingham City