The following are the football (soccer) events of the year 1961 throughout the world.

Events

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

: Won by

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol neigh ...

after defeating

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

on an aggregate score of 2–1. * 1961 International Soccer League **

FK Dukla Prague FK Dukla Prague ( cs, FK Dukla Praha) is a Czech association football club located in the Dejvice area of Prague. It currently plays in the Czech National Football League. The club played in local competitions between 2001 and 2007, when it ga ...

beat Everton F.C., 9–2, in the final on aggregate *September 6 – Dutch club

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names bef ...

from

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

makes its

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an debut by defeating Sweden's

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

(0–3) in the first round of the European Cup. *September 18 – The

North American Football Confederation The North American Football Confederation (NAFC) was founded in 1946 as the governing body of association football in Northern America, Mexico, and Cuba. The first president of the NAFC was Carlos Alonso who was elected on 19 December 1946 in Hav ...

and Football Confederation of Central America and the Caribbean merge to form

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...

Winners club national championship

* : Racing Club * : Santos * :

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

* :

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...

* : KR * : Juventus * :

Chivas Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Mexican First Divisi ...

* :

Cerro Porteño Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Primera División titles and is one of the most popular football clubs in Paraguay. Its presi ...

* : Steaua București * : FC Dynamo Kyiv * : Real Madrid * : Fenerbahçe

International tournaments

1961 British Home Championship Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

(October 8, 1960 – April 15, 1961) ::

Births

* January 12 –

Andrea Carnevale Andrea Carnevale (; born 12 January 1961) is an Italian former footballer, who played as a forward. Club career After playing for various Italian teams, Carnevale enjoyed notable success with Napoli from 1986 to 1990, playing alongside Diego ...

, Italian international footballer * January 13 – César Baena, Venezuelan international footballer * January 17 –

Zhao Dayu Zhao Dayu (; 17 January 1961 – 18 March 2015), also known as , was a Chinese coach, businessman and a former international football striker. He was a naturalized citizen of Japan. As a footballer he played his whole career for Guangzhou ...

, Chinese international footballer (died 2015) * January 18 – Peter Beardsley, English international footballer * January 20 –

Patricio Yáñez Patricio Nazario Yáñez Candia (born January 20, 1961) is a Chilean former footballer who played as a forward. Club career Yáñez began his career in 1977 with San Luis and won the Copa Apertura Segunda División and Chilean Segunda Divi ...

, Chilean international footballer * January 31 – Jonny Otten, German international footballer * February 13 – Oļegs Karavajevs, Latvian international footballer * March 13 – Sebastiano Nela, Italian international footballer * March 21 –

Lothar Matthäus Lothar Herbert Matthäus (; born 21 March 1961) is a German football pundit and former professional player and manager. After captaining West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup where he lifted the World Cup trophy, he was awarded the ...

, German international footballer and manager * April 11 –

Roberto Cabañas Roberto Cabañas González (11 April 1961 – 9 January 2017) was a Paraguayan footballer who played as a forward. Career During his career, Cabañas played for Cerro Porteño of Paraguay, Stade Brestois and Olympique Lyonnais of France, t ...

, Paraguayan international footballer (died 2017) * May 3 – Daniel Sánchez, Uruguayan international footballer * May 5 – Ali Hussein Shihab, Iraqi international footballer (died 2016) * May 8 – Gert Kruys, Dutch footballer and manager * May 21 –

Thomas Dooley Thomas Dooley (born May 12, 1961) is an American former soccer player and coach. He played as a defender and defensive midfielder and was a long-time member and former captain of the United States national team. Dooley recently served as the ...

, American international footballer and manager * June 1 – Rubén Espinoza, Chilean footballer * June 3 – César Zabala, Paraguayan international footballer (died 2020) * June 29 – Víctor Genés, Paraguayan footballer and football manager (died 2019) * August 1 –

Danny Blind Dirk Franciscus "Danny" Blind (; born 1 August 1961) is a Dutch former football player and coach. He played as a defender for Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax and the Netherlands national team. As coach he has managed Ajax and the Netherlands national te ...

, Dutch international footballer and manager * August 10 –

Chris Marustik Christopher Marustik (10 August 1961 – 12 August 2015) was a Welsh professional footballer and Wales international. Club career The son of a Czech immigrant, Marustik began his career at his hometown side Swansea City, making his way throug ...

, Welsh international footballer (died 2015) * September 9 – Justo Jacquet, Paraguayan footballer * September 20 –

Erwin Koeman Erwin Koeman (born 20 September 1961) is a Dutch retired professional football player and retired football manager. Personal life He is the son of Dutch international footballer Martin Koeman, and, alongside his younger brother Ronald, has also ...

, Dutch international footballer and manager * October 16 – Wilfried Brookhuis, Dutch footballer * October 20 –

Guillermo Muñoz Guillermo Muñoz Ramírez (born 20 October 1961) is a Mexican former football defender, who was nicknamed "El Turbo". He has 20 caps for the Mexico national team between 1987 and 1993, and on the squad at the 1993 Copa América. He made his ...

, Mexican footballer * November 3 –

Sven Habermann Sven Habermann (born November 3, 1961 in West Berlin, West Germany) is a former Canadian national soccer team goalkeeper, who was a member of the team that competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. Two years later he was ...

, German-Canadian footballer * November 4 – Nigel Worthington, Northern Irish international footballer and manager * November 17 – Wolfram Wuttke, German international footballer (died 2015) * November 20 –

Dave Watson David Watson (born 20 November 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a defender from 1980 to 2001. He played his entire career for Norwich City and Everton. With the Toffees he played in ...

, English footballer and manager * December 17 – Henk van Stee, Dutch footballer and manager

Deaths

January

* January 5 – Jack Butler (66), English international footballer and manager (born 1894)

October

* October 31 – Alberto Chividini, Argentine defender, runner up of the 1930 FIFA World Cup . (54)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1961 In Association Football Association football by year