The 1958–59 season was the 79th season of competitive football in England.

Diary of the season

August 1958: The Football League season begins with the new national

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and Fourth divisions that have been created from the old Third Division North and Third Division South. 30 August 1958:

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

snub Manchester United's wish to participate in the 1958–59 European Cup. September 1958: Manchester United pay a national record fee of £45,000 for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

inside-forward

Albert Quixall Albert Quixall (9 August 1933 – 12 November 2020) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside-forward. He joined Sheffield Wednesday as a youth and debuted in their professional side in 1951. He played almost 250 league game ...

. 12 November 1958:

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

play their first European Cup game, drawing 2–2 at home to

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

in the first round first leg. 18 November 1958: Wolverhampton Wanderers lose 2–1 to Schalke 04 in the European Cup first round second leg in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, ending their hopes of being the first team other than Real Madrid (winners of the first three competitions) to win the European Cup. 15 January 1959: Second Division

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

suffer a shock

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

third round exit when they lose 2-1 to non league

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

. 4 April 1959: Jeff Hall, 29, right-back for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, 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. Sin ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, dies from

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

, prompting widespread takeup of the

polio vaccine Polio vaccines are vaccines used to prevent poliomyelitis (polio). Two types are used: an inactivated poliovirus given by injection (IPV) and a weakened poliovirus given by mouth (OPV). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends all chi ...

. 2 May 1959:

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

defeat

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

2–1 in the 1959 FA Cup Final.

Notable debutants

8 September 1958: Bobby Moore, 17-year-old wing-half, makes his debut for West Ham United against Manchester United in the First Division.

Notable retirements

May 1959: Billy Wright, 35, Wolverhampton Wanderers and England captain, after more than 500 appearances for his club and a record 105 for his country. June 1959:

Jackie Blanchflower John Blanchflower (7 March 1933 – 2 September 1998) was a Northern Irish footballer. He graduated from Manchester United's youth system and played for the club on 117 occasions, winning two league titles, before his career was cut short due to ...

, 26, Manchester United and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

centre-half, who announced his retirement as a player after failing to recover sufficiently from injuries sustained in the Munich air disaster 16 months earlier.

Honours

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

Awards

Football Writers' Association The Football Writers' Association (FWA) is an association of football journalists and correspondents writing for English newspapers and agencies. It presents the Footballer of the Year Award, the oldest and most distinguished award given in the d ...

* Footballer of the Year – Syd Owen (

)

Football League

First Division

In the last season of captain Billy Wright's playing career, Wolves retained their First Division title - the third time they had been league champions in six seasons. There was every reason to hope for continued success in the post-Wright era, though, with younger players like

Bobby Mason Robert Henry Mason (born 22 March 1936) is an English former professional footballer, who played in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he spent the majority of his league career, and for Leyton Orient. Career Mason was sig ...

and Mickey Lill excelling in the team. Manchester United enjoyed a good return in the season following the Munich tragedy, as new signings and younger players integrated with crash survivors to achieve runners-up spot in the league. Arsenal, Bolton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion completed the top five, while newly promoted West Ham United recorded their highest league finish yet by finishing sixth.

Second Division

Sheffield Wednesday sealed an immediate return to the First Division as Second Division champions, being joined by runners-up Fulham.

Third Division

Plymouth Argyle won the first championship of the new national Third Division, with Hull City finishing one point behind them in second place. Norwich City made the headlines with their run to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, but the cup run distracted them from the league as fourth place in the final table was not enough for promotion.

Fourth Division

Port Vale were champions of the new Fourth Division, and were joined in promotion by Coventry City, York City and Shrewsbury Town.

Top goalscorers

First Division *

Jimmy Greaves James Peter Greaves (20 February 1940 – 19 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Greaves is regarded as one of England’s best ever players. He is England's fifth-highest international goalscorer ...

(

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

) – 33 goals Second Division *

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engl ...

(

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

) – 42 goals Third Division *

Jim Towers Edwin James Towers (15 April 1933 – 16 September 2010) was an English professional footballer, best remembered for his time as a centre forward in the Football League with Brentford. He is the club's all-time leading goalscorer and in 2013 wa ...

( Brentford) – 32 goals Fourth Division *

Arthur Rowley George Arthur Rowley Jr. (21 April 1926 – 19 December 2002), nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his explosive left-foot shot, was an English football player and cricketer. He holds the record for the most goals in the history of English lea ...

(

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

) – 37 goals

National team

Although the

England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

eventually shared victory in the

1959 British Home Championship Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of ...

with

, it was a tough year without so many of the squad's key players lost in the Munich air disaster the year before. The season concluded with a disastrous tour of the Americas, in which the team lost three successive games before restoring some pride in the final match against the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The final game against the USA was also the last match for veteran defender and captain Billy Wright after a then record 105 caps. The match was played in front of just 13,000 fans on a gravel pitch in Los Angeles.

Tour of the Americas

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1958-59 in English football