The

1958–59 Football League The 1958–59 season was the 60th completed season of The Football League. This season saw the introduction of the Fourth Division. Final league tables The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found aThe Rec.Spor ...

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 56th in the Football League and their 32nd in the First Division. After spending the first half of the season towards the bottom of the division, they finished in 9th position in the 22-team division. They entered the

1958–59 FA Cup The 1958–59 FA Cup was the 78th staging of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Nottingham Forest won the competition for their second time, as of 2022, beating Luton ...

at the third round proper and lost to Nottingham Forest in the fifth round after two replays. 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 progressed through two rounds to reach the semi-final, which was not played until the 1959–60 season. Towards the end of the season, Birmingham and England full-back Jeff Hall contracted polio and died, only 14 days after the last match in which he played. The death of a young, fit, international footballer helped to kick-start widespread public acceptance in Britain of the need for vaccination. Though the disease was generally feared and the

Salk 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 chil ...

was available, takeup had been slow. In the weeks following Hall's death, and after his widow spoke on television about her loss, demand for immunisation rocketed. Emergency vaccination clinics had to be set up and supplies of vaccine flown in from the United States to cope with the demand. In January 1958,

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 ...

joined the club. Beasley had believed he was coming as assistant to manager Arthur Turner, but chairman Harry Morris announced to the press that he was to be appointed joint manager. Turner, who found about this arrangement not from the club but from the press, threatened to resign. He was persuaded to stay "for the time being", but finally left in September 1958, and Beasley took over as manager.Matthews, ''Complete Record'', p. 62. Twenty-four players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were thirteen different goalscorers. Half backs Dick Neal and Johnny Watts played in 49 and 48 of the 52 first-team matches over the season, and Bunny Larkin finished as leading goalscorer with 23 goals in all competitions, of which 18 were scored in the league.

Football League First Division

League table (part)

FA Cup

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Appearances and goals

*Players with name struck through and marked left the club during the playing season.

References