The 1960–61 season was the 81st season of competitive

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

became the first club in the twentieth century to "do the Double" by winning both the League and the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

competitions in the same season. Spurs sealed the First Division title with a 2–1 home win over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

on 17 April 1961. Preston North End, who had been the first team to achieve the League and FA Cup "double", was relegated in last place – and to date have not returned to the top flight of English football. 1960–61 still remains the last time Tottenham Hotspur won the League Championship. This season also saw the first contesting of the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

became the first former English League champion to be relegated to the Third Division, ten years after winning their second title. Peterborough United set a Football League record by scoring the most league goals (134) in a season.

FA Cup

beat

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

2–0 to win the 1961 FA Cup Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

to become the first team in the 20th Century to win the double.

League Cup

The 1960–61 season was the inaugural staging of the

, The tournament was won by

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, who beat

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

3–2 on aggregate after extra time. Although Aston Villa are credited as the League Cup Winners in 1960–61, both legs of the Final were held over until after the commencement of the 1961–62 season due to fixture congestion. Villa finally lifted the trophy on 5 September 1961.

Transfers

In June 1961,

Denis Law Denis Law (24 February 1940 – 17 January 2025) was a Scottish footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchest ...

left

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

for

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

side

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

in a £100,000 deal – a record fee involving a British player.

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 Footballer of the Year may refer to: Association football World * FIFA World Player of the Year (1991–2009) * FIFA Ballon d'Or (2010–2015) * The Best FIFA Men's Player (since 2016) Other * African Footballer of the Year * Asian Footballer o ...

–

Danny Blanchflower Robert Dennis Blanchflower (10 February 1926 – 9 December 1993) was a Northern Ireland footballer, football manager and journalist who played for and captained Tottenham Hotspur, including during their double-winning season of 1960–61. H ...

(

)

Football League

First Division

Tottenham Hotspur became the first team in the 20th century to win the double, finishing eight points ahead of runners-up Sheffield Wednesday. Wolves, Everton and defending champions Burnley completed the top five, while FA Cup runners-up Leicester City were in sixth place and Manchester United finished seventh for the second season running. Preston North End, in their first season without retired winger

Tom Finney Sir Thomas Finney (5 April 1922 – 14 February 2014) was an English international footballer who played from 1946 to 1960 as a winger or centre forward for Preston North End and England. He is widely acknowledged to have been one of England' ...

, went down in bottom place, joined in relegation by Newcastle United.

Second Division

Alf Ramsey Sir Alfred Ernest Ramsey (22 January 1920 – 28 April 1999) was an English association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. As a player, he represented England national football team, the England national ...

's Ipswich side reached the First Division for the first time in their history by winning the Second Division title. The club had been in non-league football 25 years earlier. They were joined in promotion by Sheffield United. Liverpool just missed out on First Division football once again, while Norwich City achieved their best final position yet by finishing fourth. Lincoln City went down in bottom place and were joined in the Third Division by Portsmouth, league champions just over a decade earlier.

Third Division

Bury won promotion to the Second Division as champions of the Third Division and were joined in the higher division by runners-up Walsall. Chesterfield, Colchester United and Tranmere Rovers, who had all spent most or all of their history in nothing higher than the league's third tier, went down to the Fourth Division, but were relegated along with a Bradford City side who had played in the First Division for a number of seasons until 1922 and were FA Cup winners in 1911.

Fourth Division

Peterborough United enjoyed a blistering debut in the Football League, finding the net 134 times (with 52 goals coming from centre-forward Terry Bly) and clinching the Fourth Division title. They were joined in promotion by Crystal Palace, Northampton Town and Bradford Park Avenue.

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. Regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of England's best ever players, he is England's fifth- ...

( Chelsea) – 41 goals Second Division * Ray Crawford ( Ipswich Town) – 39 goals Third Division * Tony Richards (

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

) – 36 goals Fourth Division * Terry Bly ( Peterborough United) – 52 goals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1960-61 in English football no:Engelsk 1. divisjon 1960–61