The 1964–65 season was the 85th 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 ...

in England.

Overview

* After a three-way tussle for the League title between

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

and Chelsea, Manchester United came out on top and were crowned champions. *

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

won 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 ...

, beating Leeds United 2–1 in the final. * Chelsea won the League Cup, beating Leicester City 3–2 in the two-legged final. *

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

won the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

, beating 1860 Munich 2–0 in the 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 ...

. *

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...

's ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a Association football, football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights during the Premier League season. ''Match of the Day'' is one of the BBC's longest-runn ...

'' launched at the start of this season. * This was

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...

's final season as a player.

Diary of the season

21 July 1964: John White, 27-year-old

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 ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

forward, is killed on a

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

golf course while sheltering under a tree which was struck by lightning. 22 August 1964: The first edition of

's ''

'' is broadcast, featuring highlights of

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 ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

. 15 September 1964:

Stan Cullis Stanley Cullis (25 October 1916 – 28 February 2001) was an English professional footballer and manager, primarily for Wolverhampton Wanderers. During his term as manager between 1948 and 1964, Wolves became one of the strongest teams in the En ...

, one of the longest serving managers in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

, is sacked after 16 years in charge of

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. He had won three league titles and two FA Cups with them, but recent form has been dismal for the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of England's West Midlands. It is mainly urban, covering most of the Dudley and Sandwell metropolitan boroughs, with the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton. The road between Wolverhampto ...

side whose attendances have now fallen below 15,000 and relegation appears to a real threat to the club. 19 September 1964: Reigning champions Liverpool lose heavily at home in the Merseyside Derby to Everton 4-0 putting them 2nd from bottom of the league. 2 November 1964: Wolves, marooned at the foot of the First Division, appoint former Scotland manager Andy Beattie as their caretaker manager. 6 February 1965:

plays the final competitive game of his 35-year career for Stoke City against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

in the First Division, shortly after his 50th birthday. 15 March 1965: Chelsea defeat Leicester City 3–2 at Stamford Bridge in the first leg 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 ...

final. 15 April 1965: A goalless draw in the second leg of the Football League Cup final at Filbert Street gives the trophy to Chelsea. 28 April 1965: Despite losing 2–1 at

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 ...

on the final day of the league season,

are crowned First Division champions for the sixth time in their history (and the first time since 1957) on goal average ahead of a

side who have yet to win the top division title. 1 May 1965: Liverpool win the

for the first time in their history, defeating Leeds United 2–1 in the final at

. 19 May 1965:

win the

at Wembley Stadium with a 2–0 win over 1860 Munich of

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in the final.

Notable debuts

8 September 1964: Pat Dunne, 21-year-old Irish goalkeeper, makes his debut for

in 3–3 league draw with Everton at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

. 19 December 1964: Ralph Coates, 18-year-old winger, makes his debut for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

in a 3–1 home league win over Sheffield United.

Notable retirements

Jimmy Dickinson, 40,

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 ...

centre-half and all-time leading appearance maker for Pompey with a total of 813 games; he also played 48 times for England. Arthur Rowley, 39, Shrewsbury Town centre-forward and all-time leading

goalscorer with a total of 434 goals; he also played for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

and Leicester City.

Deaths

21 July 1964 – John White, 27, Tottenham Hotspur and Scotland forward, was killed on a North London golf course when the tree he was sheltering under was struck by lightning. His goals helped them win the double in 1961, another FA Cup in 1962 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1963.

Honours

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

Football League

First Division

Manchester United clinched their sixth First Division title, with teenage

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

winger

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...

excelling in a front-line already dominated by

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (11 October 1937 – 21 October 2023) was an English professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, left winger or centre-forward. Widely considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member ...

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 ...

and David Herd. They finished champions ahead of newly promoted Leeds United on goal average, after Leeds failed to beat already relegated Birmingham in their final league game of the season on the Monday before the Cup Final. Third placed Chelsea won the League Cup, 1963 champions Everton finished fourth, and Nottingham Forest completed the top five. Birmingham City went down in bottom place, while Wolves were relegated to the Second Division for the first time in the postwar era following the dismissal of long-serving manager

Second Division

Newcastle United returned to the First Division after four years away as Second Division champions, and were joined in the elite by runners-up Northampton Town, who had started the decade in the Fourth Division. Manchester City endured one of the worst seasons of their history by finishing 11th and extending their top flight exile into its third season. Swansea Town and Swindon Town fell into the Third Division.

Third Division

Carlisle United won a second successive promotion and lifted the Third Division championship trophy. They finished a point ahead of runners-up Bristol City, who claimed promotion on goal average ahead of Mansfield Town. Hull City and Brentford missed out on promotion by a slightly wider margin. Barnsley, Colchester United, Port Vale and Luton Town were relegated to the Fourth Division – completing a six-season fall from the First Division for Luton Town, who had been FA Cup finalists in 1959.

Fourth Division

Brighton sealed promotion to the Third Division as Fourth Division champions. They were joined by Millwall, York City, and the league's newest members Oxford United.

Top goalscorers

First Division * Andy McEvoy (

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

) and

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- ...

(

) – 29 goals Second Division * George O'Brien (

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

) – 34 goals Third Division * Ken Wagstaff (

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

and Hull City) – 35 goals Fourth Division * Alick Jeffrey (

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

) – 36 goals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1964-65 in English Football