1964–65 in English football

Football in England
Season1964–65
Men's football
First DivisionManchester United
Second DivisionNewcastle United
Third DivisionCarlisle United
Fourth DivisionBrighton & Hove Albion
FA CupLiverpool
League CupChelsea
Charity ShieldShared between Liverpool
and West Ham United
← 1963–64 England 1965–66 →

The 1964–65 season was the 85th season of competitive football in England.

Overview

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Diary of the season

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21 July 1964: John White, 27-year-old Tottenham Hotspur and Scotland forward, is killed on a North London golf course while sheltering under a tree which was struck by lightning.

22 August 1964: The first edition of BBC TV's Match of the Day is broadcast, featuring highlights of Liverpool v Arsenal at Anfield.

15 September 1964: Stan Cullis, one of the longest serving managers in the Football League, is sacked after 16 years in charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers. He had won three league titles and two FA Cups with them, but recent form has been dismal for the Black Country side whose attendances have now fallen below 15,000 and relegation appears to a real threat to the club.[1]

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.[2]

6 February 1965: Stanley Matthews plays the final competitive game of his 35-year career for Stoke City against Fulham 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 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 on the final day of the league season, Manchester United are crowned First Division champions for the sixth time in their history (and the first time since 1957) on goal average ahead of a Leeds United side who have yet to win the top division title.

1 May 1965: Liverpool win the FA Cup for the first time in their history, defeating Leeds United 2–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium.

19 May 1965: West Ham United win the European Cup Winners' Cup at Wembley Stadium with a 2–0 win over 1860 Munich of West Germany in the final.

Notable debuts

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8 September 1964: Pat Dunne, 21-year-old Irish goalkeeper, makes his debut for Manchester United in 3–3 league draw with Everton at Goodison Park.[3]

19 December 1964: Ralph Coates, 18-year-old winger,[4] makes his debut for Burnley in a 3–1 home league win over Sheffield United.[5]

Notable retirements

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Jimmy Dickinson, 40, Portsmouth 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 Football League goalscorer with a total of 434 goals; he also played for Fulham, West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City.[6]

Deaths

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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.[7]

Honours

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Competition Winner Runner-up
First Division Manchester United (6) Leeds United
Second Division Newcastle United Northampton Town
Third Division Carlisle United Bristol City
Fourth Division Brighton & Hove Albion Millwall
FA Cup Liverpool (1) Leeds United
League Cup Chelsea (1) Leicester City
Charity Shield Liverpool and West Ham United (shared)
Home Championship  England

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

Football League

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Main article: 1964–65 Football League

First Division

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Manchester United clinched their sixth First Division title, with teenage Northern Irish winger George Best excelling in a front-line already dominated by Bobby Charlton, Denis Law 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 Stan Cullis.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Manchester United 42 26 9 7 89 39 2.282 61 Qualified for the European Cup
2 Leeds United 42 26 9 7 83 52 1.596 61 Qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
3 Chelsea 42 24 8 10 89 54 1.648 56
4 Everton 42 17 15 10 69 60 1.150 49
5 Nottingham Forest 42 17 13 12 71 67 1.060 47
6 Tottenham Hotspur 42 19 7 16 87 71 1.225 45
7 Liverpool 42 17 10 15 67 73 0.918 44 Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup[a]
8 Sheffield Wednesday 42 16 11 15 57 55 1.036 43
9 West Ham United 42 19 4 19 82 71 1.155 42 Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup[a]
10 Blackburn Rovers 42 16 10 16 83 79 1.051 42
11 Stoke City 42 16 10 16 67 66 1.015 42
12 Burnley 42 16 10 16 70 70 1.000 42
13 Arsenal 42 17 7 18 69 75 0.920 41
14 West Bromwich Albion 42 13 13 16 70 65 1.077 39
15 Sunderland 42 14 9 19 64 74 0.865 37
16 Aston Villa 42 16 5 21 57 82 0.695 37
17 Blackpool 42 12 11 19 67 78 0.859 35
18 Leicester City 42 11 13 18 69 85 0.812 35
19 Sheffield United 42 12 11 19 50 64 0.781 35
20 Fulham 42 11 12 19 60 78 0.769 34
21 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 13 4 25 59 89 0.663 30 Relegated to the Second Division
22 Birmingham City 42 8 11 23 64 96 0.667 27
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ a b West Ham United won the 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup, so qualified for the tournament in 1965-66 as reigning champions. Liverpool won the 1965 FA Cup, so qualified for the 1965-66 European Cup Winners' Cup in the regular fashion as FA Cup holders.

Second Division

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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.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Newcastle United 42 24 9 9 81 45 1.800 57 Promoted to the First Division
2 Northampton Town 42 20 16 6 66 50 1.320 56
3 Bolton Wanderers 42 20 10 12 80 58 1.379 50
4 Southampton 42 17 14 11 83 63 1.317 48
5 Ipswich Town 42 15 17 10 74 67 1.104 47
6 Norwich City 42 20 7 15 61 57 1.070 47
7 Crystal Palace 42 16 13 13 55 51 1.078 45
8 Huddersfield Town 42 17 10 15 53 51 1.039 44
9 Derby County 42 16 11 15 84 79 1.063 43
10 Coventry City 42 17 9 16 72 70 1.029 43
11 Manchester City 42 16 9 17 63 62 1.016 41
12 Preston North End 42 14 13 15 76 81 0.938 41
13 Cardiff City 42 13 14 15 64 57 1.123 40
14 Rotherham United 42 14 12 16 70 69 1.014 40
15 Plymouth Argyle 42 16 8 18 63 79 0.797 40
16 Bury 42 14 10 18 60 66 0.909 38
17 Middlesbrough 42 13 9 20 70 76 0.921 35
18 Charlton Athletic 42 13 9 20 64 75 0.853 35
19 Leyton Orient 42 12 11 19 50 72 0.694 35
20 Portsmouth 42 12 10 20 56 77 0.727 34
21 Swindon Town 42 14 5 23 63 81 0.778 33 Relegated to the Third Division
22 Swansea Town 42 11 10 21 62 84 0.738 32
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division

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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.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Carlisle United 46 25 10 11 76 53 1.434 60 Promoted to the Second Division
2 Bristol City 46 24 11 11 92 55 1.673 59
3 Mansfield Town 46 24 11 11 95 61 1.557 59
4 Hull City 46 23 12 11 91 57 1.596 58
5 Brentford 46 24 9 13 83 55 1.509 57
6 Bristol Rovers 46 20 15 11 82 58 1.414 55
7 Gillingham 46 23 9 14 70 50 1.400 55
8 Peterborough United 46 22 7 17 85 74 1.149 51
9 Watford 46 17 16 13 71 64 1.109 50
10 Grimsby Town 46 16 17 13 68 67 1.015 49
11 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 46 18 11 17 72 63 1.143 47
12 Southend United 46 19 8 19 78 71 1.099 46
13 Reading 46 16 14 16 70 70 1.000 46
14 Queens Park Rangers 46 17 12 17 72 80 0.900 46
15 Workington 46 17 12 17 58 69 0.841 46
16 Shrewsbury Town 46 15 12 19 76 84 0.905 42
17 Exeter City 46 12 17 17 51 52 0.981 41
18 Scunthorpe United 46 14 12 20 65 72 0.903 40
19 Walsall 46 15 7 24 55 80 0.688 37
20 Oldham Athletic 46 13 10 23 61 83 0.735 36
21 Luton Town 46 11 11 24 51 94 0.543 33 Relegated to the Fourth Division
22 Port Vale 46 9 14 23 41 76 0.539 32
23 Colchester United 46 10 10 26 50 89 0.562 30
24 Barnsley 46 9 11 26 54 90 0.600 29
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Fourth Division

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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.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 26 11 9 102 57 1.789 63 Promoted to the Third Division
2 Millwall 46 23 16 7 78 45 1.733 62
3 York City 46 28 6 12 91 56 1.625 62
4 Oxford United 46 23 15 8 87 44 1.977 61
5 Tranmere Rovers 46 27 6 13 99 56 1.768 60
6 Rochdale 46 22 14 10 74 53 1.396 58
7 Bradford Park Avenue 46 20 17 9 86 62 1.387 57
8 Chester 46 25 6 15 119 81 1.469 56
9 Doncaster Rovers 46 20 11 15 84 72 1.167 51
10 Crewe Alexandra 46 18 13 15 90 81 1.111 49
11 Torquay United 46 21 7 18 70 70 1.000 49
12 Chesterfield 46 20 8 18 58 70 0.829 48
13 Notts County 46 15 14 17 61 73 0.836 44
14 Wrexham 46 17 9 20 84 92 0.913 43
15 Hartlepools United 46 15 13 18 61 85 0.718 43
16 Newport County 46 17 8 21 85 81 1.049 42
17 Darlington 46 18 6 22 84 87 0.966 42
18 Aldershot 46 15 7 24 64 84 0.762 37
19 Bradford City 46 12 8 26 70 88 0.795 32
20 Southport 46 8 16 22 58 89 0.652 32
21 Barrow 46 12 6 28 59 105 0.562 30 Re-elected
22 Lincoln City 46 11 6 29 58 99 0.586 28
23 Halifax Town 46 11 6 29 54 103 0.524 28
24 Stockport County 46 10 7 29 44 87 0.506 27
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Top goalscorers

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First Division

Second Division

Third Division

Fourth Division

References

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  1. ^ "Our Century 1950–1975".
  2. ^ "Confident Sunderland Will Remain In First Division". Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph. Reuters. 17 November 1964. p. 12. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  3. ^ "Pat Dunne : Manchester United : Irish Footballer : Dublin". 3 January 2023.
  4. ^ "The Hall of Fame – Burnley FC – Clarets Mad Index". www.clarets-mad.co.uk.
  5. ^ "The Longside Reference - 1964 - 1965 (League)". Archived from the original on 19 September 2012.
  6. ^ BBC. "Tribute to Town legend Rowley".
  7. ^ Crace, John (12 March 2011). "My dad John White, the Spurs legend". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  8. ^ a b "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  9. ^ a b "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
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