1953–54 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1953–54 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 51st in the Football League and their 23rd in the Second Division. They finished in seventh position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1953–54 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost to Ipswich Town in the fourth.

Birmingham City F.C.
1953–54 season
ChairmanHarry Morris Jr
ManagerBob Brocklebank
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League Second Division7th
FA CupFourth round
(eliminated by Ipswich Town)
Top goalscorerLeague: Ted Purdon (15)
All: Ted Purdon (15)
Highest home attendance30,973 vs Leicester City, 5 September 1953
Lowest home attendance14,625 vs Nottingham Forest, 19 April 1954
Average home league attendance22,353

Twenty-eight players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were eleven different goalscorers. Full-back Ken Green played in 41 of the 44 first-team matches over the season, and Ted Purdon was leading goalscorer with 15 goals, all scored in league competition.

Football League Second Division

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Note that not all teams completed their playing season on the same day. Birmingham were in sixth position after their last game of the season, on 24 April, but by the time the last game was played, five days later, they were seventh, having been overtaken by Rotherham United.

Date League
position
Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance
19 August 1953 1st Hull City H W 2–0 Murphy, Govan 23,846
22 August 1953 1st Swansea Town H W 6–0 Purdon 2, Murphy 3, Kinsey 26,817
24 August 1953 1st Plymouth Argyle A D 2–2 Kinsey, Govan 21,019
29 August 1953 3rd Rotherham United A L 0–1 12,670
2 September 1953 3rd Plymouth Argyle H W 3–0 Purdon, Kinsey, Stewart 21,440
5 September 1953 6th Leicester City H L 1–2 Stewart 30,973
9 September 1953 2nd Luton Town H W 5–1 Murphy, Purdon 2 18,881
12 September 1953 8th Stoke City A L 2–3 Purdon, Hall 22,958
16 September 1953 11th Luton Town A L 0–2 12,231
19 September 1953 11th Fulham H D 2–2 Purdon 2 21,138
26 September 1953 8th West Ham United A W 2–1 Purdon, Kinsey 36,091
3 October 1953 10th Leeds United H D 3–3 Kinsey, Murphy, Govan 26,434
10 October 1953 6th Lincoln City H W 1–0 Stewart 21,948
17 October 1953 6th Bristol Rovers A D 1–1 Purdon 33,634
24 October 1953 6th Brentford H W 5–1 Purdon, Kinsey, Murphy, Govan, Bragg og 23,582
31 October 1953 6th Derby County A W 4–2 Purdon, Stewart, Murphy, Astall 18,278
7 November 1953 5th Blackburn Rovers H D 0–0 24,604
14 November 1953 5th Doncaster Rovers A L 1–3 Kinsey 16,586
21 November 1953 5th Bury H D 0–0 20,723
28 November 1953 4th Oldham Athletic A W 3–2 Kinsey, Astall, Govan 18,264
5 December 1953 4th Everton H W 5–1 Trigg, Murphy, Astall 2, Clinton og 23,557
12 December 1953 5th Hull City A L 0–3 19,752
19 December 1953 4th Swansea Town A W 3–1 Rowley 2, Purdon 12,493
25 December 1953 4th Notts County H W 3–0 Rowley 2, Govan 30,489
26 December 1953 4th Notts County A L 1–2 Astall 20,986
2 January 1954 6th Rotherham United H L 2–3 Purdon 2 16,768
16 January 1954 4th Leicester City A W 4–3 Murphy, Rowley, Govan 2 34,704
23 January 1954 2nd Stoke City H W 1–0 Kinsey 26,206
6 February 1954 6th Fulham A L 2–5 Trigg 2 20,540
13 February 1954 5th West Ham United H W 2–0 Cochrane, Astall 22,716
20 February 1954 5th Leeds United A D 1–1 Rowley 22,803
27 February 1954 4th Lincoln City A W 1–0 Lane 13,924
6 March 1954 5th Bristol Rovers H D 1–1 Boyd 25,331
13 March 1954 5th Brentford A L 0–2 12,584
20 March 1954 5th Derby County H W 3–0 Trigg 2, Stewart 18,219
27 March 1954 5th Bury A D 1–1 Stewart 11,293
3 April 1954 5th Oldham Athletic H W 2–1 Murphy, Boyd 15,848
10 April 1954 5th Blackburn Rovers A L 0–3 31,995
16 April 1954 5th Nottingham Forest A D 1–1 Kinsey 25,285
17 April 1954 5th Doncaster Rovers H L 0–1 15,266
19 April 1954 5th Nottingham Forest H D 2–2 Lane, Stewart 14,625
24 April 1954 6th Everton A L 0–1 62,865

League table (part)

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Final Second Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
5th Rotherham United 42 21 7 14 80 67 1.19 49
6th Luton Town 42 18 12 12 64 59 1.08 48
7th Birmingham City 42 18 11 13 78 58 1.34 47
8th Fulham 42 17 10 15 98 85 1.15 44
9th Bristol Rovers 42 14 16 12 64 58 1.10 44
Key Pos = League position; Pld = Matches played;
W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost;
F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points
Source [1]

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance
Third round 9 January 1954 Wolverhampton Wanderers A W 2–1 Murphy, Rowley 36,784
Fourth round 30 January 1954 Ipswich Town A L 0–1 25,088

Appearances and goals

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Players marked † left the club during the playing season.
Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; FB – Full back; HB – Half back; FW – Forward
Players' appearances and goals by competition
Pos. Nat. Name League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   ENG Gil Merrick 38 0 2 0 40 0
GK   ENG Johnny Schofield 4 0 0 0 4 0
FB   ENG George Allen 1 0 0 0 1 0
FB   ENG Ken Green 39 0 2 0 41 0
FB   ENG Jeff Hall 32 1 2 0 34 1
FB   SCO Roy Martin 13 0 0 0 13 0
HB   ENG Jack Badham 7 0 0 0 7 0
HB   ENG Keith Bannister 8 0 0 0 8 0
HB   ENG Len Boyd 35 2 2 0 37 2
HB   ENG Johnny Newman 7 0 1 0 8 0
HB   ENG Trevor Smith 24 0 1 0 25 0
HB   ENG Roy Warhurst 37 0 1 0 38 0
HB   ENG Johnny Watts 7 0 0 0 7 0
FW   ENG Gordon Astall 24 6 2 0 26 6
FW   ENG Arthur Atkins 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW   ENG Jimmy Cochrane 1 1 0 0 1 1
FW   ENG Geoff Cox 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW   SCO Alex Govan 38 8 2 0 40 8
FW   ENG Dennis Hill 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW   ENG John James 2 0 0 0 2 0
FW   WAL Noel Kinsey 37 10 2 0 39 10
FW   ENG Jackie Lane 8 2 1 0 9 2
FW   ENG Peter Murphy 32 13 2 1 34 14
FW   ZAF Ted Purdon 23 15 0 0 23 15
FW   ENG Ken Rowley 8 6 2 1 10 7
FW   ENG Barry Squires 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW   SCO Jackie Stewart 22 7 0 0 29 7
FW   ENG Cyril Trigg 11 5 0 0 11 5

See also

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References

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General

  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  • Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: DB Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
  • Source for match dates and results: "Birmingham City 1953–1954: Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 342–43.
  • Source for kit: "Birmingham City". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

Specific

  1. ^ "Birmingham City 1953–1954: English Division Two (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2012.