Football in England
Season1963–64
Men's football
First DivisionLiverpool
Second DivisionLeeds United
Third DivisionCoventry City
Fourth DivisionGillingham
FA CupWest Ham United
League CupLeicester City
Charity ShieldEverton
England

The 1963–64 season was the 84th season of competitive football in England, from August 1963 to May 1964.

Diary of the season

Notable debutants

Notable retirements

  • 5 April 1964 – Danny Blanchflower, 38-year-old Tottenham Hotspur captain.[4]

Honours

CompetitionWinnerRunner-up
First DivisionLiverpool (6)Manchester United
Second DivisionLeeds UnitedSunderland
Third DivisionCoventry CityCrystal Palace
Fourth DivisionGillinghamCarlisle United
FA CupWest Ham United (1)Preston North End
League CupLeicester City (1)Stoke City
Charity ShieldEvertonManchester United
Home Championship England,  Scotland,  Northern Ireland

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

Awards

Football Writers' Association

Top goalscorer

Football League

First Division

Liverpool clinched the First Division title just two seasons after winning promotion, finishing four points ahead of runners-up Manchester United while defending champions Everton finished third.

Tottenham Hotspur managed to finish fourth despite not winning any silverware and being without many key players for much of the season due to injury, while captain Danny Blanchflower announced his retirement from playing just before the season's end. Tragedy then struck the club after the season was over, when forward John White was struck by lightning and killed on a North London golf course.

Chelsea enjoyed a strong return to the First Division by finishing fifth, while Leicester City finally got their hands on a major trophy by winning the League Cup.

With Alf Ramsey having now left Ipswich Town to manage the England team, Ipswich Town struggled badly under his successor Jackie Milburn, and went down in bottom place having conceded 121 goals just two seasons after being league champions. Bolton Wanderers, who had gradually faded away since the retirement of centre-forward Nat Lofthouse in 1960, also went down.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Liverpool 42 26 5 11 92 45 2.044 57 Qualified for the European Cup
2 Manchester United 42 23 7 12 90 62 1.452 53 Qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
3 Everton 42 21 10 11 84 64 1.313 52
4 Tottenham Hotspur 42 22 7 13 97 81 1.198 51
5 Chelsea 42 20 10 12 72 56 1.286 50
6 Sheffield Wednesday 42 19 11 12 84 67 1.254 49
7 Blackburn Rovers 42 18 10 14 89 65 1.369 46
8 Arsenal 42 17 11 14 90 82 1.098 45
9 Burnley 42 17 10 15 71 64 1.109 44
10 West Bromwich Albion 42 16 11 15 70 61 1.148 43
11 Leicester City 42 16 11 15 61 58 1.052 43
12 Sheffield United 42 16 11 15 61 64 0.953 43
13 Nottingham Forest 42 16 9 17 64 68 0.941 41
14 West Ham United 42 14 12 16 69 74 0.932 40 Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup
15 Fulham 42 13 13 16 58 65 0.892 39
16 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 12 15 15 70 80 0.875 39
17 Stoke City 42 14 10 18 77 78 0.987 38
18 Blackpool 42 13 9 20 52 73 0.712 35
19 Aston Villa 42 11 12 19 62 71 0.873 34
20 Birmingham City 42 11 7 24 54 92 0.587 29
21 Bolton Wanderers 42 10 8 24 48 80 0.600 28 Relegated to the Second Division
22 Ipswich Town 42 9 7 26 56 121 0.463 25
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Second Division

Leeds United returned to the First Division after seven years away by clinching the Second Division title under ambitious manager Don Revie, while Sunderland's six-year exile from the First Division was ended by promotion as Second Division runners-up.

Grimsby Town and Scunthorpe United slipped into the Third Division.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Leeds United 42 24 15 3 71 34 2.088 63 Promoted to the First Division
2 Sunderland 42 25 11 6 81 37 2.189 61
3 Preston North End 42 23 10 9 79 54 1.463 56
4 Charlton Athletic 42 19 10 13 76 70 1.086 48
5 Southampton 42 19 9 14 100 73 1.370 47
6 Manchester City 42 18 10 14 84 66 1.273 46
7 Rotherham United 42 19 7 16 90 78 1.154 45
8 Newcastle United 42 20 5 17 74 69 1.072 45
9 Portsmouth 42 16 11 15 79 70 1.129 43
10 Middlesbrough 42 15 11 16 67 52 1.288 41
11 Northampton Town 42 16 9 17 58 60 0.967 41
12 Huddersfield Town 42 15 10 17 57 64 0.891 40
13 Derby County 42 14 11 17 56 67 0.836 39
14 Swindon Town 42 14 10 18 57 69 0.826 38
15 Cardiff City 42 14 10 18 56 81 0.691 38
16 Leyton Orient 42 13 10 19 54 72 0.750 36
17 Norwich City 42 11 13 18 64 80 0.800 35
18 Bury 42 13 9 20 57 73 0.781 35
19 Swansea Town 42 12 9 21 63 74 0.851 33
20 Plymouth Argyle 42 8 16 18 45 67 0.672 32
21 Grimsby Town 42 9 14 19 47 75 0.627 32 Relegated to the Third Division
22 Scunthorpe United 42 10 10 22 52 82 0.634 30
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division

Coventry City made the breakthrough into the Second Division as champions of the Third Division, finishing level on points at the top of the league with Crystal Palace.

Notts County, Wrexham, Crewe Alexandra and Millwall were all relegated to the Fourth Division.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Coventry City 46 22 16 8 98 61 1.607 60 Promoted to the Second Division
2 Crystal Palace 46 23 14 9 73 51 1.431 60
3 Watford 46 23 12 11 79 59 1.339 58
4 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 46 24 8 14 79 58 1.362 56
5 Bristol City 46 20 15 11 84 64 1.313 55
6 Reading 46 21 10 15 79 62 1.274 52
7 Mansfield Town 46 20 11 15 76 62 1.226 51
8 Hull City 46 16 17 13 73 68 1.074 49
9 Oldham Athletic 46 20 8 18 73 70 1.043 48
10 Peterborough United 46 18 11 17 75 70 1.071 47
11 Shrewsbury Town 46 18 11 17 73 80 0.913 47
12 Bristol Rovers 46 19 8 19 91 79 1.152 46
13 Port Vale 46 16 14 16 53 49 1.082 46
14 Southend United 46 15 15 16 77 78 0.987 45
15 Queens Park Rangers 46 18 9 19 76 78 0.974 45
16 Brentford 46 15 14 17 87 80 1.088 44
17 Colchester United 46 12 19 15 70 68 1.029 43
18 Luton Town 46 16 10 20 64 80 0.800 42
19 Walsall 46 13 14 19 59 76 0.776 40
20 Barnsley 46 12 15 19 68 94 0.723 39
21 Millwall 46 14 10 22 53 67 0.791 38 Relegated to the Fourth Division
22 Crewe Alexandra 46 11 12 23 50 77 0.649 34
23 Wrexham 46 13 6 27 75 107 0.701 32
24 Notts County 46 9 9 28 45 92 0.489 27
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Fourth Division

Gillingham finished champions of the Fourth Division, ahead of runners-up Carlisle United on goal average. They enjoyed a narrow lead over third placed Workington and fourth placed Exeter City. Bradford City bounced back from having to apply for re-election to just missing out on promotion in the space of a season.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Gillingham 46 23 14 9 59 30 1.967 60 Promoted to the Third Division
2 Carlisle United 46 25 10 11 113 58 1.948 60
3 Workington 46 24 11 11 76 52 1.462 59
4 Exeter City 46 20 18 8 62 37 1.676 58
5 Bradford City 46 25 6 15 76 62 1.226 56
6 Torquay United 46 20 11 15 80 54 1.481 51
7 Tranmere Rovers 46 20 11 15 85 73 1.164 51
8 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 19 12 15 71 52 1.365 50
9 Aldershot 46 19 10 17 83 78 1.064 48
10 Halifax Town 46 17 14 15 77 77 1.000 48
11 Lincoln City 46 19 9 18 67 75 0.893 47
12 Chester 46 19 8 19 65 60 1.083 46
13 Bradford Park Avenue 46 18 9 19 75 81 0.926 45
14 Doncaster Rovers 46 15 12 19 70 75 0.933 42
15 Newport County 46 17 8 21 64 73 0.877 42
16 Chesterfield 46 15 12 19 57 71 0.803 42
17 Stockport County 46 15 12 19 50 68 0.735 42
18 Oxford United 46 14 13 19 59 63 0.937 41
19 Darlington 46 14 12 20 66 93 0.710 40
20 Rochdale 46 12 15 19 56 59 0.949 39
21 Southport 46 15 9 22 63 88 0.716 39 Re-elected
22 York City 46 14 7 25 52 66 0.788 35
23 Hartlepools United 46 12 9 25 54 93 0.581 33
24 Barrow 46 6 18 22 51 93 0.548 30
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Top goalscorers

First Division

Second Division

Third Division

Fourth Division

European club competitions

European Champions' Cup

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

National team

The England national football team had an eventful season with a shared victory in the 1964 British Home Championship, another success against a Rest of the World XI in one of the most famous matches ever played at Wembley and a tour of the Americas upon the season's conclusion which culminated in a dire performance in Brazil during the 1964 Taça de Nações.

American tour


Taça das Nações



Other matches

Date Opposition Venue Competition Result Score
12 October 1963  Wales Ninian Park, Cardiff British Championship Won 4–0
23 October 1963 Rest of the World XI Wembley Friendly Won 2–1
20 November 1963  Northern Ireland Wembley British Championship Won 8–3
11 April 1964  Scotland Hampden Park, Glasgow British Championship Lost 0–1
6 May 1964  Uruguay Wembley Friendly Won 2–1
17 May 1964  Portugal Estádio Nacional, Lisbon Friendly Won 4–3
24 May 1964  Republic of Ireland Dalymount Park, Dublin Friendly Won 3–1

References

  1. Molyneux-Carter, Jon (25 December 2015). "Rewind to Boxing Day 1963: The story of 66 goals in 10 matches". www.espn.com. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  2. "10 In World Soccer Series". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australian Associated Press. 9 April 1964. p. 14. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  3. "George Best – Official Manchester United Website". Manutd.com. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  4. Best, George (2011). Hard Tackles and Dirty Baths: The inside story of football's golden era. Random House. p. 26. ISBN 9781446447956. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  5. 1 2 "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  6. 1 2 "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
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