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1959–60 Liverpool F.C. season

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Liverpool
1959–60 season
ManagerPhil Taylor (to 17 November 1959)
Bob Paisley (caretaker until 1 December 1959)
Bill Shankly (from 1 December 1959)
Second Division3rd
FA CupFourth round
Top goalscorerLeague: Roger Hunt (21)
All: Roger Hunt (23)
Highest home attendance56,736 (v Manchester United, FA Cup, 30 Jan)
Lowest home attendance19,411 (v Derby County, League, 6 Apr)
Average home league attendance31,859

The 1959–60 season was the 68th season in Liverpool F.C.'s existence, and was their sixth consecutive year in the Second Division.

Pre-season

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On 12 June, having spent three years at Liverpool and missing only six matches, 29-year-old goalkeeper Tommy Younger was allowed to leave to take on a player-manager role at Scottish Second Division side Falkirk. In exchange, Liverpool signed Falkirk's 23-year-old goalkeeper Bert Slater. Slater had made 134 appearances for Falkirk, winning a Scottish Cup winners medal in the process, before the club were relegated at the end of the 1958-59 season. Slater was small for a goalkeeper standing at just 5 ft 8+12 in (1.740 m) and was nicknamed 'Shorty' but he was immediately put into the Liverpool goal upon his arrival.

There were promotions to the first-team for local-born 22-year-old defender John Nicholson and 18-year-old inside forward Willie Carlin - the latter a promising youngster who had represented his country at schoolboy and youth levels; 19-year-old full back Alan Jones, a Welsh schoolboy international who had signed professional forms for Liverpool two years earlier; Wrexham-born forward Reginald Blore who had risen through the junior ranks at Anfield; 17-year-old midfielder Ian Callaghan from Toxteth, considered by Liverpool legend Billy Liddell to be his successor; and 20-year-old striker Roger Hunt, signed a year earlier by Phil Taylor when he was brought to his attention playing for Stockton Heath.

Season Summary

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The early stages of the campaign saw Liverpool struggle for consistency, putting manager Phil Taylor under increasing pressure after his previous three seasons in charge had all resulted in narrow failures to achieve promotion. The situation further deteriorated when Liverpool failed to win a single match in October, and while a victory over Aston Villa at the start of November gave hope that the club might have turned the corner, it was followed by a humiliating 4-2 loss to strugglers Lincoln City. This proved the end of the road for Taylor, who resigned three days later with the team stuck in 11th place. First team trainer Bob Paisley stepped in as caretaker manager for the next two matches, which saw a 4-3 win over Leyton Orient, and then a 1-0 loss to Huddersfield Town. As it turned out, it would be the Yorkshire side who would provide Liverpool with their next manager, as Bill Shankly accepted the offer to take over at Anfield shortly after the match.

Liverpool's form picked up under Shankly, leaving a promotion challenge suddenly looking feasible after all. In the end, their mediocre early-season form and then another poor spell of form around Easter would leave promotion out of their hands, though a third-place finish still represented an improvement of one place on the previous season.

Squad

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Goalkeepers

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Defenders

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Midfielders

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Forwards

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Squad statistics

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Appearances and goals

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No. Pos Nat Player Total Division 2 FA Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
MF England ENG Alan A'Court 44 8 42 8 2 0
FW England ENG Alan Arnell 1 0 1 0 0 0
FW England ENG Louis Bimpson 5 0 5 0 0 0
MF Wales WAL Reginald Blore 1 0 1 0 0 0
DF England ENG Gerry Byrne 5 0 5 0 0 0
MF England ENG Ian Callaghan 4 0 4 0 0 0
MF England ENG Bobby Campbell 13 1 13 1 0 0
FW England ENG Willie Carlin 1 0 1 0 0 0
MF Scotland SCO Jimmy Harrower 28 5 26 5 2 0
FW England ENG Dave Hickson 29 21 27 21 2 0
FW England ENG Roger Hunt 38 23 36 21 2 2
DF Wales WAL Allan Jones 1 0 1 0 0 0
MF Scotland SCO Tommy Leishman 17 0 15 0 2 0
MF Scotland SCO Billy Liddell 17 5 17 5 0 0
FW England ENG Jimmy Melia 36 14 34 14 2 0
DF England ENG John Molyneux 40 1 38 1 2 0
DF England ENG Ronnie Moran 44 5 42 5 2 0
MF England ENG Fred Morris 7 2 7 2 0 0
MF England ENG Johnny Morrissey 9 1 9 1 0 0
DF England ENG John Nicholson 1 0 1 0 0 0
GK South Africa RSA Doug Rudham 14 0 14 0 0 0
GK Scotland SCO Bert Slater 30 0 28 0 2 0
DF England ENG Geoff Twentyman 11 0 11 0 0 0
FW England ENG Johnny Wheeler 31 3 29 2 2 1
DF England ENG Dick White 43 0 41 0 2 0
MF England ENG Barry Wilkinson 14 0 14 0 0 0

Results

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Second Division

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Aston Villa (C, P) 42 25 9 8 89 43 2.070 59 Promotion to the First Division
2 Cardiff City (P) 42 23 12 7 90 62 1.452 58
3 Liverpool 42 20 10 12 90 66 1.364 50
4 Sheffield United 42 19 12 11 68 51 1.333 50
5 Middlesbrough 42 19 10 13 90 64 1.406 48
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted


Date Opponents Venue Result Scorers Attendance Report 1 Report 2
22-Aug-59 Cardiff City A 2–3 Own Goal 38', 42' 34,000 Report Report
26-Aug-59 Bristol City H 4–2 Liddell 4', 30' Melia 53 pen' A'Court 65' 33,071 Report Report
29-Aug-59 Hull City H 5–3 Harrower 52' Melia 58' Moran 65' A'Court 80' Liddell 85' 35,520 Report Report
01-Sep-59 Bristol City A 0–1 22,528 Report Report
05-Sep-59 Sheffield United A 1–2 Morrissey 62' 25,073 Report Report
09-Sep-59 Scunthorpe United H 2–0 Melia 25' Hunt 64' 31,713 Report Report
12-Sep-59 Middlesbrough H 1–2 Liddell 7' 39,000 Report Report
17-Sep-59 Scunthorpe United A 1–1 Melia 21' 18,851 Report Report
19-Sep-59 Derby County A 2–1 A'Court 30' Hunt 58' 11,822 Report Report
26-Sep-59 Plymouth Argyle H 4–1 Melia 12' A'Court 43' Hunt 56' Moran 78' 29,278 Report Report
03-Oct-59 Swansea Town A 4–5 Own Goal 8' Melia pen 28' Hunt 32' Moran 70' 16,500 Report Report
10-Oct-59 Brighton & Hove Albion H 2–2 A'Court 20' Melia 39' 30,366 Report Report
17-Oct-59 Stoke City A 1–1 Harrower 53' 17,000 Report Report
24-Oct-59 Portsmouth H 1–1 Moran 5' 21,075 Report Report
31-Oct-59 Sunderland A 1–1 Hunt 80' 30,208 Report Report
07-Nov-59 Aston Villa H 2–1 Hickson 54', 82' 49,981 Report Report
14-Nov-59 Lincoln City A 2–4 Hickson 28' Hunt 84' 10,801 Report Report
21-Nov-59 Leyton Orient H 4–3 Morris 15', 81' Melia 32' Hickson 50' 34,321 Report Report
28-Nov-59 Huddersfield Town A 0–1 16,185 Report Report
05-Dec-59 Ipswich Town H 3–1 Hunt 33', 39' Hickson 44' 24,843 Report Report
12-Dec-59 Bristol Rovers A 2–0 Melia 9', 85' 15,615 Report Report
19-Dec-59 Cardiff City H 0–4 27,291 Report Report
26-Dec-59 Charlton Athletic A 0–3 15,491 Report Report
28-Dec-59 Charlton Athletic H 2–0 A'Court 58' Hunt 63' 25,658 Report Report
02-Jan-60 Hull City A 1–0 Melia 31' 18,681 Report Report
16-Jan-60 Sheffield United H 3–0 Melia 9' Hunt 15', 68' 33,297 Report Report
23-Jan-60 Middlesbrough A 3–3 Own goal 10' Hickson 35' Hunt 40' 28,550 Report Report
13-Feb-60 Plymouth Argyle A 1–1 Hickson 32' 16,996 Report Report
20-Feb-60 Swansea Town H 4–1 Hickson 11', 44' Hunt 58', 89' 31,663 Report Report
27-Feb-60 Brighton & Hove Albion A 2–1 Hickson 40', 60' 21,118 Report Report
05-Mar-60 Stoke City H 5–1 Hunt 14' Harrower 19', 58' Liddell 39' Hickson 51' 35,101 Report Report
12-Mar-60 Portsmouth A 1–2 Harrower 13' 14,622 Report Report
19-Mar-60 Huddersfield Town H 2–2 Hickson 13' Wheeler 16' 30,009 Report Report
30-Mar-60 Aston Villa A 4–4 Hunt 20' Hickson 25', 60' Molyneux 44' 27,000 Report Report
02-Apr-60 Lincoln City H 1–3 Moran pen 30' 24,081 Report Report
06-Apr-60 Derby County H 4–1 Hunt 59' A'Court 63' Wheeler 68' Hickson 75' 19,411 Report Report
09-Apr-60 Leyton Orient A 0–2 13,007 Report Report
16-Apr-60 Bristol Rovers H 4–0 Melia 21' A'Court 56' Campbell 59' Hunt 67' 27,317 Report Report
18-Apr-60 Rotherham United H 3–0 Hunt 35' Hickson 65', 82' 26,776 Report Report
19-Apr-60 Rotherham United A 2–2 Hickson 51' Hunt 73' 10,123 Report Report
23-Apr-60 Ipswich Town A 1–0 Hickson 5' 12,048 Report Report
30-Apr-60 Sunderland H 3–0 Hickson 8' Hunt 47' Melia 85' 25,916 Report Report

FA Cup

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Date Opponents Venue Result Scorers Attendance Report 1 Report 2
09-Jan-60 Leyton Orient H 2–1 Hunt 1', 90' 40,343 Report Report
30-Jan-60 Manchester United H 1–3 Wheeler 36' 56,736 Report Report

References

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