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 5th consecutive year in the Second Division, and covers the period from 1959-08-22 to 1960-04-30.

Pre-season[]

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[]

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[]

Goalkeepers[]

Defenders[]

Midfielders[]

Forwards[]

Results[]

Second Division[]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Aston Villa 42 25 9 8 89 43 2.070 59 Division Champions, promoted
2 Cardiff City 42 23 12 7 90 62 1.452 58 Promoted
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]


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

FA Cup[]

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

References[]

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