1968–69 Football League First Division

Football League First Division
Season	1968–69
Champions	Leeds United (1st English title)
Relegated	Leicester City ; Queens Park Rangers
European Cup	Leeds United
European Cup Winners' Cup	Manchester City
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	Chelsea ; Leeds United ; Liverpool ; Newcastle United (as title holders)
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,213 (2.63 per match)
Top goalscorer	Jimmy Greaves (27 goals)
	← 1967–68 1969–70 →

Statistics of Football League First Division in the 1968-69 season.

Overview[]

Leeds United won the First Division title for the first time in the club's history that season. They wrapped up the title on 28 April 1969, with a 0–0 draw at title challengers Liverpool and finished the season unbeaten at home. Queens Park Rangers went down on 29 March, after losing 2–1 at home to Liverpool. Leicester City joined them after losing 3–2 at Manchester United, where a win would have saved Leicester from relegation at the expense of Coventry City.

League standings[]

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Leeds United (C)	42	18	3	0	41	9	9	10	2	25	17	2.538	67	Qualified for European Cup
2	Liverpool	42	16	4	1	36	10	9	7	5	27	14	2.625	61	1968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
3	Everton	42	14	5	2	43	10	7	10	4	34	26	2.139	57
4	Arsenal	42	12	6	3	31	12	10	6	5	25	15	2.074	56
5	Chelsea	42	11	7	3	40	24	9	3	9	33	29	1.377	50	1968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
6	Tottenham Hotspur	42	10	8	3	39	22	4	9	8	22	29	1.196	45
7	Southampton	42	13	5	3	41	21	3	8	10	16	27	1.188	45
8	West Ham United	42	10	8	3	47	22	3	10	8	19	28	1.320	44
9	Newcastle United	42	12	7	2	40	20	3	7	11	21	35	1.109	44	1968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
10	West Bromwich Albion	42	11	7	3	43	26	5	4	12	21	41	0.955	43
11	Manchester United	42	13	5	3	38	18	2	7	12	19	35	1.075	42
12	Ipswich Town	42	10	4	7	32	26	5	7	9	27	34	0.983	41
13	Manchester City	42	13	6	2	49	20	2	4	15	15	35	1.164	40	FA Cup winners, qualified for Cup Winners' Cup
14	Burnley	42	11	6	4	36	25	4	3	14	19	57	0.671	39
15	Sheffield Wednesday	42	7	9	5	27	26	3	7	11	14	28	0.759	36
16	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	7	10	4	26	22	3	5	13	15	36	0.707	35
17	Sunderland	42	10	6	5	28	18	1	6	14	15	49	0.642	34
18	Nottingham Forest	42	6	6	9	17	22	4	7	10	28	35	0.789	33
19	Stoke City	42	9	7	5	24	24	0	8	13	16	39	0.635	33
20	Coventry City	42	8	6	7	32	22	2	5	14	14	42	0.719	31
21	Leicester City	42	8	8	5	27	24	1	4	16	12	44	0.574	30	Relegated
22	Queens Park Rangers	42	4	7	10	20	33	0	3	18	19	62	0.411	18	Relegated

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) League Champions

Results[]

Home \ Away	ARS	BUR	CHE	COV	EVE	IPS	LEE	LEI	LIV	MCI	MUN	NEW	NOT	QPR	SHW	SOU	STK	SUN	TOT	WBA	WHU	WOL
Arsenal		2–0	0–1	2–1	3–1	0–2	1–2	3–0	1–1	4–1	3–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	0–0	3–1
Burnley	0–1		2–1	1–1	1–2	1–0	5–1	2–1	0–4	2–1	1–0	1–0	3–1	2–2	2–0	3–1	1–1	1–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–1
Chelsea	2–1	2–3		2–1	1–1	3–1	1–1	3–0	1–2	2–0	3–2	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	2–3	1–0	5–1	2–2	3–1	1–1	1–1
Coventry City	0–1	4–1	0–1		2–2	0–2	0–1	1–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	5–0	3–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–2	4–2	1–2	0–1
Everton	1–0	3–0	1–2	3–0		2–2	0–0	7–1	0–0	2–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	4–0	3–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	0–2	4–0	1–0	4–0
Ipswich Town	1–2	2–0	1–3	0–0	2–2		2–3	2–1	0–2	2–1	1–0	1–4	2–3	3–0	2–0	0–0	3–1	1–0	0–1	4–1	2–2	1–0
Leeds United	2–0	6–1	1–0	3–0	2–1	2–0		2–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	4–1	2–0	3–2	2–0	1–1	0–0	0–0	2–0	2–1
Leicester City	0–0	0–2	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–1		1–2	3–0	2–1	2–1	2–2	2–0	1–1	3–1	0–0	2–1	1–0	0–2	1–1	2–0
Liverpool	1–1	1–1	2–1	2–0	1–1	4–0	0–0	4–0		2–1	2–0	2–1	0–2	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	4–1	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–0
Manchester City	1–1	7–0	4–1	4–2	1–3	1–1	3–1	2–0	1–0		0–0	1–0	3–3	3–1	0–1	1–1	3–1	1–0	4–0	5–1	1–1	3–2
Manchester United	0–0	2–0	0–4	1–0	2–1	0–0	0–0	3–2	1–0	0–1		3–1	3–1	8–1	1–0	1–2	1–1	4–1	3–1	2–1	1–1	2–0
Newcastle United	2–1	1–0	3–2	2–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	2–0		1–1	3–2	3–2	4–1	5–0	1–1	2–2	2–3	1–1	4–1
Nottingham Forest	0–2	2–2	1–2	0��0	1–0	1–2	0–2	0–0	0–1	1–0	0–1	2–4		1–0	0–0	1–0	3–3	1–0	0–2	3–0	0–1	0–0
Queens Park Rangers	0–1	0–2	0–4	0–1	0–1	2–1	0–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	2–3	1–1	2–1		3–2	1–1	2–1	2–2	1–1	0–4	1–1	0–1
Sheffield Wednesday	0–5	1–0	1–1	3–0	2–2	2–1	0–0	1–3	1–2	1–1	5–4	1–1	0–1	4–0		0–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–1	0–2
Southampton	1–2	5–1	5–0	1–0	2–5	2–2	1–3	1–0	2–0	3–0	2–0	0–0	1–1	3–2	1–1		2–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	2–2	2–1
Stoke City	1–3	1–3	2–0	0–3	0–0	2–1	1–5	1–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–0		2–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	4–1
Sunderland	0–0	2–0	3–2	3–0	1–3	3–0	0–1	2–0	0–2	0–4	1–1	1–1	3–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	4–1		0–0	0–1	2–1	2–0
Tottenham Hotspur	1–2	7–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	2–2	0–0	3–2	2–1	1–1	2–2	0–1	2–1	3–2	1–2	2–1	1–1	5–1		1–1	1–0	1–1
West Bromwich Albion	1–0	3–2	0–3	6–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–0	3–1	5–1	2–5	3–1	0–0	1–2	2–1	3–0	4–3		3–1	0–0
West Ham United	1–2	5–0	0–0	5–2	1–4	1–3	1–1	4–0	1–1	2–1	0–0	3–1	1–0	4–3	1–1	0–0	0–0	8–0	2–2	4–0		3–1
Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	0–0	1–0	0–6	3–1	2–2	5–0	1–0	3–1	0–3	0–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–1	2–0

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Managerial changes[]

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Queens Park Rangers	Alec Stock	Illness	1 August 1968	Pre-season	Bill Dodgin Jr.	1 August 1968
Queens Park Rangers	Bill Dodgin Jr.	Demoted to coach	2 November 1968	22nd	Tommy Docherty	2 November 1968
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Ronnie Allen	Sacked	17 November 1968	14th	Bill McGarry	23 November 1968
Ipswich Town	Bill McGarry	Signed by Wolverhampton Wanderers	23 November 1968	17th	Cyril Lea (caretaker)	23 November 1968
Queens Park Rangers	Tommy Docherty	Resigned	30 November 1968	22nd	Les Allen	1 December 1968
Nottingham Forest	Johnny Carey	Sacked	30 December 1968	19th	Matt Gillies	2 January 1969
Leicester City	Matt Gillies	Signed by Nottingham Forest	2 January 1969	20th	Frank O'Farrell	5 January 1969
Ipswich Town	Cyril Lea	End of caretaker spell	13 January 1969	18th	Bobby Robson	13 January 1969
Sheffield Wednesday	Jack Marshall	Sacked	2 April 1969	13th	Tom McAnearney (caretaker)	2 April 1969

Top scorers[]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Jimmy Greaves	Tottenham Hotspur	27
2	Geoff Hurst	West Ham United	25
3	Joe Royle	Everton	22
4	Pop Robson	Newcastle United	21
=	Jeff Astle	West Bromwich Albion	21
5	Ron Davies	Southampton	20

References[]

^ "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.

RSSSF

[topscorers-1] "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.

[1]