1968–69 in English football

The 1968–69 season was the 89th season of competitive football in England.

Honours

CompetitionWinnerRunner-up
First DivisionLeeds United (1)Liverpool
Second DivisionDerby CountyCrystal Palace
Third DivisionWatfordSwindon Town
Fourth DivisionDoncaster RoversHalifax Town
FA CupManchester City (4)Leicester City
League CupSwindon Town (1)Arsenal
Charity ShieldManchester CityWest Bromwich Albion
Home Championship England Scotland

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

FA Cup

Manchester City completed a disappointing season for relegated Leicester City by defeating them 1–0 in the FA Cup Final. Neil Young scored the only goal of the game, although Leicester's David Nish gained the record as the youngest captain of a cup finalist at the age of 21.[1]

The season's big giant-killers were Third Division Mansfield Town who accounted for Sheffield United in the Third Round and West Ham in the Fifth before going out to Leicester in the Sixth Round.

League Cup

In one of the biggest shocks in the history of the competition Swindon Town won the final 3–1 against Arsenal. Swindon's non-top flight status saw them barred from competing in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup which led to the creation of the Anglo-Italian Cup the following season.

European football

Newcastle United won the first, and to date only, European trophy in their history by beating Újpest of Hungary 6–2 on aggregate to lift the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

Football League

First Division

Leeds United won the League for the first time in their history, finishing six points ahead of Liverpool.

Manchester United's final season under the management of Sir Matt Busby before his retirement ended in an 11th place finish, although their defence of the European Cup lasted until the semi-finals. Their cross city rivals finished 13th a year after being league champions, but had an FA Cup triumph as compensation for their failed defence of the league title and their failure to succeed in the European Cup.

Newly promoted Queens Park Rangers were relegated after finishing bottom along with FA Cup runners-up Leicester City.

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Leeds United 42 27 13 2 66 262.538 67 Qualified for the European Cup
2 Liverpool 42 25 11 6 63 242.625 61 Qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
3 Everton 42 21 15 6 77 362.139 57
4 Arsenal 42 22 12 8 56 272.074 56 Qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1
5 Chelsea 42 20 10 12 73 531.377 50
6 Tottenham Hotspur 42 14 17 11 61 511.196 45
7 Southampton 42 16 13 13 57 481.188 45 Qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 2
8 West Ham United 42 13 18 11 66 501.32 44
9 Newcastle United 42 15 14 13 61 551.109 44 Qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 3
10 West Bromwich Albion 42 16 11 15 64 670.955 43
11 Manchester United 42 15 12 15 57 531.075 42
12 Ipswich Town 42 15 11 16 59 600.983 41
13 Manchester City 42 15 10 17 64 551.164 40 Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup
14 Burnley 42 15 9 18 55 820.671 39
15 Sheffield Wednesday 42 10 16 16 41 540.759 36
16 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 10 15 17 41 580.707 35
17 Sunderland 42 11 12 19 43 670.642 34
18 Nottingham Forest 42 10 13 19 45 570.789 33
19 Stoke City 42 9 15 18 40 630.635 33
20 Coventry City 42 10 11 21 46 640.719 31
21 Leicester City 42 9 12 21 39 680.574 30 Relegated to the Second Division
22 Queens Park Rangers 42 4 10 28 39 950.411 18

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
1 Arsenal qualified for Inter-Cities Fairs Cup ahead Everton, who finished below Liverpool, due to rule "only one club per city".
2 Southampton qualified for Inter-Cities Fairs Cup ahead Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, who finished below Arsenal, due to rule "only one club per city".
3 Newcastle United qualified for Inter-Cities Fairs Cup as the trophy holders.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Second Division

Derby County were runaway winners of the Second Division and they were joined in being promoted by runners-up Crystal Palace. Despite still boasting the talents of Johnny Haynes and George Cohen, Fulham finished bottom and were relegated. They were joined in the Third Division by perennial strugglers Bury

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Promotion or relegation
1 Derby County 42 26 11 5 65 322.031 63 Promoted to the First Division
2 Crystal Palace 42 22 12 8 70 471.489 56
3 Charlton Athletic 42 18 14 10 61 521.173 50
4 Middlesbrough 42 19 11 12 58 491.184 49
5 Cardiff City 42 20 7 15 67 541.241 47
6 Huddersfield Town 42 17 12 13 53 461.152 46
7 Birmingham City 42 18 8 16 73 591.237 44
8 Blackpool 42 14 15 13 51 411.244 43
9 Sheffield United 42 16 11 15 61 501.22 43
10 Millwall 42 17 9 16 57 491.163 43
11 Hull City 42 13 16 13 59 521.135 42
12 Carlisle United 42 16 10 16 46 490.939 42
13 Norwich City 42 15 10 17 53 560.946 40
14 Preston North End 42 12 15 15 38 440.864 39
15 Portsmouth 42 12 14 16 58 581 38
16 Bristol City 42 11 16 15 46 530.868 38
17 Bolton Wanderers 42 11 16 15 55 670.821 38
18 Aston Villa 42 12 14 16 37 480.771 38
19 Blackburn Rovers 42 13 11 18 52 630.825 37
20 Oxford United 42 12 9 21 34 550.618 33
21 Bury 42 11 8 23 51 800.638 30 Relegated to the Third Division
22 Fulham 42 7 11 24 40 810.494 25

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Third Division

Watford won the title on goal average from Swindon Town and both teams were duly promoted. At the bottom end Northampton Town, Hartlepool, Crewe Alexandra and Oldham Athletic were all relegated.

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Promotion or relegation
1 Watford 46 27 10 9 74 342.176 64 Promoted to the Second Division
2 Swindon Town 46 27 10 9 71 352.029 64
3 Luton Town 46 25 11 10 74 381.947 61
4 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 46 21 9 16 60 451.333 51
5 Plymouth Argyle 46 17 15 14 53 491.082 49
6 Torquay United 46 18 12 16 54 461.174 48
7 Tranmere Rovers 46 19 10 17 70 681.029 48
8 Southport 46 17 13 16 71 641.109 47
9 Stockport County 46 16 14 16 67 680.985 46
10 Barnsley 46 16 14 16 58 630.921 46
11 Rotherham United 46 16 13 17 56 501.12 45
12 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 16 13 17 72 651.108 45
13 Walsall 46 14 16 16 50 491.02 44
14 Reading 46 15 13 18 67 661.015 43
15 Mansfield Town 46 16 11 19 58 620.935 43
16 Bristol Rovers 46 16 11 19 63 710.887 43
17 Shrewsbury Town 46 16 11 19 51 670.761 43
18 Orient 46 14 14 18 51 580.879 42
19 Barrow 46 17 8 21 56 750.747 42
20 Gillingham 46 13 15 18 54 630.857 41
21 Northampton Town 46 14 12 20 54 610.885 40 Relegated to the Fourth Division
22 Hartlepool 46 10 19 17 40 700.571 39
23 Crewe Alexandra 46 13 9 24 52 760.684 35
24 Oldham Athletic 46 13 9 24 50 830.602 35

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Fourth Division

The Division was won by Doncaster Rovers, who were promoted along with Halifax Town, Rochdale and Bradford City. No team failed re-election so no new members were admitted to the Football League.

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GAvg
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Doncaster Rovers 46 21 17 8 65 381.711 59 Promoted to the Third Division
2 Halifax Town 46 20 17 9 53 371.432 57
3 Rochdale 46 18 20 8 68 351.943 56
4 Bradford City 46 18 20 8 65 461.413 56
5 Darlington 46 17 18 11 62 451.378 52
6 Colchester United 46 20 12 14 57 531.075 52
7 Southend United 46 19 13 14 78 611.279 51
8 Lincoln City 46 17 17 12 54 521.038 51
9 Wrexham 46 18 14 14 61 521.173 50
10 Swansea Town 46 19 11 16 58 541.074 49
11 Brentford 46 18 12 16 64 650.985 48
12 Workington 46 15 17 14 40 430.93 47
13 Port Vale 46 16 14 16 46 461 46
14 Chester 46 16 13 17 76 661.152 45
15 Aldershot 46 19 7 20 66 661 45
16 Scunthorpe United 46 18 8 20 61 601.017 44
17 Exeter City 46 16 11 19 66 651.015 43
18 Peterborough United 46 13 16 17 60 571.053 42
19 Notts County 46 12 18 16 48 570.842 42
20 Chesterfield 46 13 15 18 43 500.86 41
21 York City 46 14 11 21 53 750.707 39 Re-elected
22 Newport County 46 11 14 21 49 740.662 36
23 Grimsby Town 46 9 15 22 47 690.681 33
24 Bradford Park Avenue 46 5 10 31 32 1060.302 20

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Top goalscorers

First Division

Second Division

Third Division

Fourth Division

Events of the season

Star players

For the only time in its history the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year was shared by two players — Tony Book of Manchester City and Dave Mackay of Derby County.[7] For the sixth and final time in his illustrious career Tottenham Hotspur's Jimmy Greaves was Division One top-scorer with 27 goals. He was also top-scorer in the league overall with 22 goals taking the Second Division award for John Toshack of Cardiff City,

Star managers

National team

The England national football team enjoyed a successful year in the build up to the 1970 FIFA World Cup, for which they had automatically qualified as holders of the trophy after the 1966 FIFA World Cup. They won the 1969 British Home Championship by beating all three opponents and only lost one game all year, to Brazil during an end of season tour to the Americas.

American tour

1 June 1969
Mexico  0–0  England
   

Deaths

References

  1. ↑ David Nish profile
  2. 1 2 "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  3. 1 2 "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  4. ↑ "Leeds only unbeaten first division club". The Gazette. Montreal. The Canadian Press. 19 August 1968. p. 29. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  5. ↑ "1969: Matt Busby retires from Man United". BBC News. 14 January 1969.
  6. ↑ Archived 2010-07-10 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. 1 2 "MACKAY AND BOOK SHARE AWARD". The Herald. Glasgow. 11 April 1969. p. 6. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-04-15. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
  9. ↑ Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 44. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  10. 1 2 3 Player death notices
  11. ↑ Eric Sweeney
  12. ↑ Jones, Trefor (1996). The Watford Football Club Illustrated Who's Who. Surrey: T.G Jones. p. 24. ISBN 0-9527458-0-1.
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