1959–60 Liverpool F.C. season

English football club season February 2015 February 2015 Liverpool 1959–60 Phil Taylor (to 17 November 1959)Bob Paisley (caretaker until 1 December 1959)Bill Shankly (from 1 December 1959) Second Division 3rd FA Cup Fourth round Roger Hunt (21) Roger Hunt (23) 56,736 (v Manchester United, FA Cup, 30 Jan) 19,411 (v Derby County, League, 6 Apr) 31,859 1958–59 1960–61 _whiteborder _vneckwhite _whiteborder _red stripes _redhorizontal2 dd0000 dd0000 dd0000 _redborder _vneckred _redborder 000000 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 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+1/2 in m on 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 SAF 1928 Doug Rudham SCO Bert Slater Defenders ENG Gerry Byrne WAL Alan Jones ENG John Molyneux ENG Ronnie Moran ENG John Nicholson ENG Geoff Twentyman ENG Dick White Midfielders ENG Alan A'Court WAL Reginald Blore ENG Ian Callaghan ENG Bobby Campbell SCO Jimmy Harrower SCO Tommy Leishman SCO Billy Liddell ENG Jimmy Melia ENG Fred Morris ENG Johnny Morrissey ENG Johnny Wheeler ENG Barry Wilkinson Forwards ENG Alan Arnell ENG Alan Banks ENG Louis Bimpson ENG Willie Carlin ENG Dave Hickson ENG Roger Hunt ENG Bobby Murdoch Squad statistics Appearances and goals Division 2 FA Cup ENG MF Alan A'Court 42 8 2 0 ENG FW Alan Arnell 1 0 0 0 ENG FW Louis Bimpson 5 0 0 0 WAL MF Reginald Blore 1 0 0 0 ENG DF Gerry Byrne 5 0 0 0 ENG MF Ian Callaghan 4 0 0 0 ENG MF Bobby Campbell 13 1 0 0 ENG FW Willie Carlin 1 0 0 0 SCO MF Jimmy Harrower 26 5 2 0 ENG FW Dave Hickson 27 21 2 0 ENG FW Roger Hunt 36 21 2 2 WAL DF Allan Jones 1 0 0 0 SCO MF Tommy Leishman 15 0 2 0 SCO MF Billy Liddell 17 5 0 0 ENG FW Jimmy Melia 34 14 2 0 ENG DF John Molyneux 38 1 2 0 ENG DF Ronnie Moran 42 5 2 0 ENG MF Fred Morris 7 2 0 0 ENG MF Johnny Morrissey 9 1 0 0 ENG DF John Nicholson 1 0 0 0 South Africa 1928 GK Doug Rudham 14 0 0 0 SCO GK Bert Slater 28 0 2 0 ENG DF Geoff Twentyman 11 0 0 0 ENG FW Johnny Wheeler 29 2 2 1 ENG DF Dick White 41 0 2 0 ENG MF Barry Wilkinson 14 0 0 0 |} Results Second Division 1959–60 Football League#Second Division Second Division y LIV DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 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 1959–60 FA Cup DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 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 LFC History.net – 1959–60 season Liverweb - 1959–60 Season Category:Liverpool F.C. seasons Liverpool