1965–66 in English football

The 1965–66 season was the 86th season of competitive football in England.

Football in England

Season	1965–66
Men's football
First Division	Liverpool
Second Division	Manchester City
Third Division	Hull City
Fourth Division	Doncaster Rovers
FA Cup	Everton
FA Amateur Cup	Wealdstone
League Cup	West Bromwich Albion
Charity Shield	Shared between Liverpool and Manchester United

Diary of the season

7 October 1965: An experiment to broadcast a live game to another ground takes place. Cardiff City play Coventry City and the match is broadcast to a crowd of 10,000 at Coventry's ground Highfield Road.

11 December 1965: Victory for Liverpool over Arsenal sees the Kopites open up a three-point gap over Burnley in second at the top of the Football League, while West Bromwich Albion – formerly in third – slide down the table after Leeds United hit them for four. Leeds are not the only beneficiaries of WBA's defeat: Tottenham Hotspur's London derby win over Chelsea and Sheffield United's point against Nottingham Forest are enough for both to go above the Albion. Leeds, Tottenham, and Sheffield United have all gained 25 points, though the South Yorkshire side have played one more match than the other two. In the third tier, Walsall forward George Kirby is attacked by pitch-invading Millwall supporters.

12 February 1966: Division Three table-toppers Hull City beat top-flight Nottingham Forest at Boothferry Park in the FA Cup fourth round. 16 April 1966: Liverpool seal the First Division title for the seventh time in their history with a 2–0 home win over Stoke City.

5 May 1966: Liverpool are beaten 2–1 (a.e.t.) by West German side Borussia Dortmund in the 1966 final of the European Cup Winners' Cup at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland.

14 May 1966: Everton win the FA Cup with a 3–2 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the final at Wembley Stadium, despite going 2–0 down in the 57th minute.

England national team

Further information: England national football team results (1960–1979) and 1966 FIFA World Cup

The 1966 FIFA World Cup was held in England in July 1966. Four months prior to the start of the tournament, the Jules Rimet Trophy, the prize for winning the FIFA World Cup, was stolen from an exhibition at Central Hall, Westminster, where it was on show in the run-up to the tournament. It was recovered a week later by Pickles, a mongrel dog, in South London.

As the host nation, England began their World Cup campaign with a goalless draw against Uruguay at Wembley Stadium. This was followed by a 2–0 win over Mexico, with Bobby Charlton and Roger Hunt scoring the goals. England qualified for the knockout stage of the competition with a 2–0 win against France in their final group game. Roger Hunt scored both of England's goals.

England beat Argentina 1–0 in the quarter-final, thanks to a goal by Geoff Hurst. In the semi-final, Bobby Charlton scored both of England's goals as they overcame Portugal by a 2–1 scoreline. Facing West Germany in the final, England won 4–2 in extra time to win the World Cup for the first time. Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick, with Martin Peters scoring the other goal.

Honours

Competition	Winner	Runner-up
First Division	Liverpool (7*)	Leeds United
Second Division	Manchester City	Southampton
Third Division	Hull City	Millwall
Fourth Division	Doncaster Rovers	Darlington
FA Cup	Everton (3)	Sheffield Wednesday
League Cup	West Bromwich Albion (1)	West Ham United
Charity Shield	Manchester United and Liverpool (shared)
Home Championship	England	Northern Ireland

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

Football League

Main article: 1965–66 Football League

First Division

Liverpool, FA Cup winners the previous season and league champions in 1964, won the First Division title with a six-point gap over last season's runners-up Leeds United, who finished level on points with Burnley. Manchester United, who also reached the semi-finals of the European Cup, ended their defence of the league title with a fourth-place finish. Chelsea finished fifth to maintain their standing as one of the First Division's top club sides. West Bromwich Albion finished sixth and won the League Cup.

11th placed Everton compensated for a disappointing league campaign by winning the FA Cup for the first time in the postwar era.

12th placed West Ham United perhaps had the biggest influence on the English game in 1966, with England's World Cup winning team featuring captain Bobby Moore and goalscorers Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters.

Blackburn Rovers went down in bottom place, a woeful 15 points adrift of safety. Northampton Town's brave first (and to date, only) season among the elite ended in relegation.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Liverpool	42	26	9	7	79	34	2.324	61	Qualified for the European Cup
2	Leeds United	42	23	9	10	79	38	2.079	55	Qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
3	Burnley	42	24	7	11	79	47	1.681	55
4	Manchester United	42	18	15	9	84	59	1.424	51
5	Chelsea	42	22	7	13	65	53	1.226	51
6	West Bromwich Albion	42	19	12	11	91	69	1.319	50	Qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
7	Leicester City	42	21	7	14	80	65	1.231	49
8	Tottenham Hotspur	42	16	12	14	75	66	1.136	44
9	Sheffield United	42	16	11	15	56	59	0.949	43
10	Stoke City	42	15	12	15	65	64	1.016	42
11	Everton	42	15	11	16	56	62	0.903	41	Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup
12	West Ham United	42	15	9	18	70	83	0.843	39
13	Blackpool	42	14	9	19	55	65	0.846	37
14	Arsenal	42	12	13	17	62	75	0.827	37
15	Newcastle United	42	14	9	19	50	63	0.794	37
16	Aston Villa	42	15	6	21	69	80	0.863	36
17	Sheffield Wednesday	42	14	8	20	56	66	0.848	36
18	Nottingham Forest	42	14	8	20	56	72	0.778	36
19	Sunderland	42	14	8	20	51	72	0.708	36
20	Fulham	42	14	7	21	67	85	0.788	35
21	Northampton Town	42	10	13	19	55	92	0.598	33	Relegated to the Second Division
22	Blackburn Rovers	42	8	4	30	57	88	0.648	20

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

Second Division

Manchester City's three-year exile from the top flight ended in promotion as Second Division champions, and they were joined in promotion by runners-up Southampton, who had never played in the First Division before. Coventry City missed out on a First Division debut by a single point, while Bristol City came just three points short of reclaiming the First Division place which had last been theirs in 1911.

Leyton Orient and Middlesbrough were relegated to the Third Division.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manchester City	42	22	15	5	76	44	1.727	59	Promoted to the First Division
2	Southampton	42	22	10	10	85	56	1.518	54
3	Coventry City	42	20	13	9	73	53	1.377	53
4	Huddersfield Town	42	19	13	10	62	36	1.722	51
5	Bristol City	42	17	17	8	63	48	1.313	51
6	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	20	10	12	87	61	1.426	50
7	Rotherham United	42	16	14	12	75	74	1.014	46
8	Derby County	42	16	11	15	71	68	1.044	43
9	Bolton Wanderers	42	16	9	17	62	59	1.051	41
10	Birmingham City	42	16	9	17	70	75	0.933	41
11	Crystal Palace	42	14	13	15	47	52	0.904	41
12	Portsmouth	42	16	8	18	74	78	0.949	40
13	Norwich City	42	12	15	15	52	52	1.000	39
14	Carlisle United	42	17	5	20	60	63	0.952	39
15	Ipswich Town	42	15	9	18	58	66	0.879	39
16	Charlton Athletic	42	12	14	16	61	70	0.871	38
17	Preston North End	42	11	15	16	62	70	0.886	37
18	Plymouth Argyle	42	12	13	17	54	63	0.857	37
19	Bury	42	14	7	21	62	76	0.816	35
20	Cardiff City	42	12	10	20	71	91	0.780	34
21	Middlesbrough	42	10	13	19	58	86	0.674	33	Relegated to the Third Division
22	Leyton Orient	42	5	13	24	38	80	0.475	23

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division

Champions Hull City and runners-up Millwall made the step upwards from the Third Division to the Second.

York City, Brentford, Exeter City and Southend United were relegated to the Fourth Division.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Hull City	46	31	7	8	109	62	1.758	69	Promoted to the Second Division
2	Millwall	46	27	11	8	76	43	1.767	65
3	Queens Park Rangers	46	24	9	13	95	65	1.462	57
4	Scunthorpe United	46	21	11	14	80	67	1.194	53
5	Workington	46	19	14	13	67	57	1.175	52
6	Gillingham	46	22	8	16	62	54	1.148	52
7	Swindon Town	46	19	13	14	74	48	1.542	51
8	Reading	46	19	13	14	70	63	1.111	51
9	Walsall	46	20	10	16	77	64	1.203	50
10	Shrewsbury Town	46	19	11	16	73	64	1.141	49
11	Grimsby Town	46	17	13	16	68	62	1.097	47
12	Watford	46	17	13	16	55	51	1.078	47
13	Peterborough United	46	17	12	17	80	66	1.212	46
14	Oxford United	46	19	8	19	70	74	0.946	46
15	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	16	11	19	67	65	1.031	43
16	Bristol Rovers	46	14	14	18	64	64	1.000	42
17	Swansea Town	46	15	11	20	81	96	0.844	41
18	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	46	13	12	21	38	56	0.679	38
19	Mansfield Town	46	15	8	23	59	89	0.663	38
20	Oldham Athletic	46	12	13	21	55	81	0.679	37
21	Southend United	46	16	4	26	54	83	0.651	36	Relegated to the Fourth Division
22	Exeter City	46	12	11	23	53	79	0.671	35
23	Brentford	46	10	12	24	48	69	0.696	32
24	York City	46	9	9	28	53	106	0.500	27

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Fourth Division

Doncaster Rovers enjoyed some much-overdue success by clinching the Fourth Division title and a place in the Third Division. Also promoted were Darlington, Torquay United and Colchester United. Bradford City had to apply for re-election to the league for the second time in four seasons - loss of their league place would have made them the first former winners of a major trophy to be voted out of the Football League.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Doncaster Rovers	46	24	11	11	85	54	1.574	59	Promoted to the Third Division
2	Darlington	46	25	9	12	72	53	1.358	59
3	Torquay United	46	24	10	12	72	49	1.469	58
4	Colchester United	46	23	10	13	70	47	1.489	56
5	Tranmere Rovers	46	24	8	14	93	66	1.409	56
6	Luton Town	46	24	8	14	90	70	1.286	56
7	Chester	46	20	12	14	79	70	1.129	52
8	Notts County	46	19	12	15	61	53	1.151	50
9	Newport County	46	18	12	16	75	75	1.000	48
10	Southport	46	18	12	16	68	69	0.986	48
11	Bradford Park Avenue	46	21	5	20	102	92	1.109	47
12	Barrow	46	16	15	15	72	76	0.947	47
13	Stockport County	46	18	6	22	71	70	1.014	42
14	Crewe Alexandra	46	16	9	21	61	63	0.968	41
15	Halifax Town	46	15	11	20	67	75	0.893	41
16	Barnsley	46	15	10	21	74	78	0.949	40
17	Aldershot	46	15	10	21	75	84	0.893	40
18	Hartlepools United	46	16	8	22	63	75	0.840	40
19	Port Vale	46	15	9	22	48	59	0.814	39
20	Chesterfield	46	13	13	20	62	78	0.795	39
21	Rochdale	46	16	5	25	71	87	0.816	37	Re-elected
22	Lincoln City	46	13	11	22	57	82	0.695	37
23	Bradford City	46	12	13	21	63	94	0.670	37
24	Wrexham	46	13	9	24	72	104	0.692	35

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Top goalscorers

First Division

• Willie Irvine (Burnley) – 29 goals

Second Division

• Martin Chivers (Southampton) – 30 goals

Third Division

• Les Allen (Queens Park Rangers) – 30 goals

Fourth Division

• Kevin Hector (Bradford Park Avenue) – 44 goals