1962–63 season | |||
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Chairman | Harry Morris, Jr | ||
Manager | Gil Merrick | ||
Ground | St Andrew's | ||
Football League First Division | 20th | ||
FA Cup |
Third round (eliminated by Bury) |
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Football League Cup | Winners | ||
Top goalscorer |
League: Ken Leek (20) All: Ken Leek (29) |
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Highest home attendance | 42,228 vs Aston Villa, 27 October 1962 | ||
Lowest home attendance | 11,293 vs Bury, League Cup semi-final 1st leg, 27 March 1963 | ||
Average home league attendance | 22,559 | ||
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The 1962–63 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 60th in the Football League and their 36th in the First Division. They finished in 20th position in the 22-team division, two points clear of the relegation places. They entered the 1962–63 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost in that round to Bury after a replay. They entered the League Cup at the second round and reached the final, in which they defeated local rivals Aston Villa 3–1 on aggregate score to win the first (and, until 2011, only) major trophy in their history.
Because of the severe winter weather – the so-called "Big Freeze of 1963" – Birmingham played no matches for ten weeks, between 22 December and 2 March. Their third-round FA Cup-tie was played in the first week of March, two months later than the usual date of the first weekend in January.
Twenty-three players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were eleven different goalscorers. Half back Terry Hennessey played in 52 of the 53 first-team matches over the season (forwards Ken Leek and Mike Hellawell missed only two), and Leek finished as leading goalscorer with 29 goals, of which 20 were scored in league competition.
Because of the severe winter weather – the so-called "Big Freeze of 1963" – Birmingham played no matches for ten weeks, between 22 December and 2 March. Their opening third-round FA Cup-tie against Bury was postponed 14 times and abandoned once before finally being played two months after the originally scheduled date.