Bolton v Birmingham – Part Two: Post War Years
Thursday May 6th, 2010
BWFCforum’s resident anorak Wakey continues the decade-by-decade review of the league history of Bolton and Sunday’s visitors Birmingham, covering the period 1940 to 1989.
Trevor Francis lines up for his league debut
1940-1949
The resumption of the league programme saw only three completed seasons in the 1940’s. Bolton struggled in the bottom half in all three, and were 19th best overall, whilst Birmingham – relegated in 1939 – missed out on promotion in 1947 before winning the Second Division the next year and finishing 17th in 1949, leaving them with the 22nd best average league position for the period.
Manchester United were top dogs, finishing 2nd in each of the three seasons, with Villa 6th, with league finishes of 8th, 6th, and 10th.
1950-59
The 1950’s were another successful period for Bolton, spending the entire decade in the top flight, enjoying five top ten finishes and two FA Cup Finals, including the 1958 win over the post-Munich Busby Babes. Over the decade, Bolton were the seventh best league side, although this was to precede four decades that were to see Bolton drop down the leagues and back up again twice.
Birmingham split the decade equally, with five years in the top flight and five in the second tier. They started the decade by coming bottom of the First Division, then spent the next five seasons in the upper reaches of the second tier before promotion as champions in 1955. The following season saw the Blues reach their highest ever league position of 6th, and reached the FA Cup final for the second time, losing 3-1 to Manchester City in a game memorable for City keeper Bert Trautman’s heroics in completing the match despite a broken bone in his neck.
They also became the first English club to take part in European competition, playing their first group game in the inaugural Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in May 1956. They would go on to lose a semi-final replay 2-1 to Barcelona after drawing 4-4 on aggregate. Both 1957 and 1958 saw Birmingham finish 13th, and they finished the decade with a 9th place finish in 1959.
For the 1950’s as a whole, Birmingham were the 17th best team, a feat they would not match until the first decade of the next century. Local rivals Aston Villa were 12th best – their worst decade to date – whilst three title wins helped Manchester United to be top dogs, ahead of Wolves in second place and Arsenal in third.
The decade was also the heyday for two of the smaller Lancashire clubs, with Blackpool the 4th best team overall (their best ever decade) and Burnley 5th (they would go one better in the 1960’s).
1960-1969
At the start of the decade, Bolton were historically the 6th best side since the commencement of league football in 1888 (Birmingham were 24th) and had spent all bar seven seasons in the top flight. Although they started the decade with a top six finish in the First Division, football was changing with the abolition of the maximum wage imminent, and the 1960’s were to see the start of Bolton’s fall from the top table of English football.
The following season saw the retirement of legendary centre forward Nat Lofthouse, and Bolton struggled without him, finishing 18th. Despite a mid-table finish in 1962, Bolton were again 18th the following year before finally being relegated in 1964. The remainder of the decade saw Bolton slowly slip down the Second Division, finishing 3rd in 1965, 9th in each of the next two years, 12th in 1968, and 17th in 1969.
Birmingham spent the first six years struggling at the foot of the First Division, finishing 19th, 19th, 17th, 20th, and 20th before finally being relegated in 1965 in last place. Despite struggling in the league, they had notable cup success, becoming the first English club to reach a European final in 1960, losing 4-1 to Barcelona in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, and repeating the feat a year later, this time losing to AS Roma after beating Inter Milan home and away in the semis. The Blues also beat rivals Aston Villa 3-1 on aggregate to win the 1963 League Cup.
Following relegation, Birmingham finished the decade in the top half of Division Two, and ended as the 26th best team, one place below Bolton in 25th, the Trotters’ worst decade to date. Aston Villa also had their worst decade to date, in 21st place, whilst Manchester United were 3rd behind Spurs and Everton.
1970-1979
The start of the decade saw both clubs struggling at the wrong end of Division Two, with Bolton in 16th and Birmingham in 18th, but the two clubs were to head in different directions for the next few years.
In 1971 Bolton finished rooted to the foot of the Second Division, and relegated to the Third Division for the first time in their history, whilst Birmingham finished mid-table.
Bolton spent the next two years in the third tier, promoted as champions in 1973, followed by two seasons mid-table in Division Two. In each of the following two years, they finished 4th, missing out on promotion by a point to West Brom and Brian Clough’s Notts Forest respectively, before pipping Southampton and Spurs to the Second Division title in 1978. Unlike their promotion rivals, Bolton’s return to the top flight would be brief, although they did end the decade with a relatively comfortable 17th place finish.
Birmingham followed their 9th place finish in 1971 with promotion the following year, and spent the next seven years in the top flight, flirting with relegation in 1974 (19th), 1975 (17th), and 1976 (19th), but otherwise being comfortably mid-table before their relegation in 1979.
The decade was again Bolton’s worst to date, with only one season in the top flight and two in the third tier, and an overall position of 32nd best team for the decade, whilst Birmingham were 20th.
Liverpool dominated the decade with 4 title wins and a worst finish of 5th, followed by Leeds in 2nd, with by far and away their best decade, and two times champions Derby in third. Aston Villa had their worst decade, with four seasons in the second tier and three in the third dragging their ranking down to 26th, the only decade in which Birmingham have outperformed their neighbours in the league. Bolton’s near neighbour’s Manchester United suffered relegation in 1974 after struggling the previous year, but bounced straight back and still managed to be the 8th best team of the 1970’s.
1980-1989
By 1972, Bolton had dropped out of the all-time top ten, and by the end of the 1970’s they were historically the 13th best team since league football began. Birmingham were 23rd. Whilst the 1980’s was to see Birmingham improve their all-time ranking by one place to 22nd, a position they still hold, Bolton were to drop from 13th to 18th.
If the 1960’s were bad for Bolton and the 1970’s worse, the 1980’s were an unmitigated disaster that saw the club plummet from the top flight to the Fourth Division and on the brink of bankruptcy.
The decade started with Bolton rooted to the foot of the First Division in 1980. The following two seasons saw them battling relegation in the second tier, a fight they were to lose in 1983, when seven points from their last twelve games contributed to a bottom-place finish, three points from safety, and relegation to the Third Division for the second time.
Again they finished mid-table in their first season, but rather than bounce back the following year, they spent the next three seasons in the bottom half, culminating in the unthinkable – a play-off defeat to Aldershot and relegation to the Fourth Division for the first and only time in the club’s history.
The Trotters managed to secure promotion at the first attempt in 1988, and finished the decade with a 10th place finish in Division Three.
Birmingham started the decade with promotion to the top-flight, replacing Bolton in the process, and spent the next four seasons in the bottom half before relegation in 1984, two points adrift of perennial survivors Coventry. The following season they were promoted again, finishing second behind Oxford and above Man City in third, but survived only one season, finishing thirteen points adrift of safety, but five above neighbours West Brom. The next three seasons saw them virtually mirror Bolton’s performance after their relegation in 1980, finishing 19th twice before being relegated to the Third Division for the first time in their history, finishing in 23rd place, twelve points from safety and one place above neighbours Walsall.
Despite their unprecedented relegation to the third tier at the end of the decade, Birmingham’s performance over the 1980’s as a whole was consistent with previous decades, with an overall rating of 24th. Bolton, on the other hand, had spent one year at the foot of the top tier, three seasons in the second, five in the third, and one in the fourth, leaving them with an overall ranking of 48th that would have been unthinkable a decade or two earlier, and put them in the bottom half of the 93 clubs that had played league football in the 1980’s.
Top dogs were Liverpool, with six title wins, followed by Arsenal and Manchester United in joint second, Forest in fourth, and Everton in fifth.
Look out for part three, 1990 to present, coming soon
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