1967–68 in English football

The 1967–68 season was the 88th season of competitive football in England. Defending First Division champions, Manchester United, became the first English team to win the European Cup, while the First Division title went to their cross city rivals City. West Bromwich Albion lifted the FA Cup this season, for the fifth time in their history. Leeds United won their first two major trophies when they lifted the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and Football League Cup at the expense of an Arsenal side who hadn't played at Wembley for 16 years.

Honours

CompetitionWinnerRunner-up
First DivisionManchester City (2)Manchester United
Second DivisionIpswich TownQueens Park Rangers
Third DivisionOxford UnitedBury
Fourth DivisionLuton TownBarnsley
FA CupWest Bromwich Albion (5)Everton
League CupLeeds United (1)Arsenal
Charity ShieldManchester United and Tottenham Hotspur (shared)
Home Championship England Scotland

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

FA Cup

Main article: 1967–68 FA Cup

The 1968 FA Cup Final was won by West Bromwich Albion who beat Everton 1–0 in extra time with a goal from Jeff Astle. It was Albion's fifth FA Cup success.

League Cup

Leeds United beat Arsenal 1–0 in the final of the League Cup to win the competition.

European football

Manchester United became the first English team to win the European Cup when they beat Benfica 4–1 after extra time at Wembley Stadium with goals from Bobby Charlton (2), George Best and Brian Kidd. Manager Matt Busby was knighted that year for his achievements. A double triumph was secured by Leeds United when they won the Inter Cities Fairs Cup by beating Ferencváros 1–0 on aggregate.

Football League

First Division

For the first time since 1937, Manchester City won the First Division, finishing two points clear of their local rivals Manchester United. Fulham finished in last place and were relegated along with Sheffield United. Coventry City, under Jimmy Hill escaped relegation by one point and would go on to stay in the top division until their eventual relegation at the end of the 2000–01 season.

Manchester United's George Best and Ron Davies of Southampton finished as Division One's joint-top scorers with 28 goals apiece. Best was awarded the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year, as well as the European Footballer of the Year award.

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Manchester City (C) 42 26 6 10 86 432 58 1968–69 European Cup
2 Manchester United 42 24 8 10 89 551.618 56
3 Liverpool 42 22 11 9 71 401.775 55 01968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup0
4 Leeds United 42 22 9 11 71 411.732 53
5 Everton 42 23 6 13 67 401.675 52
6 Chelsea 42 18 12 12 62 680.912 48 01968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup0
7 Tottenham Hotspur 42 19 9 14 70 591.186 47
8 West Bromwich Albion 42 17 12 13 75 621.21 46 01968–69 European Cup Winners' Cup0
9 Arsenal 42 17 10 15 60 561.071 44
10 Newcastle United 42 13 15 14 53 540.981 41 01968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup0
11 Nottingham Forest 42 13 15 14 52 640.813 41
12 West Ham United 42 14 10 18 73 691.058 38
13 Leicester City 42 13 12 17 64 690.928 38
14 Burnley 42 14 10 18 64 710.901 38
15 Sunderland 42 13 11 18 51 610.836 37
16 Southampton 42 13 11 18 51 610.836 37
17 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 14 8 20 66 750.88 36
18 Stoke City 42 14 7 21 50 730.685 35
19 Sheffield Wednesday 42 11 12 19 51 630.81 34
20 Coventry City 42 9 15 18 51 710.718 33
21 Sheffield United (R) 42 11 10 21 49 700.7 32 Relegation to 1968–69 Second Division
22 Fulham (R) 42 10 7 25 56 980.571 27

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.

Second Division

Bill McGarry's Ipswich Town team won the Second Division by one point from Queens Park Rangers, with both teams promoted. Blackpool finished third on goal average and so missed out. Rotherham United and bottom club Plymouth Argyle were both relegated to the Third Division.

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Promotion or relegation
1 Ipswich Town (C) 42 22 15 5 79 441.795 59 Promotion to 1968–69 First Division
2 Queens Park Rangers (P) 42 25 8 9 67 361.861 58
3 Blackpool 42 24 10 8 71 431.651 58
4 Birmingham City 42 19 14 9 81 511.588 52
5 Portsmouth 42 18 13 11 68 551.236 49
6 Middlesbrough 42 17 12 13 60 541.111 46
7 Millwall 42 14 17 11 62 501.24 45
8 Blackburn Rovers 42 16 11 15 56 491.143 43
9 Norwich City 42 16 11 15 60 650.923 43
10 Carlisle United 42 14 13 15 58 521.115 41
11 Crystal Palace 42 14 11 17 56 561 39
12 Bolton Wanderers 42 13 13 16 60 630.952 39
13 Cardiff City 42 13 12 17 60 660.909 38 01968–69 European Cup Winners' Cup0
14 Huddersfield Town 42 13 12 17 46 610.754 38
15 Charlton Athletic 42 12 13 17 63 680.926 37
16 Aston Villa 42 15 7 20 54 640.844 37
17 Hull City 42 12 13 17 58 730.795 37
18 Derby County 42 14 7 21 50 730.685 35
19 Bristol City 42 13 10 19 48 620.774 36
20 Preston North End 42 12 11 19 43 650.662 35
21 Rotherham United (R) 42 10 11 21 42 760.553 31 Relegation to 1968–69 Third Division
22 Plymouth Argyle (R) 42 9 9 24 38 720.528 27

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

In the Third Division, Oxford United won their first divisional title and achieved what was then their highest ever finish in only their sixth season as a league club. Runners-up Bury joined them in promotion. Grimsby Town, Colchester United and Scunthorpe United were relegated, although the biggest story concerned bottom placed Peterborough United who were docked 19 points for offering irregular bonuses to their players and so finished bottom. Had the points been restored the club would have finished in the top half. As a result of the ruling Mansfield Town escaped relegation.

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Promotion or relegation
1 Oxford United (C) (P) 46 22 13 11 69 471.468 57 Promotion to 1968–69 Second Division
2 Bury (P) 46 24 8 14 91 661.379 56
3 Shrewsbury Town 46 20 15 11 61 491.245 55
4 Torquay United 46 21 11 14 81 511.588 53
5 Reading 46 21 9 16 70 601.167 51
6 Watford 46 21 8 17 74 501.48 50
7 Walsall 46 19 12 15 74 611.213 50
8 Barrow 46 21 8 17 65 541.204 50
9 Swindon Town 46 16 17 13 74 511.451 49
10 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 16 16 14 57 551.036 48
11 Gillingham 46 18 12 16 59 630.937 48
12 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 46 16 15 15 56 511.098 47
13 Stockport County 46 19 9 18 70 750.933 47
14 Southport 46 17 12 17 65 651 46
15 Bristol Rovers 46 17 9 20 72 780.923 43
16 Oldham Athletic 46 18 7 21 60 650.923 43
17 Northampton Town 46 14 13 19 58 720.806 41
18 Orient 46 12 17 17 46 620.742 41
19 Tranmere Rovers 46 14 12 20 62 740.838 40
20 Mansfield Town 46 12 13 21 51 670.761 37
21 Grimsby Town (R) 46 14 9 23 52 690.754 37 Relegation to 1968–69 Fourth Division
22 Colchester United (R) 46 9 15 22 50 870.575 33
23 Scunthorpe United (R) 46 10 12 24 56 870.644 32
24 Peterborough United (R) 46 20 10 16 79 671.179 31

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

Luton Town won the Fourth Division and were promoted along with Barnsley, Hartlepools United and Crewe Alexandra. The bottom four clubs were forced to apply to re-election to the Football League as per usual; more unusually however, Port Vale were also made to apply for re-election, as a result of financial irregularities. In the end, all five clubs were re-elected.

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Promotion or relegation
1 Luton Town (C) 46 27 12 7 87 441.977 66 Promotion to 1968–69 Third Division
2 Barnsley (P) 46 24 13 9 68 461.478 61
3 Hartlepools United (P) 46 25 10 11 60 461.304 60
4 Crewe Alexandra (P) 46 20 18 8 74 491.51 58
5 Bradford City 46 23 11 12 72 511.412 57
6 Southend United 46 20 14 12 77 581.328 54
7 Chesterfield 46 21 11 14 71 501.42 53
8 Wrexham 46 20 13 13 72 531.358 53
9 Aldershot 46 18 17 11 70 551.273 53
10 Doncaster Rovers 46 18 15 13 66 561.179 51
11 Halifax Town 46 15 16 15 52 491.061 46
12 Newport County 46 16 13 17 58 630.921 45
13 Lincoln City 46 17 9 20 71 681.044 43
14 Brentford 46 18 7 21 61 640.953 43
15 Swansea Town 46 16 10 20 63 770.818 42
16 Darlington 46 12 17 17 47 530.887 41
17 Notts County 46 15 11 20 53 790.671 41
18 Port Vale 46 12 15 19 61 720.847 39 Re-elected
19 Rochdale 46 12 14 20 51 720.708 38
20 Exeter City 46 11 16 19 45 650.692 38
21 York City 46 11 14 21 65 680.956 36 Re-elected
22 Chester 46 9 14 23 57 780.731 32
23 Workington 46 10 11 25 54 870.621 31
24 Bradford Park Avenue 46 4 15 27 30 820.366 23

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.

Deaths

References

  1. ↑ Player death notices Football player cards. Retrieved on 14 October 2007
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