Season: 1959–60
Football League First Division
League
A near-miss year that still had Jimmy Greaves rewriting the highlights reel.
- Division
- Football League First Division (Tier 1)
- Manager
- Ted Drake
- Top scorer (league)
- Jimmy Greaves (29)
- Top scorer (all comps)
- Jimmy Greaves (30)
- Avg. league attendance
- 39,423
Cups & Europe
- FA Cup
- Fourth round
- League Cup
- —
- Europe
- —
Notes
A near-miss year that still had Jimmy Greaves rewriting the highlights reel. Ted Drake’s side finished 18th of 22 with 37 points from 14 wins, 9 draws and 19 defeats (76–91), level on points with Everton, Manchester City and Blackburn and kept up only by goal average — Birmingham one place below on 36. Home form was the worry: 7–5–9 (44–50), a rare season of negative goal difference at Stamford Bridge. Away they managed 7–4–10 (32–41). Greaves scored 29 league goals and 30 in all competitions (one in the FA Cup). The night that still lives is 19 December at Deepdale: five goals in a 5–4 win at Preston. Charlie Livesey added 9 in the league, Peter Brabrook 7, Peter Sillett and Ron Tindall 6 each, Frank Blunstone and Johnny Brooks 5. Terry Venables debuted in a 2–4 defeat at West Ham on 6 February; Peter Bonetti’s first appearance came in a 3–0 win over Manchester City on 2 April. In the FA Cup Chelsea thrashed Bradford Park Avenue 5–1 at the Bridge in the third round, then went out at home to Aston Villa 1–2 in the fourth — the same Villa exit as the season before. There was no European football this calendar: the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1958–60 campaign had already ended in Belgrade in May 1959. Chelsea also sat out the Southern Professional Floodlit Cup’s final season, though a full-strength side opened Ashford Town’s new lights with a 7–2 friendly win on 19 October. Biggest league win by margin was three goals on several nights (4–1 Burnley, 3–0 Luton, 3–0 Manchester City, 4–1 at Arsenal). Heaviest reverse was 1–6 at Everton on 12 March, with Everton six up by half-time. Home league gates averaged 39,423 (high 67,819 vs Tottenham on 15 April; low 18,963 vs Leeds on 23 January). In December Les Allen moved to Tottenham in a straight swap for Johnny Brooks; after the season Bobby Evans arrived from Celtic for £12,000.
Kits
Under reviewWhite shirts appeared as occasional cup/third options in the late 1950s.
Illustration from hex colours (not official kit photography).
On this day (related years)
History
Eras, trophies, and great matches in the History section.
Explore history →Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chelsea_F.C._seasons
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959%E2%80%9360_Chelsea_F.C._season
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959%E2%80%9360_Football_League
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Professional_Floodlit_Cup
- https://www.fchd.info/CHELSEA.HTM
- https://www.fchd.info/lghist/fl1960.htm
- https://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/Summaries/1959.htm
- https://bounder.friardale.co.uk/Results/1959.htm
- http://free-elements.com/England/Goals/CheL/CheL1959.html
- https://www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk/stats/Report/gate/a1959-60.html
- https://www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk/final/f1959-60.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Greaves
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Drake
- https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Chelsea/Chelsea.htm
- https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Chelsea/Chelsea-change-kits.html
- http://www.nutsandboltsarchive.co.uk/NBArchive/teamHeadtoHead.php?teamGroupID=77