Chairman Clifford Coombs Football League Second Division 10th | Ground St Andrew's | |
Manager Joe Mallett
until December 1966
Stan Cullis
from December 1966 FA Cup Fourth round
(eliminated by Leicester City) Football League Cup Second round
(eliminated by Mansfield Town) | ||
The 1965–66 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 63rd in the Football League and their 25th in the Second Division, to which they were relegated in 1964–65. Having persuaded former Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Stan Cullis out of retirement as successor to Joe Mallett, who remained with the club as Cullis's assistant, they finished in tenth position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1965–66 FA Cup in the third round proper and lost to Leicester City in the fourth, and were beaten in their opening second-round match in the League Cup by Mansfield Town.
Twenty-two players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were thirteen different goalscorers. Goalkeeper Jim Herriot played in all 55 first-team matches over the season; among outfield players, half-back Malcolm Beard and forward Geoff Vowden missed only one. Vowden finished as leading goalscorer with 21 goals, of which 16 came in league competition.
This season saw the introduction of substitutes into the Football League. In the third game of the season, away to Preston North End on 26 August, Brian Sharples replaced the injured Ron Wylie to become Birmingham's first Football League substitute.