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

Competition	Winner	Runner-up
First Division	Manchester City (2)	Manchester United
Second Division	Ipswich Town	Queens Park Rangers
Third Division	Oxford United	Bury
Fourth Division	Luton Town	Barnsley
FA Cup	West Bromwich Albion (5)	Everton
League Cup	Leeds United (1)	Arsenal
Charity Shield	Manchester 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

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	43	2	58	1968–69 European Cup
2	Manchester United	42	24	8	10	89	55	1.618	56
3	Liverpool	42	22	11	9	71	40	1.775	55	01968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup0
4	Leeds United	42	22	9	11	71	41	1.732	53
5	Everton	42	23	6	13	67	40	1.675	52
6	Chelsea	42	18	12	12	62	68	0.912	48	01968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup0
7	Tottenham Hotspur	42	19	9	14	70	59	1.186	47
8	West Bromwich Albion	42	17	12	13	75	62	1.21	46	01968–69 European Cup Winners' Cup0
9	Arsenal	42	17	10	15	60	56	1.071	44
10	Newcastle United	42	13	15	14	53	54	0.981	41	01968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup0
11	Nottingham Forest	42	13	15	14	52	64	0.813	41
12	West Ham United	42	14	10	18	73	69	1.058	38
13	Leicester City	42	13	12	17	64	69	0.928	38
14	Burnley	42	14	10	18	64	71	0.901	38
15	Sunderland	42	13	11	18	51	61	0.836	37
16	Southampton	42	13	11	18	51	61	0.836	37
17	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	14	8	20	66	75	0.88	36
18	Stoke City	42	14	7	21	50	73	0.685	35
19	Sheffield Wednesday	42	11	12	19	51	63	0.81	34
20	Coventry City	42	9	15	18	51	71	0.718	33
21	Sheffield United (R)	42	11	10	21	49	70	0.7	32	Relegation to 1968–69 Second Division
22	Fulham (R)	42	10	7	25	56	98	0.571	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	44	1.795	59	Promotion to 1968–69 First Division
2	Queens Park Rangers (P)	42	25	8	9	67	36	1.861	58
3	Blackpool	42	24	10	8	71	43	1.651	58
4	Birmingham City	42	19	14	9	81	51	1.588	52
5	Portsmouth	42	18	13	11	68	55	1.236	49
6	Middlesbrough	42	17	12	13	60	54	1.111	46
7	Millwall	42	14	17	11	62	50	1.24	45
8	Blackburn Rovers	42	16	11	15	56	49	1.143	43
9	Norwich City	42	16	11	15	60	65	0.923	43
10	Carlisle United	42	14	13	15	58	52	1.115	41
11	Crystal Palace	42	14	11	17	56	56	1	39
12	Bolton Wanderers	42	13	13	16	60	63	0.952	39
13	Cardiff City	42	13	12	17	60	66	0.909	38	01968–69 European Cup Winners' Cup0
14	Huddersfield Town	42	13	12	17	46	61	0.754	38
15	Charlton Athletic	42	12	13	17	63	68	0.926	37
16	Aston Villa	42	15	7	20	54	64	0.844	37
17	Hull City	42	12	13	17	58	73	0.795	37
18	Derby County	42	14	7	21	50	73	0.685	35
19	Bristol City	42	13	10	19	48	62	0.774	36
20	Preston North End	42	12	11	19	43	65	0.662	35
21	Rotherham United (R)	42	10	11	21	42	76	0.553	31	Relegation to 1968–69 Third Division
22	Plymouth Argyle (R)	42	9	9	24	38	72	0.528	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	47	1.468	57	Promotion to 1968–69 Second Division
2	Bury (P)	46	24	8	14	91	66	1.379	56
3	Shrewsbury Town	46	20	15	11	61	49	1.245	55
4	Torquay United	46	21	11	14	81	51	1.588	53
5	Reading	46	21	9	16	70	60	1.167	51
6	Watford	46	21	8	17	74	50	1.48	50
7	Walsall	46	19	12	15	74	61	1.213	50
8	Barrow	46	21	8	17	65	54	1.204	50
9	Swindon Town	46	16	17	13	74	51	1.451	49
10	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	16	16	14	57	55	1.036	48
11	Gillingham	46	18	12	16	59	63	0.937	48
12	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	46	16	15	15	56	51	1.098	47
13	Stockport County	46	19	9	18	70	75	0.933	47
14	Southport	46	17	12	17	65	65	1	46
15	Bristol Rovers	46	17	9	20	72	78	0.923	43
16	Oldham Athletic	46	18	7	21	60	65	0.923	43
17	Northampton Town	46	14	13	19	58	72	0.806	41
18	Orient	46	12	17	17	46	62	0.742	41
19	Tranmere Rovers	46	14	12	20	62	74	0.838	40
20	Mansfield Town	46	12	13	21	51	67	0.761	37
21	Grimsby Town (R)	46	14	9	23	52	69	0.754	37	Relegation to 1968–69 Fourth Division
22	Colchester United (R)	46	9	15	22	50	87	0.575	33
23	Scunthorpe United (R)	46	10	12	24	56	87	0.644	32
24	Peterborough United (R)	46	20	10	16	79	67	1.179	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.

• Peterborough deducted 19 points for making irregular payments to players.

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	44	1.977	66	Promotion to 1968–69 Third Division
2	Barnsley (P)	46	24	13	9	68	46	1.478	61
3	Hartlepools United (P)	46	25	10	11	60	46	1.304	60
4	Crewe Alexandra (P)	46	20	18	8	74	49	1.51	58
5	Bradford City	46	23	11	12	72	51	1.412	57
6	Southend United	46	20	14	12	77	58	1.328	54
7	Chesterfield	46	21	11	14	71	50	1.42	53
8	Wrexham	46	20	13	13	72	53	1.358	53
9	Aldershot	46	18	17	11	70	55	1.273	53
10	Doncaster Rovers	46	18	15	13	66	56	1.179	51
11	Halifax Town	46	15	16	15	52	49	1.061	46
12	Newport County	46	16	13	17	58	63	0.921	45
13	Lincoln City	46	17	9	20	71	68	1.044	43
14	Brentford	46	18	7	21	61	64	0.953	43
15	Swansea Town	46	16	10	20	63	77	0.818	42
16	Darlington	46	12	17	17	47	53	0.887	41
17	Notts County	46	15	11	20	53	79	0.671	41
18	Port Vale	46	12	15	19	61	72	0.847	39	Re-elected
19	Rochdale	46	12	14	20	51	72	0.708	38
20	Exeter City	46	11	16	19	45	65	0.692	38
21	York City	46	11	14	21	65	68	0.956	36	Re-elected
22	Chester	46	9	14	23	57	78	0.731	32
23	Workington	46	10	11	25	54	87	0.621	31
24	Bradford Park Avenue	46	4	15	27	30	82	0.366	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

• 7 March 1968 – Grenville Hair, 36, former Leeds United left back and current Bradford City manager, from heart attack during training.^[1]

References

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