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1957–58 Football League

59th season of the Football League

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionFeb 13, 2026
Entity authorityQ47509545 ↗
Source-derived summary

The 1957–58 season was the 59th completed season of The Football League. The first division title went to Wolverhampton Wanderers for the second time, while Sunderland were relegated to the second division for the first time in the club's history, after 57 consecutive seasons in the top flight of English football. The season was marred by the Munich air disaster, in which eight Manchester United players died as a result of the crash with two others suffering career-ending injuries. Manchester United were chasing a hat-trick of league championships, but they dropped 21 points in 14 matches after the Munich crash and finished 21 points behind the champions Wolves.

This was the final season in which the Football League was organized into two regional sections on the third tier. Following the season, the bottom twelve clubs of Third Division North and South were assigned to the new, national Fourth Division. The clubs placed second through twelfth, in addition to the two clubs relegated from the Second Division, joined the re-organized national Third Division.

Final league tables

The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics separated.

Beginning with the season 1894–95, clubs finishing level on points were separated according to goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded), or more properly put, goal ratio. In case one or more teams had the same goal difference, this system favoured those teams who had scored fewer goals.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “1957–58 Football League” as 59th season of the Football League. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1957, 1888, 1978, 1894—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Football, League and 59th can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as 59th season of the Football League. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q47509545. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1957, 1888, 1978 and 1894.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “1957–58 Football League” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.