9 December - Basil Hayward, 61, played 349 league games as a centre-half, left-back and centre-forward for Port Vale between 1946 and 1958, scoring 55 goals, completing his league career at Portsmouth before spending four years at non-league Yeovil Town as player-manager.

Mansfield Town and Port Vale took the two remaining promotion spaces. Swindon Town won promotion by a record-breaking 18 points, and became the second team (after York City two years previously) to exceed 100 points in a season, and was also awarded the board's decision to reinstate manager Lou Macari days after his controversial dismissal at the end of the previous season. At the lower reaches of the table, Norwich beat Luton and Birmingham draw with Swansea; all four clubs and Brighton are separated by four points.
West Ham United beat Birmingham City 5-0 at Upton Park. In the FA Cup, West Ham lost 2-1 to Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.