 After Spurdle helped the "Citizens" to a 15th-place finish in 1951–52, he finished as the club's joint top-scorer (with Johnny Williamson) in the 1952–53 season with 12 goals.City struggled in the lower half of the table in the 1953–54 campaign, before exploiting the "Revie plan" to push on to a seventh-place finish in 1954–55.They also improved their FA Cup form, and reached the 1955 FA Cup Final at Wembley, where they were beaten 3–1 by Newcastle United; Spurdle was forced to spend most of the game playing at right-back after an injury to Jimmy Meadows left them with only ten players.