1956–57 Manchester United F.C. season

Manchester United
1956–57 season
ChairmanHarold Hardman
ManagerMatt Busby
First Division1st
FA CupRunners-up
European CupSemi-finals
Charity ShieldWinners
Top goalscorerLeague:
Billy Whelan (26)
All:
Tommy Taylor (34)
Highest home attendance75,598 vs Borussia Dortmund (17 October 1956)
Lowest home attendance20,357 vs West Bromwich Albion (29 April 1957)
Average home league attendance48,679

The 1956–1957 season was Manchester United's 55th season in the Football League, and their 12th consecutive season in the top division of English football.[1]

United retained their league title this season, which was also notable for being the breakthrough season of forward Bobby Charlton, who made his debut on 6 October 1956 in the league match against Charlton Athletic a few days before his 19th birthday and scored twice, making 17 appearances and scoring 12 goals that season and collecting a league title medal, his appearances mostly coming at the expense of Dennis Viollet.[2] As Old Trafford didn't have floodlights installed at the time, United's first three European home games were played at Maine Road instead.[3] United reached the semi-finals of the European Cup, where they were beaten by eventual winners Real Madrid. They also reached the FA Cup final, where they lost 2–1 to Aston Villa in a game where they were handicapped by an injury to goalkeeper Ray Wood, meaning Jackie Blanchflower had to stand in for him in goal.

FA Charity Shield

[edit]
Main article: 1956 FA Charity Shield
Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
24 October 1956 Manchester City A 1–0 Viollet 30,495

First Division

[edit]
Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
18 August 1956 Birmingham City H 2–2 Viollet (2) 32,752
20 August 1956 Preston North End A 3–1 Taylor (2), Whelan 32,569
25 August 1956 West Bromwich Albion A 3–2 Taylor, Viollet, Whelan 26,387
29 August 1956 Preston North End H 3–2 Viollet (3) 32,515
1 September 1956 Portsmouth H 3–0 Berry, Pegg, Viollet 40,369
5 September 1956 Chelsea A 2–1 Taylor, Whelan 29,082
8 September 1956 Newcastle United A 1–1 Whelan 50,130
15 September 1956 Sheffield Wednesday H 4–1 Berry, Taylor, Viollet, Whelan 48,078
22 September 1956 Manchester City H 2–0 Viollet, Whelan 53,525
29 September 1956 Arsenal A 2–1 Berry, Whelan 62,479
6 October 1956 Charlton Athletic H 4–2 Charlton (2), Berry, Whelan 41,439
13 October 1956 Sunderland A 3–1 Viollet, Whelan, own goal 49,487
20 October 1956 Everton H 2–5 Charlton, Whelan 43,151
27 October 1956 Blackpool A 2–2 Taylor (2) 32,632
3 November 1956 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 3–0 Pegg, Taylor, Whelan 59,835
10 November 1956 Bolton Wanderers A 0–2 39,922
17 November 1956 Leeds United H 3–2 Whelan (2), Charlton 51,131
24 November 1956 Tottenham Hotspur A 2–2 Berry, Colman 57,724
1 December 1956 Luton Town H 3–1 Edwards, Pegg, Taylor 34,736
8 December 1956 Aston Villa A 3–1 Taylor (2), Viollet 42,530
15 December 1956 Birmingham City A 1–3 Whelan 36,146
26 December 1956 Cardiff City H 3–1 Taylor, Viollet, Whelan 28,607
29 December 1956 Portsmouth A 3–1 Edwards, Pegg, Viollet 32,147
1 January 1957 Chelsea H 3–0 Taylor (2), Whelan 42,116
12 January 1957 Newcastle United H 6–1 Pegg (2), Viollet (2), Whelan (2) 44,911
19 January 1957 Sheffield Wednesday A 1–2 Taylor 51,068
2 February 1957 Manchester City A 4–2 Edwards, Taylor, Viollet, Whelan 63,872
9 February 1957 Arsenal H 6–2 Berry (2), Whelan (2), Edwards, Taylor 60,384
18 February 1957 Charlton Athletic A 5–1 Charlton (3), Taylor (2) 16,308
23 February 1957 Blackpool H 0–2 42,602
6 March 1957 Everton A 2–1 Webster (2) 34,029
9 March 1957 Aston Villa A 1–1 Charlton 55,484
16 March 1957 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–1 Charlton 53,228
25 March 1957 Bolton Wanderers H 0–2 60,862
30 March 1957 Leeds United A 2–1 Berry, Charlton 47,216
6 April 1957 Tottenham Hotspur H 0–0 60,349
13 April 1957 Luton Town A 2–0 Taylor (2) 21,227
19 April 1957 Burnley A 3–1 Whelan (3) 41,321
20 April 1957 Sunderland H 4–0 Whelan (2), Edwards, Taylor 58,725
22 April 1957 Burnley H 2–0 Dawson, Webster 41,321
27 April 1957 Cardiff City A 3–2 Scanlon (2), Dawson 17,708
29 April 1957 West Bromwich Albion H 1–1 Dawson 20,357

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Manchester United (C) 42 28 8 6 103 54 1.907 64 Qualification for the European Cup preliminary round
2 Tottenham Hotspur 42 22 12 8 104 56 1.857 56
3 Preston North End 42 23 10 9 84 56 1.500 56
4 Blackpool 42 22 9 11 93 65 1.431 53
5 Arsenal 42 21 8 13 85 69 1.232 50
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions

FA Cup

[edit]
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
5 January 1957 Round 3 Hartlepool United A 4–3 Whelan (2), Berry, Taylor 17,264
26 January 1957 Round 4 Wrexham A 5–0 Taylor (2), Whelan (2), Byrne 34,445
16 February 1957 Round 5 Everton H 1–0 Edwards 61,803
2 March 1957 Round 6 Bournemouth A 2–1 Berry (2) 28,799
23 March 1957 Semi-final Birmingham City N 2–0 Berry, Charlton 65,107
4 May 1957 Final Aston Villa N 1–2 Taylor 100,000

European Cup

[edit]
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
12 September 1956 Preliminary round
First leg 		Anderlecht A 2–0 Taylor, Viollet 35,000
26 September 1956 Preliminary round
Second leg 		Anderlecht H 10–0 Viollet (4), Taylor (3), Whelan (2), Berry 40,000
17 October 1956 First round
First leg 		Borussia Dortmund H 3–2 Viollet (2), Pegg 75,598
21 November 1956 First round
Second leg 		Borussia Dortmund A 0–0 44,570
16 January 1957 Quarter-final
First leg 		Athletic Bilbao A 3–5 Taylor, Viollet, Whelan 60,000
6 February 1957 Quarter-final
Second leg 		Athletic Bilbao H 3–0 Berry, Taylor, Viollet 70,000
11 April 1957 Semi-final
First leg 		Real Madrid A 1–3 Taylor 135,000
25 April 1957 Semi-final
Second leg 		Real Madrid H 2–2 Charlton, Taylor 65,000

Squad statistics

[edit]
Pos. Name League FA Cup European Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Gordon Clayton 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
GK England Tony Hawksworth 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
GK England Ray Wood 39 0 6 0 8 0 1 0 54 0
FB England Geoff Bent 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
FB England Roger Byrne 36 0 6 1 8 0 1 0 51 1
FB England Bill Foulkes 39 0 6 0 8 0 1 0 54 0
FB England Ian Greaves 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
HB Northern Ireland Jackie Blanchflower 11 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 16 0
HB England Eddie Colman 36 1 6 0 8 0 1 0 51 1
HB England Ronnie Cope 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
HB England Duncan Edwards 34 5 6 1 7 0 1 0 48 6
HB England Freddie Goodwin 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
HB England Mark Jones 29 0 4 0 6 0 1 0 40 0
HB England Wilf McGuinness 13 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 15 0
FW England Johnny Berry 40 8 5 4 8 2 1 0 54 14
FW England Bobby Charlton 14 10 2 1 1 1 0 0 17 12
FW Scotland Alex Dawson 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
FW England John Doherty 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
FW England David Pegg 37 6 6 0 8 1 1 0 52 7
FW England Albert Scanlon 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2
FW England Tommy Taylor 32 22 4 4 8 8 1 0 45 34
FW England Dennis Viollet 27 16 5 0 6 9 1 1 39 26
FW Wales Colin Webster 5 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 3
FW Republic of Ireland Billy Whelan 39 26 6 4 8 3 1 0 54 33
– Own goals – 1 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 1

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Manchester United Season 1956/57". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Legends – Sir Bobby Charlton". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  3. ^ Marshall, Adam (26 September 2011). "On this Day: United beat Anderlecht 10-0". Manchester United. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
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