1955–56 Manchester United F.C. season
(Redirected from Manchester United F.C. season 1955–56)
The 1955–56 season was Manchester United's 54th season in the Football League, and their 11th consecutive season in the top division of English football.[1]
| 1955–56 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Harold Hardman | ||
| Manager | Matt Busby | ||
| First Division | 1st | ||
| FA Cup | Third Round | ||
| Top goalscorer | League: Tommy Taylor (25) All: Tommy Taylor (25) | ||
| Highest home attendance | 62,277 vs Blackpool (7 April 1956) | ||
| Lowest home attendance | 22,192 vs Chelsea (19 November 1955) | ||
| Average home league attendance | 38,893 | ||
|
| |||
A United side consisted mostly of players in their late teens and early twenties finished the season as league champions 11 points ahead of their nearest rivals Blackpool and Wolves.
Right-half Eddie Colman made his debut for United this season, first featuring in the league match against Bolton Wanderers at Burnden Park on 12 November 1955 and was soon a regular partner to Duncan Edwards in the United half-back positions. Colman's breakthrough forced Jeff Whitefoot out of the team and contributed to his transfer to Grimsby Town in the summer of 1956, while long-serving goalkeeper Jack Crompton played his final game for United this season.[2]
First Division
edit| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A |
Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 August 1955 | Birmingham City | A | 2–2 | Viollet (2) | 37,994 |
| 24 August 1955 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 2–2 | Berry, Webster | 25,406 |
| 27 August 1955 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 3–1 | Lewis, Scanlon, Viollet | 31,996 |
| 31 August 1955 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 2–1 | Edwards (2) | 27,453 |
| 3 September 1955 | Manchester City | A | 0–1 | 59,162 | |
| 7 September 1955 | Everton | H | 2–1 | Blanchflower, Edwards | 27,843 |
| 10 September 1955 | Sheffield United | A | 0–1 | 28,241 | |
| 14 September 1955 | Everton | A | 2–4 | Blanchflower, Webster | 34,897 |
| 17 September 1955 | Preston North End | H | 3–2 | Pegg, Taylor, Viollet | 33,078 |
| 24 September 1955 | Burnley | A | 0–0 | 26,873 | |
| 1 October 1955 | Luton Town | H | 3–1 | Taylor (2), Colin Webster | 34,409 |
| 8 October 1955 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 4–3 | Taylor (2), Doherty, Pegg | 48,638 |
| 15 October 1955 | Aston Villa | A | 4–4 | Pegg (2), Blanchflower, Webster | 29,478 |
| 22 October 1955 | Huddersfield Town | H | 3–0 | Berry, Pegg, Taylor | 34,150 |
| 29 October 1955 | Cardiff City | A | 1–0 | Taylor | 27,795 |
| 5 November 1955 | Arsenal | H | 1–1 | Taylor | 41,586 |
| 12 November 1955 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–3 | Taylor | 38,109 |
| 19 November 1955 | Chelsea | H | 3–0 | Taylor (2), Byrne | 22,192 |
| 26 November 1955 | Blackpool | A | 0–0 | 26,240 | |
| 3 December 1955 | Sunderland | H | 2–1 | Doherty, Viollet | 39,901 |
| 10 December 1955 | Portsmouth | A | 2–3 | Pegg, Taylor | 24,594 |
| 17 December 1955 | Birmingham City | H | 2–1 | Jones, Viollet | 27,704 |
| 24 December 1955 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 4–1 | Viollet (3), Taylor | 25,168 |
| 26 December 1955 | Charlton Athletic | H | 5–1 | Viollet (2), Byrne, Doherty, Taylor | 44,611 |
| 27 December 1955 | Charlton Athletic | A | 0–3 | 42,040 | |
| 31 December 1955 | Manchester City | H | 2–1 | Taylor, Viollet | 60,956 |
| 14 January 1956 | Sheffield United | H | 3–1 | Berry, Pegg, Taylor | 30,162 |
| 21 January 1956 | Preston North End | A | 1–3 | Whelan | 28,047 |
| 4 February 1956 | Burnley | H | 2–0 | Taylor, Viollet | 27,342 |
| 11 February 1956 | Luton Town | A | 2–0 | Viollet, Whelan | 16,354 |
| 18 February 1956 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 2–0 | Taylor (2) | 40,014 |
| 25 February 1956 | Aston Villa | H | 1–0 | Whelan | 36,277 |
| 3 March 1956 | Chelsea | A | 4–2 | Viollet (2), Pegg, Taylor | 32,050 |
| 10 March 1956 | Cardiff City | H | 1–1 | Byrne | 44,693 |
| 17 March 1956 | Arsenal | A | 1–1 | Viollet | 50,758 |
| 24 March 1956 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 1–0 | Taylor | 46,114 |
| 30 March 1956 | Newcastle United | H | 5–2 | Viollet (2), Doherty, Pegg, Taylor | 58,994 |
| 31 March 1956 | Huddersfield Town | A | 2–0 | Taylor (2) | 37,780 |
| 2 April 1956 | Newcastle United | A | 0–0 | 37,395 | |
| 7 April 1956 | Blackpool | H | 2–1 | Berry, Taylor | 62,277 |
| 14 April 1956 | Sunderland | A | 2–2 | McGuinness, Whelan | 19,865 |
| 21 April 1956 | Portsmouth | H | 1–0 | Viollet | 38,417 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United (C) | 42 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 83 | 51 | 1.627 | 60 | Qualification for the European Cup preliminary round |
| 2 | Blackpool | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 86 | 62 | 1.387 | 49 | |
| 3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 89 | 65 | 1.369 | 49 | |
| 4 | Manchester City | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 82 | 69 | 1.188 | 46 | |
| 5 | Arsenal | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 60 | 61 | 0.984 | 46 |
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 January 1956 | Round 3 | Bristol Rovers | A | 0–4 | 35,872 |
Squad statistics
edit| Pos. | Name | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| GK |  Jack Crompton
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| GK | Ray Wood
|
41 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 0 |
| FB | Geoff Bent
|
4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FB | Roger Byrne
|
39 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 3 |
| FB | Bill Foulkes
|
26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| FB | Ian Greaves
|
15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| HB |  Jackie Blanchflower
|
18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3 |
| HB | Eddie Colman
|
25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| HB | Duncan Edwards
|
33 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 3 |
| HB | Freddie Goodwin
|
8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| HB | Mark Jones
|
42 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 1 |
| HB | Wilf McGuinness
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| HB | Jeff Whitefoot
|
15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| HB | Walter Whitehurst
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Johnny Berry
|
34 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 4 |
| FW | John Doherty
|
16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 4 |
| FW | Eddie Lewis
|
4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| FW | David Pegg
|
35 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 9 |
| FW | Albert Scanlon
|
6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| FW | Jackie Scott
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Tommy Taylor
|
33 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 25 |
| FW | Dennis Viollet
|
34 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 20 |
| FW |  Colin Webster
|
15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 4 |
| FW |  Billy Whelan
|
13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 4 |
References
edit- ^ "Manchester United Season 1955/56". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
- ^ "Legends – Eddie Colman". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2012.