1956–57 Manchester United F.C. season

Manchester United
1956–57 season
Chairman	Harold Hardman
Manager	Matt Busby
First Division	1st
FA Cup	Runners-up
European Cup	Semi-finals
Charity Shield	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: ; Billy Whelan (26); All: ; Tommy Taylor (34)
Highest home attendance	75,598 vs Borussia Dortmund (17 October 1956)
Lowest home attendance	20,357 vs West Bromwich Albion (29 April 1957)
Average home league attendance	48,679
	← 1955–56 1957–58 →

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

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
24 October 1956	Manchester City	A	1–0	Viollet	30,495

First Division

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 v t e	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

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

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

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

References

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

[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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