Football in England
Season1956–57
Men's football
First DivisionManchester United
Second DivisionLeicester City
FA CupAston Villa
England

The 1956–57 season was the 77th season of competitive football in England.

Manchester United won the First Division to become English football champions for the fifth time. Tottenham Hotspur were runners-up. In the Second Division it was Leicester City who finished in top spot, ahead of East Midlands rivals, Nottingham Forest. Hartlepools United finished as runners-up to Derby County in Third Division North, while in the Third Division South, Ipswich Town won the title ahead of Torquay United.

Aston Villa won a record seventh FA Cup, beating Manchester United in the final and denying their opponents the chance of being the first double winners of the 20th century. The Charity Shield featured a Manchester derby, with United defeating City in the match.

The England national team won the British Home Championship, with Scotland the runners-up.

Honours

CompetitionWinnerRunner-up
First DivisionManchester United (5)Tottenham Hotspur
Second DivisionLeicester CityNottingham Forest
Third Division NorthDerby CountyHartlepool United
Third Division SouthIpswich TownTorquay United
FA CupAston Villa (7*)Manchester United
Charity ShieldManchester UnitedManchester City
Home ChampionshipEnglandScotland

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

Awards

Football Writers' Association

Top goalscorer

FA Cup

Aston Villa won the FA Cup for a then record seventh time.

Football League

First Division

Manchester United's young team dominated the English game once again, retaining the First Division title and also becoming England's first representatives in the European Cup, reaching the semi-finals, and also finishing runners-up in the FA Cup to an Aston Villa side who won the trophy for a record seventh time. Tottenham Hotspur finished runners-up, while Tom Finney's influence at Preston helped the Deepdale side finish third, while another veteran winger, Stanley Matthews, helped his own side finish fourth. Leeds United enjoyed possibly their best season to date by finishing eighth, but their hopes of further achievements in the immediate future were then hit by the news that star striker John Charles would be on his way to Juventus of Italy in a transfer worth £65,000.

Charlton Athletic and Cardiff City went down to the Second Division.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Manchester United 42 28 8 6 103 54 1.907 64 Qualified for the European Cup
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
6 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 20 8 14 94 70 1.343 48
7 Burnley 42 18 10 14 56 50 1.120 46
8 Leeds United 42 15 14 13 72 63 1.143 44
9 Bolton Wanderers 42 16 12 14 65 65 1.000 44
10 Aston Villa 42 14 15 13 65 55 1.182 43
11 West Bromwich Albion 42 14 14 14 59 61 0.967 42
12 Birmingham City 42 15 9 18 69 69 1.000 39
13 Chelsea 42 13 13 16 73 73 1.000 39
14 Sheffield Wednesday 42 16 6 20 82 88 0.932 38
15 Everton 42 14 10 18 61 79 0.772 38
16 Luton Town 42 14 9 19 58 76 0.763 37
17 Newcastle United 42 14 8 20 67 87 0.770 36
18 Manchester City 42 13 9 20 78 88 0.886 35
19 Portsmouth 42 10 13 19 62 92 0.674 33
20 Sunderland 42 12 8 22 67 88 0.761 32
21 Cardiff City 42 10 9 23 53 88 0.602 29 Relegated to the Second Division
22 Charlton Athletic 42 9 4 29 62 120 0.517 22
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Second Division

It was an East Midlands promotion double in the Second Division as Leicester City won the title by a comfortable margin, and were joined on the way upwards by runners-up and local rivals Nottingham Forest. Liverpool missed out on promotion by a single point under the management of their former player Phil Taylor, while Blackburn Rovers fell two points short of promotion.

Bury and Port Vale went down from the Second Division.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Leicester City 42 25 11 6 109 67 1.627 61 Promoted to the First Division
2 Nottingham Forest 42 22 10 10 94 55 1.709 54
3 Liverpool 42 21 11 10 82 54 1.519 53
4 Blackburn Rovers 42 21 10 11 83 75 1.107 52
5 Stoke City 42 20 8 14 83 58 1.431 48
6 Middlesbrough 42 19 10 13 84 60 1.400 48
7 Sheffield United 42 19 8 15 87 76 1.145 46
8 West Ham United 42 19 8 15 59 63 0.937 46
9 Bristol Rovers 42 18 9 15 81 67 1.209 45
10 Swansea Town 42 19 7 16 90 90 1.000 45
11 Fulham 42 19 4 19 84 76 1.105 42
12 Huddersfield Town 42 18 6 18 68 74 0.919 42
13 Bristol City 42 16 9 17 74 79 0.937 41
14 Doncaster Rovers 42 15 10 17 77 77 1.000 40
15 Leyton Orient 42 15 10 17 66 84 0.786 40
16 Grimsby Town 42 17 5 20 61 62 0.984 39
17 Rotherham United 42 13 11 18 74 75 0.987 37
18 Lincoln City 42 14 6 22 54 80 0.675 34
19 Barnsley 42 12 10 20 59 89 0.663 34
20 Notts County 42 9 12 21 58 86 0.674 30
21 Bury 42 8 9 25 60 96 0.625 25 Relegated to the Third Division North
22 Port Vale 42 8 6 28 57 101 0.564 22 Relegated to the Third Division South
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division North

Derby County, who had declined sharply since their 1946 FA Cup triumph, finally enjoyed some long-awaited success by winning the Third Division North title and promotion to the Second Division.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Derby County 46 26 11 9 111 53 2.094 63 Promoted to the Second Division
2 Hartlepools United 46 25 9 12 90 63 1.429 59
3 Accrington Stanley 46 25 8 13 95 64 1.484 58
4 Workington 46 24 10 12 93 63 1.476 58
5 Stockport County 46 23 8 15 91 75 1.213 54
6 Chesterfield 46 22 9 15 96 79 1.215 53
7 York City 46 21 10 15 75 61 1.230 52
8 Hull City 46 21 10 15 84 69 1.217 52
9 Bradford City 46 22 8 16 78 68 1.147 52
10 Barrow 46 21 9 16 76 62 1.226 51
11 Halifax Town 46 21 7 18 65 70 0.929 49
12 Wrexham 46 19 10 17 97 74 1.311 48
13 Rochdale 46 18 12 16 65 65 1.000 48
14 Scunthorpe & Lindsey United 46 15 15 16 71 69 1.029 45
15 Carlisle United 46 16 13 17 76 85 0.894 45
16 Mansfield Town 46 17 10 19 91 90 1.011 44
17 Gateshead 46 17 10 19 72 90 0.800 44
18 Darlington 46 17 8 21 82 95 0.863 42
19 Oldham Athletic 46 12 15 19 66 74 0.892 39
20 Bradford Park Avenue 46 16 3 27 66 93 0.710 35
21 Chester 46 10 13 23 55 84 0.655 33
22 Southport 46 10 12 24 52 94 0.553 32
23 Tranmere Rovers 46 7 13 26 51 91 0.560 27 Re-elected
24 Crewe Alexandra 46 6 9 31 43 110 0.391 21
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division South

Alf Ramsey, the former Tottenham and England player, guided Ipswich Town to title glory in the Third Division South, securing their promotion to the Second Division ahead of a Torquay side who had yet to play Second Division football. The leading pair finished a single point ahead of Colchester United, one of the Football League's newest members.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Ipswich Town 46 25 9 12 101 54 1.870 59 Promoted to the Second Division
2 Torquay United 46 24 11 11 89 64 1.391 59
3 Colchester United 46 22 14 10 84 56 1.500 58
4 Southampton 46 22 10 14 76 52 1.462 54
5 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 46 19 14 13 88 62 1.419 52
6 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 19 14 13 86 65 1.323 52
7 Southend United 46 18 12 16 73 65 1.123 48
8 Brentford 46 16 16 14 78 76 1.026 48
9 Shrewsbury Town 46 15 18 13 72 79 0.911 48
10 Queens Park Rangers 46 18 11 17 61 60 1.017 47
11 Watford 46 18 10 18 72 75 0.960 46
12 Newport County 46 16 13 17 65 62 1.048 45
13 Reading 46 18 9 19 80 81 0.988 45
14 Northampton Town 46 18 9 19 66 73 0.904 45
15 Walsall 46 16 12 18 80 74 1.081 44
16 Coventry City 46 16 12 18 74 84 0.881 44
17 Millwall 46 16 12 18 64 84 0.762 44
18 Plymouth Argyle 46 16 11 19 68 73 0.932 43
19 Aldershot 46 15 12 19 79 92 0.859 42
20 Crystal Palace 46 11 18 17 62 75 0.827 40
21 Exeter City 46 12 13 21 61 79 0.772 37
22 Gillingham 46 12 13 21 54 85 0.635 37
23 Swindon Town 46 15 6 25 66 96 0.688 36 Re-elected
24 Norwich City 46 8 15 23 61 94 0.649 31
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Top goalscorers

First Division

Second Division

Third Division North

Third Division South

Notable debutants

6 October 1956: Bobby Charlton, five days short of his 19th birthday, scores twice on his debut for Manchester United in a 4-2 home win over Charlton Athletic in the First Division.[3]

24 October 1956: David Gaskell, 16-year-old goalkeeper, keeps goal for Manchester United in their Charity Shield match against Manchester City due to an injury to regular goalkeeper Ray Wood.[4]

24 December 1956: Denis Law, 16-year-old Scottish forward, makes his debut for Huddersfield Town against Notts County in the Second Division.[5]

Europe

League champions Manchester United became the first English side to enter the European Cup, now in its second season. They began on a high note by eliminating Belgian champions Anderlecht, confirming qualification for the first knockout round by beating the Belgian side 10-0 in the preliminary round second leg at Maine Road.[6] They reached the semi-finals, narrowly being beaten by defending European champions Real Madrid of Spain, who went on to retain the trophy.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Official Manchester United Website". Archived from the original on 6 December 2010.
  4. ↑ "David Gaskell - Manchester United Player Profile & Stats".
  5. ↑ "Football Legends - Everything you should know about the football legends in the world".
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ↑ "European Competitions 1956-57".
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