1955–56_FA_Cup
1955–56 FA Cup
Football tournament season
The 1955–56 FA Cup was the 75th staging of the world's oldest football cup competition, the FA Cup. Manchester City won the competition, beating Birmingham City 3–1 in the final at Wembley, London.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country |  England Wales |
| Defending champions | Newcastle United |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Manchester City (3rd title) |
| Runner-up | Birmingham City |
Matches were scheduled to be played at the stadium of the team named first on the date specified for each round, which was always a Saturday. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played, a replay would take place at the stadium of the second-named team later the same week. If the replayed match was drawn further replays would be held at neutral venues until a winner was determined. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played in a replay, a 30-minute period of extra time would be played.
| Round | Date |
|---|---|
| Preliminary round | 10 September 1955 |
| First qualifying round | 24 September 1955 |
| Second qualifying round | 8 October 1955 |
| Third qualifying round | 22 October 1955 |
| Fourth qualifying round | 5 November 1955 |
| First round proper | 19 November 1955 |
| Second round | 10 December 1955 |
| Third round | 7 January 1956 |
| Fourth round | 28 January 1956 |
| Fifth round | 18 February 1956 |
| Sixth round | 3 March 1956 |
| Semifinals | 17 March 1956 |
| Final | 5 May 1956 |
First round proper
At this stage the 48 Third Division North and Third Division South clubs joined the 30 non-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds plus Bishop Auckland and Hendon were given byes to this round.
The matches were played on Saturday, 19 November 1955. Seven matches were drawn, with replays taking place later that week. Two ties needed a second replay, which took place on the following Monday, 28 November 1955.
Second round proper
The matches were played on Saturday, 10 December 1955. Seven matches were drawn, with replays taking place later that week.
Third round proper
This round was the first in which the 44 Second Division and First Division (top-flight) teams entered the competition. The matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 7 January 1956, though four were postponed until later that week because of bad weather. Four matches were drawn, with replays taking place later that week.
Fourth round proper
The matches were played on Saturday, 28 January 1956. Four matches were drawn, three of which were settled in a single replay. The fourth, between Burnley and Chelsea, was eventually decided in Chelsea's favour in the fourth replay, played 18 days after the date of the original tie.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date | Attendance | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burnley | 1–1 | Chelsea | 28 January 1956 | ||
| Replay | Chelsea | 1–1 | Burnley | 1 February 1956 | ||
| 2nd replay | Burnley | 2–2 | Chelsea | 6 February 1956 | [3] | |
| 3rd replay | Chelsea | 0–0 | Burnley | 13 February 1956 | [4] | |
| 4th replay | Burnley | 0–2 | Chelsea | 15 February 1956 | [5] | |
| 2 | Liverpool | 3–3 | Scunthorpe & Lindsey United | 28 January 1956 | 53,393 | |
| Replay | Scunthorpe & Lindsey United | 0–2 | Liverpool | 6 February 1956 | 19,500 | |
| 3 | Leicester City | 3–3 | Stoke City | 28 January 1956 | 35,877 | |
| Replay | Stoke City | 2–1 | Leicester City | 30 January 1956 | 34,120 | |
| 4 | Bolton Wanderers | 1–2 | Sheffield United | 28 January 1956 | 47,105 | |
| 5 | West Bromwich Albion | 2–0 | Portsmouth | 28 January 1956 | 59,448 | |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 3–1 | Middlesbrough | 28 January 1956 | 41,895 | |
| 7 | Fulham | 4–5 | Newcastle United | 28 January 1956 | 39,200 | |
| 8 | Barnsley | 0–1 | Blackburn Rovers | 28 January 1956 | ||
| 9 | Bristol Rovers | 1–1 | Doncaster Rovers | 28 January 1956 | ||
| Replay | Doncaster Rovers | 1–0 | Bristol Rovers | 31 January 1956 | ||
| 10 | West Ham United | 2–1 | Cardiff City | 28 January 1956 | ||
| 11 | Southend United | 0–1 | Manchester City | 28 January 1956 | ||
| 12 | Port Vale | 2–3 | Everton | 28 January 1956 | 44,278 | |
| 13 | Charlton Athletic | 2–1 | Swindon Town | 28 January 1956 | ||
| 14 | Arsenal | 4–1 | Aston Villa | 28 January 1956 | 43,052 | |
| 15 | York City | 0–0 | Sunderland | 28 January 1956 | 22,000 | |
| Replay | Sunderland | 2–1 | York City | 1 February 1956 | 43,928 | |
| 16 | Leyton Orient | 0–4 | Birmingham City | 28 January 1956 | 24,727 |
Fifth round proper
The matches were played on Saturday, 18 February 1956. Three matches were drawn, with replays taking place later that week.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date | Attendance | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Bromwich Albion | 0–1 | Birmingham City | 18 February 1956 | 58,213 | |
| 2 | Everton | 1–0 | Chelsea | 18 February 1956 | 61,572 | |
| 3 | Doncaster Rovers | 0–2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 18 February 1956 | 30,436 | |
| 4 | Sheffield United | 0–0 | Sunderland | 18 February 1956 | 51,516 | |
| Replay | Sunderland | 1–0 | Sheffield United | 22 February 1956 | 39,883 | |
| 5 | Newcastle United | 2–1 | Stoke City | 18 February 1956 | 61,550 | |
| 6 | Manchester City | 0–0 | Liverpool | 18 February 1956 | 70,640 | |
| Replay | Liverpool | 1–2 | Manchester City | 22 February 1956 | 57,528 | |
| 7 | West Ham United | 0–0 | Blackburn Rovers | 18 February 1956 | ||
| Replay | Blackburn Rovers | 2–3 | West Ham United | 23 February 1956 | ||
| 8 | Charlton Athletic | 0–2 | Arsenal | 18 February 1956 | 71,758 |
Sixth round proper
Replay
Semi-finals
| Birmingham City | 3–0 | Sunderland |
|---|---|---|
Astall  9'Brown 65'Kinsey 83' |
Final
The final took place on Saturday, 5 May 1956 at Wembley and ended 3–1, with goals scored by Joe Hayes, Bobby Johnstone and Jack Dyson for Manchester City and Noel Kinsey for Birmingham City. The attendance was 100,000. The match is remembered for an incident where Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann sustained a neck injury diving at the feet of Birmingham attacker Peter Murphy; he completed the game in considerable pain, and later examination discovered he had broken a bone in his neck.
| Manchester City | 3–1 | Birmingham City |
|---|---|---|
| Hayes 3' Johnstone 62' Dyson 64' |
Kinsey 15' |
      Manchester City
|
   Birmingham City
|
- The FA Cup Archive at TheFA.com
- Results on Soccerbase Archived 4 May 2005 at the Wayback Machine
- Played at St James' Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Played at The Dell, Southampton.
- Played at St Andrew's, Birmingham.
- Played at White Hart Lane, London.