1955–56 FA Cup


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.
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.

Qualifying rounds

Most participating clubs that were not members of the Football League competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 30 places available in the first round.
The winners from the fourth qualifying round were Shildon, Easington Colliery Welfare, Durham City, Scarborough, Crook Town, Ashton United, Netherfield, Rhyl, Burton Albion, Halesowen Town, Northwich Victoria, Goole Town, Worksop Town, Boston United, Hereford United, Peterborough United, Skegness Town, Bedford Town, March Town United, Southall, Ramsgate Athletic, Margate, Hastings United, Leyton, Wycombe Wanderers, Dorchester Town, Salisbury, Weymouth, Lovell's Athletic and Yeovil Town.
Those appearing in the competition proper for the first time were Easington Colliery Welfare, Halesowen Town, Skegness Town, March Town United, Ramsgate Athletic, Salisbury and Burton Albion. Albion was the fifth club from Burton upon Trent to qualify for the main draw of the FA Cup, following Swifts, Wanderers, United and Town respectively.
Of the others, Shildon and Southall had last featured at this stage in 1936-37, Margate in 1935-36, Wycombe Wanderers in 1932-33, Durham City in 1927-28, Worksop Town in 1926-27 and Northwich Victoria in 1892-93.

Results

First round proper

At this stage the 48 Third Division North and South clubs joined the 30 non-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds along with Bishop Auckland and Hendon, who were given byes to this round as the champions and runners-up from the previous season's FA Amateur Cup.
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.

Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDateAttendanceSummary
1Chesterfield1–2Hartlepools United10 December 1955
2Darlington0–1Accrington Stanley10 December 1955
3Weymouth0–1Southend United10 December 1955
4Reading2–2Aldershot10 December 1955
ReplayAldershot3–0Reading14 December 1955
5Walsall2–1Southampton10 December 1955
6Derby County1–6Boston United10 December 195523,757
7Swindon Town1–1Peterborough United10 December 1955
ReplayPeterborough United1–2Swindon Town15 December 1955
8Shrewsbury Town0–0Torquay United10 December 1955
ReplayTorquay United5–1Shrewsbury Town14 December 1955
9Bishop Auckland0–0Scunthorpe & Lindsey United10 December 1955
ReplayScunthorpe & Lindsey United2–0Bishop Auckland15 December 1955
10Tranmere Rovers0–3Barrow10 December 1955
11Northampton Town4–1Hastings United10 December 1955
12Brighton & Hove Albion1–2Norwich City10 December 1955
13Bradford City2–2Worksop Town10 December 1955
ReplayWorksop Town1–0Bradford City15 December 1955
14Bradford Park Avenue4–3Workington10 December 1955
15Exeter City6–2Hendon10 December 1955
16Bedford Town3–2Watford10 December 1955
17Halifax Town0–0Burton Albion10 December 1955
ReplayBurton Albion1–0Halifax Town14 December 1955
18Southport0–0Grimsby Town10 December 1955
ReplayGrimsby Town3–2Southport14 December 1955
19York City2–1Mansfield Town10 December 1955
20Leyton Orient4–1Brentford10 December 1955

Third round proper

At this stage the 44 Second Division and First Division 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. Boston United, Worksop Town, Bedford Town and Burton Albion were the last non-league sides left in the competition.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDateAttendanceSummary
1Bury0–1Burnley10 January 1956
2Liverpool2–0Accrington Stanley7 January 195648,385
3Walsall0–1Port Vale7 January 195621,836
4Notts County0–1Fulham7 January 1956
5Aston Villa1–1Hull City7 January 195633,284
ReplayHull City1–2Aston Villa12 January 195624,253
6Sheffield Wednesday1–3Newcastle United7 January 195648,198
7Bolton Wanderers3–0Huddersfield Town11 January 195620,862
8Wolverhampton Wanderers1–2West Bromwich Albion7 January 195655,564
9Sunderland4–2Norwich City7 January 195646,390
10Lincoln City2–3Southend United7 January 1956
11Luton Town0–4Leicester City11 January 1956
12Everton3–1Bristol City7 January 1956
13Swindon Town1–0Worksop Town7 January 1956
14Doncaster Rovers3–0Nottingham Forest7 January 1956
15Sheffield United5–0Barrow7 January 1956
16Tottenham Hotspur4–0Boston United7 January 1956
17Manchester City2–1Blackpool11 January 1956
18Bristol Rovers4–0Manchester United7 January 195635,872
19Northampton Town1–2Blackburn Rovers7 January 1956
20Portsmouth3–1Grimsby Town7 January 1956
21West Ham United5–2Preston North End7 January 1956
22Bradford Park Avenue0–4Middlesbrough7 January 1956
23Exeter City0–0Stoke City7 January 1956
ReplayStoke City3–0Exeter City9 January 1956
24Hartlepools United0–1Chelsea7 January 1956
25Swansea Town1–2York City7 January 1956
26Charlton Athletic7–0Burton Albion7 January 1956
27Arsenal2–2Bedford Town7 January 1956
ReplayBedford Town 1–2Arsenal12 January 1956
28Leeds United1–2Cardiff City7 January 1956
29Torquay United1–7Birmingham City7 January 195618,730
30Rotherham United1–1Scunthorpe & Lindsey United7 January 1956
ReplayScunthorpe & Lindsey United4–2Rotherham United12 January 1956
31Aldershot1–2Barnsley7 January 1956
32Leyton Orient1–0Plymouth Argyle7 January 1956

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 noHome teamScoreAway teamDateAttendanceSummary
1Burnley1–1Chelsea28 January 1956
ReplayChelsea1–1Burnley1 February 1956
2nd replayBurnley2–2Chelsea6 February 1956
3rd replayChelsea0–0Burnley13 February 1956
4th replayBurnley0–2Chelsea15 February 1956
2Liverpool3–3Scunthorpe & Lindsey United28 January 195653,393
ReplayScunthorpe & Lindsey United0–2Liverpool6 February 195619,500
3Leicester City3–3Stoke City28 January 195635,877
ReplayStoke City2–1Leicester City30 January 195634,120
4Bolton Wanderers1–2Sheffield United28 January 195647,105
5West Bromwich Albion2–0Portsmouth28 January 195659,448
6Tottenham Hotspur3–1Middlesbrough28 January 195641,895
7Fulham4–5Newcastle United28 January 195639,200
8Barnsley0–1Blackburn Rovers28 January 1956
9Bristol Rovers1–1Doncaster Rovers28 January 1956
ReplayDoncaster Rovers1–0Bristol Rovers31 January 1956
10West Ham United2–1Cardiff City28 January 1956
11Southend United0–1Manchester City28 January 1956
12Port Vale2–3Everton28 January 195644,278
13Charlton Athletic2–1Swindon Town28 January 1956
14Arsenal4–1Aston Villa28 January 195643,052
15York City0–0Sunderland28 January 195622,000
ReplaySunderland2–1York City1 February 195643,928
16Leyton Orient0–4Birmingham City28 January 195624,727

Fifth round proper

The matches were played on Saturday, 18 February 1956. Three matches were drawn, with replays taking place later that week.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDateAttendanceSummary
1West Bromwich Albion0–1Birmingham City18 February 195658,213
2Everton1–0Chelsea18 February 195661,572
3Doncaster Rovers0–2Tottenham Hotspur18 February 195630,436
4Sheffield United0–0Sunderland18 February 195651,516
ReplaySunderland1–0Sheffield United22 February 195639,883
5Newcastle United2–1Stoke City18 February 195661,550
6Manchester City0–0Liverpool18 February 195670,640
ReplayLiverpool1–2Manchester City22 February 195657,528
7West Ham United0–0Blackburn Rovers18 February 1956
ReplayBlackburn Rovers2–3West Ham United23 February 1956
8Charlton Athletic0–2Arsenal18 February 195671,758

Final rounds

Sixth round proper

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Semi-finals

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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.