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.

Calendar

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