1955–56 Birmingham City F.C. season


The 1955–56 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 53rd in the Football League and their 29th in the First Division, having been promoted as Second Division champions in 1954–55. They finished in a club-record sixth position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1955–56 FA Cup in the third round proper and reached the Final for only the second time, despite being drawn to play away from home in each round, the first time this had occurred. They lost 3–1 to Manchester City in a match remembered for City's goalkeeper Bert Trautmann playing the last 25 minutes with a broken neck.
Birmingham City became the first English club side to take part in European competition when they played their first group game in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup on 16 May 1956, a goalless draw away at Inter Milan. The competition lasted over three English seasons with the final not played until 1958. Invitations to enter the Fairs Cup, a tournament set up to promote industrial trade fairs, were extended to the city hosting the trade fair rather than to clubs. Some cities entered a select team including players from more than one club, but Aston Villa, the other major club based in the city of Birmingham, rejected the opportunity to field a combined team.
Twenty-four players made at least one appearance in nationally or internationally organised first-team competition, and there were thirteen different goalscorers. Goalkeeper Gil Merrick and forwards Eddy Brown and Peter Murphy played in 46 of the 50 first-team matches over the season, and Brown finished as leading goalscorer with 29 goals in all competitions, of which 21 were scored in the league.

Football League First Division

Note that not all teams completed their playing season on the same day. Birmingham were in fourth position after their last game of the season, on 21 April, but by the time the last game was played, on 2 May, they were sixth, having been overtaken by Manchester City and Arsenal.
DateLeague
position		OpponentsVenueResultScore
F–A		ScorersAttendance
20 August 19558thManchester UnitedHD2–2Kinsey, Astall37,612
24 August 19557thNewcastle UnitedAD2–2Murphy, Astall34,473
27 August 19554thSheffield UnitedAW3–0Brown, Kinsey, Murphy23,299
31 August 19552ndNewcastle UnitedHW3–1Brown, Murphy, Warhurst38,369
3 September 19558thPreston North EndHL0–347,014
5 September 19555thAston VillaAD0–056,935
10 September 195510thBurnleyAL2–3Kinsey, Astall22,808
17 September 195512thLuton TownHD0–031,013
21 September 195510thAston VillaHD2–2Brown, Astall32,642
24 September 195513thCharlton AthleticAL0–221,912
1 October 195510thTottenham HotspurHW3–0Brown, Murphy, Clarke og31,320
8 October 195512thSunderlandHL1–2Hudgell og37,946
15 October 195510thPortsmouthAW5–0Brown 3, Kinsey, Govan28,952
22 October 19557thManchester CityHW4–3Lane, Murphy, Govan, Boyd28,398
29 October 195510thWolverhampton WanderersAL0–147,006
5 November 19558thChelseaHW3–0Astall 2, Boyd30,499
12 November 195511thBlackpoolAL0–221,967
19 November 19558thHuddersfield TownHW5–0Brown 2, Murphy, Astall, Warhurst24,841
26 November 195510thCardiff CityAL1–2Brown23,638
3 December 19557thArsenalHW4–0Kinsey 2, Brown, Astall35,765
10 December 19559thBolton WanderersAL0–615,793
17 December 195510thManchester UnitedAL1–2Brown27,936
24 December 195513thSheffield UnitedHL0–223,822
26 December 195513thEvertonHW6–2Brown 2, Kinsey 3, Govan25,541
27 December 195515thEvertonAL1–5Astall42,236
31 December 195514thPreston North EndAD1–1Astall25,834
14 January 195616thBurnleyHL1–2Kinsey27,388
21 January 195616thLuton TownAW1–0Brown18,970
4 February 195614thCharlton AthleticHW4–0Brown 3, Kinsey24,447
11 February 195611thTottenham HotspurAW1–0Astall26,141
25 February 19569thPortsmouthHW3–2Kinsey 2, Brown31,955
7 March 19568thHuddersfield TownAW3–2Brown9,224
10 March 19568thWolverhampton WanderersHD0–045,161
21 March 19566thChelseaAW2–1Kinsey, Govan12,637
24 March 19567thBlackpoolHL1–2Murphy47,933
31 March 195610thManchester CityAD1–1Murphy44,777
2 April 19568thWest Bromwich AlbionHW2–0Brown, Murphy38,891
3 April 19564thWest Bromwich AlbionAW2–0Murphy 235,858
7 April 19563rdCardiff CityHW2–1Brown, Baker og37,154
14 April 19566thArsenalAL0–131,775
18 April 19567thSunderlandAL0–114,824
21 April 19564thBolton WanderersHW5–2Kinsey, Warmington, Astall, Wheeler 2 ogs29,640

League table (part)

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScore
F–A		ScorersAttendance
Third round7 January 1956Torquay UnitedAW7–1Astall, Brown 3, Kinsey, Murphy 218,730
Fourth round28 January 1956Leyton OrientAW4–0Brown 2, Murphy, Finney24,727
Fifth round18 February 1956West Bromwich AlbionAW1–0Murphy57,213
Sixth round3 March 1956ArsenalAW3–1Astall, Murphy, Brown67,872
Semi-final17 March 1956SunderlandHillsborough, SheffieldW3–0Kinsey, Astall, Brown65,107
Final5 May 1956Manchester CityWembley, LondonL1–3Kinsey98,982

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScore
F–A		ScorersAttendance
Group B15 May 1956InternazionaleAD0–08,000
Group B24 May 1956Zagreb XIAW1–0Brown12,000

Appearances and goals