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

Results

First Round Proper

At this stage the 48 Third Division North and Third Division South clubs joined the 32 non-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds.
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

This round was the first in which 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.
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 Town1–2Arsenal12 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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Replay

Semifinals

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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.