1955–56 in English football

The 1955–56 season was the 76th season of competitive football in England.

The season ended with success for both Manchester clubs, as City won the FA Cup and Manchester United won the First Division title by an 11-point margin.

Overview

Defending league champions Chelsea decided not to compete in the new European Champions Cup, following opposition from the Football League about the participation of English clubs in the competition.

The league title is taken by a Manchester United side with an average age of just 22, which finished an incredible 11 points ahead of their nearest contenders Blackpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

It was a Manchester double for trophies, with Manchester City winning the FA Cup, with goalkeeper Bert Trautmann famously playing on despite suffering what was later diagnosed as a broken neck in a collision with a Birmingham City player.

Awards

Football Writers' Association

• Footballer of the Year – Bert Trautmann (Manchester City)

Top goalscorer

• Nat Lofthouse (Bolton Wanderers), 33

Honours

Competition	Winner	Runner-up
First Division	Manchester United (4)	Blackpool
Second Division	Sheffield Wednesday	Leeds United
Third Division North	Grimsby Town	Derby County
Third Division South	Leyton Orient	Brighton & Hove Albion
FA Cup	Manchester City (3)	Birmingham City
Charity Shield	Chelsea	Newcastle United
Home Championship	Shared by England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

League table

First Division

Manchester United won the First Division title by 11 points, featuring a squad of players with an average of just 22, with manager Matt Busby's emphasis on youth paying dividends and answering the critics who felt that his policy would not be able to maintain United's place among the game's elite. Second place was occupied by Blackpool, with Stanley Matthews still a dominant presence in the team in his 41st year, while Wolves finished third, FA Cup winners Manchester City finished fourth, and Arsenal completed the top five. Birmingham City finished sixth to record their best ever final position.

Sheffield United and Huddersfield Town finished the season relegated.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Manchester United	42	25	10	7	83	51	1.627	60
2	Blackpool	42	20	9	13	86	62	1.387	49
3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	20	9	13	89	65	1.369	49
4	Manchester City	42	18	10	14	82	69	1.188	46
5	Arsenal	42	18	10	14	60	61	0.984	46
6	Birmingham City	42	18	9	15	75	57	1.316	45
7	Burnley	42	18	8	16	64	54	1.185	44
8	Bolton Wanderers	42	18	7	17	71	58	1.224	43
9	Sunderland	42	17	9	16	80	95	0.842	43
10	Luton Town	42	17	8	17	66	64	1.031	42
11	Newcastle United	42	17	7	18	85	70	1.214	41
12	Portsmouth	42	16	9	17	78	85	0.918	41
13	West Bromwich Albion	42	18	5	19	58	70	0.829	41
14	Charlton Athletic	42	17	6	19	75	81	0.926	40
15	Everton	42	15	10	17	55	69	0.797	40
16	Chelsea	42	14	11	17	64	77	0.831	39
17	Cardiff City	42	15	9	18	55	69	0.797	39
18	Tottenham Hotspur	42	15	7	20	61	71	0.859	37
19	Preston North End	42	14	8	20	73	72	1.014	36
20	Aston Villa	42	11	13	18	52	69	0.754	35
21	Huddersfield Town	42	14	7	21	54	83	0.651	35
22	Sheffield United	42	12	9	21	63	77	0.818	33

Second Division

Sheffield Wednesday crossed paths with their cross city rivals to return to the First Division by winning the Second Division title, joined by runners-up Leeds United. Liverpool narrowly missed out on a First Division comeback by finishing third.

Plymouth Argyle and Hull City were relegated.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Sheffield Wednesday	42	21	13	8	101	62	1.629	55
2	Leeds United	42	23	6	13	80	60	1.333	52
3	Liverpool	42	21	6	15	85	63	1.349	48
4	Blackburn Rovers	42	21	6	15	84	65	1.292	48
5	Leicester City	42	21	6	15	94	78	1.205	48
6	Bristol Rovers	42	21	6	15	84	70	1.200	48
7	Nottingham Forest	42	19	9	14	68	63	1.079	47
8	Lincoln City	42	18	10	14	79	65	1.215	46
9	Fulham	42	20	6	16	89	79	1.127	46
10	Swansea Town	42	20	6	16	83	81	1.025	46
11	Bristol City	42	19	7	16	80	64	1.250	45
12	Port Vale	42	16	13	13	60	58	1.034	45
13	Stoke City	42	20	4	18	71	62	1.145	44
14	Middlesbrough	42	16	8	18	76	78	0.974	40
15	Bury	42	16	8	18	86	90	0.956	40
16	West Ham United	42	14	11	17	74	69	1.072	39
17	Doncaster Rovers	42	12	11	19	69	96	0.719	35
18	Barnsley	42	11	12	19	47	84	0.560	34
19	Rotherham United	42	12	9	21	56	75	0.747	33
20	Notts County	42	11	9	22	55	82	0.671	31
21	Plymouth Argyle	42	10	8	24	54	87	0.621	28
22	Hull City	42	10	6	26	53	97	0.546	26

Third Division North

Grimsby Town clinched the Third Division North title and secured promotion to the Second Division.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Grimsby Town	46	31	6	9	76	29	2.621	68
2	Derby County	46	28	7	11	110	55	2.000	63
3	Accrington Stanley	46	25	9	12	92	57	1.614	59
4	Hartlepools United	46	26	5	15	81	60	1.350	57
5	Southport	46	23	11	12	66	53	1.245	57
6	Chesterfield	46	25	4	17	94	66	1.424	54
7	Stockport County	46	21	9	16	90	61	1.475	51
8	Bradford City	46	18	13	15	78	64	1.219	49
9	Scunthorpe & Lindsey United	46	20	8	18	75	63	1.190	48
10	Workington	46	19	9	18	75	63	1.190	47
11	York City	46	19	9	18	85	72	1.181	47
12	Rochdale	46	17	13	16	66	84	0.786	47
13	Gateshead	46	17	11	18	77	84	0.917	45
14	Wrexham	46	16	10	20	66	73	0.904	42
15	Darlington	46	16	9	21	60	73	0.822	41
16	Tranmere Rovers	46	16	9	21	59	84	0.702	41
17	Chester City	46	13	14	19	52	82	0.634	40
18	Mansfield Town	46	14	11	21	84	81	1.037	39
19	Halifax Town	46	14	11	21	66	76	0.868	39
20	Oldham Athletic	46	10	18	18	76	86	0.884	38
21	Carlisle United	46	15	8	23	71	95	0.747	38
22	Barrow	46	12	9	25	61	83	0.735	33
23	Bradford Park Avenue	46	13	7	26	61	122	0.500	33
24	Crewe Alexandra	46	9	10	27	50	105	0.476	28

Third Division South

Leyton Orient reached the Second Division by finished top of the Third Division South by a single point, one point ahead of Brighton and two points ahead of Ipswich Town.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Leyton Orient	46	29	8	9	106	49	2.163	66
2	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	29	7	10	112	50	2.240	65
3	Ipswich Town	46	25	14	7	106	60	1.767	64
4	Southend United	46	21	11	14	88	80	1.100	53
5	Torquay United	46	20	12	14	86	63	1.365	52
6	Brentford	46	19	14	13	69	66	1.045	52
7	Norwich City	46	19	13	14	86	82	1.049	51
8	Coventry City	46	20	9	17	73	60	1.217	49
9	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	46	19	10	17	63	51	1.235	48
10	Gillingham	46	19	10	17	69	71	0.972	48
11	Northampton Town	46	20	7	19	67	71	0.944	47
12	Colchester United	46	18	11	17	76	81	0.938	47
13	Shrewsbury Town	46	17	12	17	69	66	1.045	46
14	Southampton	46	18	8	20	91	81	1.123	44
15	Aldershot	46	12	16	18	70	90	0.778	40
16	Exeter City	46	15	10	21	58	77	0.753	40
17	Reading	46	15	9	22	70	79	0.886	39
18	Queens Park Rangers	46	14	11	21	64	86	0.744	39
19	Newport County	46	15	9	22	58	79	0.734	39
20	Walsall	46	15	8	23	68	84	0.810	38
21	Watford	46	13	11	22	52	85	0.612	37
22	Millwall	46	15	6	25	83	100	0.830	36
23	Crystal Palace	46	12	10	24	54	83	0.651	34
24	Swindon Town	46	8	14	24	34	78	0.436	30

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points