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1956–57 Birmingham City F.C. season

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Birmingham City F.C.
1956–57 season
ChairmanHarry Morris Jr
ManagerArthur Turner
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League First Division12th
FA CupSemi-final
(eliminated by Manchester United)
Inter-Cities Fairs CupSemi-final
Top goalscorerLeague: Alex Govan (24)
All: Alex Govan (30)
Highest home attendance57,827 vs Nottingham Forest, FA Cup sixth round, 2 March 1957
Lowest home attendance23,747 vs Manchester City, 27 April 1957
Average home league attendance32,444

The 1956–57 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 54th in the Football League and their 30th in the First Division. They finished in 12th position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1956–57 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost in the semi-final to Manchester United. In the inaugural edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Birmingham finished top of their group so progressed to the semi-final.[1]

Twenty-four players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were thirteen different goalscorers. Goalkeeper Gil Merrick played in 49 of the 51 first-team matches over the season, and Alex Govan finished as leading goalscorer with 30 goals in all competitions, of which 24 were scored in the league.

Football League First Division

Main article: 1956–57 Football League
Date League
position		 Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
18 August 1956 12th Manchester United A D 2–2 Govan, Jones og 32,958
22 August 1956 6th Portsmouth H W 3–1 Astall, Govan 2 33,307
25 August 1956 3rd Arsenal H W 4–2 Brown, Murphy 2, Govan 37,197
29 August 1956 2nd Portsmouth A W 4–3 Govan 3, Astall 25,686
1 September 1956 6th Burnley A L 0–2 25,531
5 September 1956 2nd Newcastle United H W 6–1 Kinsey, Murphy 2, Govan 3 32,506
8 September 1956 2nd Preston North End H W 3–0 Govan 3 44,458
15 September 1956 3rd Chelsea A L 0–1 40,530
22 September 1956 4th Cardiff City H W 2–1 Kinsey, Govan 39,931
29 September 1956 6th Wolverhampton Wanderers A L 0–3 44,191
6 October 1956 6th Bolton Wanderers H D 0–0 29,614
13 October 1956 6th Leeds United A D 1–1 Larkin 34,460
20 October 1956 6th Luton Town H W 3–0 Brown 2, Orritt 31,783
27 October 1956 7th Aston Villa A L 1–3 Astall 54,927
3 November 1956 6th Blackpool H D 2–2 Astall, Govan 35,597
10 November 1956 9th Manchester City A L 1–3 Kinsey 21,005
17 November 1956 6th Charlton Athletic H W 4–2 Brown, Kinsey, Astall, Murphy 27,564
24 November 1956 5th Sunderland A W 1–0 Orritt 33,807
1 December 1956 4th Tottenham Hotspur H D 0–0 38,035
8 December 1956 7th Everton A L 0–2 29,579
15 December 1956 5th Manchester United H W 3–1 Brown 2, Orritt 36,146
22 December 1956 8th Arsenal A L 0–4 28,644
25 December 1956 6th Sheffield Wednesday H W 4–0 Brown, Murphy, Astall, Govan 24,380
29 December 1956 5th Burnley H W 2–0 Brown, Govan 31,733
1 January 1957 6th Newcastle United A L 2–3 Brown, Govan 29,383
12 January 1957 9th Preston North End A L 0–1 19,430
19 January 1957 9th Chelsea H L 0–1 30,157
2 February 1957 8th Cardiff City A W 2–1 Brown, Astall 16,854
9 February 1957 8th Wolverhampton Wanderers H D 2–2 Astall, Govan 45,915
20 February 1957 9th Bolton Wanderers A L 1–3 Astall 11,284
9 March 1957 10th Everton H L 1–3 Brown 23,881
16 March 1957 12th Blackpool A L 1–3 Brown 17,610
30 March 1957 13th Charlton Athletic A L 0–1 17,839
3 April 1957 13th Luton Town A D 0–0 12,881
6 April 1957 13th Sunderland H L 1–2 Brown 24,548
10 April 1957 13th Aston Villa H L 1–2 Murphy 29,853
13 April 1957 14th Tottenham Hotspur A L 1–5 Astall 33,512
20 April 1957 15th Leeds United H W 6–2 Brown 2, Govan 3, Astall 30,642
22 April 1957 14th West Bromwich Albion A D 0–0 18,755
23 April 1957 13th West Bromwich Albion H W 2–0 Kinsey, Govan 30,332
27 April 1957 12th Manchester City H D 3–3 Brown, Govan, Phoenix og 23,747
29 April 1957 12th Sheffield Wednesday A L 0–3 13,845

League table (part)

Final First Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
10th Aston Villa 42 14 15 13 55 45 1.18 43
11th West Bromwich Albion 42 14 14 14 59 61 0.97 42
12th Birmingham City 42 15 9 18 69 69 1.00 39
13th Chelsea 42 13 13 16 73 73 1.00 39
14th Sheffield Wednesday 42 16 6 20 82 88 0.93 38
Key Pos = League position; Pld = Matches played;
W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost;
F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points
Source [2]

FA Cup

Main article: 1956–57 FA Cup
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
Third round 5 January 1957 Carlisle United A D 3–3 Murphy 2, Astall 27,445
Third round replay 9 January 1957 Carlisle United H W 4–0 Brown 2, Kinsey, Astall 56,458
Fourth round 26 January 1957 Southend United A W 6–1 Murphy, Govan 3, Cox, Lawler og 28,964
Fifth round 16 February 1957 Millwall A W 4–1 Kinsey 2, Govan, Brown 41,986
Sixth round 2 March 1957 Nottingham Forest H D 0–0 57,827
Sixth round replay 6 March 1957 Nottingham Forest A W 1–0 Murphy 36,486
Semi-final 23 March 1957 Manchester United Hillsborough, Sheffield L 0–2 65,107

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Main article: 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

The last two group matches of the inaugural season of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup were completed during this season, as a result of which Birmingham qualified for the semi-finals, in which they were to play Barcelona the following season.

Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
Group B 3 December 1956 Zagreb XI H W 3–0 Orritt, Brown, Murphy 40,144
Group B 17 April 1957 Inter Milan H W 2–1 Govan 2 34,461

Appearances and goals

  • Players with name struck through and marked † left the club during the playing season.
Players having played at least one first-team match
Pos. Nat. Name League FA Cup Fairs Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK  ENG Gil Merrick 40 0 7 0 2 0 49 0
GK  ENG Johnny Schofield 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
FB  ENG George Allen 8 0 0 0 1 0 9 0
FB  ENG Jack Badham 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
FB  ENG Brian Farmer 3 0 0 0 1 0 4 0
FB  ENG Ken Green 40 0 5 0 2 0 47 0
FB  ENG Jeff Hall 36 0 7 0 1 0 44 0
HB  ENG Bunny Larkin 7 1 0 0 0 0 8 1
HB  ENG Bert Linnecor† 11 0 1 0 0 0 12 1
HB  ENG Dick Neal 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
HB  ENG Johnny Newman 8 0 1 0 0 0 9 0
HB  ENG Graham Sissons 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
HB  ENG Trevor Smith 37 0 7 0 1 0 45 0
HB  ENG Roy Warhurst 33 0 7 0 2 0 42 0
HB  ENG Johnny Watts 27 0 5 0 2 0 34 0
FW  ENG Gordon Astall 40 11 6 2 1 0 47 13
FW  ENG Eddy Brown 38 16 7 3 2 1 47 20
FW  ENG Geoff Cox 4 0 1 1 1 0 6 1
FW  ENG Bill Finney 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
FW  SCO Alex Govan 35 24 7 4 2 2 44 30
FW  ENG Dennis Harper 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
FW  WAL Noel Kinsey 28 5 7 3 1 0 36 8
FW  ENG Peter Murphy 35 7 6 4 2 1 43 12
FW  ENG Keith Neale 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
FW  WAL Bryan Orritt 18 3 1 0 1 1 20 4
FW  ENG Peter Warmington 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

See also

References

General
  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  • Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: DB Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
  • Source for match dates and results: "Birmingham City 1956–1957: Results". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 348–49, 473.
Specific
  1. ^ Zea, Antonio; Haisma, Marcel (16 March 2010). "Fairs' Cup 1956–58". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 1 May 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Birmingham City 1956–1957: English Division One (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
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