The 1955–56 season was Manchester United‘s 54th season in the Football League, and their 11th consecutive season in the top division of English football.
A United side consisted mostly of players in their late teens and early twenties finished the season as league champions 11 points ahead of their nearest rivals Blackpool and Wolves.
Right-half Eddie Colman made his debut for United this season, first featuring in the league match against Bolton Wanderers at Burnden Park on 12 November 1955 and was soon a regular partner to Duncan Edwards in the United half-back positions.
Colman’s breakthrough forced Jeff Whitefoot out of the team and contributed to his transfer to Grimsby Town in the summer of 1956, while long-serving goalkeeper Jack Crompton played his final game for United this season.
First Division
Images from Leslie Millman’s Flickr Album
| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result
F – A |
Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 August 1955 | Birmingham City | A | 2 – 2 | Viollet (2) | 37,994 |
| 24 August 1955 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 2 – 2 | Berry, Webster | 25,406 |
| 27 August 1955 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 3 – 1 | Lewis, Scanlon,Viollet | 31,996 |
| 31 August 1955 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 2 – 1 | Edwards (2) | 27,453 |
| 3 September 1955 | Manchester City | A | 0 – 1 | 59,162 | |
| 7 September 1955 | Everton | H | 2 – 1 | Blanchflower,Edwards | 27,843 |
| 10 September 1955 | Sheffield United | A | 0 – 1 | 28,241 | |
| 14 September 1955 | Everton | A | 2 – 4 | Blanchflower,Webster | 34,897 |
| 17 September 1955 | Preston North End | H | 3 – 2 | Pegg, Taylor, Viollet | 33,078 |
| 24 September 1955 | Burnley | A | 0 – 0 | 26,873 | |
| 1 October 1955 | Luton Town | H | 3 – 1 | Taylor (2), Colin Webster | 34,409 |
| 8 October 1955 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 4 – 3 | Taylor (2), Doherty,Pegg | 48,638 |
| 15 October 1955 | Aston Villa | A | 4 – 4 | Pegg (2),Blanchflower,Webster | 29,478 |
| 22 October 1955 | Huddersfield Town | H | 3 – 0 | Berry, Pegg, Taylor | 34,150 |
| 29 October 1955 | Cardiff City | A | 1 – 0 | Taylor | 27,795 |
| 5 November 1955 | Arsenal | H | 1 – 1 | Taylor | 41,586 |
| 12 November 1955 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1 – 3 | Taylor | 38,109 |
| 19 November 1955 | Chelsea | H | 3 – 0 | Taylor (2), Byrne | 22,192 |
| 26 November 1955 | Blackpool | A | 0 – 0 | 26,240 | |
| 3 December 1955 | Sunderland | H | 2 – 1 | Doherty, Viollet | 39,901 |
| 10 December 1955 | Portsmouth | A | 2 – 3 | Pegg, Taylor | 24,594 |
| 17 December 1955 | Birmingham City | H | 2 – 1 | Jones, Viollet | 27,704 |
| 24 December 1955 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 4 – 1 | Viollet (3), Taylor | 25,168 |
| 26 December 1955 | Charlton Athletic | H | 5 – 1 | Viollet (2), Byrne,Doherty, Taylor | 44,611 |
| 27 December 1955 | Charlton Athletic | A | 0 – 3 | 42,040 | |
| 31 December 1955 | Manchester City | H | 2 – 1 | Taylor, Viollet | 60,956 |
| 14 January 1956 | Sheffield United | H | 3 – 1 | Berry, Pegg, Taylor | 30,162 |
| 21 January 1956 | Preston North End | A | 1 – 3 | Whelan | 28,047 |
| 4 February 1956 | Burnley | H | 2 – 0 | Taylor, Viollet | 27,342 |
| 11 February 1956 | Luton Town | A | 2 – 0 | Viollet, Whelan | 16,354 |
| 18 February 1956 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 2 – 0 | Taylor (2) | 40,014 |
| 25 February 1956 | Aston Villa | H | 1 – 0 | Whelan | 36,277 |
| 3 March 1956 | Chelsea | A | 4 – 2 | Viollet (2), Pegg,Taylor | 32,050 |
| 10 March 1956 | Cardiff City | H | 1 – 1 | Byrne | 44,693 |
| 17 March 1956 | Arsenal | A | 1 – 1 | Viollet | 50,758 |
| 24 March 1956 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 1 – 0 | Taylor | 46,114 |
| 30 March 1956 | Newcastle United | H | 5 – 2 | Viollet (2), Doherty,Pegg, Taylor | 58,994 |
| 31 March 1956 | Huddersfield Town | A | 2 – 0 | Taylor (2) | 37,780 |
| 2 April 1956 | Newcastle United | A | 0 – 0 | 37,395 | |
| 7 April 1956 | Blackpool | H | 2 – 1 | Berry, Taylor | 62,277 |
| 14 April 1956 | Sunderland | A | 2 – 2 | McGuinness, Whelan | 19,865 |
| 21 April 1956 | Portsmouth | H | 1 – 0 | Viollet | 38,417 |
| Pos | Club | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 42 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 83 | 51 | 60 |
| 2 | Blackpool | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 86 | 62 | 49 |
| 3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 89 | 65 | 49 |
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
FA Cup
| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result
F – A |
Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 January 1956 | Round 3 | Bristol Rovers | A | 0 – 4 | 35,872 |
Squad statistics
| Pos. | Name | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| GK | Jack Crompton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| GK | Ray Wood | 41 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 0 |
| FB | Geoff Bent | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FB | Roger Byrne | 39 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 3 |
| FB | Bill Foulkes | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| FB | Ian Greaves | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| FB | Walter Whitehurst | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| HB | Jackie Blanchflower | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3 |
| HB | Eddie Colman | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| HB | Duncan Edwards | 33 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 3 |
| HB | Freddie Goodwin | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| HB | Mark Jones | 42 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 1 |
| HB | Wilf McGuinness | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| HB | Jeff Whitefoot | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| FW | Johnny Berry | 34 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 4 |
| FW | John Doherty | 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 4 |
| FW | Eddie Lewis | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| FW | David Pegg | 35 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 9 |
| FW | Albert Scanlon | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| FW | Jackie Scott | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Tommy Taylor | 33 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 25 |
| FW | Dennis Viollet | 34 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 20 |
| FW | Colin Webster | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 4 |
| FW | Billy Whelan | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 4 |