The 1956–57 season was Manchester United’s 55th season in the Football League, and their 12th consecutive season in the top division of English football.
United retained their league title this season, which was also notable for being the breakthrough season of forward Bobby Charlton, who made his debut on 6 October 1956 in the league match against Charlton Athletic a few days before his 19th birthday and scored twice, making 17 appearances and scoring 12 goals that season and collecting a league title medal, his appearances mostly coming at the expense of Dennis Viollet.
As Old Trafford didn’t have floodlights installed at the time, United’s first three European home games were played at Maine Road instead. United reached the semi-finals of the European Cup, where they were beaten by eventual winners Real Madrid. The club played in all red – including shorts – after testing the strip under floodlights against Bolton Wanderers at Old Trafford. It is this change strip which apparently convinced Bill Shankly to change Liverpool to all red in 1964.
In a new strip of white with a commemorative crest, United also reached the FA Cup final, where they lost 2-1 to Aston Villa in a game where they were handicapped by an injury to goalkeeper Ray Wood, meaning Jackie Blanchflower had to stand in for him in goal.
FA Charity Shield
| Date | Opponents | H / A | ResultF – A | Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 October 1956 | Manchester City | A | 1 – 0 | Viollet | 30,495 |
First Division
| Date | Opponents | H / A | ResultF – A | Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 August 1956 | Birmingham City | H | 2 – 2 | Viollet (2) | 32,752 |
| 20 August 1956 | Preston North End | A | 3 – 1 | Taylor (2), Whelan | 32,569 |
| 25 August 1956 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 3 – 2 | Taylor, Viollet, Whelan | 26,387 |
| 29 August 1956 | Preston North End | H | 3 – 2 | Viollet (3) | 32,515 |
| 1 September 1956 | Portsmouth | H | 3 – 0 | Berry, Pegg, Viollet | 40,369 |
| 5 September 1956 | Chelsea | A | 2 – 1 | Taylor, Whelan | 29,082 |
| 8 September 1956 | Newcastle United | A | 1 – 1 | Whelan | 50,130 |
| 15 September 1956 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 4 – 1 | Berry, Taylor, Viollet, Whelan | 48,078 |
| 22 September 1956 | Manchester City | H | 2 – 0 | Viollet, Whelan | 53,525 |
| 29 September 1956 | Arsenal | A | 2 – 1 | Berry, Whelan | 62,479 |
| 6 October 1956 | Charlton Athletic | H | 4 – 2 | Charlton (2), Berry, Whelan | 41,439 |
| 13 October 1956 | Sunderland | A | 3 – 1 | Viollet, Whelan, own goal | 49,487 |
| 20 October 1956 | Everton | H | 2 – 5 | Charlton, Whelan | 43,151 |
| 27 October 1956 | Blackpool | A | 2 – 2 | Taylor (2) | 32,632 |
| 3 November 1956 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 3 – 0 | Pegg, Taylor, Whelan | 59,835 |
| 10 November 1956 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 0 – 2 | 39,922 | |
| 17 November 1956 | Leeds United | H | 3 – 2 | Whelan (2), Charlton | 51,131 |
| 24 November 1956 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 2 – 2 | Berry, Colman | 57,724 |
| 1 December 1956 | Luton Town | H | 3 – 1 | Edwards, Pegg, Taylor | 34,736 |
| 8 December 1956 | Aston Villa | A | 3 – 1 | Taylor (2), Viollet | 42,530 |
| 15 December 1956 | Birmingham City | A | 1 – 3 | Whelan | 36,146 |
| 26 December 1956 | Cardiff City | H | 3 – 1 | Taylor, Viollet, Whelan | 28,607 |
| 29 December 1956 | Portsmouth | A | 3 – 1 | Edwards, Pegg, Viollet | 32,147 |
| 1 January 1957 | Chelsea | H | 3 – 0 | Taylor (2), Whelan | 42,116 |
| 12 January 1957 | Newcastle United | H | 6 – 1 | Pegg (2), Viollet (2), Whelan (2) | 44,911 |
| 19 January 1957 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 1 – 2 | Taylor | 51,068 |
| 2 February 1957 | Manchester City | A | 4 – 2 | Edwards, Taylor, Viollet, Whelan | 63,872 |
| 9 February 1957 | Arsenal | H | 6 – 2 | Berry (2), Whelan (2), Edwards, Taylor | 60,384 |
| 18 February 1957 | Charlton Athletic | A | 5 – 1 | Charlton (3), Taylor (2) | 16,308 |
| 23 February 1957 | Blackpool | H | 0 – 2 | 42,602 | |
| 6 March 1957 | Everton | A | 2 – 1 | Webster (2) | 34,029 |
| 9 March 1957 | Aston Villa | A | 1 – 1 | Charlton | 55,484 |
| 16 March 1957 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1 – 1 | Charlton | 53,228 |
| 25 March 1957 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 0 – 2 | 60,862 | |
| 30 March 1957 | Leeds United | A | 2 – 1 | Berry, Charlton | 47,216 |
| 6 April 1957 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 0 – 0 | 60,349 | |
| 13 April 1957 | Luton Town | A | 2 – 0 | Taylor (2) | 21,227 |
| 19 April 1957 | Burnley | A | 3 – 1 | Whelan (3) | 41,321 |
| 20 April 1957 | Sunderland | H | 4 – 0 | Whelan (2), Edwards, Taylor | 58,725 |
| 22 April 1957 | Burnley | H | 2 – 0 | Dawson, Webster | 41,321 |
| 27 April 1957 | Cardiff City | A | 3 – 2 | Scanlon (2), Dawson | 17,708 |
| 29 April 1957 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 1 – 1 | Dawson | 20,357 |
| Pos | Club | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 42 | 28 | 8 | 6 | 103 | 54 | 64 |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 104 | 56 | 56 |
| 3 | Preston North End | 42 | 23 | 10 | 9 | 84 | 56 | 56 |
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 | ResultF – A | Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 January 1957 | Round 3 | Hartlepool United | A | 4 – 3 | Whelan (2), Berry, Taylor | 17,264 |
| 26 January 1957 | Round 4 | Wrexham | A | 5 – 0 | Taylor (2), Whelan (2), Byrne | 34,445 |
| 16 February 1957 | Round 5 | Everton | H | 1 – 0 | Edwards | 61,803 |
| 2 March 1957 | Round 6 | Bournemouth | A | 2 – 1 | Berry (2) | 28,799 |
| 23 March 1957 | Semi-final | Birmingham City | N | 2 – 0 | Berry, Charlton | 65,107 |
| 4 May 1957 | Final | Aston Villa | N | 1 – 2 | Taylor | 100,000 |
FA Cup Final full match
European Cup
| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | ResultF – A | Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 September 1956 | Preliminary roundFirst leg | Anderlecht | A | 2 – 0 | Taylor, Viollet | 35,000 |
| 26 September 1956 | Preliminary roundSecond leg | Anderlecht | H | 10 – 0 | Viollet (4), Taylor (3), Whelan (2), Berry | 40,000 |
| 17 October 1956 | First roundFirst leg | Borussia Dortmund | H | 3 – 2 | Viollet (2), Pegg | 75,598 |
| 21 November 1956 | First roundSecond leg | Borussia Dortmund | A | 0 – 0 | 44,570 | |
| 16 January 1957 | Quarter-finalFirst leg | Athletic Bilbao | A | 3 – 5 | Taylor, Viollet, Whelan | 60,000 |
| 6 February 1957 | Quarter-finalSecond leg | Athletic Bilbao | H | 3 – 0 | Berry, Taylor, Viollet | 70,000 |
| 11 April 1957 | Semi-finalFirst leg | Real Madrid | A | 1 – 3 | Taylor | 135,000 |
| 25 April 1957 | Semi-finalSecond leg | Real Madrid | H | 2 – 2 | Charlton, Taylor | 65,000 |
Manchester United vs Real Madrid second leg highlights
Squad statistics
| Pos. | Name | League | FA Cup | European Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| GK | Gordon Clayton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| GK | Tony Hawksworth | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| GK | Ray Wood | 39 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 54 | 0 |
| FB | Geoff Bent | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| FB | Roger Byrne | 36 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 1 |
| FB | Bill Foulkes | 39 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 54 | 0 |
| FB | Ian Greaves | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| HB | Jackie Blanchflower | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| HB | Eddie Colman | 36 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 1 |
| HB | Ronnie Cope | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| HB | Duncan Edwards | 34 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 6 |
| HB | Freddie Goodwin | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| HB | Mark Jones | 29 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| HB | Wilf McGuinness | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| FW | Johnny Berry | 40 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 54 | 14 |
| FW | Bobby Charlton | 14 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 12 |
| FW | Alex Dawson | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| FW | John Doherty | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FW | David Pegg | 37 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 52 | 7 |
| FW | Albert Scanlon | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| FW | Tommy Taylor | 32 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 34 |
| FW | Dennis Viollet | 27 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 39 | 26 |
| FW | Colin Webster | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 |
| FW | Billy Whelan | 39 | 26 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 54 | 33 |
| – | Own goals | – | 1 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 1 |