1956–57 Birmingham City F.C. season

Birmingham City F.C.
1956–57 season
Chairman	Harry Morris Jr
Manager	Arthur Turner
Ground	St Andrew's
Football League First Division	12th
FA Cup	Semi-final; (eliminated by Manchester United)
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	Semi-final
Top goalscorer	League: Alex Govan (24); All: Alex Govan (30)
Highest home attendance	57,827 vs Nottingham Forest, FA Cup sixth round, 2 March 1957
Lowest home attendance	23,747 vs Manchester City, 27 April 1957
Average home league attendance	32,444
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1955–56 1957–58 →

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[edit]

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)[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as a substitute.
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
Pos.	Nat.	Name	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	2	0	1	0	11	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	0 (1)	0	5 (1)	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 (1)^[a]	0	36 (1)	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

^ Matthews source omits Kinsey's substitute appearance at home to Zagreb.^[3]^[4]^[5]

References[edit]

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. Archived from the original on 16 September 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 348–49, 473.
Source for kit: "Birmingham City". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

Specific

^ Zea, Antonio & Haisma, Marcel (16 March 2010). "Fairs' Cup 1956–58". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 1 May 2012.
^ "Birmingham City 1956–1957: English Division One (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
^ "Blues in Europe – Part One 1956–1958". Birmingham City F.C. Archived from the original on 7 April 2011.
^ "Player search: Kinsey, N (Noel)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
^ Chapman, Cyril (4 December 1956). "Birmingham City easily beat Zagreb with weakened team". Birmingham Post. p. 20. Orritt was injured in the 55th minute, but what in a League game would have proved a severe blow was no inconvenience for City, for the experienced Kinsey came on as substitute at inside-right.

[6] Matthews source omits Kinsey's substitute appearance at home to Zagreb.^[3]^[4]^[5]

[1] Zea, Antonio & Haisma, Marcel (16 March 2010). "Fairs' Cup 1956–58". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 1 May 2012.

[LeagueTable-2] "Birmingham City 1956–1957: English Division One (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2012.

[BluesInEurope-3] "Blues in Europe – Part One 1956–1958". Birmingham City F.C. Archived from the original on 7 April 2011.

[ENFA-4] "Player search: Kinsey, N (Noel)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 17 March 2020.

[5] Chapman, Cyril (4 December 1956). "Birmingham City easily beat Zagreb with weakened team". Birmingham Post. p. 20. Orritt was injured in the 55th minute, but what in a League game would have proved a severe blow was no inconvenience for City, for the experienced Kinsey came on as substitute at inside-right.

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