The 1957 FA Cup final was a football match played on 4 May 1957 at Wembley Stadium between Aston Villa and Manchester United. Villa won 2–1, with both of their goals scored by Peter McParland. Tommy Taylor scored United's goal. It was Villa's first major trophy for 37 years and prevented United from doing The Double, Matt Busbys' side having been crowned Football League champions having won the First Division.
The final was marred by a collision after only six minutes between Villa forward Peter McParland and United goalkeeper Ray Wood, which left Wood unconscious with a broken cheekbone. Wood left the pitch and Jackie Blanchflower took over in goal for United. Wood eventually rejoined the game in an outfield position as a virtual passenger (slang for a player that is on the field but not proactively participating) before returning to goal for the last seven minutes of the game.
Villa's victory gave them their seventh FA Cup title, a record at the time, but since passed by three clubs including Manchester United, who have thirteen wins. They reached the final in 2000, when they lost to Chelsea, and in 2015, when they lost to Arsenal.
Six of the 11 players who took to the field for United in this game died in the Munich air disaster nine months later; as did a further two players who did not appear in the game, while two others (who both appeared in the game) were injured in the crash to such an extent that they never played again. The only United players who appeared in the final a year later were full-back Bill Foulkes and forward Bobby Charlton. The death of Foulkes in November 2013 and of Charlton in October 2023 leaves no surviving players from the United team, while the deaths of Nigel Sims in January 2018 and Peter McParland in May 2025 leaves no surviving players from the winning Aston Villa team, the latter being the last surviving player to have won the FA cup with Aston Villa, and the last surviving player from the match overall.
In December 2007, BBC Four's Timeshift series screened a documentary, A Game of Two Eras, which compared the 1957 final with its 2007 counterpart.BBC Four - Timeshift, Series 7, A Game of Two Eras: 1957 v 2007
Road to Wembley Aston Villa Round 3Luton Town2–2Aston VillaRound 3 replayAston Villa2–0Luton TownRound 4Middlesbrough2–3Aston VillaRound 5Aston Villa2–1Bristol CityRound 6Burnley1–1Aston VillaRound 6 replayAston Villa2–0BurnleySemi-finalAston Villa2–2West Bromwich Albion(at Molineux)Semi-final ReplayWest Bromwich Albion0–1Aston Villa(at St Andrew's)
Manchester United Round 3Hartlepools United3–4Manchester UnitedRound 4Wrexham0–5Manchester UnitedRound 5Manchester United2–1EvertonRound 6Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic1–2Manchester UnitedSemi-finalManchester United2–0Birmingham City(at Hillsborough)
Match details
GK 1 Nigel SimsRB 2 Stan LynnLB 3 Peter AldisRH 4 Stan CrowtherCH 5 Jimmy DugdaleLH 6 Pat SawardOR 7 Les SmithIR 8 Jackie SewellCF 9 Bill MyerscoughIL 10 Johnny Dixon (c)OL 11 Peter McParlandManager: Eric Houghton GK 1 Ray WoodRB 2 Bill FoulkesLB 3 Roger Byrne (c)RH 4 Eddie ColmanCH 5 Jackie BlanchflowerLH 6 Duncan EdwardsOR 7 Johnny BerryIR 8 Billy WhelanCF 9 Tommy TaylorIL 10 Bobby CharltonOL 11 David PeggManager: Matt Busby
References and links
External links Line-ups and scorers