The 1955–56 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 53rd in the Football League and their 29th in the First Division, having been promoted as Second Division champions in 1954–55. They finished in a club-record sixth position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1955–56 FA Cup in the third round proper and reached the Final for only the second time, despite being drawn to play away from home in each round, the first time this had occurred. They lost 3–1 to Manchester City in a match remembered for City's goalkeeper Bert Trautmann playing the last 25 minutes with a broken neck.
Birmingham City became the first English club side to take part in European competition when they played their first group game in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup on 16 May 1956,Most sources give the match date as 15 May, but Birmingham City confirm it was a day later. a goalless draw away at Inter Milan. The competition lasted over three English seasons with the final not played until 1958.The London XI, a representative side made up of players from several London clubs, were the first English team when they played their first group game in 1955. Invitations to enter the Fairs Cup, a tournament set up to promote industrial trade fairs, were extended to the city hosting the trade fair rather than to clubs. Some cities entered a select team including players from more than one club, but Aston Villa, the other major club based in the city of Birmingham, rejected the opportunity to field a combined team.
Twenty-four players made at least one appearance in nationally or internationally organised first-team competition, and there were thirteen different goalscorers. Goalkeeper Gil Merrick and forwards Eddy Brown and Peter Murphy played in 46 of the 50 first-team matches over the season, and Brown finished as leading goalscorer with 29 goals in all competitions, of which 21 were scored in the league.
Football League First Division
Note that not all teams completed their playing season on the same day. Birmingham were in fourth position after their last game of the season, on 21 April, but by the time the last game was played, on 2 May, they were sixth, having been overtaken by Manchester City and Arsenal.
DateLeaguepositionOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendance20 August 19558thManchester UnitedHD2–2Kinsey, Astall37,61224 August 19557thNewcastle UnitedAD2–2Murphy, Astall34,47327 August 19554thSheffield UnitedAW3–0Brown, Kinsey, Murphy23,29931 August 19552ndNewcastle UnitedHW3–1Brown, Murphy, Warhurst38,3693 September 19558thPreston North EndHL0–347,0145 September 19555thAston VillaAD0–056,93510 September 195510thBurnleyAL2–3Kinsey, Astall22,80817 September 195512thLuton TownHD0–031,01321 September 195510thAston VillaHD2–2Brown, Astall32,64224 September 195513thCharlton AthleticAL0–221,9121 October 195510thTottenham HotspurHW3–0Brown, Murphy, Clarke og31,3208 October 195512thSunderlandHL1–2Hudgell og37,94615 October 195510thPortsmouthAW5–0Brown 3, Kinsey, Govan28,95222 October 19557thManchester CityHW4–3Lane, Murphy, Govan, Boyd28,39829 October 195510thWolverhampton WanderersAL0–147,0065 November 19558thChelseaHW3–0Astall 2, Boyd30,49912 November 195511thBlackpoolAL0–221,96719 November 19558thHuddersfield TownHW5–0Brown 2, Murphy, Astall, Warhurst24,84126 November 195510thCardiff CityAL1–2Brown23,6383 December 19557thArsenalHW4–0Kinsey 2, Brown, Astall35,76510 December 19559thBolton WanderersAL0–615,79317 December 195510thManchester UnitedAL1–2Brown27,93624 December 195513thSheffield UnitedHL0–223,82226 December 195513thEvertonHW6–2Brown 2, Kinsey 3, Govan25,54127 December 195515thEvertonAL1–5Astall42,23631 December 195514thPreston North EndAD1–1Astall25,83414 January 195616thBurnleyHL1–2Kinsey27,38821 January 195616thLuton TownAW1–0Brown18,9704 February 195614thCharlton AthleticHW4–0Brown 3, Kinsey24,44711 February 195611thTottenham HotspurAW1–0Astall26,14125 February 19569thPortsmouthHW3–2Kinsey 2, Brown31,9557 March 19568thHuddersfield TownAW3–2Brown9,22410 March 19568thWolverhampton WanderersHD0–045,16121 March 19566thChelseaAW2–1Kinsey, Govan12,63724 March 19567thBlackpoolHL1–2Murphy47,93331 March 195610thManchester CityAD1–1Murphy44,7772 April 19568thWest Bromwich AlbionHW2–0Brown, Murphy38,8913 April 19564thWest Bromwich AlbionAW2–0Murphy 235,8587 April 19563rdCardiff CityHW2–1Brown, Baker og37,15414 April 19566thArsenalAL0–131,77518 April 19567thSunderlandAL0–114,82421 April 19564thBolton WanderersHW5–2Kinsey, Warmington, Astall, Wheeler 2 ogs29,640
League table (part)
+Final First Division table (part)PosClubPldWDLFAGAPts4thManchester City4218101482691.19465thArsenal4218101460610.98466thBirmingham City421891575571.32457thBurnley421881664541.19448thBolton Wanderers421871771581.2243Key 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 = PointsSource
FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceThird round7 January 1956Torquay UnitedAW7–1Astall, Brown 3, Kinsey, Murphy 218,730Fourth round28 January 1956Leyton OrientAW4–0Brown 2, Murphy, Finney24,727Fifth round18 February 1956West Bromwich AlbionAW1–0Murphy57,213Sixth round3 March 1956ArsenalAW3–1Astall, Murphy, Brown67,872Semi-final17 March 1956SunderlandHillsborough, SheffieldW3–0Kinsey, Astall, Brown65,107Final5 May 1956Manchester CityWembley, LondonL1–3Kinsey98,982
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceGroup B15 May 1956InternazionaleAD0–08,000Group B24 May 1956Zagreb XIAW1–0Brown12,000
Appearances and goals
Players marked left the club during the playing season. Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; FB – Full back; HB – Half back; FW – Forward
+ Players' appearances and goals by competitionNameLeagueFA CupFairs CupTotalGoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGK3806020460GK40000040FB20001030FB1601020190FB2806010350FB3806000440FB 20000020HB3236010393HB60000060HB1401020170HB3006000360HB3024010352HB21001031HB1000010110FW391263004515FW 10000010FW382167214629FW30002050FW1002110131FW3643010404FW 10000010FW341563204218FW1011010121FW381165204616
See also Birmingham City F.C. seasons
References General
Source for match dates and results: Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 346–47, 473. Source for kit: "Birmingham City". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
Specific