NUFC 1956/57 - Season Review

NUFC Squad 1956/57

Div 1	17th
FA Cup	R4
Attendance	35,202
Chairman	W Taylor
Manager	S Seymour
Trainer	N Smith
Captain	J Scoular
Top Scorer	R Davies, L White (13)

United's performance dipped again and they finished in a poor 17th place. They started with three wins out of four, but the next fourteen games only brought one more win and they slumped to 19th. Then after clambering back up to mid-table they again had a disastrous end to the season with only one win in eight.

They were capable of winning well (Sunderland H: 6-2, WBA H: 5-2, Bolton H: 4-0), but away from home they were just as likely to get hammered themselves (Birmingham A: 1-6, Man Utd A: 1-6, Chelsea A: 2-6). It was our poor away record (14 defeats) that really cost us.

In the FA Cup Third Round United played out a classic in a replay at Maine Road when they came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat Manchester City 5-4 after extra-time. Unfortunately they followed it up by losing 1-2 against Millwall (Division 3 South) at The Den.

Two youngsters had arrived from Ireland; inside-forward George Eastham and right-back Dick Keith.

At the season's close Wor Jackie went in the opposite direction to become player-coach at Linfield. Disgracefully, the club refused to grant him a testimonial and demanded a £10,000 transfer fee.

The fans were also mourning the tragic loss of another Toon great - Hughie Gallagher - who tragically committed suicide in June 1957.

Kit images copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission

Competitions

League Division 1

18/8	H	Portsmouth	W	2-1
22/8	A	Cardiff	L	2-5
25/8	A	Sunderland	W	2-1
29/8	H	Cardiff	W	1-0
01/9	A	Sheff Wed	L	0-4
05/9	A	Birmingham	L	1-6
08/9	H	Man Utd	D	1-1
15/9	A	Arsenal	W	1-0
22/9	H	Burnley	D	1-1
29/9	A	Preston	L	0-1
06/10	H	Luton	D	2-2
13/10	A	Aston Villa	L	1-3
20/10	H	Man City	L	0-3
27/10	A	Charlton	D	1-1
03/11	H	Leeds	L	2-3
10/11	A	Tottenham	L	1-3	H
17/11	H	Everton	D	0-0
24/11	A	Blackpool	W	3-2
01/12	H	Wolves	W	2-1
08/12	A	Bolton	L	1-3
15/12	A	Portsmouth	D	2-2
22/12	H	Sunderland	W	6-2
25/12	A	WBA	L	0-1
26/12	H	WBA	W	5-2
29/12	H	Sheff Wed	L	1-2
01/1	H	Birmingham	W	3-2
12/1	A	Man Utd	L	1-6
19/1	H	Arsenal	W	3-1
02/2	A	Burnley	L	2-3
09/2	H	Preston	L	1-2
16/2	A	Luton	L	1-4
23/2	H	Charlton	W	3-1
02/3	A	Man City	W	2-1
09/3	H	Bolton	W	4-0
16/3	A	Leeds	D	0-0
23/3	H	Tottenham	D	2-2
30/3	A	Everton	L	1-2
06/4	H	Blackpool	W	2-1
13/4	A	Wolves	L	0-2
19/4	H	Chelsea	L	1-2
20/4	H	Aston Villa	L	1-2
22/4	A	Chelsea	L	2-6

		W	D	L	F	A	Pts
01	Man Utd	28	8	6	103	54	64
02	Tottenham	22	12	8	104	56	56
03	Preston	23	10	9	84	56	56
04	Blackpool	22	9	11	93	65	53
05	Arsenal	21	8	13	85	69	50
06	Wolves	20	8	14	94	70	48
07	Burnley	18	10	14	56	50	46
08	Leeds	15	14	13	72	63	44
09	Bolton	16	12	14	65	65	44
10	Aston Villa	14	15	13	65	55	43
11	West Brom	14	14	14	59	61	42
12	Birmingham	15	9	18	69	69	39
13	Chelsea	13	13	16	73	73	39
14	Sheff Wed	16	6	20	82	88	38
15	Everton	14	10	18	61	79	38
16	Luton	14	9	19	58	76	37
17	Newcastle	14	8	20	67	87	36
18	Man City	13	9	20	78	88	35
19	Portsmouth	10	13	19	62	92	33
20	Sunderland	12	8	22	67	88	32
21	Cardiff	10	9	23	53	88	29
22	Charlton	9	4	29	62	120	22

FA Cup

R3	05/1	H	Man City	D	1-1
R3r	09/1	A	Man City	W	5-4	H
R4	26/1	A	Millwall	L	1-2

Embed from Getty Images

Squad and Team

Player	A	G
Batty R	27
Casey T	29	7
Cooper J	1
Crowe C	11	1
Curry B	21	5
Davies R	29	13
Eastham G	18	2
Franks A	7
Hannah G	15	2
Hughes G	2
Keeble V	14	4
Keery S	8
Keith D	36
Lackenby G	2
McMichael A	25
Milburn J	33	12
Mitchell B	26	2
Mitchell S	7
Paterson B	1
Prior Ken	2
Punton B	12	1
Redhead B	1
Scott M	3
Scoular J	36	3
Simpson R	38
Stokoe B	41
Tait Alex	13	7
Taylor H	4	1
White L	33	13
own goal		1

Total Number of Games: 45

Total Number of Players Used: 29

Figure in brackets = total players used in that position

01 : (2) Simpson

02: (3) Keith

03: (2) McMichael or Batty

04: (3) Scoular

05: (3) Stokoe

06: (5) Crowe > Casey

07: (5) Milburn or White

08: (5) Davies or Eastham

09: (5) Keeble or Tait

10: (8) Hannah > Curry > Eastham

11: (4) Mitchell or Punton

Player Moves

Toon In

Name	Date	From	Fee
Prior Ken	07/56	Millwall	£1,250
Hughes Gordon	08/56	Tow Law Town	£30
Keith Dick	09/56	Linfield	£9,000
Wright Brian	09/56	Professional	Free
Bell Jackie	10/56	Evenwood Town	£10
Hale Kenneth	10/56	Professional
Thompson William	01/57	Professional	Free

Toon Out

Name	Date	To	Fee
Cowell Robert	cs/56	Retired Injured
Monkhouse Alan	06/56	York City	£4,000
Woolard Arnold	06/56	Bournmouth	£2,500
Cummings Robert	11/56	Ashington	Free
Lackenby George	12/56	Exeter	£1,500
Waugh Kenneth	12/56	Hartlepool	£680
Prior Ken	01/57	Berwick	Free
Crowe Charlie	02/57	Mansfield	Free
Keery Stanley	05/57	Mansfield	£2,500
Thompson John	05/57	Lincoln City	£2,500

1950s Seasons

1950/51 1951/52 1952/53 1953/54 1954/55 1955/56 1956/57 1957/58 1958/59 1959/60