# 1956–57 Queens Park Rangers F.C. season

During the 1956–57 English football season, Queens Park Rangers competed in the Football League Third Division South and finished in tenth place.
At seasons end future England forward Mike Hellawell was transferred to top division Birmingham City in 1957 in part-exchange for inside-forward Bill Finney and £6,000. When questioned by disappointed supporters, manager Jack Taylor explained that Hellawell had signed for Rangers on condition that "they would not stand in his way if a First Division Club came after him."

## League standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 8 | Brentford | 46 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 78 | 76 | 1.026 | 48 |
| 9 | Shrewsbury Town | 46 | 15 | 18 | 13 | 72 | 79 | 0.911 | 48 |
| 10 | Queens Park Rangers | 46 | 18 | 11 | 17 | 61 | 60 | 1.017 | 47 |
| 11 | Watford | 46 | 18 | 10 | 18 | 72 | 75 | 0.960 | 46 |
| 12 | Newport County | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 65 | 62 | 1.048 | 45 |

## Results

QPR scores given first
Win  Draw  Loss

### Third Division South

| Date | Opponent | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance | League position |
| 18 August 1956 | Reading | A | 0–1 | | 11,417 | 13 |
| 20 August 1956 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 2–1 | Angell, Longbottom | 15,718 | 13 |
| 25 August 1956 | Newport County | H | 1–1 | Hellawell | 7,863 | 13 |
| 27 August 1956 | Plymouth Argyle | H | 3–0 | Quigley 2, Hellawell | 8,450 | 3 |
| 1 September 1956 | Colchester United | A | 1–1 | Quigley | 8,179 | 10 |
| 6 September 1956 | Northampton | A | 0–3 | | 7,591 | 15 |
| 8 September 1956 | Norwich City | H | 3–1 | Angell, Locke, Quigley | 12,631 | 13 |
| 10 September 1956 | Northampton | H | 1–0 | Longbottom | 10,785 | 5 |
| 15 September 1956 | Coventry City | A | 1–5 | Quigley | 18,160 | 12 |
| 19 September 1956 | Swindon | A | 0–1 | | 8,705 | 13 |
| 22 September 1956 | Southampton | H | 1–2 | Hellawell | 12,792 | 15 |
| 24 September 1956 | Swindon | H | 3–0 | Quigley 2, Temby | 9,526 | 13 |
| 29 September 1956 | Exeter City | A | 0–0 | | 7,312 | 15 |
| 6 October 1956 | Aldershot | A | 2–4 | Cameron, Hellawell | 5,609 | 15 |
| 13 October 1956 | Watford | H | 3–1 | Hellawell, Balogun, Brown (og) | 14,211 | 12 |
| 20 October 1956 | Shrewsbury Town | A | 0–0 | | 8,463 | 12 |
| 27 October 1956 | Walsall | H | 1–0 | Kerrins | 9,461 | 9 |
| 3 November 1956 | Ipswich Town | A | 0–4 | | 12,278 | 11 |
| 10 November 1956 | Bournemouth & Boscombe Ath. | H | 2–1 | Petchey, Locke | 8,554 | 9 |
| 24 November 1956 | Millwall | H | 0–0 | | 10,427 | 9 |
| 1 December 1956 | Brighton | A | 0–1 | | 9,770 | 13 |
| 15 December 1956 | Reading | H | 1–1 | Peacock | 5,472 | 12 |
| 22 December 1956 | Newport County | A | 1–1 | Peacock | 7,638 | 11 |
| 25 December 1956 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–2 | Peacock | 9,988 | 14 |
| 26 December 1956 | Crystal Palace | H | 4–2 | Cameron 2, Kerrins 2 | 5,307 | 12 |
| 29 December 1956 | Colchester | H | 1–1 | Kerrins | 8,801 | 11 |
| 12 January 1957 | Norwich City | A | 2–1 | Longbottom, Pointer (og) | 11,722 | 10 |
| 19 January 1957 | Coventry City | H | 1–1 | Petchey | 7,863 | 10 |
| 2 February 1957 | Southampton | A | 2–1 | Hellawell, Longbottom | 17,074 | 9 |
| 9 February 1957 | Exeter | H | 5–3 | Longbottom 3, Kerrins, Andrews | 8,639 | 9 |
| 16 February 1957 | Aldershot | H | 0–1 | | 10,525 | 9 |
| 23 February 1957 | Watford | A | 4–2 | Temby, Cameron, Balogun, Shipwright (og) | 4,428 | 9 |
| 2 March 1957 | Shrewsbury | H | 2–1 | Balogun, Temby | 9,984 | 6 |
| 9 March 1957 | Gillingham | A | 1–0 | Kerrins | 7,581 | 6 |
| 16 March 1957 | Ipswich Town | H | 0–2 | | 12,339 | 8 |
| 23 March 1957 | Bournemouth & Boscombe Ath. | A | 0–1 | | 12,552 | 9 |
| 25 March 1957 | Southend | H | 3–0 | Hellawell, Peacock, Longbottom | 6,412 | 6 |
| 30 March 1957 | Torquay | H | 0–1 | | 9,605 | 7 |
| 6 April 1957 | Millwall | A | 0–2 | | 10,834 | 9 |
| 13 April 1957 | Brighton | H | 0–0 | | 6,957 | 8 |
| 15 April 1957 | Southend | A | 0–3 | | 6,052 | 8 |
| 19 April 1957 | Brentford | A | 0–2 | | 13,841 | 10 |
| 20 April 1957 | Walsall | A | 2–0 | Longbottom 2 | 10,924 | 8 |
| 22 April 1957 | Brentford | H | 2–2 | Longbottom, Dargie (og) | 9,661 | 9 |
| 27 April 1957 | Torquay | A | 0–3 | | 8,630 | 10 |
| 29 April 1957 | Gillingham | H | 5–0 | Longbottom 3, Kerrins, Cameron | 6,237 | 7 |

### London Challenge Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers |
| 1 October 1956 | First round | Walthamstow | H | 7-0 | Locke 3, Cameron 2, Balogun, Rhodes (pen) |
| 15 October 1956 | Quarter-finals | Arsenal | A | 2–2 | Cameron, Peacock |
| 22 October 1956 | Quarter-finals replay | Arsenal | H | 1–3 | Balogun |

### Southern Professional Floodlight Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 8 October 1956 | First round | Millwall | H | 5–2 | Balogun 2, Locke 2, Woods (pen) | 5,000 |
| 26 November 1956 | Second round | Reading | H | 1–2 | McLaren (og) | 3,012 |

### FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 17 November 1956 | First round | Dorchester | H | 4–0 | Hellawell, Locke, Balogun, Cameron | 9,764 |
| 8 December 1956 | Second round | Tooting & Mitcham United | A | 2–0 | Balogun, Longbottom | 11,450 |
| 5 January 1957 | Third round | Sunderland | A | 0–4 | | 30,577 |

## Squad

| Position | Name | League appearances | League goals | Cup appearances | Cup goals | Total appearances | Total goals |
| GK | Ron Springett | 46 | | 5 | | 51 | |
| DF | Peter Lay | 1 | | | | 1 | |
| DF | Tony Ingham | 46 | | 5 | | 51 | |
| DF | Keith Rutter | 44 | | 5 | | 49 | |
| DF | Pat Woods | 45 | | 5 | | 50 | 1 |
| DF | Arthur Rhodes | 1 | | | | 1 | |
| MF | Pat Kerrins | 31 | | 3 | | 34 | |
| MF | Cecil Andrews | 46 | 1 | 5 | | 51 | 1 |
| MF | Peter Angell | 16 | 2 | 2 | | 18 | 2 |
| MF | Bobby Cameron | 31 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 35 | 6 |
| MF | George Petchey | 43 | 2 | 5 | | 48 | 2 |
| MF | Jobey Dean | 4 | | | | 4 | |
| MF | Mike Powell | 1 | | | | 1 | |
| FW | Arthur Longbottom | 35 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 38 | 15 |
| FW | Teslim Balogun | 14 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 7 |
| FW | Mike Hellawell | 44 | 7 | 5 | | 49 | 7 |
| FW | Lesley Locke | 20 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 5 |
| FW | Alec Dawson | 1 | | | | 1 | |
| FW | Gordon Quinn | 4 | | | | 4 | |
| FW | Tommy Quigley | 16 | 7 | 1 | | 17 | 7 |
| FW | Terry Peacock | 13 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 4 |
| FW | Bill Temby | 4 | 3 | | | 4 | 3 |

## In

| Name | From | Date | Fee |
| Lesley Locke | Bromley | May 1956 | |
| Tommy Quigley | Portsmouth | June 1956 | |
| Cecil Andrews | Crystal Palace | June 1956 | |
| Peter Lay | Nottingham Forest | July 1956 | |
| Terry Peacock | Hull City Juniors | August 1956 | |
| Teslim Balogun | Skegness Town | September 1956 | |
| Alec Dawson | Gourock Jnrs | February 1957 | |
| Bill Finney | Birmingham City | 15 May 1957 | plus£6,000 for Mike Hellawell |

### Out

| Name | Date | Club | Fee |
| Conway Smith | June 1956 | Halifax Town | |
| Ernie Shepherd | June 1956 | Hastings Utd | |
| Harry Brown | August 1956 | Plymouth | |
| Gordon Quinn | September 1956 | Plymouth Argyle | |
| Mike Hellawell | 15 May 1957 | Birmingham City | £6,000 plus Bill Finney. |
| Tommy Quigley | July 1957 | Worcester City | |
| Teslim Balogun | July 1957 | Holbeach United | |
| Arthur Rhodes | July 1957 | Tonbridge | |
| Jobey Dean | July 1957 | Sutton Town | |
| Bill Temby | July 1957 | Dover Town | |