# 1956–57 Birmingham City F.C. season

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.
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

| 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)

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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | | | | | | | | | |

## FA Cup

| 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

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

    Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made or goals scored as a substitute.
    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 competition :
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Fairs Cup | Fairs Cup | Total | 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) | 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.