1956–57 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

Huddersfield Town's 1956–57 campaign was a fairly poor season for the Town under Andy Beattie and then his assistant Bill Shankly, following the previous season's relegation from Division 1. They finished in 12th place with 42 points, 12 points behind 2nd placed Nottingham Forest, but only 12 points ahead of 20th placed Notts County.

Huddersfield Town
1956–57 season
ChairmanJ. Bernard Newman
ManagerAndy Beattie (until 3 November 1956)
Bill Shankly (from 5 November 1956)
Football League Second Division12th
FA CupFifth round
(knocked out by Burnley)
Top goalscorerLeague: Dave Hickson (19)
All: Dave Hickson (22)
Highest home attendance55,168 vs Burnley (16 February 1957)
Lowest home attendance5,878 vs West Ham United (23 February 1957)
Biggest win5–0 vs Barnsley (10 November 1956)
Biggest defeat2–7 vs Middlesbrough (22 April 1957)

Squad at the start of the season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
-- GK England ENG Harry Fearnley
-- GK South Africa RSA Sandy Kennon
-- DF England ENG John Battye
-- DF England ENG Ron Cockerill
-- DF England ENG John Coddington
-- DF England ENG Jack Connor
-- DF England ENG Tony Conwell
-- DF England ENG Brian Gibson
-- DF England ENG Laurie Kelly
-- DF England ENG Bill McGarry
-- DF England ENG Len Quested
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- DF England ENG Ken Taylor
-- DF England ENG Ray Wilson
-- MF Scotland SCO Willie Davie
-- MF England ENG Bob Ledger
-- MF England ENG Jackie Marriott
-- MF England ENG Vic Metcalfe
-- FW England ENG Bryan Frear
-- FW England ENG Dave Hickson
-- FW England ENG Ron Simpson
-- FW Scotland SCO Jimmy Watson

Review

Following the previous season's relegation from Division 1, Andy Beattie tried to get Town back into the 1st Division at the first attempt. A mixed start to the season saw Town gain some memorable wins including an opening day 3–2 win at Anfield over Liverpool. Beattie resigned in early November and was replaced by his assistant Bill Shankly, who would then lead Liverpool to greatness in the 1960s and 1970s. Memorable wins during the season for Town were a 5–0 away win at Barnsley and a 6–2 win over West Ham United, where defender Ken Taylor, playing as an emergency striker, scored 4 goals.

This season also marked the debuts of Town's future stalwarts Kevin McHale and Les Massie and future British transfer record holder Denis Law. Law broke the record for the youngest player ever to make a first-team appearance when he came on at the age of 16 years, 303 days, beating McHale's record by 26 days, which he set earlier in the season.

Town also had a good run in the FA Cup, where they reached the 5th round, before bowing out to Burnley in a 2–1 defeat in front of over 55,000 fans at Leeds Road. Town finished the league season in 12th position with 44 points, but it would be nearly 15 years until Town returned to the big time.

Squad at the end of the season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
-- GK England ENG Tom Daley
-- GK England ENG Harry Fearnley
-- GK South Africa RSA Sandy Kennon
-- DF England ENG John Battye
-- DF England ENG Ron Cockerill
-- DF England ENG John Coddington
-- DF England ENG Jack Connor
-- DF England ENG Tony Conwell
-- DF England ENG Brian Gibson
-- DF England ENG Laurie Kelly
-- DF England ENG Bill McGarry
-- DF England ENG Len Quested
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- DF England ENG Ken Taylor
-- DF England ENG Ray Wilson
-- MF Scotland SCO Willie Davie
-- MF England ENG Bob Ledger
-- MF England ENG Jackie Marriott
-- MF England ENG Kevin McHale
-- MF England ENG Vic Metcalfe
-- FW England ENG Dave Hickson
-- FW Scotland SCO Denis Law
-- FW Scotland SCO Les Massie
-- FW England ENG Ron Simpson
-- FW Scotland SCO Jimmy Watson

Results

Division Two
Date Opponents Home/
Away		 Result
F – A		 Scorers Attendance Position
18 August 1956 Liverpool A 3–2 Simpson, Hickson, Davie 49,344 7th
20 August 1956 Leicester City H 1–2 Simpson 18,978 8th
25 August 1956 Leyton Orient H 3–0 Metcalfe (pen), Hickson, Watson 15,164 7th
29 August 1956 Leicester City A 2–2 Hickson, McHale 28,301 6th
1 September 1956 Fulham A 0–1 17,606 9th
3 September 1956 Bristol Rovers H 2–1 Hickson (2) 14,560 5th
8 September 1956 Bury A 3–1 Hickson (2), Frear 17,434 4th
10 September 1956 Bristol Rovers A 0–4 27,553 5th
15 September 1956 Grimsby Town H 2–1 Frear, McHale 18,312 5th
22 September 1956 Doncaster Rovers A 0–4 19,754 9th
29 September 1956 Stoke City H 2–2 Hickson, McHale 16,202 8th
6 October 1956 Nottingham Forest H 1–0 Hickson 17,600 7th
13 October 1956 West Ham United A 2–0 Marriott, Hickson 22,643 6th
20 October 1956 Lincoln City H 0–1 16,999 8th
27 October 1956 Bristol City A 1–2 Hickson 24,873 9th
3 November 1956 Sheffield United H 1–4 Hickson 18,853 10th
10 November 1956 Barnsley A 5–0 Hickson, Massie, Marriott, Simpson (2) 15,234 9th
17 November 1956 Port Vale H 3–1 Marriott, Sproson (og), Hickson 14,044 8th
24 November 1956 Rotherham United A 3–3 Hickson, Metcalfe, Quested 12,977 8th
1 December 1956 Blackburn Rovers H 0–2 14,418 10th
8 December 1956 Swansea Town A 2–4 Simpson (2) 13,781 12th
15 December 1956 Liverpool H 0–3 11,577 13th
22 December 1956 Leyton Orient A 1–3 Metcalfe (pen) 14,725 14th
24 December 1956 Notts County A 2–1 Simpson (2) 9,165 12th
26 December 1956 Notts County H 3–0 Hickson, Connor, Law 7,483 12th
29 December 1956 Fulham H 1–1 Hickson 16,503 12th
12 January 1957 Bury H 1–2 Metcalfe (pen) 16,282 13th
19 January 1957 Grimsby Town A 2–1 Simpson (2) 14,929 12th
2 February 1957 Doncaster Rovers H 0–1 17,888 13th
9 February 1957 Stoke City A 1–5 Hickson 27,503 14th
21 February 1957 Nottingham Forest A 0–0 14,754 13th
23 February 1957 West Ham United H 6–2 Taylor (4), Massie, McGarry 5,878 13th
2 March 1957 Lincoln City A 2–1 McGarry, Massie 9,917 12th
9 March 1957 Bristol City H 2–1 Taylor, Metcalfe (pen) 14,218 11th
16 March 1957 Sheffield United A 0–2 19,038 12th
23 March 1957 Barnsley H 2–0 Simpson, Conwell 16,772 11th
30 March 1957 Port Vale A 2–1 Massie, Taylor 10,500 11th
6 April 1957 Rotherham United H 1–0 Taylor 13,008 9th
13 April 1957 Blackburn Rovers A 2–3 Taylor, Woods (og) 24,181 10th
20 April 1957 Swansea Town H 2–2 Law, Simpson 13,516 11th
22 April 1957 Middlesbrough A 2–7 Hickson, Massie 20,651 12th
23 April 1957 Middlesbrough H 0–1 13,818 12th

FA Cup
Date Round Opponents Home/
Away		 Result
F – A		 Scorers Attendance
5 January 1957 Round 3 Sheffield United H 0–0 24,220
7 January 1957 Round 3 Replay Sheffield United A 1–1 Simpson 25,537
14 January 1957 Round 3 2nd Replay Sheffield United N 2–1 Quested, Hickson 12,270
26 January 1957 Round 4 Peterborough United H 3–1 Law, Hickson, Simpson 48,735
16 February 1957 Round 5 Burnley H 1–2 Hickson 55,168

Appearances and goals
NameNationPositionLeague AppsLeague GoalsFA Cup AppsFA Cup GoalsTotal AppsTotal Goals
Ron Cockerill EnglandDF20050250
Jack Connor EnglandDF10140141
Tony Conwell EnglandDF31150361
Tom Daley EnglandGK100010
Willie Davie ScotlandFW510051
Harry Fearnley EnglandGK21050260
Bryan Frear EnglandFW420042
Brian Gibson EnglandDF29050340
Dave Hickson EnglandFW2819533322
Laurie Kelly EnglandDF11000110
Sandy Kennon South AfricaGK20000200
Denis Law ScotlandMF13251183
Jackie Marriott EnglandMF11300113
Les Massie ScotlandFW16500165
Bill McGarry EnglandDF35210362
Kevin McHale EnglandMF27350323
Vic Metcalfe EnglandMF42550475
Len Quested EnglandDF41151462
Ron Simpson EnglandFW3412523914
Ken Taylor EnglandDF33800338
Jimmy Watson ScotlandMF17100171
Ray Wilson EnglandDF13000130
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