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
Chairman	J. Bernard Newman
Manager	Andy Beattie (until 3 November 1956) Bill Shankly (from 5 November 1956)
Football League Second Division	12th
FA Cup	Fifth round (knocked out by Burnley)
Top goalscorer	League: Dave Hickson (19) All: Dave Hickson (22)
Highest home attendance	55,168 vs Burnley (16 February 1957)
Lowest home attendance	5,878 vs West Ham United (23 February 1957)
Biggest win	5–0 vs Barnsley (10 November 1956)
Biggest defeat	2–7 vs Middlesbrough (22 April 1957)
← 1955–56 1957–58 →

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   ENG Harry Fearnley -- GK   RSA Sandy Kennon -- DF   ENG John Battye -- DF   ENG Ron Cockerill -- DF   ENG John Coddington -- DF   ENG Jack Connor -- DF   ENG Tony Conwell -- DF   ENG Brian Gibson -- DF   ENG Laurie Kelly -- DF   ENG Bill McGarry -- DF   ENG Len Quested

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

No. Pos. Nation Player -- DF   ENG Ken Taylor -- DF   ENG Ray Wilson -- MF   SCO Willie Davie -- MF   ENG Bob Ledger -- MF   ENG Jackie Marriott -- MF   ENG Kevin McHale -- MF   ENG Vic Metcalfe -- FW   ENG Dave Hickson -- FW   SCO Denis Law -- FW   SCO Les Massie -- FW   ENG Ron Simpson -- FW   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

Name	Nation	Position	League Apps	League Goals	FA Cup Apps	FA Cup Goals	Total Apps	Total Goals
Ron Cockerill	England	DF	20	0	5	0	25	0
Jack Connor	England	DF	10	1	4	0	14	1
Tony Conwell	England	DF	31	1	5	0	36	1
Tom Daley	England	GK	1	0	0	0	1	0
Willie Davie	Scotland	FW	5	1	0	0	5	1
Harry Fearnley	England	GK	21	0	5	0	26	0
Bryan Frear	England	FW	4	2	0	0	4	2
Brian Gibson	England	DF	29	0	5	0	34	0
Dave Hickson	England	FW	28	19	5	3	33	22
Laurie Kelly	England	DF	11	0	0	0	11	0
Sandy Kennon	South Africa	GK	20	0	0	0	20	0
Denis Law	Scotland	MF	13	2	5	1	18	3
Jackie Marriott	England	MF	11	3	0	0	11	3
Les Massie	Scotland	FW	16	5	0	0	16	5
Bill McGarry	England	DF	35	2	1	0	36	2
Kevin McHale	England	MF	27	3	5	0	32	3
Vic Metcalfe	England	MF	42	5	5	0	47	5
Len Quested	England	DF	41	1	5	1	46	2
Ron Simpson	England	FW	34	12	5	2	39	14
Ken Taylor	England	DF	33	8	0	0	33	8
Jimmy Watson	Scotland	MF	17	1	0	0	17	1
Ray Wilson	England	DF	13	0	0	0	13	0