1957 FA Cup Final
Encyclopedia
The 1957 FA Cup Final was a football match played on 4 May 1957 at Wembley Stadium. The match was contested by Aston Villa
and Manchester United
. Villa won 2-1, with both of their goals scored by Peter McParland
. Tommy Taylor
got United's goal.
The final was marred by a collision after only six minutes between Villa forward Peter McParland and United goalkeeper Ray Wood
, which left Wood unconscious with a broken cheekbone. Wood left the pitch and Jackie Blanchflower
took over in goal for United. Wood eventually rejoined the game in an outfield position as a virtual passenger before returning to goal for the last seven minutes of the game.
It was Villa's first major trophy for 37 years.
Villa's victory gave them their seventh FA Cup title, a record number at the time. Villa have not been able to add to that total since, which has been passed by three clubs – including Manchester United, who now hold the record with eleven wins.
Six of the 11 players who took to the field for United in this game lost their lives in the Munich air disaster
nine months later; as did a further two players who did not appear in the game, while two others (who both appeared in the game) were injured to such an extent that they never played again.
In December 2007, BBC Four
screened a documentary, A Game of Two Eras, which compared the 1957 final with its 2007
counterpart.
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MANCHESTER UNITED:
|
GK
1
Ray Wood
RB
2
Bill Foulkes
LB
3
Roger Byrne
(c)
RH
4
Eddie Colman
CH
5
Jackie Blanchflower
LH
6
Duncan Edwards
OR
7
Johnny Berry
IR
8
Liam Whelan
CF
9
Tommy Taylor
IL
10
Bobby Charlton
OL
11
David Pegg
Manager:
Matt Busby
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{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;"
|-
|Round 3||align=right|Hartlepools United
||3–4||Manchester United
|-
|Round 4||align=right|Wrexham||0–5||Manchester United
|-
|Round 5||align=right|Manchester United||2–1||Everton
|-
|Round 6||align=right|Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic
||1–2||Manchester United
|-
|Semi-final||align=right|Manchester United||2–0||Birmingham City
|-
| ||colspan=4 align=center|(at Hillsborough
)
|}
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
and Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
. Villa won 2-1, with both of their goals scored by Peter McParland
Peter McParland
Peter James McParland, MBE is a former professional footballer.-Dundalk & Aston Villa:...
. Tommy Taylor
Tommy Taylor
Thomas "Tommy" Taylor was an English footballer, who was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster....
got United's goal.
The final was marred by a collision after only six minutes between Villa forward Peter McParland and United goalkeeper Ray Wood
Ray Wood
Raymond Ernest "Ray" Wood was a Manchester United goalkeeper who played in the 1956 and 1957 championship-winning teams. Wood was a very fast player, he had the opportunity to be a professional sprinter but chose to play football, and was very agile...
, which left Wood unconscious with a broken cheekbone. Wood left the pitch and Jackie Blanchflower
Jackie Blanchflower
John "Jackie" Blanchflower was a Northern Irish football player. He graduated from Manchester United's youth system and played for the club on 117 occasions, before his career was cut short due to injuries sustained in the Munich air disaster...
took over in goal for United. Wood eventually rejoined the game in an outfield position as a virtual passenger before returning to goal for the last seven minutes of the game.
It was Villa's first major trophy for 37 years.
Villa's victory gave them their seventh FA Cup title, a record number at the time. Villa have not been able to add to that total since, which has been passed by three clubs – including Manchester United, who now hold the record with eleven wins.
Six of the 11 players who took to the field for United in this game lost their lives in the Munich air disaster
Munich air disaster
The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the "Busby Babes",...
nine months later; as did a further two players who did not appear in the game, while two others (who both appeared in the game) were injured to such an extent that they never played again.
In December 2007, BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
screened a documentary, A Game of Two Eras, which compared the 1957 final with its 2007
2007 FA Cup Final
The 2007 FA Cup Final was played on Saturday, 19 May 2007 between Chelsea and Manchester United, who had come up against Premier League opposition in every round. It was the 126th FA Cup Final and the first to be played at the new Wembley Stadium...
counterpart.
Match details
| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> | ASTON VILLA: | ||
| GK | 1 | Nigel Sims Nigel Sims David Nigel Sims , known as Nigel Sims, is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa and Peterborough United in the 1950s and 1960s.... |
|
| RB | 2 | Stan Lynn Stan Lynn Stanley "Stan" Lynn was an English professional association footballer who played as a right back. He made nearly 450 appearances in the Football League for Accrington Stanley, Aston Villa and Birmingham City... |
|
| LB | 3 | Peter Aldis Peter Aldis Peter Aldis was an English footballer who played at full-back and appeared in 294 games for Aston Villa in League and Cup.He worked for local chocolate firm... |
|
| RH | 4 | Stan Crowther Stan Crowther (footballer) Stanley "Stan" Crowther is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Aston Villa, Manchester United, Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion during the 1950s and early 1960s... |
|
| CH | 5 | Jimmy Dugdale Jimmy Dugdale James Robert "Jimmy" Dugdale was a former English professional footballer best known for his career with Aston Villa, with whom he won a F.A. Cup winner's medal in 1957, 2nd Division Championship 1960, Inaugural League Cup Winner 1961. His playing position was Centre-Half James Robert "Jimmy"... |
|
| LH | 6 | Pat Saward Pat Saward Patrick "Pat" Saward was a former professional footballer in the English football League and for the Republic of Ireland. He died of Alzheimer's disease in 2002.-Club:He played as an amateur for Crystal Palace before he joined Milwall as a professional... |
|
| OR | 7 | Les Smith Les Smith (footballer born 1927) Leslie Joseph Smith was an English footballer who represented both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa.Smith began his professional career with Wolves, making his senior debut in April 1947... |
|
| IR | 8 | Jackie Sewell Jackie Sewell John Jackie Sewell John Jackie Sewell John Jackie Sewell (born 24 January 1927, in Kells Village, near Whitehaven, Cumberland is a former England International football player. He played for several teams including Sheffield Wednesday, Notts County and Aston Villa... |
|
| CF | 9 | Bill Myerscough Bill Myerscough Bill Myerscough was an English professional footballer who played in The Football League for six clubs... |
|
| IL | 10 | Johnny Dixon Johnny Dixon Johnny Dixon was an English footballer.Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, he played for Aston Villa from 1945 until his retirement in 1961, making 430 appearances and scoring 144 goals... (c) |
|
| OL | 11 | Peter McParland Peter McParland Peter James McParland, MBE is a former professional footballer.-Dundalk & Aston Villa:... |
|
| Manager: | |||
| Eric Houghton Eric Houghton William Eric Houghton , was an English footballer and manager.Eric Houghton was born in Billingborough, Lincolnshire and educated at Donington Grammar School. He signed for Aston Villa as a seventeen-year-old and played in the Villa side for two decades, scoring 170 goals in 392 games... |
|||
Ray WoodRay Wood
Raymond Ernest "Ray" Wood was a Manchester United goalkeeper who played in the 1956 and 1957 championship-winning teams. Wood was a very fast player, he had the opportunity to be a professional sprinter but chose to play football, and was very agile...
Bill FoulkesBill Foulkes
William Anthony Foulkes is a former English footballer who played for Manchester United in the Busby Babes teams of the 1950s, and also in the 1960s. His favoured position was centre back. For Manchester United, he played 679 games, third to Ryan Giggs and Sir Bobby Charlton, he also made 3...
Roger ByrneRoger Byrne
Roger William Byrne was an English footballer and captain of Manchester United F.C.. He died at the age of 28 in the Munich air disaster....
(c)
Eddie ColmanEddie Colman
Edward "Eddie" Colman was an English football player and one of the eight Manchester United players who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster....
Jackie BlanchflowerJackie Blanchflower
John "Jackie" Blanchflower was a Northern Irish football player. He graduated from Manchester United's youth system and played for the club on 117 occasions, before his career was cut short due to injuries sustained in the Munich air disaster...
Duncan EdwardsDuncan Edwards
Duncan Edwards was an English footballer who played for Manchester United and the England national team. He was one of the Busby Babes, the young United team formed under manager Matt Busby in the mid 1950s, and one of eight players who died as a result of the Munich air disaster.Born in Dudley,...
Johnny BerryJohnny Berry
Reginald John "Johnny" Berry was an English football player. Berry joined Manchester United from Birmingham City in 1951. He was a natural right winger, with technique and pace as his strengths. He played 277 matches for Manchester United, scoring 44 goals along the way, including helping...
Liam WhelanLiam Whelan
William Augustine Whelan , also known as Billy Whelan or Liam Whelan, was an Irish footballer and one of the eight Manchester United players who were killed in the Munich air disaster...
Tommy TaylorTommy Taylor
Thomas "Tommy" Taylor was an English footballer, who was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster....
Bobby CharltonBobby Charlton
Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton CBE is an English former professional football player, a member of the England team who won the World Cup and Ballon d'Or for European Footballer of the Year in 1966...
David PeggDavid Pegg
David Pegg was an English footballer and one of the eight Manchester United players who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958....
Matt BusbyMatt Busby
Sir Alexander Matthew "Matt" Busby, CBE, KCSG was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–1971 season...
Aston Villa
EWLINE
|
||||
Manchester United
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{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;"
|-
|Round 3||align=right|Hartlepools United
Hartlepool United F.C.
Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...
||3–4||Manchester United
|-
|Round 4||align=right|Wrexham||0–5||Manchester United
|-
|Round 5||align=right|Manchester United||2–1||Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
|-
|Round 6||align=right|Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic
A.F.C. Bournemouth
A.F.C. Bournemouth is an English football club currently playing in Football League One. The club plays at Dean Court in Kings Park, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset and have been in existence since 1899....
||1–2||Manchester United
|-
|Semi-final||align=right|Manchester United||2–0||Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
|-
| ||colspan=4 align=center|(at Hillsborough
Hillsborough Stadium
Hillsborough Stadium is the home of Sheffield Wednesday football club, Sheffield, England. Football has been played at the ground since it was opened on 2 September 1899, when Wednesday moved from their original ground at Olive Grove. Today it is a 39,812 capacity all-seater stadium, making it the...
)
|}