1954–55 Manchester United F.C. season

The 1954–55 season was Manchester United's 53rd season in the Football League, and their tenth consecutive season in the top division of English football. United finished fifth in the league. Their top scorer was Dennis Viollet, with 21 goals. Departing the club at the end of the season was veteran forward Jack Rowley after 18 years at Old Trafford. With younger players continuing to form the mainstay of the side, several more made their debuts this season, including Dublin born forward Billy Whelan who made his senior debut just before his 20th birthday.^[1]

Manchester United

1954–55 season
Chairman	Harold Hardman
Manager	Matt Busby
First Division	5th
FA Cup	Fourth Round
Top goalscorer	League: Dennis Viollet (20) Tommy Taylor (20) All: Dennis Viollet (21)
Highest home attendance	51,918 vs Blackpool (1 January 1955)
Lowest home attendance	15,679 vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (23 February 1955)
Average home league attendance	33,815
Home colours Away colours
← 1953–54 1955–56 →

First Division

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
21 August 1954	Portsmouth	H	1 – 3	Rowley	38,203
23 August 1954	Sheffield Wednesday	A	4 – 2	Blanchflower (2), Viollet (2)	38,118
28 August 1954	Blackpool	A	4 – 2	Webster (2), Blanchflower, Viollet	31,855
1 September 1954	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2 – 0	Viollet (2)	31,371
4 September 1954	Charlton Athletic	H	3 – 1	Rowley (2), Taylor	38,105
8 September 1954	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2 – 0	Berry, Webster	35,162
11 September 1954	Bolton Wanderers	A	1 – 1	Webster	44,661
15 September 1954	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2 – 1	Rowley, Viollet	29,212
18 September 1954	Huddersfield Town	H	1 – 1	Viollet	45,648
25 September 1954	Manchester City	A	2 – 3	Blanchflower, Taylor	54,105
2 October 1954	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2 – 4	Rowley, Viollet	39,617
9 October 1954	Cardiff City	H	5 – 2	Taylor (4), Viollet	39,378
16 October 1954	Chelsea	A	6 – 5	Viollet (3), Taylor (2), Blanchflower	55,966
23 October 1954	Newcastle United	H	2 – 2	Taylor, own goal	29,217
30 October 1954	Everton	A	2 – 4	Taylor, Rowley	63,021
6 November 1954	Preston North End	H	2 – 1	Viollet (2)	30,063
13 November 1954	Sheffield United	A	0 – 3		26,257
20 November 1954	Arsenal	H	2 – 1	Blanchflower, Taylor	33,373
27 November 1954	West Bromwich Albion	A	0 – 2		33,931
4 December 1954	Leicester City	H	3 – 1	Webster, Rowley, Viollet	19,369
11 December 1954	Burnley	A	4 – 2	Webster (3), Viollet	24,977
18 December 1954	Portsmouth	A	0 – 0		26,019
27 December 1954	Aston Villa	H	0 – 1		49,136
28 December 1954	Aston Villa	A	1 – 2	Taylor	48,718
1 January 1955	Blackpool	H	4 – 1	Blanchflower (2), Edwards, Viollet	51,918
22 January 1955	Bolton Wanderers	H	1 – 1	Taylor	39,873
5 February 1955	Huddersfield Town	A	3 – 1	Berry, Edwards, Pegg	31,408
12 February 1955	Manchester City	H	0 – 5		47,914
23 February 1955	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2 – 4	Edwards, Taylor	15,679
26 February 1955	Cardiff City	A	0 – 3		16,329
5 March 1955	Burnley	H	1 – 0	Edwards	31,729
19 March 1955	Everton	H	1 – 2	Scanlon	32,295
26 March 1955	Preston North End	A	2 – 0	Byrne, Scanlon	13,327
2 April 1955	Sheffield United	H	5 – 0	Taylor (2), Berry, Viollet, Whelan	21,158
8 April 1955	Sunderland	A	3 – 4	Edwards (2), Scanlon	43,882
9 April 1955	Leicester City	A	0 – 1		34,362
11 April 1955	Sunderland	H	2 – 2	Byrne, Taylor	36,013
16 April 1955	West Bromwich Albion	H	3 – 0	Taylor (2), Viollet	24,765
18 April 1955	Newcastle United	A	0 – 2		35,540
23 April 1955	Arsenal	A	3 – 2	Blanchflower (2), own goal	42,754
26 April 1955	Charlton Athletic	A	1 – 1	Viollet	13,149
30 April 1955	Chelsea	H	2 – 1	Scanlon, Taylor	34,933

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Chelsea (C)	42	20	12	10	81	57	1.421	52	Disqualified from the European Cup[a]
2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	19	10	13	89	70	1.271	48
3	Portsmouth	42	18	12	12	74	62	1.194	48
4	Sunderland	42	15	18	9	64	54	1.185	48
5	Manchester United	42	20	7	15	84	74	1.135	47
6	Aston Villa	42	20	7	15	72	73	0.986	47
7	Manchester City	42	18	10	14	76	69	1.101	46
8	Newcastle United	42	17	9	16	89	77	1.156	43
9	Arsenal	42	17	9	16	69	63	1.095	43
10	Burnley	42	17	9	16	51	48	1.063	43
11	Everton	42	16	10	16	62	68	0.912	42
12	Huddersfield Town	42	14	13	15	63	68	0.926	41
13	Sheffield United	42	17	7	18	70	86	0.814	41
14	Preston North End	42	16	8	18	83	64	1.297	40
15	Charlton Athletic	42	15	10	17	76	75	1.013	40
16	Tottenham Hotspur	42	16	8	18	72	73	0.986	40
17	West Bromwich Albion	42	16	8	18	76	96	0.792	40
18	Bolton Wanderers	42	13	13	16	62	69	0.899	39
19	Blackpool	42	14	10	18	60	64	0.938	38
20	Cardiff City	42	13	11	18	62	76	0.816	37
21	Leicester City (R)	42	12	11	19	74	86	0.860	35	Relegation to the Second Division
22	Sheffield Wednesday (R)	42	8	10	24	63	100	0.630	26

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Chelsea were invited to play at the inaugural European Cup but were barred from participation by The FA.^[2]

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
8 January 1955	Round 3	Reading	A	1 – 1	Webster	26,000
12 January 1955	Round 3 Replay	Reading	H	4 – 1	Webster (2), Viollet, Rowley	24,578
19 February 1955	Round 4	Manchester City	A	0 – 2		75,000

Squad statistics

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Jack Crompton	5	0	0	0	5	0
GK	Ray Wood	37	0	3	0	40	0
FB	Geoff Bent	2	0	0	0	2	0
FB	Roger Byrne	39	2	3	0	42	2
FB	Bill Foulkes	41	0	3	0	44	0
FB	Ian Greaves	1	0	0	0	1	0
FB	Mark Jones	13	0	0	0	13	0
FB	Paddy Kennedy	1	0	0	0	1	0
HB	Jackie Blanchflower	29	10	3	0	32	10
HB	Allenby Chilton	29	0	3	0	32	0
HB	Henry Cockburn	1	0	0	0	1	0
HB	Duncan Edwards	33	6	3	0	36	6
HB	Don Gibson	32	0	3	0	35	0
HB	Freddie Goodwin	5	0	0	0	5	0
HB	Jeff Whitefoot	24	0	0	0	24	0
FW	Johnny Berry	40	3	3	0	43	3
FW	David Pegg	6	1	0	0	6	1
FW	Jack Rowley	22	7	3	1	25	8
FW	Albert Scanlon	14	4	0	0	14	4
FW	Tommy Taylor	30	20	1	0	31	20
FW	Dennis Viollet	34	20	3	1	37	21
FW	Colin Webster	17	8	2	3	19	11
FW	Liam Whelan	7	1	0	0	7	1
–	Own goals	–	2	–	0	–	2

References

1. "Manchester United Season 1954/55". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
2. The great Chelsea surrender