1955–56 in Scottish football

The 1955–56 season was the 83rd season of competitive football in Scotland and the 59th season of the Scottish Football League. [1]

1955–56 in Scottish football
Division One champions
Rangers
Division Two champions
Queen's Park
Scottish Cup winners
Heart of Midlothian
League Cup winners
Aberdeen
Junior Cup winners
Petershill
Teams in Europe
Hibernian
Scotland national team
1956 BHC

Overview

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Following league reconstruction, the top tier was expanded from 16 to 18 teams with Airdrieonians and Dunfermline Athletic being promoted. The second tier was expanded from 16 to 19 teams with Berwick Rangers, Dumbarton, East Stirlingshire, Montrose and Stranraer joining the league from the third tier.[1]

The leagues were rebranded at the start of season 1955–56. Division A was now the newly named Division One and Division B was now the newly named Division Two.[1] Division C was disbanded, with most of its members, which were reserve teams, moving to a separate Scottish (Reserve) League).[2][3]

Scottish League Division One

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Rangers 34 22 8 4 85 27 3.148 52
2 Aberdeen 34 18 10 6 87 50 1.740 46
3 Heart of Midlothian 34 19 7 8 99 47 2.106 45
4 Hibernian 34 19 7 8 86 50 1.720 45
5 Celtic 34 16 9 9 55 39 1.410 41
6 Queen of the South 34 16 5 13 69 73 0.945 37
7 Airdrieonians 34 14 8 12 85 96 0.885 36
8 Kilmarnock 34 12 10 12 52 45 1.156 34
9 Partick Thistle 34 13 7 14 62 60 1.033 33
10 Motherwell 34 11 11 12 53 59 0.898 33
11 Raith Rovers 34 12 9 13 58 75 0.773 33
12 East Fife 34 13 5 16 61 69 0.884 31
13 Dundee 34 12 6 16 56 65 0.862 30
14 Falkirk 34 11 6 17 58 75 0.773 28
15 St Mirren 34 10 7 17 57 70 0.814 27
16 Dunfermline Athletic 34 10 6 18 42 82 0.512 26
17 Clyde 34 8 6 20 50 74 0.676 22
18 Stirling Albion 34 4 5 25 23 82 0.280 13
Source: RSSSF[dead link]

Champions: Rangers
Relegated: Clyde, Stirling Albion

Scottish League Division Two

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Queen's Park 36 23 8 5 78 28 +50 54 Promotion to the 1956–57 Division One
2 Ayr United 36 24 3 9 103 55 +48 51
3 St Johnstone 36 21 7 8 86 45 +41 49
4 Dumbarton 36 21 5 10 83 62 +21 47
5 Stenhousemuir 36 20 4 12 82 54 +28 44
6 Brechin City 36 18 6 12 60 56 +4 42
7 Cowdenbeath 36 16 7 13 80 85 −5 39
8 Dundee United 36 12 14 10 78 65 +13 38
9 Morton 36 15 6 15 71 69 +2 36
10 Third Lanark 36 16 3 17 80 64 +16 35
11 Hamilton Academical 36 13 7 16 86 84 +2 33
12 Stranraer 36 14 5 17 77 92 −15 33
13 Alloa Athletic 36 12 7 17 67 73 −6 31
14 Berwick Rangers 36 11 9 16 52 77 −25 31
15 Forfar Athletic 36 10 9 17 62 75 −13 29
16 East Stirlingshire 36 9 10 17 66 94 −28 28
17 Albion Rovers 36 8 11 17 58 82 −24 27
18 Arbroath 36 10 6 20 47 67 −20 26
19 Montrose 36 4 3 29 44 133 −89 11
Source: "1955-1956 Second Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL. Retrieved 2021-04-29.

Promoted: Queen's Park, Ayr United

Cup honours

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Competition Winner Score Runner-up
Scottish Cup 1955–56 Heart of Midlothian 3 – 1 Celtic
League Cup 1955–56 Aberdeen 2 – 1 St Mirren
Junior Cup Petershill 4 – 1 Lugar Boswell Thistle

Other Honours

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County

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Competition Winner Score Runner-up
Aberdeenshire Cup Fraserburgh
Ayrshire Cup Kilmarnock 7 – 0 * Ayr United
East of Scotland Shield Hearts 2 – 1 Hibernian
Fife Cup Raith Rovers 2 – 1 East Fife
Forfarshire Cup Dundee 2 – 0 Arbroath
Glasgow Cup Celtic 5 – 3 † Rangers
Lanarkshire Cup Motherwell 7 – 1 Albion Rovers
Renfrewshire Cup Morton
Stirlingshire Cup Alloa Athletic 8 – 4 * Falkirk

* - aggregate over two legs
† - replay

Top Three
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Elgin City[a] 28 22 1 5 92 44 +48 45
2 Buckie Thistle 28 22 1 5 94 34 +60 45
3 Inverness Thistle 27 18 2 7 108 52 +56 38
Source: [citation needed]
Notes:
  1. ^ won on play off

Scotland national team

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Date Venue Opponents Score[4] Competition Scotland scorer(s)
8 October 1955 Windsor Park, Belfast (A)   Northern Ireland 1–2 BHC Lawrie Reilly
9 November 1955 Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)   Wales 2–0 BHC Bobby Johnstone (2)
14 April 1956 Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)   England 1–1 BHC Graham Leggat
2 May 1956 Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)   Austria 1–1 Friendly Alfie Conn

1956 British Home Championship - Joint winners with   England,   Northern Ireland and   Wales

Key:

  • (H) = Home match
  • (A) = Away match
  • BHC = British Home Championship

Notes and references

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  1. ^ a b c "1955/56 - the Scottish Football League". Archived from the original on 4 January 2013.
  2. ^ Scottish Reserve League Competitions Part 2 1945-1955, Scottish Football Historical Archive, 1 November 2020
  3. ^ The C Division – the “other clubs” division, Alan Bell, via Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Transfer Database
  4. ^ Scotland's score is shown first.
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