1956–57 Aston Villa F.C. season

The 1957 FA Cup final was a football match played on 4 May 1957 at Wembley Stadium between Aston Villa and Manchester United. Villa won 2–1, with both of their goals scored by Peter McParland. Tommy Taylor scored United's goal. It was Villa's first major trophy for 37 years.[4]

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.

Villa's victory gave them their seventh FA Cup title, a record at the time, but since passed by three clubs including Manchester United. Villa reached the final in 2000, when they lost to Chelsea, and in 2015, when they lost to Arsenal.

Six of the 11 United players who took to the field for United in this game died in the Munich air disaster nine months later. Two others were injured to such an extent that they never played again. The death of Nigel Sims in January 2018 left Peter McParland as the last surviving member of the winning team.

In December 2007, BBC Four's Timeshift series screened a documentary, A Game of Two Eras, which compared the 1957 final with its 2007 counterpart.[5]

Match details

4 May 1957

Aston Villa	2–1	Manchester United
McParland 68', 73'	Report	Taylor 83'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 99,225

Referee: F. Coultas

Aston Villa

Manchester United

GK 1 Nigel Sims RB 2 Stan Lynn LB 3 Peter Aldis RH 4 Stan Crowther CH 5 Jimmy Dugdale LH 6 Pat Saward OR 7 Les Smith IR 8 Jackie Sewell CF 9 Bill Myerscough IL 10 Johnny Dixon (c) OL 11 Peter McParland Manager: Eric Houghton

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 Billy Whelan CF 9 Tommy Taylor IL 10 Bobby Charlton OL 11 David Pegg Manager: Matt Busby