‘B’ Division – Promotion!
The 1955/56 season was the 83rd season of competitive football in Scotland and the 59th season of the Scottish Football League.
Following league reconstruction League Division One was expanded from 16 to 18 teams.
League Division Two was expanded from 16 to 19 teams with Berwick Rangers, Dumbarton, East Stirlingshire, Montrose and Stranraer joining the league.
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.
New manager Neil Mc Bain made the difference between a mid-league position and the second place which gained United promotion to the 1st division.
United had opened with eight wins out of ten. Wins over Dumbarton (5-1), East Stirling (8-1) and St Johnstone (4-3) helped Ayr to 27 points by the year end. Other highlights were a 7-0 over Montrose and 8-1 over Forfar Athletic and an Easter Saturday 4-0 win against East Stirling.
A 5-0 win over Arbroath and a 0-0 draw at Perth left Ayr 46 points from 32 games. 15,000 people saw United win 2-0 against Brechin City and achieve promotion.
|
Date |
Opponents |
H/A |
Competition |
Score – Ayr First |
Crowd |
Programme Issued |
Comments |
|
13/8/55 |
St. Johnstone |
A |
Scottish League Cup – Group 6 |
1-5 |
|
Yes |
|
|
17/8/55 |
Queens Park |
H |
Scottish League Cup – Group 6 |
3-2 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
20/8/55 |
Stirling Albion |
A |
Scottish League Cup – Group 6 |
1-3 |
|
Yes |
|
|
24/8/55 |
Forfar Athletic |
H |
‘B’ Division |
3-1 |
|
Yes |
|
|
27/8/55 |
St. Johnstone |
H |
Scottish League Cup – Group 6 |
3-2 |
|
Yes |
|
|
31/8/55 |
Queens Park |
A |
Scottish League Cup – Group 6 |
0-2 |
|
Yes |
|
|
3/9/55 |
Stirling Albion |
H |
Scottish League Cup – Group 6 |
2-2 |
|
Yes |
|
|
7/9/55 |
Cowdenbeath |
A |
2nd Division |
0-4 |
|
Yes |
|
|
10/9/55 |
Alloa Athletic |
A |
2nd Division |
2-1 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
14/9/55 |
Berwick Rangers |
H |
2nd Division |
4-1 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
17/9/55 |
Montrose |
H |
2nd Division |
7-0 |
|
Yes |
|
|
21/9/55 |
Rangers |
H |
2nd Division |
3-0 |
|
No Issue |
Alec Beatie’s Testimonial |
|
24/9/55 |
Morton |
A |
2nd Division |
2-0 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
28/9/55 |
Berwick Rangers |
A |
2nd Division |
4-3 |
|
Yes |
|
|
1/10/55 |
Third Lanark 1872 |
H |
2nd Division |
1-0 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
8/10/55 |
Albion Rovers |
A |
2nd Division |
2-4 |
|
Yes |
|
|
15/10/55 |
Stranraer |
H |
2nd Division |
3-0 |
|
Yes |
|
|
22/10/55 |
Queens Park |
H |
2nd Division |
1-2 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
25/10/55 |
Kilmarnock |
A |
Friendly |
|
|
No Issue |
Jimmy Middlemas’s Testimonial |
|
5/11/55 |
Queens Park |
A |
2nd Division |
2-4 |
|
Yes |
|
|
12/11/55 |
Dumbarton |
H |
2nd Division |
5-1 |
|
Yes |
|
|
19/11/55 |
Dundee United |
A |
2nd Division |
3-3 |
|
Yes |
|
|
26/11/55 |
East Stirlingshire |
H |
2nd Division |
8-1 |
|
Yes |
|
|
3/12/55 |
Arbroath |
A |
2nd Division |
0-2 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
10/12/55 |
St. Johnstone |
H |
2nd Division |
4-3 |
|
Yes |
|
|
17/12/55 |
Hamilton Academical |
A |
2nd Division |
2-1 |
|
Yes |
|
|
24/12/55 |
Stenhousemuir |
A |
2nd Division |
1-4 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
31/12/55 |
Cowdenbeath |
H |
2nd Division |
4-1 |
|
Yes |
|
|
2/1/56 |
Morton |
H |
2nd Division |
3-1 |
|
Yes |
|
|
7/1/56 |
Montrose |
A |
2nd Division |
4-2 |
|
Yes |
|
|
14/1/56 |
Alloa Athletic |
H |
2nd Division |
5-0 |
|
Yes |
|
|
21/1/56 |
Third Lanark 1872 |
A |
2nd Division |
2-3 |
|
Yes |
|
|
28/1/56 |
Albion Rovers |
H |
2nd Division |
3-2 |
|
Yes |
|
|
4/2/56 |
Berwick Rangers |
H |
Scottish Cup – 5th Rnd |
5-2 |
|
Yes |
|
|
11/2/56 |
Stranraer |
A |
2nd Division |
6-3 |
|
Yes |
|
|
18/2/56 |
Celtic |
H |
Scottish Cup – 6th Rnd |
0-3 |
|
Yes |
|
|
3/3/56 |
Brechin City |
H |
2nd Division |
2-0 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
10/3/56 |
Shettleston Juniors |
H |
Friendly |
3-2 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
17/3/56 |
Dumbarton |
A |
2nd Division |
3-3 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
24/3/56 |
Dundee United |
H |
2nd Division |
1-0 |
|
Yes |
|
|
31/3/56 |
East Stirlingshire |
A |
2nd Division |
4-0 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
7/4/56 |
Arbroath |
H |
2nd Division |
5-0 |
|
Yes |
|
|
11/4/56 |
Kilmarnock |
A |
Ayrshire Cup Final – 1st Leg |
0-4 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
18/4/56 |
St. Johnstone |
A |
2nd Division |
0-0 |
|
Yes |
|
|
21/4/56 |
Hamilton Academical |
H |
2nd Division |
3-4 |
|
Yes |
|
|
25/4/56 |
Stenhousemuir |
H |
2nd Division |
1-0 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
28/4/56 |
Forfar Athletic |
A |
2nd Division |
3-0 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
30/4/56 |
Brechin City |
A |
2nd Division |
0-1 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
5/5/56 |
Kilmarnock |
H |
Ayrshire Cup Final – 2nd Leg |
0-3 |
|
No Issue |
|
|
11/5/56 |
Queen of the South |
H |
Friendly |
1-3 |
|
No Issue |
British Olympic Games Fund |
|
P |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
36 |
23 |
8 |
5 |
78 |
28 |
50 |
54 |
|
|
2 |
36 |
24 |
3 |
9 |
103 |
55 |
48 |
51 |
|
|
3 |
36 |
21 |
7 |
8 |
86 |
45 |
41 |
49 |
|
|
4 |
36 |
21 |
5 |
10 |
83 |
62 |
21 |
47 |
|
|
5 |
36 |
20 |
4 |
12 |
82 |
54 |
28 |
44 |
|
|
6 |
36 |
18 |
6 |
12 |
60 |
56 |
4 |
42 |
|
|
7 |
36 |
16 |
7 |
13 |
80 |
85 |
-5 |
39 |
|
|
8 |
36 |
12 |
14 |
10 |
78 |
65 |
-7 |
38 |
|
|
9 |
36 |
15 |
6 |
15 |
71 |
69 |
2 |
36 |
|
|
10 |
36 |
16 |
3 |
17 |
80 |
64 |
16 |
35 |
|
|
11 |
36 |
13 |
7 |
16 |
86 |
84 |
2 |
33 |
|
|
12 |
36 |
14 |
5 |
17 |
77 |
92 |
-15 |
33 |
|
|
13 |
36 |
12 |
7 |
17 |
67 |
73 |
-6 |
31 |
|
|
14 |
36 |
11 |
9 |
16 |
52 |
77 |
-25 |
31 |
|
|
15 |
36 |
10 |
9 |
17 |
62 |
75 |
-13 |
29 |
|
|
16 |
36 |
9 |
10 |
17 |
66 |
94 |
-28 |
28 |
|
|
17 |
36 |
8 |
11 |
17 |
58 |
82 |
-24 |
27 |
|
|
18 |
36 |
10 |
6 |
20 |
47 |
67 |
-20 |
26 |
|
|
19 |
36 |
4 |
3 |
29 |
44 |
133 |
-89 |
11 |
