For non-Manchester United supporters, such as myself, but those of an age who can (just) remember their halcyon days of the 1960s, if asked to select an all-time great United XI, written down immediately would be the names Denis Law, George Best and Bobby Charlton.
From more recent times, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo would obviously receive consideration, while based on hallowed reputations Duncan Edwards, Tommy Taylor and Roger Byrne are never far from the debate.
Beyond the keenest students of Old Trafford history (and then needing to be of a mature vintage), it is unlikely the name Dennis Viollet would be conjured for long – and yet as the feature of a DENNIS VIOLLET – A UNITED MAN (Dir Rachel Viollet, 65 mins, 2016), his case for inclusion is strongly made and well-presented.
As the film is written and directed by his daughter that should come as no surprise, but during the first half of this highly watchable documentary, his claims are championed by Denis Law, Nobby Stiles and Johnny Giles – with former Manchester City player and author Fred Eyre, recalling a conversation he once had with legendary Manchester United manager Sir Matt Busby.
‘I once asked Sir Matt,’ explains Eyre, ‘of all the great players he’d managed at Old Trafford if he’d ever sat down and picked his best eleven. He said he had – and I can tell you Dennis Viollet was in it.’
Born in the Manchester suburb of Fallowfield on September 23, 1933, Viollet, whisked from under the noses of rivals City by Busby, was a quick and tenacious striker. His prodigious talent as a teenager came to the notice of former Manchester City and England goalkeeper Frank Swift, who implored the Maine Road club to sign him – their hesitation allowing Busby to swoop.
Sadly Swift, by then a football correspondent, would perish in the Munich Air Crash of February 6, 1958, that claimed the lives of eight of Viollet’s Manchester United team-mates – he one of the 21 passengers of 38 who survived the disaster.
Having previously represented Manchester Schools, Viollet then became an England schoolboy international. Having been on the Old Trafford playing staff for just fifteen months, his first team debut came at the age of 17 in the early months of the 1950-51 season.
With Busby pursuing a policy of looking countrywide for the very best in young talent, Viollet was one of the first to breakthrough – and as more and more of these supremely gifted youngsters came to join him in the senior side, they were dubbed ‘the Busby Babes.’
Such was their fledgling brilliance they won successive league titles in 1956 and 57, Aston Villa denying them a League and FA Cup ‘double’ in 1957 with a 2-1 Wembley defeat of United – Viollet a pivotal figure in this outstanding group of young performers.
‘He had a terrific partnership with Tommy Taylor,’ recalls Denis Law, ‘Tommy was powerful and strong in the air and Dennis was lean and quick and probably the most instinctive finisher I’ve ever seen. They complemented each other superbly.’
Following his remarks earlier in the piece, Eyre then chips in with, ‘for me Dennis Viollet is up there with Best, Law and Charlton – he really was that good.’
With 67 goals in the previous four seasons, Viollet carried his fine form into the 1957-58 campaign. By February the league title was already a two-horse race between them and Wolves, United having also secured a place in the European Cup semi-finals – their spot booked with a second-leg quarter final away draw against Red Star Belgrade.
On the return journey to Manchester, however, the flight stopped to refuel at Munich, only for the airplane to crash taking off on a snow-covered runway. Of the 21 members in the United party Viollet was one of ten survivors, despite sustaining head and facial injuries.
Following the tragedy at Munich, the United team decimated by the crash was hastily rebuilt around survivors Harry Gregg, Bill Foulkes, Bobby Charlton and Viollet. Although their title challenge was to fade, they showed incredible powers of fortitude in reaching the 1958 FA Cup Final but were beaten 2-0 by Bolton Wanderers.
The next two seasons found Viollet in the most prolific form of his career, a return of 32 goals from 36 appearances in 1959-60 still a Manchester United club record. Two England caps during this period appear scant reward for such consistency, second wife Helen describing how one effect of Munich had been realisation ‘life can be taken in an instant,’ Viollet developing a reputation as an enthusiastic socialiser – a claim also alluded to by Eyre – that went against him in terms of more international caps.
Ultimately it led to a rift with Busby – who sold 28-year-old Viollet to second division Stoke City for £25,000 in January 1962, the first he knew of the transfer being a telephone call from Stoke manager Tony Waddington.
‘Dennis asked him if Matt Busby knew of the approach,’ explains Helen Viollet, ‘oh yes,’ Waddington is reported to have said: ‘I’ve arranged it with Matt.’
Leaving Old Trafford with the impressive record of 179 goals from 293 appearances, he joined a team Waddington was rebuilding with designs on returning to Division One – Stoke having re-signed Stanley Matthews only a few months before. Viollet was a key member of the side who won the second division in 1963, continuing his Victoria Ground career until 1967, scoring 66 times in 207 games.
On leaving Stoke – near their Britannia Stadium is a ‘Dennis Viollet Way‘ named in his honour – Viollet went to the United States for a spell with Baltimore Bays.
On ending his playing career, he returned to England for a brief spell as manager of Crewe Alexandra, but having been taken with life Stateside, went back to coach in the expanding North American game, also drawing up coaching programmes for young players that are still revered in the United States.
Viollet, a much-acclaimed figure in the development of soccer in America, has been inducted into the US Soccer League ‘Hall of Fame‘ with a ‘Dennis Viollet Soccer Training Centre‘ to be found in his adopted home of Florida.
In 1997, along with the other surviving United players of the 1958 disaster, Viollet was invited to Munich by UEFA for the Champions League Final. Shortly afterward, however, he was taken ill, the diagnosis a brain tumor that specialists felt could be traced back to the Munich crash – but the documentary never presents Viollet as a victim, his widow quick to point out: ‘Dennis lived life to the full.’
Confined to a wheelchair for the last few months of life, Dennis Viollet, renowned as a modest man without any apparent ego or side, passed away at the age of 66 on March 6, 1999.
‘Dennis Violett had everything,’ reflected Johnny Giles, ‘and his exploits at Manchester United make him one of the greatest strikers of all time.’
Fittingly, the ashes of Dennis Viollet – listed at 24 in a 2018 poll of the top 50 players to have played for Manchester United – were scattered at the Stretford End of Old Trafford.
NEIL SAMBROOK is also the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.
