When they lifted the European Cup on May 29th, 1968, in becoming the first English club to be crowned champions of Europe Manchester United enticed another generation of avid young followers into the Old Trafford fold – this latest wave of converts drawn by a thrilling brand of football evident in the 4-1 extra-time Wembley win over Portuguese champions Benfica and typified by the most exciting young player yet to emerge into the post-war British game.
When a prodigiously gifted Belfast-born teenager named George Best was incorporated into a team being rebuilt by manager Matt Busby after the 1958 Munich air crash, (a tragedy that claimed the lives of eight young players from an incomparable side known collectively as the ‘Busby Babes‘), it had the effect of putting a jet engine into a Jaguar saloon.
On winning the FA Cup in 1963 Manchester United picked up their first trophy since the Munich disaster, but when Best was added to an ensemble that already included such luminaries as Bobby Charlton, Nobby Stiles, Pat Crerand and the reigning king of Old Trafford Denis Law, they won the league championship in 1965 and 1967 – the second title success resulting in the European Cup excursion that came to a glorious and emotional conclusion beneath the Twin Towers.
For those newly smitten with Busby’s barnstorming side came expectancy that all this scintillation would result in more silverware.
What they had not signed up for was bearing witness to Best entering the twilight seasons of his Old Trafford career – while around him a team of ageing greats would be under-replenished to the extent that in 1974, six years after becoming champions of Europe, the football world reverberated to the stunning eventuality of Manchester United being relegated to the second division.
The long and sliding road that led from the pinnacle of European football to league encounters with the likes of Oxford United can to varying degrees be traced back to that momentous night in May 1968. Winning the European Cup had honoured those who perished at Munich (the ‘Babes‘ returning from winning through a February 1958 quarter-final in Belgrade when their airplane crashed on take-off during the return journey), victory over Benfica ultimately proving culmination of the quest, rather than dawn of dominant days.
Munich survivors Busby and redoubtable players Charlton and Bill Foulkes were able to reflect upon mission accomplished, the sense of finally reaching the mountain top pervading the next few seasons as Bubsy retired and former stalwarts drifted off into calmer end-of-career waters.
Those who remained, however, became involved in a year-on-year struggle to recapture former glories, the onus falling increasingly on Best to galvanise a frequently disjointed and under-performing team.
In the end Best succumbed to the trappings of an alcohol-induced, indulgent lifestyle, his frustration partly fueled, for want of a better expression, by over-reliance on him for inspiration – constant brushes with those who succeeded Busby and the wider football authorities leading to his exit from Old Trafford in the first week of 1974.
But if the departure of Best into self-imposed exile was not bad enough for the generation of Manchester United devotees who arrived with the boom-time against Benfica, then worse soon followed – an abject 1973-74 campaign ended in relegation, United winning only ten matches as they finished second bottom with just 32 points.
Yet rather than switch allegiance elsewhere or simply desert an apparently sinking ship, the faithful remained exactly that – and despite operating in reduced circumstances Manchester United remained the best supported club in the country, the average Old Trafford attendance for a season of Division Two home matches an astonishing 47,781.
But in a campaign that saw United produce some exhilarating football in becoming second division champions, the disreputable behaviour practiced by a section of their support generated headlines for loutishness rather than loyalty as 1974-75 became the defining season for Manchester United during the 1970s.
In a state of affairs that appears strange when judged by current perspectives, the Old Trafford board kept faith with ebullient Scottish manager Tommy Docherty who in turn retained a significant member of the first team squad – relegation not yet the signal for a mass turnover of management and playing staff.
Appointed in December 1972 as United floundered through 1972-73, the former Chelsea, Aston Villa and Scottish national team boss oversaw an improvement in fortunes which led to a becalmed mid-table finish. Yet the following season, as the team struggled in coming to terms with the retirement of Charlton, departure of Law (who subsequently joined neighbours City on a free transfer) and wayward tendencies of Best, manager Docherty was unable to address issues of an ineffective attack – long-serving goalkeeper Stepney joint top-scorer at Christmas due to converting two penalties – and unreliable defence.
Indeed, 1973-74 was encapsulated by the three straight 1-0 defeats which ended the season, the penultimate of which was a reversal against Manchester City in which their relegation fate was effectively sealed by a back-heeled goal from Law – the pitch invasion that brought an end to the match with two minutes still to play resulting in perimeter fencing being erected in front of the Old Trafford terracing to prevent further incursions.
Despite falling out of Division One, Manchester United had still provided three members (central defenders Jim Holton and Martin Buchan along with winger Willie Morgan) of the Scotland squad who contested the 1974 World Cup.
Aligned to established topflight players such as Gerry Daly, Sammy McIlroy, Lou Macari, Brian Greenhoff, Jim McCalliog, Alex Forsyth and Stepney, the notion of this being a team too good to go down, despite league table evidence to the contrary, changed within a few weeks of the new season to one that were far too good for Division Two.
During the close season Docherty paid £200,000 for Hull City forward Stuart Pearson, an investment which quickly paid dividends, the striker scoring the first of seventeen league goals on his Old Trafford debut.
Indeed, the 4-0 victory over Millwall on August 24, 1974, was reflective of the first two months of 1974-75 as United notched up comfortable home wins while on their travels huge travelling support, infused with a sizeable hooligan element, bore witness to victories and crowd violence.
As hooliganism became synonymous with Manchester United away matches, it thus became a regular feature of television news broadcasts during the entire season.
If there was something strangely ironic about opening day fixtures across London that saw newly-promoted Carlisle United take their topflight bow at Stamford Bridge while Manchester United, for all their worldwide renown, began life below stairs at Leyton Orient, there was no irony in the disorder that occurred in and around Brisbane Road – episodes, sadly, that would be repeated on visits, most notably to Cardiff City, Blackpool, Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday and York City.
But as far as the team were concerned, United could not fail in winning admirers. The positive, attacking style of play championed by Docherty yielded seven wins and two draws from the opening nine league games, their unbeaten run brought to an end at Norwich on the last Saturday of September. The next seven matches in all competitions then returned a draw and six wins, one of which was a League Cup defeat of Manchester City – United, in the unusual role of cup underdogs, recording a 1-0 victory before an Old Trafford crowd of over 55,000.
In terms of the entertainment they were providing, the season reached a peak as November gave way to December. More than 60,000 witnessed a 3-2 home win over fellow promotion hopefuls Sunderland, while a week later, in a fixture even more extraordinary, United were 3-1 down against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough but fought back to draw 4-4 – this incident-laden encounter remembered for its mix of football excitement, terrace troubles and the serious leg injury sustained by centre-half Holton that would rule him out for the rest of the season.
Top of the table by a stretch since August, their only wobble occurred in February when three league games were lost, the chasing pack closing to within a few points as United began misfiring in front of goal. There was a short stay in the FA Cup, losing a third-round replay 3-2 at Walsall after the Division Three side kept them out in a goalless Old Trafford encounter, while later in January a long run in the League Cup ended at the semi-final stage when they went out to Norwich over two-legs.
But after a 2-0 reversal at Aston Villa on February 22, United embarked on the eleven-match unbeaten run that carried them through the rest of the season – nine wins and two draws securing the title with 61 points (two for a win), three more than runners-up Aston Villa and eight clear of third-placed Norwich.
Aside from top scorer Pearson, goals came from midfielder Daly who netted eleven times, a total matched by Macari who revelled in his new attacking-midfield role, six of his tally arriving in the last seven weeks of the season.
As he sought to keep his dashing, quickly evolving team invigorated, Docherty allowed McCalliog to leave but bought 19-year-old Steve Coppell for £60,000 from third division Tranmere Rovers – the teenage winger given an immediate start and playing the last ten matches, provided the penetration out wide that would be his forte for seasons to come.
At the other end defensive frailties were largely eradicated and, even accounting for the mid-season loss of Holton, they still returned the best defensive record in the division. In conceding just twelve times at home, European Cup winning survivor Stepney had the quietest season of his long Old Trafford career.
Watching highlights of the home match against Sunderland played on Saturday 30 November 1974 is to be reminded of just how enthralling the game was in this era, the enterprise and energy of both teams even more remarkable when remembering this is second division English football – in its 21st Century guise the sport has increased in cosmetic adornments, gaining much with regard to tactical and technical sophistication, but on the whole is a less dramatic spectacle than its mid-70s counterpart.
Yet not even excitement of the highest order could halt the rise of football-related violence, disturbances involving Tottenham Hotspur supporters in Rotterdam at the UEFA Cup Final in May 1974 heralding the start of twelve months when the relationship between society and the mob-mayhem attached to football come under close scrutiny – the death of a fan stabbed at an early season fixture between Blackpool and Bolton a sickening start to a campaign that ended with followers of Leeds United rioting at the 1975 European Cup Final in Paris.
With their Division One status restored Manchester United returned to top tier action at Wolves on Saturday 16 August 1975. On the pitch they proved too strong for a home side destined to spend the next nine months attempting to stave off relegation, Macari scoring twice as United ran out 2-0 winners.
In the streets around Molineux running battles occurred, the town centre terrorised as hordes of visiting fans rampaged their way to Wolverhampton railway station.
In every sense Manchester United were back.
Hello – hope you enjoyed another exclusive production from SAMTIMONIOUS.com
In order to create the best experience for when you drop by to read a page or two, those with the power to ordain such things (me, actually), have decided to remove all external advertising from the site – in other words articles will no longer be subject to intrusive pop-up ads. BUT – and ain’t there always one – should you wish to make a donation toward the on-costs of the most entertaining and original blog-site around, please press on the – ‘DONATE’ – button below. It will be greatly appreciated.
Stay safe everyone and thanks for dropping by – best wishes Neil
SAMTIMONIOUS.com – films, football and fabulous music at The Dominion of Opinion
NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.
