Little Book of Manchester United (12 page)

*United players celebrate winning the Carling Cup after defeating Wigan Athletic in the Final at The Millenium Stadium, 2006.

Three years later, United fell at the final hurdle to Aston Villa who took a 2-0 lead before Mark Hughes pulled one back with eight minutes remaining. Andrei Kanchelskis handled the ball in the last minute and Dean Saunders calmly stroked the ball past Les Sealey to seal a 3-1 win.

The 2006 Final victory over Wigan was something of a canter with two goals from Rooney and strikes from Saha and Ronaldo securing a 4-0 win, while they added the 2009 and 2010 League Cups to their trophy cabinet, after defeating Spurs and Aston Villa.

League Positions

League Title

Manchester United have won the Division One title on seven occasions, the first coming in 1907-08, only their second season back in the top flight, with a team including the inspirational Billy Meredith and Charlie Roberts. A further title followed in 1910-11 but the club would then have to wait 40 years before reclaiming the trophy.

The 1950s heralded a new era for the club with the introduction of the Busby Babes. Roger Byrne was the first of these youngsters to make his debut, in November 1951, and he contributed vital goals as United clinched the 1951-52 title. Back-to-back Championships were claimed between 1955 and 1957 when the likes of Bobby Charlton and Duncan Edwards swept all before them.

*United players celebrate after Denis Law scores his club’s third goal against Arsenal to become Division One Champions at Old Trafford, 1965.

In 1955-56, Dennis Viollet scored 20 League goals as they lost just seven times, finishing 11 points clear of second placed Blackpool. The following year saw them win 28 games, losing just six times (three away and three home) but events in Munich tore the promising team apart. The final two titles of the pre-Premiership era arrived in the 1964-65 and 1966-67 with a side fronted by the awesome attacking force of Charlton, Law and Best.

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Managers

The two managers that stand out and who have contributed more than any of the other 13 managers are Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson. Both tireless in their efforts to gain the best out of their respective teams, they each reaped the rewards of effort and determination with their personal best wins. For Matt Busby, winning the 1968 European Cup was a triumph, while for Alex Ferguson it is winning the Treble in 1999.

It all began with Ernest Mangnall’s (1903-12) building of the new stadium at Old Trafford in 1910. He resigned from United and moved to Manchester City where he was again responsible for building a new stadium (Maine Road). Under his leadership United won promotion to the First Division in 1905-06 and won the FA Cup for the first time in 1909. Mangnall was replaced by John Robson in 1914 and despite World War I, Robson’s team remained in the First Division but were relegated after his departure when he was succeeded by John Chapman in 1921.

*Alex Ferguson watches from the bench during the Celtic v United Tom Boyd Testimonial at Celtic Park, May 2001.

Chapman endured a disappointing first season with United, but enjoyed promotion three years later when they went on to the FA Cup semi-finals, but were dashed by Mangnall’s Manchester City. In 1926, due to misdemeanours that were never made public, Chapman was suspended by the FA and he made way for Clarence Hilditch (1926-27). As United’s first ever player-manager, Hilditch’s time at United was brief, returning to his playing role.

He was succeeded by Herbert Bamlett (1927-31), who had originally been a referee. His career as manager was not as successful as that of a referee and he was replaced by Walter Crickmer (1931-32), who never officially became manager, but took charge of team affairs twice during his 38-year career as secretary. In 1932, Scott Duncan began his five years at Old Trafford. Despite his experience as a player, Duncan never really made it as a manager and their position at the time was, and still is, United’s lowest ever League position.

*Sir Matt Busby with the European Cup, July 1968.

The club was without a manager until Matt Busby arrived in 1945. He was assisted by Jimmy Murphy who played an enormous part in rebuilding the team after the 1958 Munich disaster. Wilf McGuinness (1969-70) took over for six months following Matt Busby’s retirement, but was quickly succeeded by Frank O’Farrell, the only Irishman to manage the club. He was dismissed after the team’s bad form in the 1972-73 season.

Tommy Docherty (1972-77) was replaced by Dave Sexton (1977-81) who had previously replaced him at both Chelsea and Queen’s Park Rangers. Injuries to the team in 1980 caused poor results and Sexton’s services were no longer required. Ron Atkinson took over in 1981, but again, due to poor form, the manager was replaced and Sir Alex Ferguson began his illustrious career with United in November 1986.

McGuinness

Originally a Busby Babe, Wilf McGuinness’s playing career was cut short when he broke his leg badly in a reserve match against Stoke City in 1960, forcing retirement at the age of 22. McGuiness, born 25 October 1937, became youth team manager in 1961 and became senior coach when Matt Busby announced his retirement in 1969.

*Wilf McGuiness, pictured when a United player, went on to manage the club.

A year later he was appointed manager but only held the post for six months. He returned to coaching the reserves for the following 12 months but then decided to take up a position as coach in Greek football to Aris Salonika and the Panachaiki Patras. He returned to England to manage York City, before spells with Hull City and Bury before retiring from football in 1992. He was a qualified physiotherapist and is currently an in-demand after-dinner speaker.

McIlroy

Matt Busby’s final signing in September 1969 was Samuel Baxter McIlroy, born 2 August 1954. The young player was a big United fan and George Best, a fellow Belfast lad, was his hero. McIlroy made a dramatic first-team debut for United three months after signing as a professional. The match was against Manchester City at Maine Road and he scored his first goal as a professional in front of a crowd of 63,000, having a hand in the other two in a thrilling 3-3 draw.

He was the third youngest player to be given an international cap, playing for Northern Ireland against Spain at the age of 17. After being seriously injured in a car crash in January 1973, he missed many games of the following season, but quickly established himself as a first team regular during 1973-74. Unfortunately, the team was relegated during that season but McIlroy bounced back with the side that won the Second Division Championship at the first attempt. By this time, he was also playing regularly for Northern Ireland, giving a resourceful performance as a midfielder while notching up an impressive goalscoring record.