History of Manchester United F.C. (1969–1986)

History of Manchester United F.C. (1969–1986)

Following an eighth-place finish in the 1969–70 season and a poor start to the 1970–71 season, Busby was persuaded to temporarily resume managerial duties, and McGuinness returned to his position as reserve team coach. In June 1971, Frank O'Farrell was appointed as manager, but lasted just 18 months before being replaced by Tommy Docherty in December 1972.[1] Docherty saved Manchester United from relegation that season, only to see them relegated in 1974; by that time the trio of Best, Law, and Charlton had left the club.[2] The team won promotion at the first attempt and reached the FA Cup final in 1976, but were beaten by Southampton. They reached the final again in 1977, beating Liverpool 2–1. Docherty was dismissed shortly afterwards, following the revelation of his affair with the club physiotherapist's wife.[3][4]

Dave Sexton replaced Docherty as manager in the summer of 1977. Despite major signings, including Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen, Gary Bailey, and Ray Wilkins, the team failed to achieve any significant results; they finished in the top two in 1979–80 and lost to Arsenal in the 1979 FA Cup Final. Sexton was dismissed in 1981, even though the team won the last seven games under his direction.[5] He was replaced by Ron Atkinson, who immediately broke the British record transfer fee to sign Bryan Robson from West Bromwich Albion. Under Atkinson, Manchester United won the FA Cup twice in three years – in 1983 and 1985. In 1985–86, after 13 wins and two draws in its first 15 matches, the club was favourite to win the league, but finished in fourth place. The following season, with the club in danger of relegation by November, Atkinson was dismissed.[6]

Contents

Post-Busby years

Wilf McGuinness, the reserve team coach, was promoted to take Matt Busby's place as manager. He had been associated with the club since joining them as a player in the mid 1950s but he quickly faltered in the footsteps of the great man, and wasn't helped by Busby's presence in the background. United were an ageing side in need of refreshment, a circumstance McGuinness was unfortunate to come across. The club coped well enough in his first season in charge, managing an improved finish of 8th place compared to 11th place in Busby's final season. However, the cracks showed the following season, as the team floundered near the bottom of the table, and a League Cup elimination at the hands of Aston Villa, who at the time were mid-table in the Third Division, led to McGuinness being demoted back to his old reserve team position, and he left the club altogether shortly afterwards.

Busby returned to the manager's seat on a temporary basis and pulled the team well clear of relegation, eventually matching the previous year's 8th place finish. Frank O'Farrell became the club's new manager in the 1971 close season. Despite starting the 1971–72 season well and raising hope that O'Farrell would be a good successor to Busby, a run of seven defeats from 1 January meant they were to finish in 8th place for the third successive year.

At this time George Best was becoming a problem, continually flouting the rules and getting into various disciplinary troubles. At the end of the 1971–72 season, one day short of his 26th birthday, he announced his retirement, only to turn back on his decision and announce his intention to play again within days.

While Best's erratic behaviour didn't help, United continued to struggle, opening the 1972–73 season with a disastrous nine games without a win. The board began making plans to bring in Tommy Docherty as manager and on 19 December 1972, Frank O'Farrell lost his job following a 5–0 defeat to Crystal Palace. In a way it was the end of an era, with Bill Foulkes having retired, Bobby Charlton's testimonial having been held the previous day and George Best once again announced his retirement on the same day.

Tommy Docherty

Docherty immediately began to rebuild the side with a series of signings, most notably Lou Macari. United recovered and finished that season in 18th place. However, there were concerns about just how long the squad, made up of the few remaining members of the Busby team and seasoned older players signed by O'Farrelll and Docherty, could stay afloat in the first division. The emergence of Macari and new captain Martin Buchan (widely regarded as the one decent signing O'Farrell had managed while in charge of the club) gave some cause for optimism, but the following season would prove to be a major struggle.

Denis Law left on a free transfer during the close season to sign for Manchester City, which sparked some protests among fans. George Best came out of retirement once more to sign with the team for the 1973–74 season. United were again caught in a relegation battle and entered the penultimate game of the season needing to win two games and for Birmingham to lose in order to stay in the First Division. Birmingham won their game and Denis Law, playing for City against United, sealed United's fate with the only goal of the game. Manchester United were relegated to the Second Division for the first time since 1937.

By the time the season was over, George Best had finally walked out of United for good, although he did not actually leave the club until the following season when he was finally given a free transfer and signed for Stockport County.

After the relegation, Docherty finally culled most of what remained of Busby's squad, with goalkeeper Alex Stepney being the only member of the European Cup-winning team to remain in the first team for the start of the following season. The new-look Manchester United squad was built around youthful players such as Sammy McIlroy, who had come to impress during the final months of the ill-fated 1973–74 campaign.

Despite dropping a division, attendances at Old Trafford swelled during the 1974–75 season and United responded well, winning the Second Division and returning to the top flight, where they topped the standings in the early stages of the 1975–76 season and there were high hopes that United could become only the third club to be champions of the top flight one season after being promoted. Form slipped mid-season, however, and finished third. A good FA Cup run also ended in disappointment at Wembley with a 1–0 defeat by Southampton in the final.

United performed erratically in the league in 1976–77, struggling for consistency with some injury problems to key players, and finishing the season in sixth place, but United reached the FA Cup final again, this time beating Liverpool 2–1 in the final. This result ended Liverpool's chances of completing the treble, as they had already won the Football League title and would win the European Cup just days later.

The new-look Manchester United side contained impressive young players like Steve Coppell, Brian Greenhoff, Jimmy Greenhoff, Arthur Albiston and Stuart Pearson.

But just over a month later, news broke of Tommy Docherty's love affair with Mary Brown, the wife of the team's physiotherapist Laurie Brown, when he announced that he was leaving his wife to marry her. When Docherty refused to resign, the board dismissed him. While Docherty's affair had been disruptive to the club, it was not a legally valid reason to dismiss someone, and so the board stated that he had been dismissed for abusing his position in order to obtain tickets for the two cup finals, and selling them for a profit. Despite this, it was well known why Docherty had been sacked, and there were suggestions that he could sue the club for wrongful dismissal. Docherty never did so however, most likely because he was involved in another court case at the time.

Dave Sexton

Manchester United badge before the most recent revision in 1998

Docherty had been popular with the fans, and the new manager, Dave Sexton, needed success to dispel the unfavorable comparisons. Sexton's track record was impressive – he had won the FA Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup with Chelsea, and taken unfancied Queens Park Rangers to the brink of the league title.

With the FA Cup win, United qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, but were nearly expelled because of crowd trouble in Saint-Etienne.

Once more United made it to the FA Cup final in 1979, but narrowly lost to Arsenal in what was known as the "five-minute final" for the flurry of goals in the last minutes.

One of Sexton's most famous movements in the transfer market was the double signing of Joe Jordan and Gordon McQueen, who were both brought in from Leeds.

The 1979–80 season saw the Reds narrowly miss out on league glory, finishing second to Liverpool. During that season, United fans were blamed for a collapse at Ayresome Park causing the death of two Middlesbrough supporters. Controversy also erupted over allegations that United had been making illegal payments to young players.

An injury crisis at the start of 1980–81 caused the team to slump to mid-table and suffer an early exit from the FA Cup. Desperate to stop the rot, Sexton brought in striker Garry Birtles for a club record £1.25 million, yet he was to prove an expensive failure who took 30 games to score his first goal. United won their final seven games of the season but still finished just seventh in the league.

Despite achieving runners-up spot in the league and reaching an FA Cup final during his time at the club, Sexton knew that 'nearly' just wasn't good enough for United fans, and he was sacked at the end of the 1980–81 season.

Ron Atkinson

A smiling man with dark hair wearing a white, green and blue tracksuit top over a blue shirt. He is holding a washbag under his right arm.
Bryan Robson was the captain of Manchester United for 12 years, longer than any other player.[7]

United chairman Martin Edwards searched for a new manager in hope of finding someone who could bring the league title to United. The most likely candidate for the job was Lawrie McMenemy, still manager of the Southampton side who had shocked United in the FA Cup final five years earlier. Brian Clough (who had taken Nottingham Forest to promotion to the league title to two European Cup triumphs in four successive seasons) was also rumoured to be linked with the vacancy, but chairman Martin Edwards insisted that United would not be making an approach for Clough. Bobby Robson, whose Ipswich Town side had just won the UEFA Cup), was also named as a possible candidate. But in the end it was Ron Atkinson who got the job.

Atkinson was one of the most highly rated managers in the English game, as he had taken West Bromwich Albion to three top-four finishes in the league and to the quarter final of the UEFA Cup. In 1978–79, his impressive Albion side had defeated United 5–3 at Old Trafford.

He broke the British transfer record to sign Bryan Robson from West Bromwich Albion for £1.75 million, and signed Robson's team mate Remi Moses for £750,000 at the same time. Norman Whiteside soon broke through the youth ranks and was a key first team player at the age of 17. Atkinson's side produced an attractive form of football, losing only eight games and finishing 3rd in his first season. Success followed as United won the 1983 FA Cup final 4–0 after a replay against Brighton.

Although United crashed out of the FA Cup the next year in a humbling defeat at the hands of Third Division Bournemouth, they managed to beat Barcelona in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and made it to the semi-finals before losing to Juventus. Mark Hughes made his debut the following season and was selected as the Young Footballer of the Year for the 1984–85. But once again, United were disappointed in their bid for a League championship finishing in 4th place, meaning that they would be competing in the UEFA Cup the following season.

In 1985, Manchester United beat that season's league champions Everton to win another FA Cup, but not without some drama as Kevin Moran became the first player, albeit controversially, to ever be sent off in an FA Cup final. Down to ten men, Norman Whiteside scored the only goal of the game in extra time to win the Cup.

The 1985–86 season started spectacularly for United, who won all of their first 10 league games (a club record start to a season) and were ten points clear at the top of the table as early as October. Their form slumped dramatically in the new year, however, with injury to Bryan Robson meaning he missed much of the season and they could only finish in fourth place. The club had decided to sell Mark Hughes against his wishes, and he developed a drink problem which seriously affected his form before signing for Barcelona in the close season for around £2 million.

Over the 1986 close season, rumours began to circulate that Ron Atkinson would be sacked as Manchester United manager. There was talk that Alex Ferguson, manager of Scottish side Aberdeen, would replace Atkinson, but the 1986–87 season began with Atkinson still manager.

The following season started badly with three successive defeats, including a 1–0 home defeat by newly promoted Charlton Athletic. United's form failed to fully recover through the autumn as they bounced in and out of the relegation zone, and on 5 November 1986 – after a 4–1 loss to Southampton in the Football League Cup – Atkinson was sacked as manager of a side standing second from bottom in the First Division at the opposite end of the table to the unfancied likes of Wimbledon, Luton and Norwich.

References

Notes
  1. ^ Murphy (2006), p. 134
  2. ^ Barnes et al. (2001), pp. 18–19
  3. ^ "1977: Manchester United sack manager". BBC News (British Broadcasting Corporation). 4 July 1977. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/4/newsid_2492000/2492743.stm. Retrieved 2 April 2010. 
  4. ^ Barnes et al. (2001), p. 19
  5. ^ Barnes et al. (2001), p. 20
  6. ^ Barnes et al. (2001), pp. 20–21
  7. ^ Barnes et al. (2001), p. 110
Bibliography
  • Barnes, Justyn; Bostock, Adam; Butler, Cliff; Ferguson, Jim; Meek, David; Mitten, Andy; Pilger, Sam; Taylor, Frank OBE et al. (2001) [1998]. The Official Manchester United Illustrated Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). London: Manchester United Books. ISBN 0-233-99964-7. 
  • Morgan, Steve (March 2010). McLeish, Ian. ed. "Design for life". Inside United (Haymarket Network) (212). ISSN 1749-6497. 

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