Statistics and
information on Manchester United FC
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When Frank O’Farrell took
over as Manager of Manchester United in June 1971, he left a Leicester side that
he had guided to the Second Division title, and which played attractive
football. He spent a considerable
amount of money in his brief spell at Old Trafford. Ian Storey-Moore and Ted
MacDougall each cost around £200,000, and Martin Buchan £125,000, but the
chequebook failed to halt the slide and O’Farrell, a former West Ham and Preston
player, and Torquay Manager, paid the price. He was unfortunate to manage United
at a time when the wayward genius of George Best was providing a particular
headache. O’Farrell later managed Torquay again, for two spells, and coached in
the United Arab Emirates.
Tommy Docherty might be one of the game’s most controversial characters, but he certainly assembled an exciting side during his four and a half seasons at Old Trafford. He got a response from his players, the like of which had not been seen since the days of Sir Matt Busby. Docherty, a former Scottish international wing-half, succeeded Frank O’Farrell in December 1972, and he managed to steer United clear of relegation to finish 18th. The following season, despite the purchase of Jim McCalliog and Stewart Houston, United were relegated. The drop did the club little harm. Attendances were maintained as they swept to the Second Division title. The addition of Stuart Pearson, and exciting young players like Gerry Daly, Sammy McIlroy and Steve Coppell had made United one of the most attractive teams in the country. Gordon Hill was added to the line-up, and in 1975-76, United finished third in the First Division and reached the FA Cup Final, only to lose to Second Division Southampton. A year later, Docherty led United out at Wembley again, and this time they lifted the FA Cup, beating Liverpool 2-1. It was to be his final achievement at Old Trafford. In the summer of that year, it was announced he was having an affair with the wife of the United physiotherapist, Laurie Brown. Docherty was dismissed,
and with his United job went his best chance of major managerial success. He had
a host of other managerial jobs, both before and after his Old Trafford days,
jobs which included being in charge of the Scotland team, but only at Chelsea
did he achieve any other honours.
After going for nearly 25 years with one man at the helm, Manchester United appointed their fourth Manager in eight years when Dave Sexton accepted the job in 1977. So far, no one had measured up to the massive stature of Busby, but United hoped that, in Sexton, they had at last found the man to steady the ship. He had enjoyed a good record as Chelsea Manager, guiding them to the 1970 FA Cup Final, with victory over Leeds in the Old Trafford replay, as well as to the European Cup-winners’ Cup Final the following year. He took QPR to within a whisker of the League Championship in 1975-76, and just over a year later he was appointed Manager at Old Trafford. The directors saw him as the best choice, not just in terms of what he had achieved, but as the most acceptable face in the wake of the scandal which had surrounded Docherty’s departure. The club had nothing to show from Sexton’s first year in charge and, despite investing nearly £1 million in Gordon McQueen and Joe Jordan, they finished in a mid-table position. The following season, although United’s League fortunes had changed little, Sexton led them to Wembley for the third time in four seasons. It was to prove a memorable FA Cup Final, if only for the last frantic minutes when United clawed their way back into the game, only to see Arsenal grab a dramatic winner. In 1979-80 Sexton broke the club’s out-going transfer fee record by paying £825,000 to Chelsea for Ray Wilkins. It proved a good move as Wilkins marshalled United’s midfield, and helped them finish League Championship runners-up to Liverpool. In 1980-81, despite paying £1 million for Garry Birtles, United found themselves back in mid-table and with no Cup success either. Sexton lost his job on 30 April 1981, despite the fact that United had won their last seven games. He was, without doubt, a fine Coach, but it was said that he was not close enough to his players, and lacked the ability to communicate at club level. He went to Coventry as Manager and became a member of Bobby Robson’s England coaching staff. It is perhaps ironic that Tommy Docherty offered Sexton his first coaching job at Chelsea, for Sexton later replaced ‘The Doc’ as Manager at two clubs, Chelsea and United.
As the 1985-86 season got underway, Ron Atkinson found himself under the same pressure as Scott Duncan when he managed United in the 1930’s. Both had spent heavily on buying players, but had little to show for it. Coincidentally, Atkinson was the first non-Roman Catholic to be appointed United Manager since Duncan. United had won the FA Cup twice in Atkinson’s first four seasons at Old Trafford, but those successes involved the club in transfer fees grossing several million pounds. And it is League and European honours that most interested United’s hungry fans. Atkinson was born in Liverpool but brought up in the West Midlands. Rejected by Wolves and Aston Villa, he joined Oxford United, along with his brother, Graham. Ron Atkinson was a driving force behind the Oxford team that won a Football League place in 1962, and powered its way to Division Two. He began his managerial career at Witney Town before moving to Kettering Town, who he took to two Southern League titles. He guided Cambridge United to the Fourth Division title in 1976-77, and the following season helped them towards the Second before West Brom swooped, appointing him successor to Ronnie Allen. In June 1981 he left the Hawthorns to become United Manager, and took with him Mick Brown, his assistant at Albion. Atkinson went back to his old club for two players, Bryan Robson and Remi Moses, who cost United a total of £2.4 million. Other Atkinson signings included Frank Stapleton (£1.1 million), Alan Brazil (£700,000), Gordon Strachan (£600,000), Peter Davenport (£575,00), John Gidman (£400,000), Colin Gibson (£275,000), Chris Turner (£275,000), Terry Gibson (£300,000 plus Alan Brazil), John Sivebaek (£250,000), and Jesper Olsen (£350,000). Atkinson, with his bejewelled image and reputation as a big-spender, found his United team in rampant form at the start of the 1985-86 season when they won ten games on the trot to go clear at the top of the table. Then injuries to key players, notably England skipper Bryan Robson, robbed his side of its greatest influences. United dropped from the top of the First Division, and were knocked out of both FA and Milk Cups. Yet again, a season which had promised so much ended with nothing. Atkinson was replaced with Alex Ferguson in 1986. He returned to West Brom in 1987-88, but quit to take a £250,000 a year job with Atletico Madrid. He lost that job after only 96 days and returned to Britain, taking over at Sheffield Wednesday in February 1989. Atkinson gained some compensation for his dismissal as United Manager by guiding Sheffield Wednesday to victory over the Reds at Wembley in the Rumbelows League Cup Final in 1991. He also guided Wednesday back into the First Division that year. But shortly after gaining promotion, he announced he was quitting the club to take charge of Aston Villa, amidst shouts of ‘traitor’ from the home fans. Ironically, the opening day of the 1991-92 season paired Wednesday with Villa.
When Manchester United appointed Alex Ferguson as their Manager, they obtained the service of a man with a proven track record at the highest level, for he had developed one-time unfashionable Aberdeen into three times Scottish League Champions, and also European Cup-winners’ Cup victors. Ferguson took over at Aberdeen in 1978, after a playing career spent as a bustling forward with Queen’s Park, St.Johnstone, Dunfermline, Rangers and Ayr United, and managerial spells at East Stirling and St.Mirren. Aberdeen appointed him despite an impending tribunal to settle his differences with St.Mirren, and although his early days at Pittodrie were difficult ones, he eventually guided Aberdeen to their first League title in 25 years. From 1985, he also stood-in as Scotland’s team Manager, following the death of Jock Stein, until after the 1986 Finals in Mexico. In earlier years, he had declined offers from Tottenham, Wolves and Rangers, but in November 1986 he could not resist the temptation to join Manchester United. At Old Trafford, the man who had wrought such a great influence on Scottish domestic football found life more difficult as the new decade dawned. Having spent millions of pounds in the transfer market as a result of signings like Mark Hughes, Neil Webb, Gary Pallister and Danny Wallace, Ferguson was still unable to bring the League Championship to Old Trafford. Midway through the 1989-90 season there was a real threat of relegation and, inevitably, speculation about Ferguson’s future. The situation was salvaged when United won the FA Cup in May 1990, and the following year European glory came when United beat Barcelona to win the European Cup-winners’ Cup. Ferguson had moulded together a side that was a mixture of experience with talented youngsters like Ryan Giggs. His team was virtually complete as they went in search of that League title, which finally arrived in 1993, followed by the League and Cup ‘double’ the season after. The ‘double’ was repeated in 1996, and an unprecedented ‘Treble’ of League, FA Cup and European Cup was clinched in an unforgettable season in 1998-99.
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This site is in no way connected with Manchester United Football Club PLC. It is simply a personal website, painstakingly put together by me as a tribute to my team. This site was created and is maintained by Chris Beirne. Quotes and images not my own remain in the copyright of the originator or else in the public domain. The information contained in this web site is intended for entertainment, educational, historical, and informational purposes only.
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