[Red Devil]

Part Five: 1960 - 1980

After building one of the greatest teams seen in England, Matt Busby had to start all over again at the start of the 1960's. The Munich air disaster had robbed him, and football, of some of the era's greatest players. But the great manager was never one to sit still for long. Once he had recovered from his own injuries, he set about building another side to take the world by storm.

Dennis Viollet was one of the leading names within this team. In 1959/60, the Munich survivor broke Jack Rowley's club record by scoring 32 goals in one league season. The team in total scored 102, but they conceded too many (80) at the other end and finished in seventh place.

Viollet wasn't the only player to survive Munich and enjoy a great career at Old Trafford; others included Bill Foulkes, and Bobby Charlton, who came through the club's youth ranks to break goalscoring records for club and country. Nobby Stiles followed the same path, from youth team to first team, while Denis Law came the more direct route, by record £115,000 transfer from Torino.

United's form was erratic at the start of the decade, while the new names settled in, but then everything came together with a run to Wembley for the 1962/63 FA Cup Final. Matt Busby's new-look team beat Leicester City 3-1, with two goals from David Herd and one by Denis Law.

The next season saw United build on the foundations of FA Cup success to challenge for the title but United finished second, only four points behind the champions Liverpool, to whom they lost both at home and away. The 1962/63 season was also notable for the signing and debut of George Best, the young man from Belfast who would become football's first superstar. It was a case of Best by name, best by nature. His incredible skill, pace and control left opponents in knots, making him a hit with the fans, while his filmstar looks made him a hit with the ladies. He returned from an trip to Spain sporting a sombrero which gave him the media nickname of "El Beatle".

In 1964/65, the famous trio of Best, Law and Charlton took United to new heights. They won the League Championship, pipping Leeds on goal difference, and reached the semi-finals of the European Fairs Cup and the FA Cup. Law plundered goals galore and was named the European Footballer of the Year.

The title-winning team seemed to be the finished article but they took their foot off the gas during the next season, 1965/66, losing the title to Liverpool again and finishing fourth. Two cup runs, with United losing in the semi-finals of both the FA and European Cups, seemed to take their toll towards the end of the season. The highlight had been the 5-1 away thrashing of Benfica in the European Cup quarter-finals, when Best had been in blistering form. In these days of a "first eleven" they were expected to play three games every 8 days with little respite. If the winter was a bad one, games piled up and took their toll on players.

In 1966/67 United were crowned League Champions again, with Law scoring 23 goals in the 36 games he played. The title success secured another season of top-level European football in 1967/68. Hibernians, FK Sarajevo, Gornik Zagreb and Real Madrid, with a thrilling semi final win in Madrid, were swept aside as the Reds marched towards the European Cup Final to be held that year at Wembley. Benfica, always a class act, put up a good fight in the final. Jaime Graca equalised Charlton's headed goal to take the game into extra-time; in fact Benfica might have won the match in normal time had Alex Stepney not saved superbly from Eusebio.

Best, Brian Kidd and Charlton totally controlled the added half-hour, scoring one goal each to crush the Portuguese champions 4-1. The European Cup was heading to Old Trafford for the first time. Just 10 years after Sir Matt had seen his dream team destroyed by tragedy, he had performed the impossible. He was knighted soon afterwards.

It was a case of after the Lord Mayor's show in 1968/69. The European Champions could only finish eleventh in the league, and they were knocked out of the FA Cup in the sixth round and the European Cup at the semi-final stage by a highly dubious referee and AC Milan. Denis Law scored what everyone saw as an equaliser but the referee ruled that it had not corssed the line. They also lost the World Club Championship 2-1 on aggregate to Estudiantes in an ill tempered game in which the South Americans threw every trick in the book of cheating at United..

Despite the anti-climatic end to the decade, United fans could feel delighted with the 1960's. Few could begrudge Sir Matt Busby's decision to retire at the end of 1968/69, after all he'd achieved.


United struggled to replace Busby, and the team struggled under Wilf McGuinness in the 1969-70 season, finishing a disappointing 8th, and following a poor start to the 1970-71 season, McGuinness was demoted back to the position of reserve team coach. McGuinness, being an ex player, never ccommanded the dressing room. Busby was coaxed back to the helm, albeit only for six months. Results got better with Busby's guidance, but he finally left the manager's chair, moving upstairs, for the last time in the summer of 1971. In the meantime, United had lost a number of high-profile players such as Nobby Stiles and Pat Crerand.

Despite approaching Celtic's European Cup-winning manager, Jock Stein, for the manager's job - Stein had agreed a verbal contract to join United, but pulled out at the last minute - Frank O'Farrell was appointed as Busby's successor. However, like McGuinness, O'Farrell only lasted less than 18 months, the only difference between the two being that O'Farrell reacted to the team's poor form by bringing in some fresh talent, most specifically Martin Buchan from Aberdeen for £125,000. Tommy Docherty became manager at the end of 1972. Docherty, or "The Doc", saved United from relegation that season but United were relegated in 1974, by which time the golden trio of Best, Law and Charlton had left the club. Denis Law had moved to Manchester City in the summer of 1973, and ended up scoring the goal that many people say relegated United, and politely refused to celebrate the goal with his team mates. He actually backheeled it to Stepney, who was so surprised, it passed him, into the net. Players like Lou Macari, Stewart Houston, Jimmy Greenhoff and Brian Greenhoff were brought in to replace Best, Law and Charlton, but none could live up to the stature of the three that came before who were collectively known as "The Holy Trinity".

The team won promotion at the first attempt, never losing the top spot, with a young Steve Coppell, from Tranmere Rovers, making his début towards the end of that season, and reached the FA Cup final in 1976, but were beaten by Southampton 1-0. They reached the final again in 1977, beating Liverpool 2-1 with goals from Macari and Jimmy Greenhoff. In spite of this success and his popularity with the supporters, Docherty was sacked soon after the final when he was found to have had an affair with the physiotherapist's wife.

Dave Sexton replaced Docherty as manager in the summer of 1977, and made the team play in a more defensive formation. This style was unpopular with supporters, who were used to the attacking football preferred by Docherty and Busby. Unlike previous managers, Sexton was quiet in front of the cameras, unhappy to be in the limelight, and his insecurity clearly showed through to the fans.

Major signings under Sexton included Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen, goalkeeper Gary Bailey and Ray Wilkins, but Sexton's defensive United failed to break out of mid-table obscurity, only once finishing in the top two, and only reached the FA Cup final once, losing to Arsenal 3-2 after coming back to 2-2 from 2-0 down. Alan Sunderland scoring the heartbreaker. Because of this lack of trophies, Sexton was sacked in 1981, even though he won his last seven games in charge.