Tom Hopkinson on the fall from grace of the once mighty half of Manchester A ragged United side which showed they were not too good to go down
WHEN Tommy Docherty the club was in serious decay. Even
walked through the doors at so, the feeling remained that
United, however much they were
Old Trafford to replace the
struggling, would have enough in
beleaguered Frank
the tank to stay up.
O’farrell in December 1972,
The belief was misguided, and
his arrival was supposed to relegation was confirmed on the
herald a new dawn for final day, which saw United beaten
Manchester United. at home by a Law goal for
Like Wilf Mcguinness before Manchester City. him, O’farrell had failed to give “It was devastating to be the 1968 European Cup winners relegated,” said goalkeeper Alex the reboot they needed after Sir Stepney, one of the stars of ‘Too Matt Busby’s retirement in 1969. Good To Go Down’, which airs on
And The Doc, doing well as manager of Scotland, was the man to whom chairman Louis Edwards and Busby, now a director, had turned.
They knew he was a good manager but the fact he also had the personality to take charge of a squad that was in serious transition was vital.
Bobby Charlton (centre, with Docherty and Busby) was coming to the end of his career and would call it a day with United at the end of the 1972-73 season.
George Best, struggling to give football his full focus, had left the club for a second time, although he would return, cajoled by Busby, for a further eight months from the
April of that campaign.
BT Sport 2 tonight, told People Sport. “Everything was about Denis’s backheel putting us down but actually Birmingham’s win at Norwich had already put us down.
“We knew we’d been relegated even in the game because you could hear the crowd at Old Trafford.
“Whether that affected the lads or not, I don’t know but, at the end of the day, we’d lost too many games and we didn’t have a divine right to There were cliques throughout stay in the First Division.” the squad and the disharmony in Docherty kept his job but it was the dressing room was palpable – a captain Martin Buchan who laid key factor for United finishing the out the blueprint for United’s first season 18th.
Denis Law, the other member of United’s fabled Holy Trinity with Charlton and Best, would be handed a free transfer at the end of the campaign as Docherty put his stamp on things.
That decision was unpopular in the dressing room and things went from bad to worse for the boss.
The following season began with two wins in three games but it soon became clear that, just five years after becoming European champs,
Cliques
season in Division Two since 193738. Stepney added: “When we got relegated Martin stood up and basically said, ‘Right, we will get us back’.”
And they did, clinching promotion at the first attempt as champions on
April 5, 1975 – 45 years ago today – through Lou
Macari in a 1-0 win at Southampton.
“It meant so much for so many reasons,”
said Stepney.
Fantastic
“We had a fantastic season and enjoyed playing in the Second Division, which might sound a bit strange because we didn’t want to be there, but we were winning.
“We had a few games to go after Southampton but we had a great feeling on the coach home.”
United were presented with the trophy on the final day of the season, at home to Blackpool.
Stepney added: “There were supporters everywhere, even on top of the South Stand, which is now the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand.
“I work with Ashley Grimes on match days now and he tells me he couldn’t get in and was on the roof that day.”
‘Too Good To Go Down’, part of the BT Sport Films series, tonight at 9pm on BT Sport 2.