Manchester United 1945-1969
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Preceding article: Manchester United pre-1945
Succeeding article: Manchester United 1969-1986
Contents |
[edit] The arrival of Matt Busby
In 1945, Matt Busby was appointed manager aged only 36, having just finished his playing career which had seen him turn out for Manchester City and Liverpool as well as the Scottish national side. He was ahead of his time, and is thought to have been the first manager to go out on the field with his players during training. A series of astute signings such as the former Celtic player Jimmy Delaney added to the nucleus of the squad, and he began the youth system that would later pay big-time dividends.
League football resumed for the 1946-47 season and United finished second with the likes of Jack Rowley, Charlie Mitten and John Aston. They would repeat this twice, and though disappointed by this failure, they did deliver the FA Cup in 1948, beating Blackpool 4-2. It was the first of many trophies to come. United's stadium Old Trafford had been largely destroyed by German bombs in the Second World War, so they played their home fixtures at Manchester City's ground Maine Road between 1945 and 1949.
After a 41 year wait, league success finally came in 1952, with United, led by Johnny Carey, demolishing second-placed Arsenal 6–1 on the final day of the season to finish four points ahead of Arsenal and Tottenham. However, the side captained by Johnny Carey was beginning to show its age and a new set of players had to be found.
[edit] The Busby Babes
Matt Busby took a radically different direction to other clubs when rebuilding his ageing team. Rather than spend large sums of money on world renowned players, he recruited teenagers who had just left school. In the space of five years, he only made two major signings - winger John Berry from Birmingham and striker Tommy Taylor from Barnsley.
The 1952-53 season saw the retirement of Johnny Carey yet it also saw the introduction of the Busby Babes as the Championship team began to lose steam. David Pegg, Dennis Viollet, Duncan Edwards, and Bill Foulkes all made their first appearances in the 1952-53 season. Many of the players at this time were a tribute to the scouting skills of Chief Scout Joe Armstrong (assigned the duty of finding talent in the North of England), Bob Bishop (Belfast), Billy Behan (Dublin) and Bob Harper, underpinned by United's innovative youth policy under Matt Busby. United finished eighth in 1954 and fifth in 1955 before winning the league by an 11 point margin in 1955-56 with Tommy Taylor and Dennis Viollet leading the line for a side which had an average age of only 22. Only two players in the 1956 team, Roger Byrne and Johnny Berry, had played in the first Championship four years earlier. Against the Football League's wishes, they became England's first representatives in the European Cup.
One of the stars of the team was Duncan Edwards, who set the record as the youngest player ever to be capped for England when he played against Scotland at the age of 17 and 8 months. The record stood for almost 50 years before being broken in 1998 by Michael Owen. His legendary status is demonstrated by the fact that he placed sixth in a 1999 poll of Manchester United fans, asking them to name the top 50 United players of all time.
The Championship was defended successfully in 1957, with Taylor scoring 22 goals, Liam Whelan getting 26 and a young Bobby Charlton grabbing 10 goals. United reached the FA Cup final that year, but played without their goalkeeper Ray Wood for much of the game, eventually losing 2–1 to Aston Villa.
United's first European match was a 2–0 win away to the Belgian champions Anderlecht. The return leg was played at Maine Road as Old Trafford did not have any floodlights, and United won 10–0. This is still their record victory in a European match.
United then knocked out Borussia Dortmund and Athletic Bilbao having come back from two goals behind against Bilbao, before losing to Real Madrid in the semi-final.
[edit] The mid-sixties
1963 also saw the debut of George Best, completing the trio of Charlton, Law and Best that would power Manchester United to the triumphant heights of the 1960s. Law amazed fans in 1963-64 by scoring 46 goals in all competitions. United finished second that season, then won the League in 1964-65 by goal average over Leeds. That season saw United go on a run of 13 wins in 15 games from September-December 1964. The rebuilding was complete: Bobby Charlton and Bill Foulkes were the only Munich survivors in that team.
That season was significant in other ways too, as England were hosting the 1966 World Cup and Old Trafford was among the stadia to be upgraded at the government's expense. United's players Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles played for England in the final, beating West Germany 4–2. United won another league title in 1966-67, going unbeaten in their last 20 games and making sure of top spot by winning 6-1 over West Ham qualifiying them for the European Cup the next season and laying the groundwork for the climatic triumph of that era.
[edit] Champions of Europe (1967-68)
The run to the European Cup began easily enough, and the Reds cruised past the Maltese team Hibernians for a 4-0 win on aggregate. A tough, physical series against Sarajevo was next, followed by Gornik Zabrze from Poland. United won 2-1 on aggregate and then came the semi-final - two matches against the mighty Real Madrid. Real played a defensive game in the first leg at Old Trafford, stifling the offensive magic of the Reds. United managed a 1-0 victory, but it was a very small advantage to take into the Bernabéu.
Denis Law was suffering from a knee injury, so Busby decided instead to call up the veteran defender Bill Foulkes. The game started badly for United as Real Madrid ran circles around them, leading 3–1 at half-time, 3–2 on aggregate. United came back strongly after the break and pounded the Real defence to no avail for half an hour until David Sadler levelled the aggregate score. Then Bill Foulkes played the hero as he buried a pass from George Best into the goal. It was the only goal he ever scored in European competition.
United were through to the final and faced Benfica at Wembley. In many ways it was an emotional day, Matt Busby's journey finally coming full circle after the tragically aborted promise of the Busby Babes. It was also a testament to Busby's skill in judging talent, as the club had only paid transfer fees for two of that day's players.
Bobby Charlton opened the scoring for United, then Jaime Graça equalised. Benfica piled on the pressure in the dying minutes and it took a brilliant save from Alex Stepney to deny Eusébio the winning goal. United managed to hold out until extra time, then George Best finally broke free of the stifiling marking of the Benfica defence and scored. Benfica were reeling and Brian Kidd, celebrating his 19th birthday, scored a header. Bobby Charlton finished off Benfica with a high shot for a 4–1 victory and United became the first English team to win the European Cup.
Matt Busby would later be knighted for his accomplishments, as well as being awarded the Freedom of Manchester.
[edit] End of an era (1968-69)
An ugly season that started badly with the infamous World Club Championship matches against the South American champions Estudiantes, which were marked by violence on the pitch. United also disappointed in the league, finishing 11th. The season ended with Busby moving to become General Manager.
[edit] The 1999 poll
In the 1999 poll Eric Cantona came 1st, George Best 2nd and Bobby Charlton 3rd. A staggering 47,543,679 votes were taken in, and Eric Cantona received 18%. Surprisingly, no one from the treble winning team was included in the top 5.
| Manchester United Football Club |
|---|
| Manchester United F.C. | Players |
| History: pre-1945 | 1945-1969 | 1969-1986 | 1986-1998 | 1998-1999 | 1999-present |
| Busby Babes | Munich air disaster |
| Old Trafford | Stretford End | Manchester derby |
| Glazer takeover |
| MUTV |
