1974–75 Manchester United F.C. season

The 1974–75 season was Manchester United's 73rd season in the Football League,[1] and their first as a Second Division team since 1937–38, following relegation from the First Division at the end of the previous season.

Manchester United
1974–75 season
ChairmanLouis Edwards
ManagerTommy Docherty
Second Division1st (promoted)
FA CupThird Round
League CupSemi-finals
Top goalscorerLeague:
Stuart Pearson (17)

All:
Lou Macari (18)
Stuart Pearson (18)
Highest home attendance60,585 vs Sunderland (30 November 1974)
Lowest home attendance21,616 vs Charlton Athletic (11 September 1974)
Average home league attendance47,781

The board of directors had kept faith in manager Tommy Docherty despite United's relegation, and he delivered an instant return to the First Division by guiding United to the Second Division title.[2] Despite being a second division side, their average home attendance of 47,781 was still the highest in the country that season.

Second Division

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Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A
Scorers Attendance
17 August 1974 Orient A 2–0 Morgan, Houston 17,772
24 August 1974 Millwall H 4–0 Daly (3; 2 pen.), Pearson 44,756
28 August 1974 Portsmouth H 2–1 Daly (pen.), McIlroy 42,547
31 August 1974 Cardiff City A 1–0 Daly (pen.) 22,344
7 September 1974 Nottingham Forest H 2–2 Greenhoff, McIlroy 40,671
14 September 1974 West Bromwich Albion A 1–1 Pearson 28,666
16 September 1974 Millwall A 1–0 Daly (pen.) 16,988
21 September 1974 Bristol Rovers H 2–0 Greenhoff, Prince (o.g.) 42,948
25 September 1974 Bolton Wanderers H 3–0 Macari, Houston, McAllister (o.g.) 47,084
28 September 1974 Norwich City A 0–2 24,586
5 October 1974 Fulham A 2–1 Pearson (2) 25,513
12 October 1974 Notts County H 1–0 McIlroy 46,565
15 October 1974 Portsmouth A 0–0 25,608
19 October 1974 Blackpool A 3–0 Forsyth, Macari, McCalliog 25,370
26 October 1974 Southampton H 1–0 Pearson 48,724
2 November 1974 Oxford United H 4–0 Pearson (3), Macari 41,909
9 November 1974 Bristol City A 0–1 28,104
16 November 1974 Aston Villa H 2–1 Daly (2; 1 pen.) 55,615
23 November 1974 Hull City A 0–2 23,287
30 November 1974 Sunderland H 3–2 Pearson, Morgan, McIlroy 60,585
7 December 1974 Sheffield Wednesday A 4–4 Houston, Macari (2), Pearson 35,230
14 December 1974 Orient H 0–0 41,200
21 December 1974 York City A 1–0 Pearson 15,314
26 December 1974 West Bromwich Albion H 2–1 McIlroy, Daly (pen.) 51,104
28 December 1974 Oldham Athletic A 0–1 26,356
11 January 1975 Sheffield Wednesday H 2–0 McCalliog (2; 1 pen.) 45,662
18 January 1975 Sunderland A 0–0 45,976
1 February 1975 Bristol City H 0–1 47,118
8 February 1975 Oxford United A 0–1 15,959
15 February 1975 Hull City H 2–0 Houston, Pearson 44,712
22 February 1975 Aston Villa A 0–2 40,353
1 March 1975 Cardiff City H 4–0 Houston, Pearson, McIlroy, Macari 43,601
8 March 1975 Bolton Wanderers A 1–0 Pearson 38,152
15 March 1975 Norwich City H 1–1 Pearson 56,202
22 March 1975 Nottingham Forest A 1–0 Daly 21,893
28 March 1975 Bristol Rovers A 1–1 Macari 19,337
29 March 1975 York City H 2–1 Morgan, Macari 46,802
31 March 1975 Oldham Athletic H 3–2 McIlroy, Macari, Coppell 56,618
5 April 1975 Southampton A 1–0 Macari 21,866
12 April 1975 Fulham H 1–0 Daly 52,971
19 April 1975 Notts County A 2–2 Houston, Greenhoff 17,832
26 April 1975 Blackpool H 4–0 Pearson (2), Macari, Greenhoff 58,769

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Manchester United (C, P) 42 26 9 7 66 30 2.200 61 Promotion to the First Division
2 Aston Villa (P) 42 25 8 9 79 32 2.469 58 UEFA Cup first round and promotion to the First Division
3 Norwich City (P) 42 20 13 9 58 37 1.568 53 Promotion to the First Division
4 Sunderland 42 19 13 10 65 35 1.857 51
5 Bristol City 42 21 8 13 47 33 1.424 50
6 West Bromwich Albion 42 18 9 15 54 42 1.286 45
7 Blackpool 42 14 17 11 38 33 1.152 45
8 Hull City 42 15 14 13 40 53 0.755 44
9 Fulham 42 13 16 13 44 39 1.128 42
10 Bolton Wanderers 42 15 12 15 45 41 1.098 42
11 Oxford United 42 15 12 15 41 51 0.804 42
12 Orient 42 11 20 11 28 39 0.718 42
13 Southampton 42 15 11 16 53 54 0.981 41
14 Notts County 42 12 16 14 49 59 0.831 40
15 York City 42 14 10 18 51 55 0.927 38
16 Nottingham Forest 42 12 14 16 43 55 0.782 38
17 Portsmouth 42 12 13 17 44 54 0.815 37
18 Oldham Athletic 42 10 15 17 40 48 0.833 35
19 Bristol Rovers 42 12 11 19 42 64 0.656 35
20 Millwall (R) 42 10 12 20 44 56 0.786 32 Relegation to the Third Division
21 Cardiff City (R) 42 9 14 19 36 62 0.581 32
22 Sheffield Wednesday (R) 42 5 11 26 29 64 0.453 21
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

FA Cup

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Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A
Scorers Attendance
4 January 1975 Round 3 Walsall H 0–0 43,353
7 January 1975 Round 3
Replay
Walsall A 2–3 (aet) Daly (pen.), McIlroy 18,105

League Cup

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Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A
Scorers Attendance
11 September 1974 Round 2 Charlton Athletic H 5–1 Macari (2), McIlroy, Houston, Bowman (o.g.) 21,616
9 October 1974 Round 3 Manchester City H 1–0 Daly (pen.) 55,159
13 November 1974 Round 4 Burnley H 3–2 Macari (2), Morgan 46,275
4 December 1974 Round 5 Middlesbrough A 0–0 36,005
18 December 1974 Round 5
Replay
Middlesbrough H 3–0 Pearson, McIlroy, Macari 49,501
15 January 1975 Semi-Final
First leg
Norwich City H 2–2 Macari (2) 58,010
22 January 1975 Semi-Final
Second leg
Norwich City A 0–1 31,621

Squad statistics

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Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   Paddy Roche 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
GK   Alex Stepney 40 0 2 0 7 0 49 0
DF   Arthur Albiston 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 0
DF   Martin Buchan 41 0 2 0 7 0 50 0
DF   Alex Forsyth 39 1 0 0 6 0 45 1
DF   Brian Greenhoff 39(2) 4 2 0 6 0 47(2) 4
DF   Jim Holton 14 0 0 0 3 0 17 0
DF   Stewart Houston 40 6 2 0 6 1 48 7
DF   Steve James 13 0 0 0 2 0 15 0
DF   Jimmy Nicholl 0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0
DF   Arnie Sidebottom 12 0 2 0 2 0 16 0
DF   Tony Young 7(8) 0 2 0 1(4) 0 10(12) 0
MF   Steve Coppell 9(1) 1 0 0 0 0 9(1) 1
MF   Gerry Daly 36(1) 11 2 1 7 1 45(1) 13
MF   George Graham 0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0
MF   Mick Martin 7(1) 0 0 0 1 0 8(1) 0
MF   Jim McCalliog 20 3 1 0 5(1) 0 26(1) 3
MF   David McCreery 0(2) 0 0 0 0 0 0(2) 0
MF   Sammy McIlroy 41(1) 7 2 1 7 2 50(1) 10
FW   Tommy Baldwin 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
FW   Ron Davies 0(8) 0 0(2) 0 0 0 0(10) 0
FW   Lou Macari 36(2) 11 2 0 6(1) 7 44(3) 18
FW   Willie Morgan 32(2) 3 1 0 6(1) 1 39(3) 4
FW   Stuart Pearson 30(1) 17 2 0 4 1 36(1) 18
Own goals 2 0 1 3

References

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  1. ^ "Manchester United Season 1974/75". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Managers – Tommy Docherty". AboutManUtd.com. About ManUtd. Archived from the original on 8 November 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2012.