THE
STORY OF
MAn UTDn the morning after winning the 1968 European Cup Final,
George Best was arguably the best footballer in the world. He
had just been voted the Footballer of the Year; he would soon
become the youngest-ever winner of the Ballon d’Or, and his
28 goals from the previous season were the main inspiration
behind United becoming European champions.
It should have been the start of a glorious new era for both him
and United, but it soon proved to be the beginning of the end, and
within six years United had completed their fall from grace by being
relegated to the Second Division.
“I think quite a few players thought we had done what we set out
to do and relaxed a bit... you could almost hear the energy and
ambition sighing out of the club,” Best has recalled. “The willingness
to win didn’t completely disappear, but it didn’t seem quite so
important now. It was like being at the winding up of a company.”
United’s manager Sir Matt Busby was now old, tired and largely
sated and had remained for one more season to try to successfully
defend his European title, but United would ultimately be knocked
out in the semi-finals by AC Milan.
In the summer of 1969, after 24 years as manager, Busby stood
down and was replaced by 31-year-old Wilf McGuinness, a former
United player who had been forced to retire aged only 22 before
becoming a coach at the club and also with England. He had,
however, never before managed a club.
It appeared an uninspiring choice that failed to grasp the
mammoth job McGuinness had in front of him; taking charge of aO
Above United
legend Denis
Law scores for
rivals City,
relegating
United to the
Second DivisionUNITED THEY FALL
Manchester United went from European champions to relegation
to the Second Division in the space of just six yearsWords Sam Pilgergroup of ageing, unmotivated players, many of whom were not
supportive of him.
“I don’t know who was more surprised, the players or Wilf,” Best
has said. “I liked him... But taking over the first team was a task he
was never going to win and one of his first problems was that, at the
age of 32, he was younger than some of the players. That would
make it hard for him to win their respect.”
Charlton believed McGuinness had been placed in “an impossible
situation”, and so it proved as he proceeded to win only one of his
first eight league games. United might have reached the FA Cup and
League Cup semi-finals, but a final finish of eighth in the First Division
was deemed a failure.
The club persevered with McGuinness for the following season, but
by December 1970 fears of getting dragged into a relegation battle
were starting to creep in with United sitting 18th in table and having
also been beaten in the League Cup semi-finals by Third Division
Aston Villa.
The United board decided to sack McGuinness, with Busby later
admitting, “He might have been a wee bit raw.” Busby was asked to
return as a caretaker manager to oversee the rest of the campaign.
At the end of that season, Busby stepped aside for a second and
final time to make way for the Leicester City manager Frank O’Farrell.
Busby described O’Farrell’s arrival at Old Trafford as “my last great
signing, possibly the greatest of the lot,” amid renewed grumbling
from United players that once again they had hoped for a more
ambitious appointment.26 The Story of Man Utd FourFourTwo.com