“ DOCHERTY DISPEn SED WITH THE LEGEn DARY
TRIO OF BEST, CHARLTOn An D LAW, WHO ALL
LEFT Un ITED WITHIn A YEAR OF HIS ARRIVAL”
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THEY FALLBy Christmas 1971 it appeared that Busby had got it right this time,
with United holding a five-point lead at the top of the First Division,
but this would prove the high point of O’Farrell’s reign and United
would lose 11 of their last 19 league games in the new year to fall
back to a final position of eighth.
Despite this the United board still backed O’Farrell in the transfer
market, with the purchases of Martin Buchan and Ian Storey-Moore,
and later Ted MacDougall and Wyn Davies, but they could do little to
unite an increasingly fractious dressing room, undermined by the
now erratic Best, who at one stage even announced his premature
retirement at the age of 26.
“We’d beaten Real Madrid and Benfica, and now the Coventrys and
Stokes were stuffing us at home, it was painful,” Best had said.
O’Farrell (who sadly passed away on 7 March 2022) continued to
limp on until a 5-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in
December 1972 forced United to sack him. “[He] came as a stranger
and left as a stranger,” observed an unimpressed Denis Law.
Six days later the Scotland manager Tommy Docherty, who had
previously taken charge of Chelsea and Aston Villa, became United’s
fourth manager in the last two seasons.
“The club was in turmoil,” Docherty has said. “I’d inherited the
remnants of the 1968 European Cup-winning team. Many had been
great players, but they were past their sell-by date.”
Docherty dispensed with the legendary trio of Best, Charlton and
Law, who all left the club within a year of his arrival, followed by as
many as 29 other players as the club was completely overhauled and
remodelled into a leaner and younger side.
But progress was slow, and although Docherty staved off
relegation in 1973, finishing just five points from safety, a year later
he could not prevent United dropping into the Second Division. Their
demotion was confirmed on a traumatic day at Old Trafford in April
1974 with a 1-0 loss to Manchester City, courtesy of a back-heeled
goal from none other than Law.
Despite playing outside the top flight for the first time since 1938,
United held their nerve and stood by Docherty, who they believed
would quickly be able to get results with his squad of talented
younger players, including Stuart Pearson, Gerry Daly, Sammy McIlroy
and Lou Macari.
They were proved right as United won the Second Division
championship with a series of exciting performances in front of full
crowds at Old Trafford.
“Don’t expect too much too soon,” declared Docherty during the
summer of 1975 on their return to the First Division after just one
season away, but his young side surprised even him by finishing third,
just four points behind the champions Liverpool, and also reaching
the FA Cup Final for the first time in 13 years only to lose 1-0 to
Southampton at Wembley. They’d go one better two years later.
Above left
United won
promotion after
a season in the
Second Division
Left Best in
1971, when
United’s glory
days were far
behind them
Right Frank
O’Farrell
endured an
unsuccessful
spell at United
Below United’s
Steve Coppell
during the 1976
FA Cup Final
Bottom Busby
with Wilf
McGuinnessFourFourTwo.com The Story of Man Utd 27