1968–69 Manchester United F.C. season

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Manchester United
1968–69 season
ChairmanLouis Edwards
ManagerSir Matt Busby
First Division11th
FA CupSixth Round
European CupSemi-finals
Intercontinental CupRunners-up
Top goalscorerLeague:
George Best (19)
All:
Denis Law (30)
Highest home attendance63,500 vs Estudiantes de La Plata (16 October 1968)
Lowest home attendance36,638 vs Queens Park Rangers (19 March 1969)
Average home league attendance53,271
Away colours

The 1968–69 season was Manchester United's 67th season in the Football League, and their 24th consecutive season in the top division of English football.[1] After the end of the season, on 4 June 1969, United manager Matt Busby stepped down as manager after 24 years as manager; he had announced his intention to retire on 14 January. He was replaced with Wilf McGuinness who only managed the team for a year and a half before Matt Busby returned as United manager for another six months.

George Best was United's top goalscorer in the league with 19 goals, although Denis Law added to his 14 league goals with a further 16 in the cups to reach a grand total of 30 goals in all competitions to top the club's goalscoring charts.

United finished 11th in the First Division this season, and were semi-finalists in the European Cup.

First Division[]

Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
10 August 1968 Everton H 2–1 Best, Charlton 61,311
14 August 1968 West Bromwich Albion A 1–3 Charlton 38,299
17 August 1968 Manchester City A 0–0 63,052
21 August 1968 Coventry City H 1–0 Ryan 51,201
24 August 1968 Chelsea H 0–4 55,114
28 August 1968 Tottenham Hotspur H 3–1 Fitzpatrick (2), Beal (o.g.) 57,380
31 August 1968 Sheffield Wednesday A 4–5 Law (2), Best, Charlton 50,490
7 September 1968 West Ham United H 1–1 Law 63,274
14 September 1968 Burnley A 0–1 32,935
21 September 1968 Newcastle United H 3–1 Best (2), Law 47,262
5 October 1968 Arsenal H 0–0 61,843
9 October 1968 Tottenham Hotspur A 2–2 Crerand, Law 56,205
12 October 1968 Liverpool A 0–2 53,392
19 October 1968 Southampton H 1–2 Best 46,526
26 October 1968 Queens Park Rangers A 3–2 Best (2), Law 31,138
2 November 1968 Leeds United H 0–0 53,839
9 November 1968 Sunderland A 1–1 Hurley (o.g.) 33,151
16 November 1968 Ipswich Town H 0–0 45,796
23 November 1968 Stoke City A 0–0 30,562
30 November 1968 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 2–0 Best, Law 50,165
7 December 1968 Leicester City A 1–2 Law 36,303
14 December 1968 Liverpool H 1–0 Law 55,354
21 December 1968 Southampton A 0–2 26,194
26 December 1968 Arsenal A 0–3 62,300
11 January 1969 Leeds United A 1–2 Charlton 48,145
18 January 1969 Sunderland H 4–1 Law (3), Best 45,670
1 February 1969 Ipswich Town A 0–1 30,837
15 February 1969 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 2–2 Best, Charlton 44,023
8 March 1969 Manchester City H 0–1 63,264
10 March 1969 Everton A 0–0 57,514
15 March 1969 Chelsea A 2–3 James, Law 60,436
19 March 1969 Queens Park Rangers H 8–1 Morgan (3), Best (2), Aston, Kidd, Stiles 36,638
22 March 1969 Sheffield Wednesday H 1–0 Best 45,527
24 March 1969 Stoke City H 1–1 Aston 39,931
29 March 1969 West Ham United A 0–0 41,546
31 March 1969 Nottingham Forest A 1–0 Best 41,892
2 April 1969 West Bromwich Albion H 2–1 Best (2) 38,846
5 April 1969 Nottingham Forest H 3–1 Morgan (2), Best 51,952
8 April 1969 Coventry City A 1–2 Fitzpatrick 45,402
12 April 1969 Newcastle United A 0–2 46,379
19 April 1969 Burnley H 2–0 Best, Waldron (o.g.) 52,626
17 May 1969 Leicester City H 3–2 Best, Law, Morgan 45,860
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
9 Newcastle United 42 15 14 13 61 55 1.109 44 1968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
10 West Bromwich Albion 42 16 11 15 64 67 0.955 43
11 Manchester United 42 15 12 15 57 53 1.075 42
12 Ipswich Town 42 15 11 16 59 60 0.983 41
13 Manchester City 42 15 10 17 64 55 1.164 40 FA Cup winners, qualified for Cup Winners' Cup
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average; 3) number of goals scored.

FA Cup[]

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
4 January 1969 Round 3 Exeter City A 3–1 Fitzpatrick, Kidd, Newman (o.g.) 18,500
25 January 1969 Round 4 Watford H 1–1 Law 63,498
3 February 1969 Round 4
Replay 		Watford A 2–0 Law (2) 34,000
8 February 1969 Round 5 Birmingham City A 2–2 Best, Law 52,500
24 February 1969 Round 5
Replay 		Birmingham City H 6–2 Law (3), Crerand, Kidd, Morgan 61,932
1 March 1969 Round 6 Everton H 0–1 63,464

European Cup[]

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
18 September 1968 Round 1
First leg 		Waterford United A 3–1 Law (3) 48,000
2 October 1968 Round 1
Second leg 		Waterford United H 7–1 Law (4), Burns, Charlton, Stiles 41,750
13 November 1968 Round 2
First leg 		Anderlecht H 3–0 Law (2), Kidd 51,000
27 November 1968 Round 2
Second leg 		Anderlecht A 1–3 Sartori 40,000
26 February 1969 Quarter-final
First leg 		Rapid Wien H 3–0 Best (2), Morgan 61,932
5 March 1969 Quarter-final
Second leg 		Rapid Wien A 0–0 52,000
23 April 1969 Semi-final
First leg 		Milan A 0–2 80,000
15 May 1969 Semi-final
Second leg 		Milan H 1–0 Charlton 63,103

Intercontinental Cup[]

Main article: 1968 Intercontinental Cup
Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
25 September 1968 Estudiantes de La Plata A 0–1 55,000
16 October 1968 Estudiantes de La Plata H 1–1 Morgan 63,500

Squad statistics[]

Pos. Name League FA Cup European Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Jimmy Rimmer 4 0 1 0 2(1) 0 0 0 7(1) 0
GK England Alex Stepney 38 0 5 0 6 0 2 0 51 0
FB Republic of Ireland Shay Brennan 13 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 17 0
FB Scotland Francis Burns 14(2) 0 1 0 3(1) 1 1 0 19(3) 1
FB Republic of Ireland Tony Dunne 33 0 6 0 6 0 2 0 47 0
FB Scotland Frank Kopel 7(1) 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 9(1) 0
HB Scotland Pat Crerand 35 1 4 1 8 0 2 0 49 2
HB Scotland John Fitzpatrick 28(2) 3 6 1 4 0 0 0 38(2) 4
HB England Bill Foulkes 10(3) 0 0 0 5 0 2 0 17(3) 0
HB England Steve James 21 1 6 0 2 0 0 0 29 1
HB England Nobby Stiles 41 1 6 0 8 1 1 0 56 2
FW England John Aston 13 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 2
FW Northern Ireland George Best 41 19 6 1 6 2 2 0 55 22
FW England Bobby Charlton 32 5 6 0 8 2 2 0 48 7
FW England Alan Gowling 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
FW England Brian Kidd 28(1) 1 5 2 7 1 1 0 41(1) 4
FW Scotland Denis Law 30 14 6 7 7 9 2 0 45 30
FW Scotland Willie Morgan 29 6 5 1 4 1 2 1 40 9
FW Scotland Jimmy Ryan 6 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 7 1
FW England David Sadler 26(3) 0 0(1) 0 5 0 2 0 33(4) 0
FW Italy Carlo Sartori 11(2) 0 2 0 2 1 0 0 15(2) 1

References[]

  1. ^ "Manchester United Season 1968/69". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
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