1969–70 Manchester United F.C. season

Manchester United
1969–70 season
Chairman	Louis Edwards
Manager	Wilf McGuinness
First Division	8th
FA Cup	Third place
League Cup	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: ; George Best (15); All: ; George Best (23)
Highest home attendance	63,418 vs Manchester City (17 December 1969); 63,418 vs Middlesbrough (25 February 1970)
Lowest home attendance	26,582 vs West Bromwich Albion (8 April 1970)
Average home league attendance	51,152
	← 1968–69 1970–71 →

The 1969–70 season was Manchester United's 68th season in the Football League, and their 25th consecutive season in the top division of English football.^[1] Before the beginning of the season, on 4 June 1969, United manager Matt Busby stepped down as manager after 24 years as manager. McGuinness guided United to an eighth-place finish in his first season as manager, and they reached the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and the League Cup.

First Division[]

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
9 August 1969	Crystal Palace	A	2 – 2	Charlton, Morgan	48,610
13 August 1969	Everton	H	0 – 2		57,752
16 August 1969	Southampton	H	1 – 4	Morgan	46,328
19 August 1969	Everton	A	0 – 3		53,185
23 August 1969	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0 – 0		50,783
27 August 1969	Newcastle United	H	0 – 0		52,774
30 August 1969	Sunderland	H	3 – 1	Best, Givens, Kidd	50,570
6 September 1969	Leeds United	A	2 – 2	Best (2)	44,271
13 September 1969	Liverpool	H	1 – 0	Morgan	56,509
17 September 1969	Sheffield Wednesday	A	3 – 1	Best (2), Kidd	39,298
20 September 1969	Arsenal	A	2 – 2	Best, Sadler	59,498
27 September 1969	West Ham United	H	5 – 2	Best (2), Burns, Charlton, Kidd	58,579
4 October 1969	Derby County	A	0 – 2		40,724
8 October 1969	Southampton	A	3 – 0	Best, Burns, Kidd	31,044
11 October 1969	Ipswich Town	H	2 – 1	Best, Kidd	52,281
18 October 1969	Nottingham Forest	H	1 – 1	Best	53,702
25 October 1969	West Bromwich Albion	A	1 – 2	Kidd	45,120
1 November 1969	Stoke City	H	1 – 1	Charlton	53,406
8 November 1969	Coventry City	A	2 – 1	Aston, Law	43,446
15 November 1969	Manchester City	A	0 – 4		63,013
22 November 1969	Tottenham Hotspur	H	3 – 1	Charlton (2), Burns	50,003
29 November 1969	Burnley	A	1 – 1	Best	23,770
6 December 1969	Chelsea	H	0 – 2		49,344
13 December 1969	Liverpool	A	4 – 1	Charlton, Morgan, Ure, own goal	47,682
26 December 1969	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0 – 0		50,806
27 December 1969	Sunderland	A	1 – 1	Kidd	36,504
10 January 1970	Arsenal	H	2 – 1	Morgan, Sartori	41,055
17 January 1970	West Ham United	A	0 – 0		41,643
26 January 1970	Leeds United	H	2 – 2	Kidd, Sadler	59,879
31 January 1970	Derby County	H	1 – 0	Charlton	59,315
10 February 1970	Ipswich Town	A	1 – 0	Kidd	29,755
14 February 1970	Crystal Palace	H	1 – 1	Kidd	54,711
28 February 1970	Stoke City	A	2 – 2	Morgan, Sartori	38,917
17 March 1970	Burnley	H	3 – 3	Best, Crerand, Law	38,377
21 March 1970	Chelsea	A	1 – 2	Morgan	61,479
28 March 1970	Manchester City	H	1 – 2	Kidd	59,777
30 March 1970	Coventry City	H	1 – 1	Kidd	38,647
31 March 1970	Nottingham Forest	A	2 – 1	Charlton, Gowling	39,228
4 April 1970	Newcastle United	A	1 – 5	Charlton	43,094
8 April 1970	West Bromwich Albion	H	7 – 0	Charlton (2), Fitzpatrick (2), Gowling (2), Best	26,582
13 April 1970	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1 – 2	Fitzpatrick	41,808
15 April 1970	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2 – 2	Best, Charlton	36,649

Pos	Team v t	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
6	Coventry City	42	19	11	12	58	48	1.208	49
7	Newcastle United	42	17	13	12	57	35	1.629	47	Participated in the 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup^[a]
8	Manchester United	42	14	17	11	66	61	1.082	45
9	Stoke City	42	15	15	12	56	52	1.077	45
10	Manchester City	42	16	11	15	55	48	1.146	43	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1970–71 First round^[b]

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ Newcastle United qualified as last year's Inter-Cities Fairs Cup cupholders.
^ Manchester City were qualified by winning this year's European Cup Winners' Cup. They also won the League Cup this year.

FA Cup[]

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
3 January 1970	Round 3	Ipswich Town	A	1 – 0	own goal	29,552
24 January 1970	Round 4	Manchester City	H	3 – 0	Kidd (2), Morgan	63,417
7 February 1970	Round 5	Northampton Town	A	8 – 2	Best (6), Kidd (2)	21,771
21 February 1970	Round 6	Middlesbrough	A	1 – 1	Sartori	40,000
25 February 1970	Round 6 Replay	Middlesbrough	H	2 – 1	Charlton, Morgan	63,418
14 March 1970	Semi-Final	Leeds United	N	0 – 0		55,000
23 March 1970	Semi-Final Replay	Leeds United	N	0 – 0 (a.e.t.)		62,500
26 March 1970	Semi-Final Second Replay	Leeds United	N	0 – 1		56,000
10 April 1970	Third Place Playoff	Watford	N	2 – 0	Kidd (2)	15,105

League Cup[]

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
3 September 1969	Round 2	Middlesbrough	H	1 – 0	Sadler	38,939
23 September 1969	Round 3	Wrexham	H	2 – 0	Kidd, Best	48,347
14 October 1969	Round 4	Burnley	A	0 – 0		27,959
20 October 1969	Round 4 Replay	Burnley	H	1 – 0	Best	50,275
12 November 1969	Round 5	Derby County	A	0 – 0		38,895
19 November 1969	Round 5 Replay	Derby County	H	1 – 0	Kidd	57,393
3 December 1969	Semi Final First Leg	Manchester City	A	1 – 2	Charlton	55,799
17 December 1969	Semi Final Second Leg	Manchester City	H	2 – 2	Edwards, Law	63,418

Squad statistics[]

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Jimmy Rimmer	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
GK	Alex Stepney	37	0	9	0	8	0	54	0
DF	Shay Brennan	8(1)	0	1	0	1	0	10(1)	0
DF	Francis Burns	30(2)	3	3(1)	0	6	0	39(3)	3
DF	Tony Dunne	33	0	7	0	8	0	48	0
DF	Paul Edwards	18(1)	0	7	0	2	1	27(1)	1
DF	Bill Foulkes	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
DF	Steve James	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	0
DF	David Sadler	40	2	9	0	8	1	57	3
DF	Ian Ure	34	1	7	0	7	0	48	1
MF	John Aston, Jr.	21(1)	1	1(1)	0	6	0	28(2)	1
MF	George Best	37	15	8	6	8	2	53	23
MF	Bobby Charlton	40	12	9	1	8	1	57	14
MF	Paddy Crerand	25	1	9	0	2	0	36	1
MF	John Fitzpatrick	20	3	1	0	5	0	26	3
MF	Willie Morgan	35	7	9	2	5	0	49	9
MF	Jimmy Ryan	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0
MF	Carlo Sartori	13(4)	2	7	1	1(2)	0	21(6)	3
MF	Nobby Stiles	8	0	3	0	2	0	13	0
FW	Don Givens	4(4)	1	0	0	1	0	5(4)	1
FW	Alan Gowling	6(1)	3	0	0	0(1)	0	6(2)	3
FW	Brian Kidd	33(1)	12	9	6	6	2	48(1)	20
FW	Denis Law	10(1)	2	0(2)	0	3	1	13(3)	3
–	Own goals	–	1	–	1	–	0	–	2

References[]

^ "Manchester United Season 1969/70". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.

[table_note_res_ICFCb0.15184800566726-2] Newcastle United qualified as last year's Inter-Cities Fairs Cup cupholders.

[table_note_res_UCWC1b0.15184800566726-3] Manchester City were qualified by winning this year's European Cup Winners' Cup. They also won the League Cup this year.

[1] "Manchester United Season 1969/70". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.

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