1968–69 Manchester United F.C. season

Manchester United
1968–69 season
	Juan Ramón Verón scores against United (in dark shirts) in the 1968 Intercontinental Cup.
Chairman	Louis Edwards
Manager	Sir Matt Busby
First Division	11th
FA Cup	Sixth Round
European Cup	Semi-finals
Intercontinental Cup	Runners-up
Top goalscorer	League: ; George Best (19); All: ; Denis Law (30)
Highest home attendance	63,500 vs Estudiantes de La Plata (16 October 1968)
Lowest home attendance	36,638 vs Queens Park Rangers (19 March 1969)
Average home league attendance	53,271
	← 1967–68 1969–70 →

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 v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
9	Newcastle United	42	15	14	13	61	55	1.109	44	Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round^[a]
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	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round^[b]

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
Notes:

^ West Ham United were ineligible to participate in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup as Arsenal had already qualified. Under the rules of the cup, only one team per city could participate. Newcastle United took their place as the highest-ranked team that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.
^ Manchester City qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1968-69 FA Cup winners.

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

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

References

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

[table_note_res_NEW0.073531001374838-2] West Ham United were ineligible to participate in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup as Arsenal had already qualified. Under the rules of the cup, only one team per city could participate. Newcastle United took their place as the highest-ranked team that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.

[table_note_res_CWC1R0.073531001374838-3] Manchester City qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1968-69 FA Cup winners.

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

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