The 1972–73 season was Manchester United’s 71st season in the Football League, and their 28th consecutive season in the top division of English football. For the first and only season United took part in the Anglo-Italian Cup, the 1973 version. In September 1972, Frank O’Farrell signed Welsh international centre-forward Wyn Davies from Manchester City for a fee of £60,000. The signing paid immediate dividends with Davies scoring on his United debut in a 3-0 win against Derby County. Shortly afterwards, O’Farrell paid Bournemouth, then in the Third Division, a reported £194,445 for the services of striker, Ted MacDougall. Despite these signings, United’s results were poor and on 19 December 1972, Frank O’Farrell was sacked as United manager following a 5–0 defeat at Crystal Palace that had left them in real danger of relegation, with little improvement having been made on United’s dismal nine-match winless start to the league campaign. On the same day, the club’s directors also announced that the errant George Best would not be playing for them again. Three days later Tommy Docherty was appointed as the new manager, after he resigned from the Scotland national team, and he guided United to survival. He also restored George Best to the team. United struggled to find goals in the league, only managing 44 from 42 games, with Bobby Charlton – in his final season as a player before retiring – topping the club’s goalscoring charts with a mere six goals in the First Division. Denis Law, who had rarely played this season, was given a free transfer at the end of the campaign after 11 years with the club.
First Division
Date
Opponents
H / A
Result F – A
Scorers
Attendance
12 August 1972
Ipswich Town
H
1 – 2
Law
51,459
15 August 1972
Liverpool
A
0 – 2
54,779
19 August 1972
Everton
A
0 – 2
52,348
23 August 1972
Leicester City
H
1 – 1
Best
40,067
26 August 1972
Arsenal
H
0 – 0
48,108
30 August 1972
Chelsea
H
0 – 0
44,482
2 September 1972
West Ham United
A
2 – 2
Best, Storey-Moore
32,372
9 September 1972
Coventry City
H
0 – 1
37,073
16 September 1972
Wolverhampton Wanderers
A
0 – 2
34,049
23 September 1972
Derby County
H
3 – 0
Davies, Morgan, Storey-Moore
48,255
30 September 1972
Sheffield United
A
0 – 1
37,347
7 October 1972
West Bromwich Albion
A
2 – 2
Best, Storey-Moore
39,209
14 October 1972
Birmingham City
H
1 – 0
MacDougall
52,104
21 October 1972
Newcastle United
A
1 – 2
Charlton
38,170
28 October 1972
Tottenham Hotspur
H
1 – 4
Charlton
52,497
4 November 1972
Leicester City
A
2 – 2
Best, Davies
32,575
11 November 1972
Liverpool
H
2 – 0
Davies, MacDougall
53,944
18 November 1972
Manchester City
A
0 – 3
52,086
25 November 1972
Southampton
H
2 – 1
Davies, MacDougall
36,073
2 December 1972
Norwich City
A
2 – 0
MacDougall, Storey-Moore
35,913
9 December 1972
Stoke City
H
0 – 2
41,347
16 December 1972
Crystal Palace
A
0 – 5
39,484
23 December 1972
Leeds United
H
1 – 1
MacDougall
46,382
26 December 1972
Derby County
A
1 – 3
Storey-Moore
35,098
6 January 1973
Arsenal
A
1 – 3
Kidd
51,194
20 January 1973
West Ham United
H
2 – 2
Charlton, Macari
50,878
24 January 1973
Everton
H
0 – 0
58,970
27 January 1973
Coventry City
A
1 – 1
Holton
42,767
10 February 1973
Wolverhampton Wanderers
H
2 – 1
Charlton (2)
52,089
17 February 1973
Ipswich Town
A
1 – 4
Macari
31,918
3 March 1973
West Bromwich Albion
H
2 – 1
Kidd, Macari
46,735
10 March 1973
Birmingham City
A
1 – 3
Macari
51,278
17 March 1973
Newcastle United
H
2 – 1
Holton, Martin
48,426
24 March 1973
Tottenham Hotspur
A
1 – 1
Graham
49,751
31 March 1973
Southampton
A
2 – 0
Charlton, Holton
23,161
7 April 1973
Norwich City
H
1 – 0
Martin
48,593
11 April 1973
Crystal Palace
H
2 – 0
Kidd, Morgan
46,891
14 April 1973
Stoke City
A
2 – 2
Macari, Morgan
37,051
18 April 1973
Leeds United
A
1 – 0
Anderson
45,450
21 April 1973
Manchester City
H
0 – 0
61,676
23 April 1973
Sheffield United
H
1 – 2
Kidd
57,280
28 April 1973
Chelsea
A
0 – 1
44,184
Pos
Club
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GAvg
Pts
17
Everton
42
13
11
18
41
49
0.837
37
18
Manchester United
42
12
13
17
44
60
0.733
37
19
Coventry City
42
13
9
20
40
55
0.727
35
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GAvg = Goal average; Pts = Points