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

FA Cup

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F – A		 Scorers Attendance
13 January 1973 Round 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 0 – 1 40,005

League Cup

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F – A		 Scorers Attendance
6 September 1972 Round 2 Oxford United A 2 – 2 Law, Charlton 16,560
12 September 1972 Round 2
Replay		 Oxford United H 3 – 1 Best (2), Storey-Moore 21,486
3 October 1972 Round 3 Bristol Rovers A 1 – 1 Morgan 33,597
11 October 1972 Round 3
Replay		 Bristol Rovers H 1 – 2 McIlroy 29,348

Anglo-Italian Cup

Date Opponents H / A Result
F – A		 Scorers Attendance
21 February 1973 Fiorentina H 1 – 1 Holton 23,951
21 March 1973 Lazio A 0 – 0 52,834
4 April 1973 Bari H 3 – 1 Law, Storey-Moore, Martin 14,303
2 May 1973 Verona A 4 – 1 Charlton (2), Olney, Fletcher 8,168

Squad statistics

Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Alex Stepney 38 0 1 0 4 0 43 0
GK England Jimmy Rimmer 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
DF Scotland Martin Buchan 42 0 1 0 4 0 47 0
DF Scotland Ian Donald 4 0 0 0 1 0 5 0
DF Republic of Ireland Tony Dunne 24 0 0(1) 0 3 0 27(1) 0
DF England Paul Edwards 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
DF Scotland Alex Forsyth 8 0 1 0 0 0 9 0
DF Scotland Jim Holton 15 3 0 0 0 0 15 3
DF England Steve James 22 0 0 0 4 0 26 0
DF England Tommy O’Neil 16 0 0 0 1 0 17 0
DF England David Sadler 19 0 1 0 2 0 22 0
DF England Arnie Sidebottom 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
DF Scotland Willie Watson 3 0 0 0 1 0 4 0
DF England Tony Young 28(2) 0 1 0 3 0 32(2) 0
MF Northern Ireland George Best 19 4 0 0 4 2 23 6
MF England Bobby Charlton 34(2) 6 1 0 4 1 39(2) 7
MF Scotland John Fitzpatrick 5 0 0 0 1 0 6 0
MF Scotland George Graham 18 1 1 0 0 0 19 1
MF England Mick Martin 14(2) 2 0 0 0 0 14(2) 2
MF Northern Ireland Sammy McIlroy 4(6) 0 0 0 0(3) 1 4(9) 1
FW Northern Ireland Trevor Anderson 2(5) 1 0 0 0 0 2(5) 1
FW Wales Wyn Davies 15(1) 4 1 0 0 0 16(1) 4
FW England Paul Fletcher 0(2) 0 0 0 0 0 0(2) 0
FW England Brian Kidd 17(5) 4 1 0 2 0 20(5) 4
FW Scotland Denis Law 9(2) 1 1 0 2 0 12(2) 1
FW Scotland Lou Macari 16 5 0 0 0 0 16 5
FW Scotland Ted MacDougall 18 5 0 0 0 0 18 5
FW Scotland Willie Morgan 39 4 1 0 4 0 44 4
FW England Ian Storey-Moore 26 5 0 0 4 1 30 6
– Own goals – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0