1965–66 Manchester United F.C. season

Manchester United
1965–66 season
Manchester United players during their preseason tour in Finland, 21 September 1965. In front Pat Crerand carries Denis Law; middle George Best carries Tony Dunne; at back Noel Cantwell carries Pat Dunne.
ChairmanLouis Edwards
ManagerMatt Busby
First Division4th
FA CupSemi-finals
European CupSemi-finals
Charity ShieldShared
Top goalscorerLeague:
David Herd (24)
All:
David Herd (33)
Highest home attendance64,035 vs Benfica (2 February 1966)
Lowest home attendance23,039 vs Aston Villa (9 May 1966)
Average home league attendance41,352

The 1965–66 season was Manchester United's 64th season in the Football League, and their 21st consecutive season in the top division of English football.[1]

As defending champions of the First Division title, they finished fourth and secured qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.[2] They lost to eventual winners Everton in the FA Cup semifinal.

In the European Cup, they were also semi-finalists, edged out by Yugoslav champions Partizan Belgrade. They had to negotiate a preliminary round of the competition before qualifying for the first round, and did so by achieving a 9–2 aggregate win over Finnish champions HJK Helsinki.

United's top scorer for this season was David Herd, with 24 league goals and 33 in all competitions.

FA Charity Shield

Main article: 1965 FA Charity Shield
Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
14 August 1965 Liverpool H 2–2 Best, Herd 48,502

First Division

Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
21 August 1965 Sheffield Wednesday H 1–0 Herd 37,524
24 August 1965 Nottingham Forest A 2–4 Aston, Best 33,744
28 August 1965 Northampton Town A 1–1 Connelly 21,140
1 September 1965 Nottingham Forest H 0–0 38,777
4 September 1965 Stoke City H 1–1 Herd 37,603
8 September 1965 Newcastle United A 2–1 Herd, Law 57,380
11 September 1965 Burnley A 0–3 30,235
15 September 1965 Newcastle United H 1–1 Stiles 30,401
18 September 1965 Chelsea H 4–1 Law (3), Charlton 37,917
25 September 1965 Arsenal A 2–4 Aston, Charlton 56,757
9 October 1965 Liverpool H 2–0 Best, Law 58,161
16 October 1965 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–5 Charlton 58,051
23 October 1965 Fulham H 4–1 Herd (3), Charlton 32,716
30 October 1965 Blackpool A 2–1 Herd (2) 24,703
6 November 1965 Blackburn Rovers H 2–2 Charlton, Law 38,823
13 November 1965 Leicester City A 5–0 Herd (2), Best, Charlton, Connelly 34,551
20 November 1965 Sheffield United H 3–1 Best (2), Law 37,922
4 December 1965 West Ham United H 0–0 32,924
11 December 1965 Sunderland A 3–2 Best (2), Herd 37,417
15 December 1965 Everton H 3–0 Best, Charlton, Herd 32,624
18 December 1965 Tottenham Hotspur H 5–1 Law (2), Charlton, Herd, Beal (o.g.) 39,270
27 December 1965 West Bromwich Albion H 1–1 Law 54,102
1 January 1966 Liverpool A 1–2 Law 53,790
8 January 1966 Sunderland A 1–1 Best 39,162
12 January 1966 Leeds United A 1–1 Herd 49,672
15 January 1966 Fulham A 1–0 Charlton 33,018
29 January 1966 Sheffield Wednesday A 0–0 39,281
5 February 1966 Northampton Town H 6–2 Charlton (3), Law (2), Connelly 34,986
19 February 1966 Stoke City A 2–2 Connelly, Herd 36,667
26 February 1966 Burnley H 4–2 Herd (3), Charlton 49,892
12 March 1966 Chelsea A 0–2 60,269
19 March 1966 Arsenal H 2–1 Law, Stiles 47,246
6 April 1966 Aston Villa A 1–1 Cantwell 28,211
9 April 1966 Leicester City H 1–2 Connelly 42,593
16 April 1966 Sheffield United A 1–3 Sadler 22,330
25 April 1966 Everton A 0–0 50,843
27 April 1966 Blackpool H 2–1 Charlton, Law 26,953
30 April 1966 West Ham United A 2–3 Aston, Cantwell 36,416
4 May 1966 West Bromwich Albion A 3–3 Aston, T. Dunne, Herd 22,609
7 May 1966 Blackburn Rovers A 4–1 Herd (2), Charlton, Sadler 14,513
9 May 1966 Aston Villa H 6–1 Herd (2), Sadler (2), Charlton, Ryan 23,039
19 May 1966 Leeds United H 1–1 Herd 35,008

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Liverpool (C) 42 26 9 7 79 34 2.324 61 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Leeds United 42 23 9 10 79 38 2.079 55 Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup second round
3 Burnley 42 24 7 11 79 47 1.681 55 Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round
4 Manchester United 42 18 15 9 84 59 1.424 51
5 Chelsea 42 22 7 13 65 53 1.226 51
6 West Bromwich Albion 42 19 12 11 91 69 1.319 50 Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup second round
7 Leicester City 42 21 7 14 80 65 1.231 49
8 Tottenham Hotspur 42 16 12 14 75 66 1.136 44
9 Sheffield United 42 16 11 15 56 59 0.949 43
10 Stoke City 42 15 12 15 65 64 1.016 42
11 Everton 42 15 11 16 56 62 0.903 41 Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round[a]
12 West Ham United 42 15 9 18 70 83 0.843 39
13 Blackpool 42 14 9 19 55 65 0.846 37
14 Arsenal 42 12 13 17 62 75 0.827 37
15 Newcastle United 42 14 9 19 50 63 0.794 37
16 Aston Villa 42 15 6 21 69 80 0.863 36
17 Sheffield Wednesday 42 14 8 20 56 66 0.848 36
18 Nottingham Forest 42 14 8 20 56 72 0.778 36
19 Sunderland 42 14 8 20 51 72 0.708 36
20 Fulham 42 14 7 21 67 85 0.788 35
21 Northampton Town (R) 42 10 13 19 55 92 0.598 33 Relegation to the Second Division
22 Blackburn Rovers (R) 42 8 4 30 57 88 0.648 20
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Everton qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1965–66 FA Cup winners.

FA Cup

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
22 January 1966 Round 3 Derby County A 5–2 Best (2), Law (2), Herd 33,827
12 February 1966 Round 4 Rotherham United H 0–0 54,263
15 February 1966 Round 4
Replay 		Rotherham United A 1–0 Connelly 23,500
5 March 1966 Round 5 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 4–2 Law (2), Best, Herd 53,500
26 March 1966 Round 6 Preston North End A 1–1 Herd 37,876
30 March 1966 Round 6
Replay 		Preston North End H 3–1 Law (2), Connelly 60,433
23 April 1966 Semi-final Everton N 0–1 60,000

European Cup

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
22 September 1965 Preliminary round
First leg 		HJK Helsinki A 3–2 Connelly, Herd, Law 25,000
6 October 1965 Preliminary round
Second leg 		HJK Helsinki H 6–0 Connelly (3), Best (2), Charlton 30,388
17 November 1965 Round 1
First leg 		Vorwärts Berlin A 2–0 Connelly, Law 40,000
1 December 1965 Round 1
Second leg 		Vorwärts Berlin H 3–1 Herd (3) 30,082
2 February 1966 Quarter-final
First leg 		Benfica H 3–2 Foulkes, Herd, Law 64,035
9 March 1966 Quarter-final
Second leg 		Benfica A 5–1 Best (2), Charlton, Connelly, Crerand 75,000
13 April 1966 Semi-final
First leg 		Partizan A 0–2 60,000
20 April 1966 Semi-final
Second leg 		Partizan H 1–0 Stiles 62,500

Squad statistics

Pos. Name League FA Cup European Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK Republic of Ireland Pat Dunne 8 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 11 0
GK England David Gaskell 8 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 9 0
GK Northern Ireland Harry Gregg 26 0 7 0 5 0 0 0 38 0
FB Republic of Ireland Shay Brennan 28 0 5 0 5 0 1 0 39 0
FB Republic of Ireland Noel Cantwell 23 2 2 0 3 0 1 0 29 2
FB Republic of Ireland Tony Dunne 40 1 7 0 8 0 1 0 56 0
FB England Bobby Noble 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
HB Scotland Pat Crerand 41 0 7 0 7 1 1 0 56 1
HB Scotland John Fitzpatrick 3(1) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4(1) 0
HB England Bill Foulkes 33 0 7 0 8 1 0 0 48 1
HB England Nobby Stiles 39 2 7 0 8 1 1 0 55 3
FW England Willie Anderson 5(1) 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 7(1) 0
FW England John Aston, Jr. 23 4 2 0 2 0 1 0 28 4
FW Northern Ireland George Best 31 9 5 3 6 4 1 1 43 17
FW England Bobby Charlton 38 16 7 0 8 2 1 0 54 18
FW England John Connelly 31(1) 5 6 2 8 6 0 0 45(1) 13
FW Scotland David Herd 36(1) 24 7 3 7 5 1 1 51(1) 33
FW Scotland Denis Law 33 15 7 6 8 3 1 0 49 24
FW Scotland Jimmy Ryan 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
FW England David Sadler 10 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 4

References

  1. ^ "Manchester United Season 1965/66". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Football League 1965-66". Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2010.