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. Docherty's guided United to 18th place in the final table, after they managed seven league victories following his appointment.
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 DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance12 August 1972Ipswich TownH1–2Law51,45915 August 1972LiverpoolA0–254,77919 August 1972EvertonA0–252,34823 August 1972Leicester CityH1–1Best40,06726 August 1972ArsenalH0–048,10830 August 1972ChelseaH0–044,4822 September 1972West Ham UnitedA2–2Best, Storey-Moore32,3729 September 1972Coventry CityH0–137,07316 September 1972Wolverhampton WanderersA0–234,04923 September 1972Derby CountyH3–0Davies, Morgan, Storey-Moore48,25530 September 1972Sheffield UnitedA0–137,3477 October 1972West Bromwich AlbionA2–2Best, Storey-Moore39,20914 October 1972Birmingham CityH1–0MacDougall52,10421 October 1972Newcastle UnitedA1–2Charlton38,17028 October 1972Tottenham HotspurH1–4Charlton52,4974 November 1972Leicester CityA2–2Best, Davies32,57511 November 1972LiverpoolH2–0Davies, MacDougall53,94418 November 1972Manchester CityA0–352,08625 November 1972SouthamptonH2–1Davies, MacDougall36,0732 December 1972Norwich CityA2–0MacDougall, Storey-Moore35,9139 December 1972Stoke CityH0–241,34716 December 1972Crystal PalaceA0–539,48423 December 1972Leeds UnitedH1–1MacDougall 46,38226 December 1972Derby CountyA1–3Storey-Moore35,0986 January 1973ArsenalA1–3Kidd51,19420 January 1973West Ham UnitedH2–2Charlton, Macari50,87824 January 1973EvertonH0–058,97027 January 1973Coventry CityA1–1Holton42,76710 February 1973Wolverhampton WanderersH2–1Charlton (2)52,08917 February 1973Ipswich TownA1–4Macari31,9183 March 1973West Bromwich AlbionH2–1Kidd, Macari46,73510 March 1973Birmingham CityA1–3Macari51,27817 March 1973Newcastle UnitedH2–1Holton, Martin48,42624 March 1973Tottenham HotspurA1–1Graham49,75131 March 1973SouthamptonA2–0Charlton, Holton23,1617 April 1973Norwich CityH1–0Martin48,59311 April 1973Crystal PalaceH2–0Kidd, Morgan46,89114 April 1973Stoke CityA2–2Macari, Morgan37,05118 April 1973Leeds UnitedA1–0Anderson45,45021 April 1973Manchester CityH0–061,67623 April 1973Sheffield UnitedH1–2Kidd57,28028 April 1973ChelseaA0–144,184
FA Cup DateRoundOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance13 January 1973Round 3Wolverhampton WanderersA0–1 40,005
League Cup DateRoundOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance6 September 1972Round 2Oxford UnitedA2–2Law, Charlton16,56012 September 1972Round 2ReplayOxford UnitedH3–1Best (2), Storey-Moore21,4863 October 1972Round 3Bristol RoversA1–1Morgan33,59711 October 1972Round 3ReplayBristol RoversH1–2McIlroy29,348
Anglo-Italian Cup DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance21 February 1973FiorentinaH1–1Holton23,95121 March 1973LazioA0–052,8344 April 1973 BariH3–1Law, Storey-Moore, Martin14,3032 May 1973 VeronaA4–1Charlton (2), Olney, Fletcher8,168
English Group 1 ClubCrystal Palace43101047Manchester United4220836Luton Town4211845Hull City4211435
Italian Group 1 ClubFiorentina4121444Lazio4022472Verona41035112Bari4013181
Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Alex Stepney3801040430GK Jimmy Rimmer40000040DF Martin Buchan4201040470DF Ian Donald40001050DF Tony Dunne2400(1)03027(1)0DF Paul Edwards10000010DF Alex Forsyth80100090DF Jim Holton1530000153DF Steve James2200040260DF Tommy O'Neil1600010170DF David Sadler1901020220DF Arnie Sidebottom20000020DF Willie Watson30001040DF Tony Young28(2)0103032(2)0MF George Best1940042236MF Bobby Charlton34(2)6104139(2)7MF John Fitzpatrick50001060MF George Graham1811000191MF Mick Martin14(2)2000014(2)2MF Sammy McIlroy4(6)0000(3)14(9)1FW Trevor Anderson2(5)100002(5)1FW Wyn Davies15(1)4100016(1)4FW Peter Fletcher0(2)000000(2)0FW Brian Kidd17(5)4102020(5)4FW Denis Law9(2)1102112(2)2FW Lou Macari1650000165FW Ted MacDougall1850000185FW Willie Morgan3941040444FW Ian Storey-Moore2650041306–Own goals–0–0–0–0 Anglo-Italian Cup matches are not included in statistics
References