The 2024–25 season was the 138th season in the history of Manchester United, the club's 33rd in the Premier League, and their 50th consecutive—and 100th overall—season in the top flight of English football. The club competed in the Premier League, the FA Cup, the EFL Cup, the UEFA Europa League, and the FA Community Shield. It marked the first full season since 2004–05 in which the Glazer family did not oversee football operations, following the sale of a 27.7% stake to Sir Jim Ratcliffe in February 2024.
Erik ten Hag began the campaign in his third year as manager, but was dismissed in October following a poor start to the season. Former United striker and assistant coach Ruud van Nistelrooy assumed interim charge before Rúben Amorim was appointed as head coach on 11 November, following his departure from Sporting CP.
The season was widely regarded as the worst in the club's modern history. United finished 15th in the Premier League with 42 points—their lowest league position since 1989–90 and fewest points in a top-flight season since they were last relegated in 1973–74. In domestic cup competitions, their defence of the FA Cup ended in the fifth round with a penalty shootout defeat at home to Fulham, while they were eliminated from the EFL Cup in the quarter-finals after a 4–3 loss to Tottenham Hotspur. United reached the final of the UEFA Europa League, but were beaten 1–0 by Tottenham at the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao. As a result, they failed to qualify for European competition for the first time since the 2013–14 season (and only the second time since 1989–90). It was the club's first trophyless campaign since 2021–22.
Pre-season and friendlies
On 23 February 2024, United announced a tour of the United States, with friendly matches against rivals Arsenal and Liverpool at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California (near Los Angeles), on 27 July and at the Williams–Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, on 3 August, respectively. In March, they announced another game in the United States – against Real Betis on 31 July at the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, a venue with which the club shares a sponsor. Ten days later, United announced they would play Rangers for the first time in a decade at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on 20 July. The first match of their pre-season tour was announced on 5 April; they faced Norwegian side Rosenborg at the Lerkendal Stadion in Trondheim on 15 July.
United lost their first match of pre-season against Rosenborg 1–0 after a goal in the last minute. They registered their first win of pre-season in Scotland, where they beat Rangers 2–0 thanks to goals from Amad Diallo and Joe Hugill; newly signed defender Leny Yoro made his debut in the game, playing the first 45 minutes. In the first game of the U.S. tour against Arsenal, Rasmus Højlund put United ahead early; however, both he and Yoro suffered injuries in the first half that ruled them out of the opening matches of the season. Gabriel Jesus levelled in the first half and Gabriel Martinelli scored the winner for Arsenal after the break, although United went on to win the post-match exhibition penalty shoot-out 4–3. United returned to winning ways against Real Betis, when goals from Marcus Rashford, Amad Diallo and Casemiro secured a 3–2 win. Manchester United's tour of the United States ended with a 3–0 loss to rivals Liverpool.
At the end of the season, Manchester United travelled to Asia to play friendlies against an ASEAN All-Stars team in Kuala Lumpur and the Hong Kong national team in Hong Kong.
DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance15 July 2024RosenborgA0–121,01320 July 2024RangersN2–0Diallo 39', Hugill 70'56,57427 July 2024ArsenalN1–2Højlund 10'62,48631 July 2024Real BetisN3–2Rashford 18' (pen.), Diallo 24', Casemiro 31'26,2483 August 2024LiverpoolN0–377,55928 May 2025ASEAN All-StarsN0–172,55030 May 2025Hong KongA3–1Obi (2) 50', 82', Heaven 90+4'33,098
FA Community Shield
As a result of winning the 2023–24 FA Cup, Manchester United faced Manchester City, who won the 2023–24 Premier League, in what was United's 31st Community Shield appearance, and their first since 2016. After United took the lead late in the second-half through Alejandro Garnacho, City equalised through Bernardo Silva in the 88th minute, taking the game to penalties. André Onana saved City's first penalty from Silva, but Jadon Sancho's miss with United's fourth kick meant the shoot-out went to sudden death; Jonny Evans put United's eighth penalty over the bar, allowing Manuel Akanji to give City a 7–6 victory.
DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance10 August 2024Manchester CityN1–1(6–7p)Garnacho 82'78,168
Premier League
Matches The 2024–25 Premier League fixtures were released on 18 June 2024. Manchester United opened their Premier League campaign on 16 August 2024 with a 1–0 win over Fulham. Substitute and debutant Joshua Zirkzee scored the only goal of the match in the 87th minute. United then travelled to the Amex Stadium to take on Brighton & Hove Albion. Former United man Danny Welbeck opened the scoring in the 30th minute, capitalising on a defensive mistake. Amad Diallo then levelled the scores in the 61st minute, before United put the ball in the back of the net again through Alejandro Garnacho; however, replays showed that Zirkzee had accidentally tapped the ball into the net from an offside position while attempting to stand up, causing the goal to be ruled out. João Pedro then scored a late winner with an unmarked header at the back post, condemning the Red Devils to a first league defeat of the season. United then hosted arch-rivals Liverpool at home; although United started well, Trent Alexander-Arnold had the ball in their net in the 8th minute, although the goal was ultimately ruled out for offside. By half-time, United found themselves 2–0 down due to a brace of goals from Luis Díaz. Mohamed Salah scored a third goal for Liverpool in the 56th minute to seal a 3–0 defeat for United.
United then travelled to St Mary's Stadium to face newly promoted Southampton. Two first half goals from Matthijs de Ligt and Marcus Rashford in quick succession, after United goalkeeper Andre Onana had been forced into a penalty save, meant the game was comfortable for United. Garnacho then came off the bench to score a third in second half stoppage time, securing a second victory of the season. United's next game against Crystal Palace was a 0–0 draw, where Onana gained his third clean sheet of the season after being forced into a double-save that later won Premier League Save of the Month for September. To close the month, the Red Devils hosted Tottenham Hotspur, and they conceded in the third minute after centre-back Micky van de Ven was allowed to run through the midfield unchallenged before setting up Brennan Johnson to score. Bruno Fernandes was sent off for the first time in his career after a late tackle on James Maddison, leaving United with 10 men just before half-time. The second half was marked by goals from Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke, sealing a second 3–0 defeat at home in a row.
To kick off October, United traveled to Aston Villa. An exemplary performance from defender Jonny Evans helped secure a clean sheet, though Villa's keeper and Man of the Match Emiliano Martínez held United to a goalless draw. This result left United with their worst start since the 1989–90 campaign. Two weeks later, following the international break, United hosted Brentford. The visitors opened the scoring when Ethan Pinnock headed in a corner in the fifth minute of stoppage time at the end of the first half. Garnacho equalised for United two minutes after the restart, before Rasmus Højlund scored in the 62nd minute to win the game 2–1. For the last Premier League game of October, United were away to West Ham. After a goalless first half, West Ham opened the scoring in the 74th minute through Crysencio Summerville. United were able to equalise in the 81st minute through a header from Casemiro, only for a penalty to be awarded late on for a collision between Matthijs de Ligt and Danny Ings inside Man Utd's penalty area; although it was not given on the field, a VAR check ultimately awarded West Ham a penalty. Jarrod Bowen scored from the spot in injury time to win the game for West Ham. This was manager Erik ten Hag's last game as Man Utd manager, as on 28 October it was announced that he had been sacked, and that Ruud van Nistelrooy would take over as the interim manager. For the first game of November, United hosted Chelsea. United opened the scoring in the second half, with Rasmus Højlund being taken down in the box by Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sánchez with Bruno Fernandes subsequently converting the penalty. The lead did not last long, however, as just four minutes after scoring, Moisés Caicedo scored an equaliser with a volley from the edge of the box following a corner. The game ended in a 1–1 draw. United then hosted Leicester City and opened the scoring in the 17th minute through a Bruno Fernandes shot at the edge of the box into the bottom right corner. United scored again in the first half in the 38th minute as Noussair Mazraoui crossed in the ball, with it deflecting off both Bruno Fernandes and Leicester defender Victor Kristiansen into the Leicester net, going down as a Kristiansen own goal. To close the game, substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a screamer from outside the box curling the ball into the top right corner, winning the game 3–0 for Man United. United's first game under newly appointed head coach Ruben Amorim came after another international break and saw them travel to Ipswich Town. United opened the scoring after just 90 seconds through Marcus Rashford, but were unable to hold onto their lead, as in the 43rd minute, Ipswich's Omari Hutchinson scored from a shot outside the box, deflecting off the head of Mazraoui into the top left corner of the goal. Neither side was able to convert their chances in the second half and the game ended in a 1–1 draw.