# 1951–52 Manchester United F.C. season

The 1951–52 season was Manchester United's 50th season in the Football League, and their seventh consecutive season in the top division of English football. They finished the season as champions for the first time in 41 years, securing their title on the final day of the season with a 6–1 home win over an Arsenal side who were their last remaining contenders in the race for the title.
United were still captained by Johnny Carey, who along with the likes of high scoring forward Jack Rowley had been at the club since before the war and helped them win the FA Cup in 1948, but by this stage most of the players from United's first postwar side were now in their thirties, and Busby was gradually replacing his older stars with younger players from the youth team. He made a club record move for Birmingham City winger Johnny Berry before the start of this title winning season, and also drafted in 22-year-old Roger Byrne from the reserve side to occupy the left wing, with Byrne scoring a host of crucial goals to help United clinch the title. Another young player who made his debut in the season, but did not play enough times to collect a championship medal, was the Belfast born teenager Jackie Blanchflower, who was equally capable as a half-back or inside-forward.

## Friendlies

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 26 September 1951 | Hapoel | H | 6–0 | Rowley (2), Pearson (2), Walton, Aston | 12,000 |
| 23 February 1952 | Manchester City | H | 4–2 | Pearson (2), Aston, Clempson | 25,002 |
| 29 March 1952 | Hibernian | H | 1–1 | Clempson | 20,098 |
| 9 May 1952 | New Jersey XI | N | 4–0 | Byrne (2), Berry, Carey | 9,000 |
| 11 May 1952 | Philadelphia All-Stars | N | 4–0 | Rowley (2), Clempson, Byrne | 5,000 |
| 13 May 1952 | Montreal All-Stars | N | 10–0 | Rowley (3), Downie (3), Clempson (3), McShane | 6,400 |
| 18 May 1952 | American League XI | N | 5–1 | Clempson (2), Berry, Rowley, Downie | 7,150 |
| 21 May 1952 | Fall River All-Stars | N | 11–1 | Rowley (7), Downie (3), Martin (o.g.) | 3,102 |
| 25 May 1952 | Stuttgart | N | 5–2 | Byrne, Clempson, Downie/Rowley, Downie/Byrne, Rowley | 5,874 |
| 27 May 1952 | Chicago All-Stars | N | 6–1 | Rowley (3), Downie (2), Aston | 3,564 |
| 1 June 1952 | Atlas | N | 2–0 | Pearson, Byrne (pen.) | |
| 8 June 1952 | Atlas | N | 4–3 | Pearson (3), Byrne | 12,000 |
| 12 June 1952 | Toronto Ulster United | N | 4–2 | Clempson, Aston, Downie, Pearson | 10,000 |
| 14 June 1952 | Tottenham Hotspur | N | 0–1 | | 25,321 |
| 15 June 1952 | Tottenham Hotspur | N | 1–2 | Rowley | 24,582 |

## First Division

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 18 August 1951 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 3–3 | Rowley (3) | 27,486 |
| 22 August 1951 | Middlesbrough | H | 4–2 | Rowley (3), Pearson | 37,339 |
| 25 August 1951 | Newcastle United | H | 2–1 | Downie, Rowley | 51,850 |
| 29 August 1951 | Middlesbrough | A | 4–1 | Pearson (2), Rowley (2) | 44,212 |
| 1 September 1951 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 0–1 | | 52,239 |
| 5 September 1951 | Charlton Athletic | H | 3–2 | Rowley (2), Downie | 26,773 |
| 8 September 1951 | Stoke City | H | 4–0 | Rowley (3), Pearson | 48,660 |
| 12 September 1951 | Charlton Athletic | A | 2–2 | Downie (2) | 28,806 |
| 15 September 1951 | Manchester City | A | 2–1 | Berry, McShane | 52,571 |
| 22 September 1951 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–2 | | 70,882 |
| 29 September 1951 | Preston North End | H | 1–2 | Aston | 53,454 |
| 6 October 1951 | Derby County | H | 2–1 | Berry, Pearson | 39,767 |
| 13 October 1951 | Aston Villa | A | 5–2 | Pearson (2), Rowley (2), Bond | 47,795 |
| 20 October 1951 | Sunderland | H | 0–1 | | 40,915 |
| 27 October 1951 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 2–0 | Pearson, Rowley | 46,167 |
| 3 November 1951 | Huddersfield Town | H | 1–1 | Pearson | 25,616 |
| 10 November 1951 | Chelsea | A | 2–4 | Pearson, Rowley | 48,960 |
| 17 November 1951 | Portsmouth | H | 1–3 | Downie | 35,914 |
| 24 November 1951 | Liverpool | A | 0–0 | | 42,378 |
| 1 December 1951 | Blackpool | H | 3–1 | Downie (2), Rowley | 34,154 |
| 8 December 1951 | Arsenal | A | 3–1 | Pearson, Rowley, own goal | 55,451 |
| 15 December 1951 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 5–1 | Downie (2), Pearson (2), Berry | 27,584 |
| 22 December 1951 | Newcastle United | A | 2–2 | Bond, Cockburn | 45,414 |
| 25 December 1951 | Fulham | H | 3–2 | Berry, Bond, Rowley | 33,802 |
| 26 December 1951 | Fulham | A | 3–3 | Bond, Pearson, Rowley | 32,671 |
| 29 December 1951 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 1–0 | Pearson | 53,205 |
| 5 January 1952 | Stoke City | A | 0–0 | | 36,389 |
| 19 January 1952 | Manchester City | H | 1–1 | Carey | 54,245 |
| 26 January 1952 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 2–0 | Pearson, own goal | 40,845 |
| 9 February 1952 | Preston North End | A | 2–1 | Aston, Berry | 38,792 |
| 16 February 1952 | Derby County | A | 3–0 | Aston, Pearson, Rowley | 27,693 |
| 1 March 1952 | Aston Villa | H | 1–1 | Berry | 38,910 |
| 8 March 1952 | Sunderland | A | 2–1 | Cockburn, Rowley | 48,078 |
| 15 March 1952 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2–0 | Aston, Clempson | 45,109 |
| 22 March 1952 | Huddersfield Town | A | 2–3 | Clempson, Pearson | 30,316 |
| 5 April 1952 | Portsmouth | A | 0–1 | | 25,522 |
| 11 April 1952 | Burnley | A | 1–1 | Byrne | 38,907 |
| 12 April 1952 | Liverpool | H | 4–0 | Byrne (2), Downie, Rowley | 42,970 |
| 14 April 1952 | Burnley | H | 6–1 | Byrne (2), Carey, Downie, Pearson, Rowley | 44,508 |
| 19 April 1952 | Blackpool | A | 2–2 | Byrne, Rowley | 29,118 |
| 21 April 1952 | Chelsea | H | 3–0 | Carey, Pearson, own goal | 37,436 |
| 26 April 1952 | Arsenal | H | 6–1 | Rowley (3), Pearson (2), Byrne | 53,651 |
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 1 | Manchester United (C) | 42 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 95 | 52 | 1.827 | 57 |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 76 | 51 | 1.490 | 53 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 80 | 61 | 1.311 | 53 |
| 4 | Portsmouth | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 68 | 58 | 1.172 | 48 |
| 5 | Bolton Wanderers | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 65 | 61 | 1.066 | 48 |

## FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 12 January 1952 | Round 3 | Hull City | A | 0–2 | | 43,517 |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Reg Allen | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| GK | Jack Crompton | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| FB | Roger Byrne | 24 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 7 |
| FB | Johnny Carey | 38 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 3 |
| FB | Thomas McNulty | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| FB | Billy Redman | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| HB | Jackie Blanchflower | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| HB | Allenby Chilton | 42 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 0 |
| HB | Henry Cockburn | 38 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 2 |
| HB | Don Gibson | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| HB | Mark Jones | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| HB | Billy McGlen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| HB | Jeff Whitefoot | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FW | John Aston, Sr. | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 4 |
| FW | Johnny Berry | 36 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 6 |
| FW | Brian Birch | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Ernie Bond | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 4 |
| FW | Laurie Cassidy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Frank Clempson | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| FW | John Downie | 31 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 11 |
| FW | Harry McShane | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| FW | Stan Pearson | 41 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 22 |
| FW | Jack Rowley | 40 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 30 |
| FW | John Walton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |