# 1959–60 Manchester United F.C. season

The 1959–60 season was Manchester United's 58th season in the Football League, and their 15th consecutive season in the top division of English football. They finished seventh in the league, and striker Dennis Viollet scored a record 32 league goals in a season for the club.

## First Division

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F – A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 22 August 1959 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 2 – 3 | Viollet (2) | 40,076 |
| 26 August 1959 | Chelsea | H | 0 – 1 | | 57,674 |
| 29 August 1959 | Newcastle United | H | 3 – 2 | Viollet (2), Charlton | 53,257 |
| 2 September 1959 | Chelsea | A | 6 – 3 | Bradley (2), Viollet (2), Charlton, Quixall | 66,579 |
| 5 September 1959 | Birmingham City | A | 1 – 1 | Quixall | 38,220 |
| 9 September 1959 | Leeds United | H | 6 – 0 | Bradley (2), Charlton (2), Scanlon, Viollet | 48,407 |
| 12 September 1959 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1 – 5 | Viollet | 55,402 |
| 16 September 1959 | Leeds United | A | 2 – 2 | Charlton, own goal | 34,048 |
| 19 September 1959 | Manchester City | A | 0 – 3 | | 58,300 |
| 26 September 1959 | Preston North End | A | 0 – 4 | | 35,016 |
| 3 October 1959 | Leicester City | H | 4 – 1 | Viollet (2), Charlton, Quixall | 41,637 |
| 10 October 1959 | Arsenal | H | 4 – 2 | Charlton, Quixall, Viollet, own goal | 51,626 |
| 17 October 1959 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 2 – 3 | Viollet, own goal | 45,451 |
| 24 October 1959 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 3 – 1 | Viollet (2), Bradley | 39,259 |
| 31 October 1959 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1 – 1 | Quixall | 39,621 |
| 7 November 1959 | Fulham | H | 3 – 3 | Charlton, Scanlon, Viollet | 44,063 |
| 14 November 1959 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1 – 1 | Dawson | 37,892 |
| 21 November 1959 | Luton Town | H | 4 – 1 | Viollet (2), Goodwin, Quixall | 40,572 |
| 28 November 1959 | Everton | A | 1 – 2 | Viollet | 46,095 |
| 5 December 1959 | Blackpool | H | 3 – 1 | Viollet (2), Pearson | 45,558 |
| 12 December 1959 | Nottingham Forest | A | 5 – 1 | Viollet (3), Dawson, Scanlon | 31,666 |
| 19 December 1959 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 2 – 3 | Dawson, Quixall | 33,677 |
| 26 December 1959 | Burnley | H | 1 – 2 | Quixall | 62,376 |
| 28 December 1959 | Burnley | A | 4 – 1 | Scanlon (2), Viollet (2) | 47,253 |
| 2 January 1960 | Newcastle United | A | 3 – 7 | Quixall (2), Dawson | 57,200 |
| 16 January 1960 | Birmingham City | H | 2 – 1 | Quixall, Viollet | 47,361 |
| 23 January 1960 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 1 – 2 | Bradley | 62,602 |
| 6 February 1960 | Manchester City | H | 0 – 0 | | 59,450 |
| 13 February 1960 | Preston North End | H | 1 – 1 | Viollet | 44,014 |
| 24 February 1960 | Leicester City | A | 1 – 3 | Scanlon | 33,191 |
| 27 February 1960 | Blackpool | A | 6 – 0 | Charlton (3), Viollet (2), Scanlon | 23,996 |
| 5 March 1960 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 0 – 2 | | 60,560 |
| 19 March 1960 | Nottingham Forest | H | 3 – 1 | Charlton (2), Dawson | 35,269 |
| 26 March 1960 | Fulham | A | 5 – 0 | Viollet (2), Dawson, Giles, Pearson | 38,250 |
| 30 March 1960 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 2 – 4 | Charlton, Viollet | 26,821 |
| 2 April 1960 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 2 – 0 | Charlton (2) | 45,298 |
| 9 April 1960 | Luton Town | A | 3 – 2 | Dawson (2), Bradley | 21,242 |
| 15 April 1960 | West Ham United | A | 1 – 2 | Dawson | 34,969 |
| 16 April 1960 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 1 – 0 | Dawson | 45,945 |
| 18 April 1960 | West Ham United | H | 5 – 3 | Charlton (2), Dawson (2), Quixall | 34,676 |
| 23 April 1960 | Arsenal | A | 2 – 5 | Giles, Pearson | 41,057 |
| 30 April 1960 | Everton | H | 5 – 0 | Dawson (3), Bradley, Quixall | 43,823 |
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Burnley (C) | 42 | 24 | 7 | 11 | 85 | 61 | 1.393 | 55 | Qualified for the European Cup |
| 2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 24 | 6 | 12 | 106 | 67 | 1.582 | 54 | Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 86 | 50 | 1.720 | 53 | |
| 4 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 83 | 57 | 1.456 | 49 | |
| 5 | Sheffield Wednesday | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 80 | 59 | 1.356 | 49 | |
| 6 | Bolton Wanderers | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 59 | 51 | 1.157 | 48 | |
| 7 | Manchester United | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 102 | 80 | 1.275 | 45 | |
| 8 | Newcastle United | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 82 | 78 | 1.051 | 44 | |
| 9 | Preston North End | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 79 | 76 | 1.039 | 44 | |
| 10 | Fulham | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 73 | 80 | 0.913 | 44 | |
| 11 | Blackpool | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 59 | 71 | 0.831 | 40 | |
| 12 | Leicester City | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 66 | 75 | 0.880 | 39 | |
| 13 | Arsenal | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 68 | 80 | 0.850 | 39 | |
| 14 | West Ham United | 42 | 16 | 6 | 20 | 75 | 91 | 0.824 | 38 | |
| 15 | Everton | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 73 | 78 | 0.936 | 37 | |
| 16 | Manchester City | 42 | 17 | 3 | 22 | 78 | 84 | 0.929 | 37 | |
| 17 | Blackburn Rovers | 42 | 16 | 5 | 21 | 60 | 70 | 0.857 | 37 | |
| 18 | Chelsea | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 76 | 91 | 0.835 | 37 | |
| 19 | Birmingham City | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 63 | 80 | 0.788 | 36 | Invited for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup |
| 20 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 50 | 74 | 0.676 | 35 | |
| 21 | Leeds United (R) | 42 | 12 | 10 | 20 | 65 | 92 | 0.707 | 34 | Relegated to the Second Division |
| 22 | Luton Town (R) | 42 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 50 | 73 | 0.685 | 30 | Relegated to the Second Division |

## FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F – A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 9 January 1960 | Round 3 | Derby County | A | 4 – 2 | Goodwin, Charlton, Scanlon, own goal | 33,297 |
| 30 January 1960 | Round 4 | Liverpool | A | 3 – 1 | Charlton (2), Bradley | 56,736 |
| 20 February 1960 | Round 5 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 0 – 1 | | 66,350 |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | David Gaskell | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| GK | Harry Gregg | 33 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| FB | Shay Brennan | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| FB | Joe Carolan | 41 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 0 |
| FB | Ronnie Cope | 40 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 43 | 0 |
| FB | Ian Greaves | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FB | Tommy Heron | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| HB | Bill Foulkes | 42 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| HB | Freddie Goodwin | 18 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 2 |
| HB | Nobby Lawton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| HB | Wilf McGuinness | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| HB | Maurice Setters | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| FW | Warren Bradley | 29 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 9 |
| FW | Bobby Charlton | 37 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 40 | 21 |
| FW | Alex Dawson | 22 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 15 |
| FW | Johnny Giles | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 |
| FW | Mark Pearson | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 |
| FW | Albert Quixall | 33 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 36 | 13 |
| FW | Albert Scanlon | 31 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 34 | 8 |
| FW | Dennis Viollet | 36 | 32 | 3 | 0 | 39 | 32 |
| – | Own goals | – | 3 | – | 1 | – | 4 |