# 1974–75 Manchester United F.C. season

The 1974–75 season was Manchester United's 73rd season in the Football League, and their first as a Second Division team since 1937–38, following relegation from the First Division at the end of the previous season.
The board of directors had kept faith in manager Tommy Docherty despite United's relegation, and he delivered an instant return to the First Division by guiding United to the Second Division title. Despite being a second division side, their average home attendance of 47,781 was still the highest in the country that season.

## Second Division

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 17 August 1974 | Orient | A | 2–0 | Morgan, Houston | 17,772 |
| 24 August 1974 | Millwall | H | 4–0 | Daly (3; 2 pen.), Pearson | 44,756 |
| 28 August 1974 | Portsmouth | H | 2–1 | Daly (pen.), McIlroy | 42,547 |
| 31 August 1974 | Cardiff City | A | 1–0 | Daly (pen.) | 22,344 |
| 7 September 1974 | Nottingham Forest | H | 2–2 | Greenhoff, McIlroy | 40,671 |
| 14 September 1974 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–1 | Pearson | 28,666 |
| 16 September 1974 | Millwall | A | 1–0 | Daly (pen.) | 16,988 |
| 21 September 1974 | Bristol Rovers | H | 2–0 | Greenhoff, Prince (o.g.) | 42,948 |
| 25 September 1974 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 3–0 | Macari, Houston, McAllister (o.g.) | 47,084 |
| 28 September 1974 | Norwich City | A | 0–2 | | 24,586 |
| 5 October 1974 | Fulham | A | 2–1 | Pearson (2) | 25,513 |
| 12 October 1974 | Notts County | H | 1–0 | McIlroy | 46,565 |
| 15 October 1974 | Portsmouth | A | 0–0 | | 25,608 |
| 19 October 1974 | Blackpool | A | 3–0 | Forsyth, Macari, McCalliog | 25,370 |
| 26 October 1974 | Southampton | H | 1–0 | Pearson | 48,724 |
| 2 November 1974 | Oxford United | H | 4–0 | Pearson (3), Macari | 41,909 |
| 9 November 1974 | Bristol City | A | 0–1 | | 28,104 |
| 16 November 1974 | Aston Villa | H | 2–1 | Daly (2; 1 pen.) | 55,615 |
| 23 November 1974 | Hull City | A | 0–2 | | 23,287 |
| 30 November 1974 | Sunderland | H | 3–2 | Pearson, Morgan, McIlroy | 60,585 |
| 7 December 1974 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 4–4 | Houston, Macari (2), Pearson | 35,230 |
| 14 December 1974 | Orient | H | 0–0 | | 41,200 |
| 21 December 1974 | York City | A | 1–0 | Pearson | 15,314 |
| 26 December 1974 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 2–1 | McIlroy, Daly (pen.) | 51,104 |
| 28 December 1974 | Oldham Athletic | A | 0–1 | | 26,356 |
| 11 January 1975 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 2–0 | McCalliog (2; 1 pen.) | 45,662 |
| 18 January 1975 | Sunderland | A | 0–0 | | 45,976 |
| 1 February 1975 | Bristol City | H | 0–1 | | 47,118 |
| 8 February 1975 | Oxford United | A | 0–1 | | 15,959 |
| 15 February 1975 | Hull City | H | 2–0 | Houston, Pearson | 44,712 |
| 22 February 1975 | Aston Villa | A | 0–2 | | 40,353 |
| 1 March 1975 | Cardiff City | H | 4–0 | Houston, Pearson, McIlroy, Macari | 43,601 |
| 8 March 1975 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–0 | Pearson | 38,152 |
| 15 March 1975 | Norwich City | H | 1–1 | Pearson | 56,202 |
| 22 March 1975 | Nottingham Forest | A | 1–0 | Daly | 21,893 |
| 28 March 1975 | Bristol Rovers | A | 1–1 | Macari | 19,337 |
| 29 March 1975 | York City | H | 2–1 | Morgan, Macari | 46,802 |
| 31 March 1975 | Oldham Athletic | H | 3–2 | McIlroy, Macari, Coppell | 56,618 |
| 5 April 1975 | Southampton | A | 1–0 | Macari | 21,866 |
| 12 April 1975 | Fulham | H | 1–0 | Daly | 52,971 |
| 19 April 1975 | Notts County | A | 2–2 | Houston, Greenhoff | 17,832 |
| 26 April 1975 | Blackpool | H | 4–0 | Pearson (2), Macari, Greenhoff | 58,769 |
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Manchester United (C, P) | 42 | 26 | 9 | 7 | 66 | 30 | 2.200 | 61 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 2 | Aston Villa (P) | 42 | 25 | 8 | 9 | 79 | 32 | 2.469 | 58 | UEFA Cup first round and promotion to the First Division |
| 3 | Norwich City (P) | 42 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 58 | 37 | 1.568 | 53 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 4 | Sunderland | 42 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 65 | 35 | 1.857 | 51 | |
| 5 | Bristol City | 42 | 21 | 8 | 13 | 47 | 33 | 1.424 | 50 | |
| 6 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 54 | 42 | 1.286 | 45 | |
| 7 | Blackpool | 42 | 14 | 17 | 11 | 38 | 33 | 1.152 | 45 | |
| 8 | Hull City | 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 40 | 53 | 0.755 | 44 | |
| 9 | Fulham | 42 | 13 | 16 | 13 | 44 | 39 | 1.128 | 42 | |
| 10 | Bolton Wanderers | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 45 | 41 | 1.098 | 42 | |
| 11 | Oxford United | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 41 | 51 | 0.804 | 42 | |
| 12 | Orient | 42 | 11 | 20 | 11 | 28 | 39 | 0.718 | 42 | |
| 13 | Southampton | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 53 | 54 | 0.981 | 41 | |
| 14 | Notts County | 42 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 49 | 59 | 0.831 | 40 | |
| 15 | York City | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 51 | 55 | 0.927 | 38 | |
| 16 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 43 | 55 | 0.782 | 38 | |
| 17 | Portsmouth | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 44 | 54 | 0.815 | 37 | |
| 18 | Oldham Athletic | 42 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 40 | 48 | 0.833 | 35 | |
| 19 | Bristol Rovers | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 42 | 64 | 0.656 | 35 | |
| 20 | Millwall (R) | 42 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 44 | 56 | 0.786 | 32 | Relegation to the Third Division |
| 21 | Cardiff City (R) | 42 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 36 | 62 | 0.581 | 32 | Relegation to the Third Division |
| 22 | Sheffield Wednesday (R) | 42 | 5 | 11 | 26 | 29 | 64 | 0.453 | 21 | Relegation to the Third Division |

## FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 4 January 1975 | Round 3 | Walsall | H | 0–0 | | 43,353 |
| 7 January 1975 | Round 3 Replay | Walsall | A | 2–3 (aet) | Daly (pen.), McIlroy | 18,105 |

## League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 11 September 1974 | Round 2 | Charlton Athletic | H | 5–1 | Macari (2), McIlroy, Houston, Bowman (o.g.) | 21,616 |
| 9 October 1974 | Round 3 | Manchester City | H | 1–0 | Daly (pen.) | 55,159 |
| 13 November 1974 | Round 4 | Burnley | H | 3–2 | Macari (2), Morgan | 46,275 |
| 4 December 1974 | Round 5 | Middlesbrough | A | 0–0 | | 36,005 |
| 18 December 1974 | Round 5 Replay | Middlesbrough | H | 3–0 | Pearson, McIlroy, Macari | 49,501 |
| 15 January 1975 | Semi-Final First leg | Norwich City | H | 2–2 | Macari (2) | 58,010 |
| 22 January 1975 | Semi-Final Second leg | Norwich City | A | 0–1 | | 31,621 |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Paddy Roche | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| GK | Alex Stepney | 40 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 49 | 0 |
| DF | Arthur Albiston | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| DF | Martin Buchan | 41 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 50 | 0 |
| DF | Alex Forsyth | 39 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 45 | 1 |
| DF | Brian Greenhoff | 39(2) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 47(2) | 4 |
| DF | Jim Holton | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| DF | Stewart Houston | 40 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 48 | 7 |
| DF | Steve James | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| DF | Jimmy Nicholl | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
| DF | Arnie Sidebottom | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| DF | Tony Young | 7(8) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1(4) | 0 | 10(12) | 0 |
| MF | Steve Coppell | 9(1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9(1) | 1 |
| MF | Gerry Daly | 36(1) | 11 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 45(1) | 13 |
| MF | George Graham | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
| MF | Mick Martin | 7(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8(1) | 0 |
| MF | Jim McCalliog | 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5(1) | 0 | 26(1) | 3 |
| MF | David McCreery | 0(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(2) | 0 |
| MF | Sammy McIlroy | 41(1) | 7 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 50(1) | 10 |
| FW | Tommy Baldwin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Ron Davies | 0(8) | 0 | 0(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(10) | 0 |
| FW | Lou Macari | 36(2) | 11 | 2 | 0 | 6(1) | 7 | 44(3) | 18 |
| FW | Willie Morgan | 32(2) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6(1) | 1 | 39(3) | 4 |
| FW | Stuart Pearson | 30(1) | 17 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 36(1) | 18 |
| – | Own goals | – | 2 | – | 0 | – | 1 | – | 3 |