# 1961–62 Manchester United F.C. season

The 1961–62 season was Manchester United's 60th season in the Football League, and their 17th consecutive season in the top division of English football. Unlike the previous season, United declined to enter the Football League Cup, which they continue to decline for the next four seasons.
New to the side for the 1961–62 season was David Herd, who had been the First Division's second highest goalscorer the previous season. He joined the United ranks for a fee of £40,000, and finished the season as the club's top scorer with 14 goals in the league and 17 in all competitions, although it was a disappointing season for the club as they finished 15th in the First Division.

## First Division

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 19 August 1961 | West Ham United | A | 1–1 | Stiles | 32,628 |
| 23 August 1961 | Chelsea | H | 3–2 | Herd, Pearson, Viollet | 45,847 |
| 26 August 1961 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 6–1 | Herd (2), Quixall (2), Charlton, Setters | 45,302 |
| 30 August 1961 | Chelsea | A | 0–2 | | 42,248 |
| 2 September 1961 | Blackpool | A | 3–2 | Viollet (2), Charlton | 28,156 |
| 9 September 1961 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–0 | Quixall | 57,135 |
| 16 September 1961 | Cardiff City | A | 2–1 | Dawson, Quixall | 29,251 |
| 18 September 1961 | Aston Villa | A | 1–1 | Stiles | 38,837 |
| 23 September 1961 | Manchester City | H | 3–2 | Stiles, Viollet, own goal | 56,345 |
| 30 September 1961 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 0–2 | | 39,457 |
| 7 October 1961 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–1 | Dawson | 25,645 |
| 14 October 1961 | Birmingham City | H | 0–2 | | 30,674 |
| 21 October 1961 | Arsenal | A | 1–5 | Viollet | 54,245 |
| 28 October 1961 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 0–3 | | 31,442 |
| 4 November 1961 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 1–3 | Viollet | 35,998 |
| 11 November 1961 | Leicester City | H | 2–2 | Giles, Viollet | 21,567 |
| 18 November 1961 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–4 | McMillan | 25,755 |
| 25 November 1961 | Burnley | H | 1–4 | Herd | 41,029 |
| 2 December 1961 | Everton | A | 1–5 | Herd | 48,099 |
| 9 December 1961 | Fulham | H | 3–0 | Herd (2), Lawton | 22,193 |
| 16 December 1961 | West Ham United | H | 1–2 | Herd | 29,472 |
| 26 December 1961 | Nottingham Forest | H | 6–3 | Lawton (3), Brennan, Charlton, Herd | 30,822 |
| 13 January 1962 | Blackpool | H | 0–1 | | 26,999 |
| 15 January 1962 | Aston Villa | H | 2–0 | Charlton, Quixall | 20,807 |
| 20 January 1962 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 2–2 | Charlton, Stiles | 55,225 |
| 3 February 1962 | Cardiff City | H | 3–0 | Giles, Lawton, Stiles | 29,200 |
| 10 February 1962 | Manchester City | A | 2–0 | Chisnall, Herd | 49,959 |
| 24 February 1962 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 4–1 | Charlton (2), Setters, Quixall | 32,456 |
| 28 February 1962 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 2–2 | Herd, Lawton | 27,565 |
| 3 March 1962 | Birmingham City | A | 1–1 | Herd | 25,817 |
| 17 March 1962 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 0–1 | | 34,366 |
| 20 March 1962 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–1 | | 27,833 |
| 24 March 1962 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 1–1 | Charlton | 31,322 |
| 4 April 1962 | Leicester City | A | 3–4 | McMillan (2), Quixall | 15,318 |
| 7 April 1962 | Ipswich Town | H | 5–0 | Quixall (3), Setters, Stiles | 24,976 |
| 10 April 1962 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 0–3 | | 14,623 |
| 14 April 1962 | Burnley | A | 3–1 | Brennan, Cantwell, Herd | 36,240 |
| 16 April 1962 | Arsenal | H | 2–3 | Cantwell, McMillan | 24,258 |
| 21 April 1962 | Everton | H | 1–1 | Herd | 31,926 |
| 23 April 1962 | Sheffield United | H | 0–1 | | 30,073 |
| 24 April 1962 | Sheffield United | A | 3–2 | McMillan (2), Stiles | 25,324 |
| 28 April 1962 | Fulham | A | 0–2 | | 40,113 |
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Ipswich Town (C) | 42 | 24 | 8 | 10 | 93 | 67 | 1.388 | 56 | Qualification for the European Cup preliminary round |
| 2 | Burnley | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 101 | 67 | 1.507 | 53 | |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 88 | 69 | 1.275 | 52 | Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 4 | Everton | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 88 | 54 | 1.630 | 51 | Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 5 | Sheffield United | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 61 | 69 | 0.884 | 47 | |
| 6 | Sheffield Wednesday | 42 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 72 | 58 | 1.241 | 46 | |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 65 | 56 | 1.161 | 44 | |
| 8 | West Ham United | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 76 | 82 | 0.927 | 44 | |
| 9 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 83 | 67 | 1.239 | 43 | |
| 10 | Arsenal | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 71 | 72 | 0.986 | 43 | |
| 11 | Bolton Wanderers | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 62 | 66 | 0.939 | 42 | |
| 12 | Manchester City | 42 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 78 | 81 | 0.963 | 41 | |
| 13 | Blackpool | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 70 | 75 | 0.933 | 41 | |
| 14 | Leicester City | 42 | 17 | 6 | 19 | 72 | 71 | 1.014 | 40 | |
| 15 | Manchester United | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 72 | 75 | 0.960 | 39 | |
| 16 | Blackburn Rovers | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 50 | 58 | 0.862 | 39 | |
| 17 | Birmingham City | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 65 | 81 | 0.802 | 38 | |
| 18 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 73 | 86 | 0.849 | 36 | |
| 19 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 63 | 79 | 0.797 | 36 | |
| 20 | Fulham | 42 | 13 | 7 | 22 | 66 | 74 | 0.892 | 33 | |
| 21 | Cardiff City (R) | 42 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 50 | 81 | 0.617 | 32 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 22 | Chelsea (R) | 42 | 9 | 10 | 23 | 63 | 94 | 0.670 | 28 | Relegation to the Second Division |

## FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 6 January 1962 | Round 3 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 2–1 | Nicholson, Herd | 42,202 |
| 31 January 1962 | Round 4 | Arsenal | H | 1–0 | Setters | 54,082 |
| 17 February 1962 | Round 5 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 0–0 | | 59,553 |
| 21 February 1962 | Round 5 Replay | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 2–0 | Charlton, Giles | 62,969 |
| 10 March 1962 | Round 6 | Preston North End | A | 0–0 | | 37,521 |
| 14 March 1962 | Round 6 Replay | Preston North End | H | 2–1 | Herd, Charlton | 63,468 |
| 31 March 1962 | Semi-Final | Tottenham Hotspur | N | 1–3 | Herd | 65,000 |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Ronnie Briggs | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| GK | David Gaskell | 21 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| GK | Harry Gregg | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| FB | Shay Brennan | 41 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 47 | 2 |
| FB | Noel Cantwell | 17 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 2 |
| FB | Tony Dunne | 28 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| HB | Bill Foulkes | 40 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 47 | 0 |
| HB | Frank Haydock | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| HB | Nobby Lawton | 20 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 27 | 6 |
| HB | Jimmy Nicholson | 17 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 1 |
| HB | Maurice Setters | 38 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 45 | 4 |
| HB | Nobby Stiles | 34 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 7 |
| FW | Warren Bradley | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| FW | Bobby Charlton | 37 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 43 | 10 |
| FW | Phil Chisnall | 9 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| FW | Alex Dawson | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| FW | Johnny Giles | 30 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 37 | 3 |
| FW | David Herd | 27 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 32 | 17 |
| FW | Sammy McMillan | 11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 6 |
| FW | Ian Moir | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| FW | Mark Pearson | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
| FW | Albert Quixall | 21 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 10 |
| FW | Dennis Viollet | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 7 |
| – | Own goals | – | 1 | – | 0 | – | 1 |