1979–80 Manchester United F.C. season

The 1979–80 season was Manchester United's 78th season in the Football League, and their fifth consecutive season in the top division of English football.[1] They finished the season second in the league, just two points behind champions Liverpool, and qualified for the 1980–81 UEFA Cup. It was the first season at the club for new midfielder Ray Wilkins, signed in the 1979 close season for a club record fee of £750,000. However, United had gained a reputation for playing relatively dull football under Sexton after the more entertaining style of play under Tommy Docherty, and by the end of his third season as manager they had still yet to win a major trophy, as Liverpool won a fifth title in eight seasons.[2]

Manchester United
1979–80 season
ChairmanLouis Edwards
(until 25 February 1980)
Martin Edwards (from 22 March 1980)
ManagerDave Sexton
First Division2nd
FA CupThird Round
League CupThird Round
Top goalscorerLeague:
Joe Jordan (13)
All:
Joe Jordan (13)
Highest home attendance57,471 vs Leeds United (8 December 1979)
Lowest home attendance43,329 vs Bristol City (23 February 1980)
Average home league attendance51,557

On 25 February 1980 United's chairman since 1965, Louis Edwards died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack. His son Martin Edwards replaced him as chairman on 22 March 1980.

First Division
Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
18 August 1979 Southampton A 1–1 McQueen 21,768
22 August 1979 West Bromwich Albion H 2–0 McQueen, Coppell 53,393
25 August 1979 Arsenal A 0–0 44,380
1 September 1979 Middlesbrough H 2–1 Macari (2) 51,015
8 September 1979 Aston Villa A 3–0 Coppell, Thomas (pen.), Grimes 36,183
15 September 1979 Derby County H 1–0 Grimes 54,308
22 September 1979 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–3 Macari 35,503
29 September 1979 Stoke City H 4–0 Wilkins, McQueen (2), McIlroy 52,596
6 October 1979 Brighton & Hove Albion H 2–0 Coppell, Macari 52,641
10 October 1979 West Bromwich Albion A 0–2 27,713
13 October 1979 Bristol City A 1–1 Macari 28,305
20 October 1979 Ipswich Town H 1–0 Grimes 50,826
27 October 1979 Everton A 0–0 37,708
3 November 1979 Southampton H 1–0 Macari 50,215
10 November 1979 Manchester City A 0–2 50,567
17 November 1979 Crystal Palace H 1–1 Jordan 52,800
24 November 1979 Norwich City H 5–0 Macari, Moran, Coppell, Jordan (2) 46,540
1 December 1979 Tottenham Hotspur A 2–1 Macari, Coppell 51,389
8 December 1979 Leeds United H 1–1 Thomas 57,471
15 December 1979 Coventry City A 2–1 McQueen, Macari 25,541
22 December 1979 Nottingham Forest H 3–0 Jordan (2), McQueen 54,607
26 December 1979 Liverpool A 0–2 51,073
29 December 1979 Arsenal H 3–0 McQueen, Jordan, McIlroy (pen.) 54,295
12 January 1980 Middlesbrough A 1–1 Thomas 30,587
2 February 1980 Derby County A 3–1 Thomas, McIlroy, B. Powell (o.g.) 27,783
9 February 1980 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 0–1 51,568
16 February 1980 Stoke City A 1–1 Coppell 28,389
23 February 1980 Bristol City H 4–0 Jordan (2), McIlroy, Merrick (o.g.) 43,329
27 February 1980 Bolton Wanderers H 2–0 McQueen, Coppell 47,546
1 March 1980 Ipswich Town A 0–6 30,229
12 March 1980 Everton H 0–0 45,515
15 March 1980 Brighton & Hove Albion A 0–0 30,243
22 March 1980 Manchester City H 1–0 Thomas 56,387
29 March 1980 Crystal Palace A 2–0 Jordan, Thomas 33,056
2 April 1980 Nottingham Forest A 0–2 31,417
5 April 1980 Liverpool H 2–1 Thomas, Greenhoff 57,342
7 April 1980 Bolton Wanderers A 3–1 McQueen, Thomas, Coppell 31,902
12 April 1980 Tottenham Hotspur H 4–1 Ritchie (3), Wilkins 53,151
19 April 1980 Norwich City A 2–0 Jordan (2) 24,697
23 April 1980 Aston Villa H 2–1 Jordan (2) 45,201
26 April 1980 Coventry City H 2–1 McIlroy (2; 1 pen) 52,154
3 May 1980 Leeds United A 0–2 39,625
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Liverpool 42 25 10 7 81 30 +51 60 League Champions, qualified for European Cup 1980–81 First round
2 Manchester United 42 24 10 8 65 35 +30 58 UEFA Cup 1980–81 First round
3 Ipswich Town 42 22 9 11 68 39 +29 53
4 Arsenal 42 18 16 8 52 36 +16 52
5 Nottingham Forest 42 20 8 14 63 43 +20 48 European Cup 1980–81 First round[lower-alpha 1]
Source:
Notes:
  1. Nottingham Forest won the European Cup for the second year running, and thus qualified for the following season's competition as defending champions.

FA Cup
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
5 January 1980 Round 3 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–1 McIlroy (pen.) 45,207
9 January 1980 Round 3
Replay		 Tottenham Hotspur H 0–1 53,762

League Cup
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
29 August 1979 Round 2
First leg		 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–2 Thomas 29,163
5 September 1979 Round 2
Second leg		 Tottenham Hotspur H 3–1 Thomas, Coppell, Miller (o.g.) 48,292
26 September 1979 Round 3 Norwich City A 1–4 McIlroy 18,312

Squad statistics
Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK Gary Bailey 4202030470
DF Arthur Albiston 2500030280
DF Martin Buchan 4202030470
DF Stewart Houston 1402010170
DF Nikola Jovanović 1(1)000001(1)0
DF Gordon McQueen 3392020379
DF Kevin Moran 91000091
DF Jimmy Nicholl 4202030470
DF Steve Paterson 0(1)000101(1)0
MF Steve Coppell 4282021469
MF Ashley Grimes 20(6)3001021(6)3
MF Lou Macari 3992030449
MF Chris McGrath 0(1)000000(1)0
MF Sammy McIlroy 4162121458
MF Tom Sloan 1(4)000001(4)0
MF Mickey Thomas 35820324010
MF Ray Wilkins 3722030422
FW Jimmy Greenhoff 4(1)100004(1)1
FW Joe Jordan 321320203613
FW Andy Ritchie 3(5)3001(2)04(7)3
—Own goals —2—0—1—3

References
  1. "Manchester United Season 1979/80". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  2. "Managers – Dave Sexton". AboutManUtd.com. About ManUtd. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.