1975–76 Manchester United F.C. season

The 1975–76 season was Manchester United's 74th season in The Football League[1] and first in the First Division after winning the Second Division the season prior. They finished the season third in the First Division, their highest placing since 1968,[2] to qualify for the UEFA Cup.

Manchester United

1975–76 season
Chairman	Louis Edwards
Manager	Tommy Docherty
First Division	3rd
FA Cup	Runners-up
League Cup	Fourth Round
Top goalscorer	League: Stuart Pearson (13) All: Lou Macari (15)
Highest home attendance	61,879 vs Everton (17 April 1976)
Lowest home attendance	25,286 vs Brentford (10 September 1975)
Average home league attendance	53,276
Home colours Away colours

They reached the FA Cup Final at Wembley, where they lost 1–0 to Southampton of the Second Division. The only goal of the game came from Saints striker Bobby Stokes. It was the second time since World War II that a Second Division team had won the trophy, the other occasion had been three years earlier, when Sunderland beat Leeds United.

First Division

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	League position
16 August 1975	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2–0	Macari (2)	32,348	1st
19 August 1975	Birmingham City	A	2–0	McIlroy (2)	33,177	1st
23 August 1975	Sheffield United	H	5–1	Pearson (2), Badger (o.g.), Daly, McIlroy	55,948	1st
27 August 1975	Coventry City	H	1–1	Pearson	52,169	1st
30 August 1975	Stoke City	A	1–0	Dodd (o.g.)	33,092	1st
6 September 1975	Tottenham Hotspur	H	3–2	Pratt (o.g.), Daly (2; 1 pen.)	51,641	1st
13 September 1975	Queens Park Rangers	A	0–1		29,237	1st
20 September 1975	Ipswich Town	H	1–0	Houston	50,513	1st
24 September 1975	Derby County	A	1–2	Daly	33,187	2nd
27 September 1975	Manchester City	A	2–2	McCreery, Macari	46,931	3rd
4 October 1975	Leicester City	H	0–0		47,878	1st
11 October 1975	Leeds United	A	2–1	McIlroy (2)	40,264	2nd
18 October 1975	Arsenal	H	3–1	Coppell (2), Pearson	53,885	1st
25 October 1975	West Ham United	A	1–2	Macari	38,601	2nd
1 November 1975	Norwich City	H	1–0	Pearson	50,587	1st
8 November 1975	Liverpool	A	1–3	Coppell	49,137	5th
15 November 1975	Aston Villa	H	2–0	Coppell, McIlroy	51,682	3rd
22 November 1975	Arsenal	A	1–3	Pearson	40,102	5th
29 November 1975	Newcastle United	H	1–0	Daly	52,624	4th
6 December 1975	Middlesbrough	A	0–0		32,454	4th
13 December 1975	Sheffield United	A	4–1	Pearson (2), Hill, Macari	31,741	3rd
20 December 1975	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–0	Hill	44,269	2nd
23 December 1975	Everton	A	1–1	Macari	41,732	1st
27 December 1975	Burnley	H	2–1	McIlroy, Macari	59,726	2nd
10 January 1976	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–1	Hill, McIlroy	58,312	1st
17 January 1976	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–1	Hill	49,189	1st
31 January 1976	Birmingham City	H	3–1	Forsyth, Macari, McIlroy	50,726	1st
7 February 1976	Coventry City	A	1–1	Macari	33,922	2nd
18 February 1976	Liverpool	H	0–0		59,709	2nd
21 February 1976	Aston Villa	A	1–2	Macari	50,094	3rd
25 February 1976	Derby County	H	1–1	Pearson	59,632	3rd
28 February 1976	West Ham United	H	4–0	Forsyth, Macari, McCreery, Pearson	57,220	3rd
13 March 1976	Leeds United	H	3–2	Houston, Pearson, Daly	59,429	3rd
17 March 1976	Norwich City	A	1–1	Hill	27,782	2nd
20 March 1976	Newcastle United	A	4–3	Pearson (2), Bird (o.g.), Howard (o.g.)	45,048	2nd
27 March 1976	Middlesbrough	H	3–0	Daly (pen.), McCreery, Hill	58,527	2nd
10 April 1976	Ipswich Town	A	0–3		34,889	3rd
17 April 1976	Everton	H	2–1	Kenyon (o.g.), McCreery	61,879	3rd
19 April 1976	Burnley	A	1–0	Macari	27,418	3rd
21 April 1976	Stoke City	H	0–1		53,879	3rd
24 April 1976	Leicester City	A	1–2	Coyne	31,053	3rd
4 May 1976	Manchester City	H	2–0	Hill, McIlroy	59,517	3rd

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAvg	Pts
2	Queens Park Rangers	42	24	11	7	67	33	2.030	59
3	Manchester United	42	23	10	9	68	42	1.619	56
4	Derby County	42	21	11	10	75	58	1.293	53

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GAvg = Goal average; Pts = Points

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
3 January 1976	Round 3	Oxford United	H	2–1	Daly (2; 2 pen.)	41,082
24 January 1976	Round 4	Peterborough United	H	3–1	Forsyth, McIlroy, Hill	56,352
14 February 1976	Round 5	Leicester City	A	2–1	Macari, Daly	34,000
6 March 1976	Round 6	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–1	Daly	59,433
9 March 1976	Round 6 Replay	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	3–2 (aet)	Pearson, Greenhoff, McIlroy	44,373
3 April 1976	Semi-Final	Derby County	N	2–0	Hill (2)	55,000
1 May 1976	Final	Southampton	N	0–1		100,000

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
10 September 1975	Round 2	Brentford	H	2–1	Macari, McIlroy	25,286
22 September 1975	Round 3	Aston Villa	A	2–1	Macari, Coppell	41,447
12 November 1975	Round 4	Manchester City	A	0–4		50,182

Squad statistics

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Paddy Roche	4	0	0	0	1	0	5	0
GK	Alex Stepney	38	0	7	0	2	0	47	0
DF	Arthur Albiston	2(1)	0	0	0	0	0	2(1)	0
DF	Martin Buchan	42	0	7	0	3	0	52	0
DF	Alex Forsyth	28	2	7	1	0	0	35	3
DF	Brian Greenhoff	40	0	7	1	3	0	50	1
DF	Tony Grimshaw	0(1)	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0(2)	0
DF	Stewart Houston	42	2	7	0	3	0	52	2
DF	Jimmy Nicholl	15(5)	0	0(2)	0	3	0	18(7)	0
DF	Tony Young	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0
MF	Steve Coppell	39	4	7	0	3	1	49	5
MF	Gerry Daly	41	7	7	4	3	0	51	11
MF	Tommy Jackson	16(1)	0	0	0	3	0	19(1)	0
MF	Jimmy Kelly	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0
MF	David McCreery	12(16)	4	1(2)	0	0(1)	0	13(19)	4
MF	Sammy McIlroy	41	10	7	2	3	1	51	13
FW	Peter Coyne	1(1)	1	0	0	0	0	1(1)	1
FW	Gordon Hill	26	7	7	3	0	0	33	10
FW	Lou Macari	36	12	6	1	3	2	45	15
FW	Stuart Pearson	39	13	7	1	3	0	49	14
–	Own goals	–	6	–	0	–	0	–	6

References

1. "Manchester United Season 1975/76". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
2. "Managers – Tommy Docherty". AboutManUtd.com. About ManUtd. Archived from the original on 8 November 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2012.