1984/85 – Manchester United | Manchester United News
1984/85 – Manchester United

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The 1984–85 season was Manchester United‘s 82nd season in the Football League, and their 10th consecutive season in the top division of English football.

They defeated Everton 1–0 in the FA Cup final to win the trophy for the sixth time, and finished fourth in the League. It was the first season at the club for new signings Gordon Strachan, Jesper Olsen and Alan Brazil, while Mark Hughes became established in the forward line alongside Frank Stapleton, with Norman Whiteside moving into central midfield to replace the departed Ray Wilkins.

United began the season with four successive draws, having led in three of them, and remained unbeaten in their opening 11 matches (eight in the League) before going down 3–0 at Aston Villa. Their next away trip resulted in a 5–0 thrashing at Everton, and throughout the season League form was somewhat erratic. Before Christmas, United squandered 2–0 leads in further defeats at Sunderland and Nottingham Forest, and on Boxing Day they were beaten 2–1 at bottom club Stoke, again after taking the lead.

United entered 1985 unbeaten at Old Trafford to stay in contention at the top of the table, but lost successive home matches to Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry, before embarking on a 10-match unbeaten run which took in big wins over Villa (Hughes scoring a hat-trick) and Stoke. Defeats at Hillsborough and Luton – not to mention the exceptional form of a resurgent Everton – effectively ended United’s title hopes, and a 5–1 defeat at Watford in their final fixture saw them overhauled by both Liverpool and Spurs to finish fourth.

By that stage, the players’ thoughts were probably elsewhere as they prepared for an FA Cup final showdown with champions Everton. United’s path to Wembley had seen them ease past Bournemouth, Coventry, Blackburn and West Ham to set up a semi-final clash with Liverpool. United led twice but had to settle for a 2–2 draw, and a Paul McGrath own goal left them trailing at half-time in the replay before fine goals by Bryan Robson and Hughes saw them through.

An uneventful final came to life 12 minutes from time when, with the score goalless, Kevin Moran was dismissed by referee Peter Willis for a ‘professional foul’ on Peter Reid – the first ever sending-off in an FA Cup final. United’s ten men held on to force extra time, where they found extra reserves of energy and won the trophy thanks to Whiteside’s brilliant curling effort in the 110th minute.

United exited the Milk Cup at the third round stage as Everton came from behind to beat them 2–1 at Old Trafford. The UEFA Cup campaign took United to the quarter-final but defeat on penalties against Videoton of Hungary would end their interest in European competition for the next five years.

Striker Mark Hughes, United’s top scorer for the season with 16 goals in the league and 24 in all competitions, was voted PFA Young Player of the Year.

First Division

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Date Opponents H / A Result

F–A

Scorers Attendance
25 August 1984 Watford H 1–1 Strachan (pen) 53,668
28 August 1984 Southampton A 0–0 22,183
1 September 1984 Ipswich Town A 1–1 Hughes 20,876
5 September 1984 Chelsea H 1–1 Olsen 48,398
8 September 1984 Newcastle United H 5–0 Olsen, Strachan 2 (1 pen), Hughes, Moses 54,915
15 September 1984 Coventry City A 3–0 Whiteside 2, Robson 18,312
22 September 1984 Liverpool H 1–1 Strachan (pen) 56,638
29 September 1984 West Bromwich Albion A 2–1 Robson, Strachan (pen) 26,292
6 October 1984 Aston Villa A 0–3 37,131
13 October 1984 West Ham United H 5–1 McQueen, Brazil, Strachan, Moses, Hughes 47,559
20 October 1984 Tottenham Hotspur H 1–0 Hughes 54,516
27 October 1984 Everton A 0–5 40,742
2 November 1984 Arsenal H 4–2 Robson, Strachan 2, Hughes 32,279
10 November 1984 Leicester City A 3–2 Brazil, Hughes, Strachan (pen) 23,840
17 November 1984 Luton Town H 2–0 Whiteside 2 41,630
24 November 1984 Sunderland A 2–3 Robson, Hughes 25,405
1 December 1984 Norwich City H 2–0 Robson, Hughes 36,635
8 December 1984 Nottingham Forest A 2–3 Strachan 2 (1 pen) 25,902
15 December 1984 Queens Park Rangers H 3–0 Brazil, Duxbury, Gidman 36,134
22 December 1984 Ipswich Town H 3–0 Gidman, Robson, Strachan (pen) 35,168
26 December 1984 Stoke City A 1–2 Stapleton 20,985
29 December 1984 Chelsea A 3–1 Hughes, Moses, Stapleton 42,197
1 January 1985 Sheffield Wednesday H 1–2 Hughes 47,625
12 January 1985 Coventry City H 0–1 35,992
2 February 1985 West Bromwich Albion H 2–0 Strachan 2 36,681
9 February 1985 Newcastle United A 1–1 Moran 32,555
23 February 1985 Arsenal A 1–0 Whiteside 48,612
2 March 1985 Everton H 1–1 Olsen 51,150
12 March 1985 Tottenham Hotspur A 2–1 Hughes, Whiteside 42,908
15 March 1985 West Ham United A 2–2 Stapleton, Robson 16,674
23 March 1985 Aston Villa H 4–0 Hughes 3, Whiteside 40,941
31 March 1985 Liverpool A 1–0 Stapleton 34,886
3 April 1985 Leicester City H 2–1 Robson, Stapleton 35,950
6 April 1985 Stoke City H 5–0 Hughes 2, Olsen 2, Whiteside 42,940
9 April 1985 Sheffield Wednesday A 0–1 39,380
21 April 1985 Luton Town A 1–2 Whiteside 10,320
24 April 1985 Southampton H 0–0 31,291
27 April 1985 Sunderland H 2–2 Robson, Moran 38,979
4 May 1985 Norwich City A 1–0 Moran 15,502
6 May 1985 Nottingham Forest H 2–0 Gidman, Stapleton 41,775
11 May 1985 Queens Park Rangers A 3–1 Brazil 2, Strachan 20,483
13 May 1985 Watford A 1–5 Moran 20,500
Pos Club Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
3 Tottenham Hotspur 42 23 8 11 78 51 +27 77
4 Manchester United 42 22 10 10 77 47 +30 76
5 Southampton 42 19 11 12 56 47 +9 68

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

FA Cup

Date Round Opponents H / A Result

F–A

Scorers Attendance
5 January 1985 Round 3 Bournemouth H 3–0 McQueen, Stapleton, Strachan 32,080
26 January 1985 Round 4 Coventry City H 2–1 Hughes, McGrath 38,039
15 February 1985 Round 5 Blackburn Rovers A 2–0 Strachan, McGrath 22,692
9 March 1985 Round 6 West Ham United H 4–2 Hughes, Whiteside 3 (1 pen) 46,769
13 April 1985 Semi-final Liverpool N 2–2 Robson, Stapleton 51,690
17 April 1985 Semi-final

Replay

Liverpool N 2–1 Robson, Hughes 45,775
18 May 1985 Final Everton N 1–0 Whiteside 100,000

FA Cup Final Highlights

League Cup

Date Round Opponents H / A Result

F–A

Scorers Attendance
26 September 1984 Round 2

First leg

Burnley H 4–0 Robson, Hughes 3 28,383
9 October 1984 Round 2

Second leg

Burnley A 3–0 Brazil 2, Olsen 12,690
30 October 1984 Round 3 Everton H 1–2 Brazil 50,918

UEFA Cup

Date Round Opponents H / A Result

F–A

Scorers Attendance
19 September 1984 Round 1

First leg

Rába ETO Győr H 3–0 Robson, Mühren, Hughes 33,119
3 October 1984 Round 1

Second leg

Rába ETO Győr A 2–2 Brazil, Mühren (pen) 26,000
24 October 1984 Round 2

First leg

PSV Eindhoven A 0–0 27,500
7 November 1984 Round 2

Second leg

PSV Eindhoven H 1–0 Strachan (pen) 39,281
28 November 1984 Round 3

First leg

Dundee United H 2–2 Strachan (pen), Robson 48,278
12 December 1984 Round 3

Second leg

Dundee United A 3–2 Hughes, McGinnis (og), Mühren 21,821
6 March 1985 Quarter-final

First leg

Videoton H 1–0 Stapleton 35,432
20 March 1985 Quarter-final

Second leg

Videoton A 0–1

(4–5 p)

25,000

Squad statistics

Man Utd squad picture 1984

Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup UEFA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK Gary Bailey 38 0 6 0 3 0 8 0 55 0
GK Stephen Pears 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
DF Arthur Albiston 39 0 7 0 3 0 8 0 57 0
DF Mike Duxbury 27(3) 1 2(1) 0 2 0 6 0 37(4) 1
DF Billy Garton 2 0 0 0 1 0 0(1) 0 3(1) 0
DF John Gidman 27 3 6 0 1 0 6(1) 0 40(1) 3
DF Graeme Hogg 29 0 5 0 3 0 6 0 43 0
DF Paul McGrath 23 0 7 2 0 0 2 0 32 2
DF Gordon McQueen 12 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 15 2
DF Kevin Moran 19 4 3 0 2 0 4 0 28 4
MF Clayton Blackmore 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
MF Arthur Graham 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
MF Remi Moses 26 3 3 0 3 0 6 0 38 3
MF Arnold Mühren 7(5) 0 1 0 1 0 3 3 12(5) 3
MF Jesper Olsen 36 5 6 0 2 1 6(1) 0 50(1) 6
MF Bryan Robson 32(1) 9 4 2 2 1 7 2 45(1) 14
MF Gordon Strachan 41 15 7 2 2 0 6 2 56 19
MF Norman Whiteside 23(4) 9 6 4 1 0 4(1) 0 34(5) 13
FW Alan Brazil 17(3) 5 0(1) 0 2(1) 3 2 1 21(5) 9
FW Mark Hughes 38 16 7 3 2 3 8 2 55 24
FW Frank Stapleton 21(3) 6 5 2 1(1) 0 4(1) 1 31(5) 9
Own goals 0 0 0 1 1