Manchester United Squad Picture 1937/38

The 1937–38 season was Manchester United’s 42nd season in the Football League.

The season began with Scott Duncan still manager after the club’s relegation, but he resigned on 7 November 1937 to become Ipswich Town manager and two days later Walter Crickmer was appointed as the manager for the second time.

This season, the vision that James Gibson had put in place began to finally see fruition. He and the board gave Scott Duncan around £17,000 to strengthen the team at the start of the season but Duncan was notoriously frugal with money and so didn’t spend much; following his departure, Gibson’s dream of a ‘team full of Mancunians’ began to at least partly take shape with a more thorough approach to training, coaching and match preparation. In February the idea of funding a junior club was first discussed. Stan Pearson and Johnny Carey had  made their first team debuts, while Sammy Lynn and Charlie Mitten given professional contracts.

At the end of the season, United finished second in the league and were promoted back to the First Division, where they would remain for the next 36 years.

Second Division

Date	Opponents	H / A	ResultF – A	Scorers	Attendance
28 August 1937	Newcastle United	H	3 – 0	Manley (2), Bryant	29,446
30 August 1937	Coventry City	A	0 – 1		30,575
4 September 1937	Luton Town	A	0 – 1		20,610
8 September 1937	Coventry City	H	2 – 2	Bamford, Bryant	17,455
11 September 1937	Barnsley	H	4 – 1	Bamford (3), Manley	22,394
13 September 1937	Bury	A	2 – 1	Ferrier (2)	9,954
18 September 1937	Stockport County	A	0 – 1		24,386
25 September 1937	Southampton	H	1 – 2	Manley	22,729
2 October 1937	Sheffield United	H	0 – 1		20,105
9 October 1937	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1 – 0	Manley	31,189
16 October 1937	Blackburn Rovers	A	1 – 1	Bamford	19,580
23 October 1937	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1 – 0	Ferrier	16,379
30 October 1937	Fulham	A	0 – 1		17,350
6 November 1937	Plymouth Argyle	H	0 – 0		18,359
13 November 1937	Chesterfield	A	7 – 1	Bamford (4), Baird,Bryant, Manley	17,407
20 November 1937	Aston Villa	H	3 – 1	Bamford, Manley,Pearson	33,193
27 November 1937	Norwich City	A	3 – 2	Baird, Bryant, Pearson	17,397
4 December 1937	Swansea Town	H	5 – 1	Rowley (4), Bryant	17,782
11 December 1937	Bradford Park Avenue	A	0 – 4		12,004
27 December 1937	Nottingham Forest	H	4 – 3	Baird (2), McKay,Wrigglesworth	30,778
28 December 1937	Nottingham Forest	A	3 – 2	Bamford, Bryant, Carey	19,283
1 January 1938	Newcastle United	A	2 – 2	Bamford, Rowley	40,088
15 January 1938	Luton Town	H	4 – 2	Bamford, Bryant, Carey,McKay	16,845
29 January 1938	Stockport County	H	3 – 1	Bamford, Bryant, McKay	31,852
2 February 1938	Barnsley	A	2 – 2	Rowley, Smith	7,859
5 February 1938	Southampton	A	3 – 3	Redwood (2), Baird	20,354
17 February 1938	Sheffield United	A	2 – 1	Bryant, Smith	17,754
19 February 1938	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0 – 1		34,631
23 February 1938	West Ham United	H	4 – 0	Baird (2), Smith,Wassall	14,572
26 February 1938	Blackburn Rovers	H	2 – 1	Baird, Bryant	30,892
5 March 1938	Sheffield Wednesday	A	3 – 1	Baird, Brown, Rowley	37,156
12 March 1938	Fulham	H	1 – 0	Baird	30,363
19 March 1938	Plymouth Argyle	A	1 – 1	Rowley	20,311
26 March 1938	Chesterfield	H	4 – 1	Smith (2), Bryant, Carey	27,311
2 April 1938	Aston Villa	A	0 – 3		54,654
9 April 1938	Norwich City	H	0 – 0		25,879
15 April 1938	Burnley	A	0 – 1		28,459
16 April 1938	Swansea Town	A	2 – 2	Rowley, Smith	13,811
18 April 1938	Burnley	H	4 – 0	McKay (2), Baird,Bryant	35,808
23 April 1938	Bradford Park Avenue	H	3 – 1	Baird, McKay, Smith	28,919
30 April 1938	West Ham United	A	0 – 1		14,816
7 May 1938	Bury	H	2 – 0	McKay, Smith	53,604

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Aston Villa	42	25	7	10	73	35	+38	57
2	Manchester United	42	22	9	11	82	50	+32	53
3	Sheffield Wednesday	42	22	9	11	73	56	+17	53

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

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	ResultF – A	Scorers	Attendance
8 January 1938	Round 3	Yeovil Town	H	3 – 0	Baird, Bamford, Pearson	49,004
22 January 1938	Round 4	Barnsley	A	2 – 2	Baird, Carey	35,549
26 January 1938	Round 4Replay	Barnsley	H	1 – 0	Baird	33,601
12 February 1938	Round 5	Brentford	A	0 – 2		24,147