Manchester United Programme 1945/46

The 1945–46 season was Manchester United’s seventh and last season in the non-competitive War League during the Second World War.

On 15 February 1945, United manager Walter Crickmer had resigned. During the Second World War, Sir Matt Busby served as a football coach in the Army Physical Training Corps, and the experience resulted in Liverpool offering him the job of assistant to their then-manager George Kay. However, the experience also forged Busby’s opinions about how football should be played and governed, and when it became clear that they differed from those of the Liverpool board, their chairman Billy McConnell allowed Busby to pursue alternate employment.

After Manchester United had tried to sign Busby from Manchester City in 1930, he became good friends with United’s fixer, Louis Rocca; their relationship was helped in part by the fact that both were members of the Manchester Catholic Sportsman’s Club. United were in desperate need of a manager to take over from club secretary Walter Crickmer after the war and a board meeting was called in December 1944 so as to ascertain who that new manager might be. Knowing that Liverpool had already offered Busby a job, Rocca convinced the United board to “leave it to [him]” and immediately wrote a letter to Busby, addressed to his army regiment. The letter was vague, referring only to “a job”, just in case it fell into the wrong hands, namely the Liverpool officials.

In February 1945, still in uniform, Busby turned up at Cornbrook Cold Storage, one of the United chairman James W. Gibson’s businesses at Trafford Park to discuss the contents of Rocca’s letter with the chairman. Busby requested that he be directly involved in training, pick the team on matchdays and even choose the players to be bought and sold without interference from the club directors, who, he believed, did not know the game as well as he did. Such a level of control over the team was unprecedented in the English game, but the United chairman was in no position to argue. Busby was originally offered a three-year contract, but managed to secure himself a five-year deal after explaining that it would take at least that long for his revolution to have a tangible effect.

The contract was signed that day – 19 February 1945 – but it was not until 1 October that Busby officially took over the reins at Manchester United. In the interim, he returned to the Army Physical Training Corps, whose football team he took to Bari, Italy, in the spring of 1945. There, he took in a training session for a football team made up of non-commissioned officers led by West Bromwich Albion’s former half-back Jimmy Murphy. Impressed by the Welshman’s oratory skills, Busby engaged him in conversation and offered him the job of chief coach at Manchester United, which Murphy accepted verbally there and then, before joining the club officially in early 1946.

With the ending of the Second World War, the FA Cup returned, with Manchester United losing 2–3 on aggregate in the cup Fourth Round to Preston North End.

War League North Regional League

Date	Opponents	H / A	ResultF – A	Scorers	Attendance
25 August 1945	Huddersfield Town	A	2 – 3	Smith (2)
1 September 1945	Huddersfield Town	H	2 – 3	Koffman, Rowley
8 September 1945	Chesterfield	H	0 – 2
12 September 1945	Middlesbrough	A	1 – 2	Davie
15 September 1945	Chesterfield	A	1 – 1	Bryant
20 September 1945	Stoke City	A	2 – 1	Hullett, Reid
22 September 1945	Barnsley	A	2 – 2	Cockburn, Hullett
29 September 1945	Barnsley	H	1 – 1	Smith
6 October 1945	Everton	H	0 – 0
13 October 1945	Everton	A	0 – 3
20 October 1945	Bolton Wanderers	A	1 – 1	Wrigglesworth
27 October 1945	Bolton Wanderers	H	2 – 1	Carey, Worrall
3 November 1945	Preston North End	H	6 – 1	Rowley (2), Smith, Warner,Worrall
10 November 1945	Preston North End	A	2 – 2	Bainbridge, Smith
17 November 1945	Leeds United	A	3 – 3	Hanlon (2), Buckle
24 November 1945	Leeds United	H	6 – 1	Buckle (2), Wrigglesworth(2), Hanlon, Rowley
1 December 1945	Burnley	H	3 – 3	Hullett (3)
8 December 1945	Burnley	A	2 – 2	Hanlon, Smith
15 December 1945	Sunderland	H	2 – 1	Smith (2)
22 December 1945	Sunderland	A	2 – 4	Smith, Wrigglesworth
25 December 1945	Sheffield United	A	0 – 1
26 December 1945	Sheffield United	H	2 – 3	Carey, Hullett
29 December 1945	Middlesbrough	H	4 – 1	Rowley (2), Smith (2)
12 January 1946	Grimsby Town	H	5 – 0	Rowley (3), Bainbridge,Smith
19 January 1946	Grimsby Town	A	0 – 1
2 February 1946	Blackpool	H	4 – 2	Rowley (2), Bainbridge,Wrigglesworth
9 February 1946	Liverpool	H	2 – 1	Smith (2)
16 February 1946	Liverpool	A	5 – 0	Hanlon (2), Rowley (2),Wrigglesworth
23 February 1946	Bury	A	1 – 1	Hanlon
2 March 1946	Bury	H	1 – 1	Hanlon
9 March 1946	Blackburn Rovers	H	6 – 2	Rowley (3), Hanlon (2),Delaney
16 March 1946	Blackburn Rovers	A	3 – 1	Smith (2), Pearson
23 March 1946	Bradford	A	1 – 2	Carey
27 March 1946	Blackpool	A	5 – 1	Pearson (3), Carey,Wrigglesworth
30 March 1946	Bradford	H	4 – 0	Aston, Delaney, Rowley,Wrigglesworth
6 April 1946	Manchester City	H	1 – 4	Aston
13 April 1946	Manchester City	A	3 – 1	Hanlon, Pearson, Rowley
19 April 1946	Newcastle United	A	1 – 0	Pearson
20 April 1946	Sheffield Wednesday	H	4 – 0	Pearson (2), Delaney,Rowley
22 April 1946	Newcastle United	H	4 – 1	Delaney, Mitten, Rowley,Wrigglesworth
27 April 1946	Sheffield Wednesday	H	0 – 1
4 May 1946	Stoke City	H	2 – 1	Buckle, Pearson

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
3	Bolton Wanderers	42	20	11	11	67	45	51
4	Manchester United	42	19	11	12	98	62	49
5	Sheffield Wednesday	42	20	8	14	67	60	48

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
5 January 1946	Round 3First leg	Accrington Stanley	A	2 – 2	Smith, Wrigglesworth	9,968
9 January 1946	Round 3Second leg	Accrington Stanley	H	5 – 1	Rowley (2), Bainbridge, Wrigglesworth, own goal	15,339
26 January 1946	Round 4First leg	Preston North End	H	1 – 0	Hanlon	36,237
30 January 1946	Round 4Second leg	Preston North End	A	1 – 3	Hanlon	21,000