1965/66 – Manchester United | Manchester United News
1965/66 – Manchester United

Manchester United's formation 1965

The 1965–66 season was Manchester United‘s 64th season in the Football League, and their 21st consecutive season in the top division of English football.

As defending champions of the First Division title, they finished fourth and secured qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

They made a strong challenge in the cup competitions as well, but their hopes of winning the FA Cup were ended in the semi-finals, when they lost to eventual winnersEverton.

In the European Cup, they were also semi-finalists, edged out by Yugoslavleague champions Partizan Belgrade. They had to negotiate a premilinary round of the competition before qualifying for the first round, and did so by achieving a 9–2 aggregate win over Finnish league champions HJK Helsinki.

Despite the headlines that George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law were attracting, United’s top scorer for this season was the ageing David Herd, who found the net 24 times in the league and 33 in all competitions.

FA Charity Shield

Date Opponents H / A Result

F – A

Scorers Attendance
14 August 1965 Liverpool H 2 – 2 Best, Herd 48,502

First Division

Date Opponents H / A Result

F – A

Scorers Attendance
21 August 1965 Sheffield Wednesday H 1 – 0 Herd 37,524
24 August 1965 Nottingham Forest A 2 – 4 Aston, Best 33,744
28 August 1965 Northampton Town A 1 – 1 Connelly 21,140
1 September 1965 Nottingham Forest H 0 – 0 38,777
4 September 1965 Stoke City H 1 – 1 Herd 37,603
8 September 1965 Newcastle United A 2 – 1 Herd, Law 57,380
11 September 1965 Burnley A 0 – 3 30,235
15 September 1965 Newcastle United H 1 – 1 Stiles 30,401
18 September 1965 Chelsea H 4 – 1 Law (3), Charlton 37,917
25 September 1965 Arsenal A 2 – 4 Aston, Charlton 56,757
9 October 1965 Liverpool H 2 – 0 Best, Law 58,161
16 October 1965 Tottenham Hotspur A 1 – 5 Charlton 58,051
23 October 1965 Fulham H 4 – 1 Herd (3), Charlton 32,716
30 October 1965 Blackpool A 2 – 1 Herd 24,703
6 November 1965 Blackburn Rovers H 2 – 2 Charlton, Law 38,823
13 November 1965 Leicester City A 5 – 0 Herd (2), Best, Charlton, Connelly 34,551
20 November 1965 Sheffield United H 3 – 1 Best (2), Law 37,922
4 December 1965 West Ham United H 0 – 0 32,924
11 December 1965 Sunderland A 3 – 2 Best (2), Herd 37,417
15 December 1965 Everton H 3 – 0 Best, Charlton, Herd 32,624
18 December 1965 Tottenham Hotspur H 5 – 1 Law (2), Charlton, Herd, Beal (o.g.) 39,270
27 December 1965 West Bromwich Albion H 1 – 1 Law 54,102
1 January 1966 Liverpool A 1 – 2 Law 53,790
8 January 1966 Sunderland A 1 – 1 Best 39,162
12 January 1966 Leeds United A 1 – 1 Herd 49,672
15 January 1966 Fulham A 1 – 0 Charlton 33,018
29 January 1966 Sheffield Wednesday A 0 – 0 39,281
5 February 1966 Northampton Town H 6 – 2 Charlton (3), Law (2), Connelly 34,986
19 February 1966 Stoke City A 2 – 2 Connelly, Herd 36,667
26 February 1966 Burnley H 4 – 2 Herd (3), Charlton 49,892
12 March 1966 Chelsea A 0 – 2 60,269
19 March 1966 Arsenal H 2 – 1 Law, Stiles 47,246
6 April 1966 Aston Villa A 1 – 1 Cantwell 28,211
9 April 1966 Leicester City H 1 – 2 Connelly 42,593
16 April 1966 Sheffield United A 1 – 3 Sadler 22,330
25 April 1966 Everton A 0 – 0 50,843
27 April 1966 Blackpool H 2 – 1 Charlton, Law 26,953
30 April 1966 West Ham United A 2 – 3 Aston, Cantwell 36,416
4 May 1966 West Bromwich Albion A 3 – 3 Aston, T. Dunne, Herd 22,609
7 May 1966 Blackburn Rovers A 4 – 1 Herd (2), Charlton, Sadler 14,513
9 May 1966 Aston Villa H 6 – 1 Herd (2), Sadler (2), Charlton, Ryan 23,039
19 May 1966 Leeds United H 1 – 1 Herd 35,008
Pos Club Pld W D L GF GA Pts
3 Burnley 42 24 7 11 79 47 55
4 Manchester United 42 18 15 9 84 59 51
5 Chelsea 42 22 7 13 65 53 51

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 Result

F – A

Scorers Attendance
22 January 1966 Round 3 Derby County A 5 – 2 Best (2), Law (2), Herd 33,827
12 February 1966 Round 4 Rotherham United H 0 – 0 54,263
15 February 1966 Round 4

Replay

Rotherham United A 1 – 0 Connelly 23,500
5 March 1966 Round 5 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 4 – 2 Law (2), Best, Herd 53,500
26 March 1966 Round 6 Preston North End A 1 – 1 Herd 37,876
30 March 1966 Round 6

Replay

Preston North End H 3 – 1 Law (2), Connelly 60,433
23 April 1966 Semi-final Everton N 0 – 1 60,000

European Cup

Date Round Opponents H / A Result

F – A

Scorers Attendance
22 September 1965 Preliminary round

First leg

HJK Helsinki A 3 – 2 Connelly, Herd, Law 25,000
6 October 1965 Preliminary round

Second leg

HJK Helsinki H 6 – 0 Connelly (3), Best (2), Charlton 30,388
17 November 1965 Round 1

First leg

Vorwärts Berlin A 2 – 0 Connelly, Law 40,000
1 December 1965 Round 1

Second leg

Vorwärts Berlin H 3 – 1 Herd (3) 30,082
2 February 1966 Quarter-final

First leg

Benfica H 3 – 2 Foulkes, Herd, Law 64,035
9 March 1966 Quarter-final

Second leg

Benfica A 5 – 1 Best (2), Charlton, Connelly, Crerand 75,000
13 April 1966 Semi-final

First leg

Partizan A 0 – 2 60,000
20 April 1966 Semi-final

Second leg

Partizan H 1 – 0 Stiles 62,500

Squad statistics

Pos. Name League FA Cup European Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK David Gaskell 8 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 9 0
GK Harry Gregg 26 0 7 0 5 0 0 0 38 0
GK Pat Dunne 8 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 11 0
FB Shay Brennan 28 0 5 0 5 0 1 0 39 0
FB Noel Cantwell 23 2 2 0 3 0 1 0 29 2
FB Tony Dunne 40 1 7 0 8 0 1 0 56 0
FB Bobby Noble 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
HB Pat Crerand 41 0 7 0 7 1 1 0 56 1
HB John Fitzpatrick 3(1) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4(1) 0
HB Bill Foulkes 33 0 7 0 8 1 0 0 48 1
HB Nobby Stiles 39 2 7 0 8 1 1 0 55 3
FW Willie Anderson 5(1) 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 7(1) 0
FW John Aston 23 4 2 0 2 0 1 0 28 4
FW George Best 31 9 5 3 6 4 1 1 43 17
FW Bobby Charlton 38 16 7 0 8 2 1 0 54 18
FW John Connelly 31(1) 5 6 2 8 6 0 0 45(1) 13
FW David Herd 36(1) 24 7 3 7 5 1 1 51(1) 33
FW Denis Law 33 15 7 6 8 3 1 0 49 24
FW Jimmy Ryan 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
FW David Sadler 10 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 4