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 |