The 2001–02 season was Manchester United's tenth season in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

, their 100th season in league football, and their 27th consecutive season in the top division of

English football Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...

. The second full season of the new millennium was a great disappointment for the Red Devils in comparison to the previous three years. The club finished in third place in the Premier League, their lowest finish in the history of the Premier League at the time, and they were knocked out of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

in the fourth round.

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

success was not expected, and the club duly obliged by playing what was effectively a reserve team against a strong Arsenal side in the third round, the day after both teams were on League duty. United's best success in the 2001–02 season came in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

, in which they reached the semi-finals before being knocked out by

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

on away goals. Ultimately, United's failure to win anything boiled down a dismal run of form in November and early December when they suffered five defeats in seven league games, including three defeats in a row against Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham United in December. They also lost six home games in the Premier League, their worst home record since the 1977–78 season. They only lost three more league games all season, but that terrible form earlier in the campaign counted against United for the rest of the campaign and they finished 10 points behind champions Arsenal (who sealed their crown by beating United 1–0 at Old Trafford in the penultimate game of the season) and three points behind runners-up

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. Before the season began,

Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all tim ...

had announced his intention to retire from football at the end of the season, and the club began the process of trying to find a successor for the most successful manager in their history. However, Ferguson went back on his decision to retire citing his wife and three sons as the reason for the u-turn. Assistant manager

Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English former professional footballer and coach who currently serves as an assistant coach for Premier League club Manchester United, in his second spell at the club. McClaren began his coaching caree ...

left the club before the start of the season to become the manager of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. Youth team coach and former player

Mike Phelan Michael Christopher Phelan (born 24 September 1962) is an English professional football coach and former player who is currently a coach at Manchester United. Born in Nelson, Lancashire, he spent most of his playing career at Burnley, Norwich ...

was promoted to first-team coach and took over some of the assistant manager's responsibilities, but McClaren was not replaced until the summer of 2002, when

Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football coach who currently is the head coach of the Iran national team. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirat ...

was appointed the new assistant manager. Winger Ryan Giggs was honoured with a testimonial match against Celtic, having now been at United for more than a decade. £19 million striker

Ruud van Nistelrooy Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij (anglicised to Van Nistelrooy; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. He is currently the coach of PSV Eindhoven. A former footballer, Van Nistelrooy is often consi ...

did what was expected of him by scoring 36 goals in all competitions and collecting the

PFA Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Men's Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Men's Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is ...

award, but £28.1 million national record signing

Juan Sebastián Verón Juan Sebastián Verón (; born 9 March 1975) is an Argentine former professional footballer and current chairman of Estudiantes de La Plata, where he had served as Director of Sports. A former midfielder, Verón's career started in Estudiantes, c ...

was a major disappointment in midfield, though it was in defence where United were at their weakest following the shock departure of Jaap Stam to

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just after the start of the season, and the surprise acquisition of 35-year-old

Frenchman The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially th ...

Laurent Blanc Laurent Robert Blanc (born 19 November 1965) is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, and is currently the manager of Ligue 1 club Lyon. He has the nickname ''Le Président'', which was given to him ...

as his successor. 2001–02 was the final season at Old Trafford for veteran players

Denis Irwin Joseph Denis Irwin (born 31 October 1965) is an Irish former professional footballer and sports television presenter. As a player, he played as a full-back from 1983 to 2004. Irwin is best known for his long and successful stint at Manchester ...

and

Ronny Johnsen Jean Ronny Johnsen (born 10 June 1969) is a Norwegian former footballer who played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder. Johnsen played club football in Norway, Turkey, and England for Sem, Stokke, Eik-Tønsberg, Lyn, Lillestrøm, Beşikt ...

after 12 and six years at the club respectively. Also on the way out of the club were goalkeeper

Raimond van der Gouw Raimundus Johannes Hendrikus van der Gouw (, born 24 March 1963) is a Dutch former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper. After a successful career with Vitesse in his native Netherlands, and well into his 30s, he moved to Manche ...

and striker

Dwight Yorke Dwight Eversley Yorke CM (born 3 November 1971) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian former professional footballer and current manager of Australian A-League club Macarthur FC. Throughout his club career, he played for Aston Villa, Manchester Uni ...

. Striker Andy Cole left United after seven years when he sealed a transfer to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

at the end of December.

Pre-season and friendlies

On 4 August 2001, United played two friendly matches simultaneously, against Wrexham ( Brian Flynn's and

Kevin Reeves Kevin Philip Reeves (born 20 October 1957) is the Chief Scout at Everton football club. He is an English retired football forward, born in Burley, Hampshire, who scored 103 goals from 333 appearances in the Football League playing for AFC Bou ...

' testimonial) and Hereford United. The first-team squad was split in two, with Jimmy Ryan taking charge at Hereford.Double trouble for Reds' rivals
Manchester Evening News, 6 August 2001. Retrieved 21 July 2008.

FA Charity Shield

Premier League

FA Cup

League Cup

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Second group stage

Knockout phase

Squad statistics

Transfers

United's first departures of the 2001–02 season were midfield duo Jonathan Greening and Mark Wilson, who both signed for

on 9 August. On 27 August, Jaap Stam was controversially sold to

for a fee of £16.5 million, while on 8 November,

Jesper Blomqvist Lars Jesper Blomqvist (; born 5 February 1974) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a left midfielder. Most recently he was the playing assistant manager of Superettan side Hammarby from December 2009 to November 2010. He ...

signed for Everton. Arriving in the summer transfer window were Northern Irish goalkeeper

Roy Carroll Roy Eric Carroll (born 30 September 1977) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is best known for his spells at Wigan Athletic, Manchester United (where he won a Premier League winners medal and the 20 ...

, Dutch forward

, Argentinian midfielder

and French defender

. Out of these players, only van Nistelrooy made much of an impact, staying at United until 2006 and scoring 150 goals in 219 appearances for United. Departing during the winter transfer window were forward Andy Cole, who left United after six years, and Michael Clegg, who signed for

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

on a free transfer. Paul Rachubka left United on 20 May for

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

. Goalkeeper

signed for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

on 28 June on a free transfer, while on 30 June, defenders

and Ronnie Wallwork were released. Luke Steele joined United on 11 May for a fee of £500,000.

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Out

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manchester United F.C. season 2001-02 2001-02 2001–02 FA Premier League by team