The 1970–71 season was
Manchester United's 69th season in
the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...
, and their 26th 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 ...
. In a pre-season competition United participated in the
Watney Cup
The Watney Mann Invitation Cup (normally referred to as simply the Watney Cup) was a short-lived English football tournament held in the early 1970s.
It was held before the start of the season, and was contested by the teams that had scored th ...
, which was contested by the teams that had scored the most goals in each of the four divisions of the Football League the previous season who had not been promoted or admitted to one of the European competitions.
On 29 December 1970, United manager
Wilf McGuinness
Wilfred McGuinness (born 25 October 1937) is an English former football player and manager, who played twice for England in his short playing career. He succeeded Sir Matt Busby as manager of Manchester United in 1969.
Following his tenure at ...
who struggled in his new post was replaced with
Matt Busby who returned as United manager until the end of the season, guiding the club to an eighth-place finish in the league. Following speculation that the
Celtic manager
Jock Stein
John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...
would take over during the close season of 1971,
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
manager
Frank O'Farrell
Francis O'Farrell (9 October 1927 – 6 March 2022) was an Irish football player and manager. He played as a wing half for Cork United, West Ham United and Preston North End. He made over 300 appearances in the Football League before joining ...
was given the United job.
United's best chance of success came in the League Cup, but they were beaten by Third Division side
Aston Villa in the semi-finals.
Watney Cup
First Division
FA Cup
League Cup
Squad statistics
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1970-71 Manchester United F.C. season
Manchester United F.C. seasons
Manchester United