The 1979–80 season was Manchester United's 78th 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 fifth 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 ...

. They finished the season second in the league, just two points behind champions Liverpool, and qualified for the

1980–81 UEFA Cup The 1980–81 UEFA Cup was won by Ipswich Town on aggregate over AZ Alkmaar. According to the 1979 UEFA decision, Fairs Cup entry criteria were finally abolished, and UEFA ranking In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics ...

. It was the first season at the club for new midfielder

Ray Wilkins Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

, signed in the 1979 close season for a club record fee of £750,000. However, United had gained a reputation for playing relatively dull football under Sexton after the more entertaining style of play under

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betw ...

, and by the end of his third season as manager they had still yet to win a major trophy, as Liverpool won a fifth title in eight seasons. On 25 February 1980 United's chairman since 1965,

Louis Edwards Louis Charles Edwards (15 June 1914 – 25 February 1980) was an English businessman from Salford, Lancashire, who was most notable for being chairman of Manchester United from June 1965 until his death in February 1980. Early life and busin ...

died suddenly and unexpectedly of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

. His son Martin Edwards replaced him as chairman on

22 March Events Pre-1600 *AD 106, 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea. * 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century. * 871 – Æth ...

1980.

First Division

FA Cup

League Cup

Squad statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1979-80 Manchester United F.C. season Manchester United F.C. seasons Manchester United