Club History: The Roaring Twenties 1919 - 1930

1919 - 1920: Football returns

John Robson was the new manager and he brought in a brood of young players he had been grooming, along with several modest signings such as Clarence Hilditich from Altringham, and Charlie Moore from Hednesford Town. The team did not challenge for the League or Cup but finished a respectable 12th place. Crowds were coming back to the stadiums to watch the game again, the average gate at all 1st division matches in 1920 was 22,000 while United's average was around 30,000. On December 27 1920 70,504 fans showed up to watch United take on Aston Villa, for the record Villa beat the Reds 3-1 that day. The Stadium that had been such a drain on their capital for so many years was now beginning to pay dividends, as it would for many years to come.

1920 - 1921: Billy Meredith sold back to City
The 1920/21 season was even worse than the previous one. After an argument with the club, Billy Meredith was given a free transfer at the age of 48 and rejoined Manchester City. Billy Meredith played for United from 1906 till 1921, playing 332 matches for them. With this amount he stands at 30th places of the all time appearance records.

His departure was the beginning of the end. That season United finished 13th, with two more defeats than they had wins (15-17). In the FA cup they lost in the first round.

1921 - 1922: Relegated!
Since the end of the war United had finished up in 12th and 13th position in the league and had no joy in the FA Cup. The 1921 season started out in terrible fashion with just five points from 7 games. Their manager John Robson had become ill and it was agreed that he would step down to assistant manager to make way for John Chapman, a Scot United hired away from Airdrieonians. The deterioration continued under Chapman's watch with Man City thrashing them 4-1. United sank to the bottom of the league and stayed there the length of the season. They were relegated to the 2nd division again after finishing with only 28 points.

Joe Spence was the only bright light for the team. He had joined United in 1919 from Scotswood and remained at Old Trafford until June 1933 when he moved to Bradford City. In all he made 510 appearances for the club, a record that stood for 40 years when it was bettered by Bill Foukes.

1922 - 1923: Stuck in the 2nd Division
In 1923 life in the second division proved to be more difficult than United had anticipated, they were favorites to return to the top flight on their first attempt, instead they finished in 4th place while Notts County finished as Champions and were promoted. During the season County had stayed on top and it was very surprising to them that while entertaining United at the City Ground, United soundly thrashed them 6-1. County had a goalie that was considered one of the best anywhere, Albert Iremonger who stood 6' 6" tall, but on that day he spent the whole afternoon trying to keep the rampant reds away.

The man of the match was Frank Barson, the United centre half. He had been signed by United from Aston Villa for 5,000 pounds and the promise of his own pub if United gained promotion within three years. They were and the story goes that when Frank opened the door of his new pub he was swamped in the rush and decided then and there that running a pub was not the life for him. The story of United's season this year was one of a team that had all the talent, but maybe not the will to win.

1923 - 1924: Third worst season ever!
If 1923 wasn't difficult enough for United than this year was even worse. They had their third worst season in their history. They lost in the second round of the FA Cup but in the league they finished 14th, with 13 wins, 14 draws and 15 defeats. The club that had been the champions of England 12 years ago, now had to worry about avoiding relegation to the third division.

1924 - 1925: Battling back to the 1st Division
But there came no relegation. The next season United got themselves together and finished the league in a fine second position in the league. This meant that United were promoted back to the first division. In this season United lost 8 of their 42 matches, but won 23 of them, scoring only 53 goals in all their matches. In the FA Cup United lost once again in the first round. A combined United/City team met a Liverpool/Everton side in a testimonial match for Ernest Mangnall who had led United in two league Championships and an FA Cup triumph.

1925 - 1926: Settling back into Division 1
The first year back in the first division after four years was not a bad year for United. They finished a long way from the Championship, but they also never came in any danger of relegation. At the end of the season United finished in 9th place, with two more wins than defeats (19-17).

Their goal average was not so good, having only scored 66 goals while scoring 73 goals. In the FA Cup United did very well, they reached the semi finals, but couldn't get into the final. That season would be the last season for the United manager John Chapman, who was manager from 1921 till 1926. With him United had been relegated once and promoted three years later, he did not win any trophies with United in this difficult time for the club.

1926 - 1927: Manager John Chapman suspended
On the 20th of September 1926 an FA investigating committee met at the Grand Hotel in Manchester to begin an inquiry into the affairs of Manchester United. The committe met again in Sheffield the following week and then met once more back in Manchester the first week of October. What they were investigating to this day remains unknown but on the 7th of October they announced to an astonished footballing public that United manager John Chapman was to be suspended from Football for improper conduct in his position as secretary-manager of the Manchester United Football Club. Nothing further was added and no explanation has ever been given to this day.

In Chapmans place United appointed Clarence Hilditch as caretaker, Clarence was the starting right half for United. To this date he remains the only player-manager in the club's history. Hilditch did a workmanlike job and managed to keep the Reds in the first division that year, but only by the skin of their teeth. United finished 15th in the league. Hilditch was replaced 7 months later by an old Friend of United's!

1927 - 1928: Avoiding relegation by a single goal!
The Old Trafford team began the 1927/28 season with a new manager, Herbert Bamlett. His claim to fame had been to take a struggling Middlesbrough from the second to the first the previous year. But United fans remembered him for something else. Bamlett had been an accomplished referee and had even referreed the 1915 FA Cup final, he was also the referee that had called off the 1909 Burnley - United Cup tie because of the snowstorm (United won the rearranged match and went on to lift the Cup). Maybe United owed him a favour for that decision?

The new manager did not bring good times back to Old Trafford, the team hovered just above the relegation zone all season and on April 22nd found themselves at the foot of the table. It was the last game of the season and the log jam at the bottom was so tight that there was only 7 points separating the bottom club from the 4th placed team in the league. United were 2nd from the bottom but all the three bottom clubs were level on points and games played. It was to come down to the last game of the season, and goal difference. The visitors that day were Liverpool and not many of the United faithful held much hope with both Spurs and Middlesbrough having better goal difference.

Within 11 minutes United favorite Joe Spence had shot United into the lead. Rawlings added two more before Liverpool replied and then Spence added another to make the halftime score 4-1. As the teams came out for the second half Old Trafford was electric, the 30,000 strong crowd willing the team on, and it worked, Spence scoring two more to complete a hat trick and send Liverpool home losers by 6 goals to one. At the end of the game the players stayed on the field waiting nervously for the Spurs and Middlesbrough results, had they done enough to stay up? They had!! Spurs and Middlesbrough went down and United had dodged the drop, they stayed up on goal difference. The 6th goal had proved decisive.

1928 - 1929: United continue to struggle
United lost 15 matches before March 1929 was over and again were looking contenders for relegation. However thanks to a rousing end to the season they again managed to survive, finishing the last 6 games with 5 wins and a tie.

Most of the explanation for this turn around could be found in the signing of Tom Reid from Liverpool. Reid, a Scot scored 14 goals in 17 appearances that season and went on to score 67 goals in just 101 games before joining Oldham five years later. But United were still not setting the league alight, it seemed as though they stayed in a never ending battle to stay out of the relegation zone. And it was to get Worse!

1929 - 1930: Close call again at the bottom
And worse it got in the next season, when United had a lot of trouble staying in the first division. They finished the league in 17th place, just enough to stay in the top division. But from 42 games United lost 19 and won only 15, with a goal average of -21 (67-88). But although United played no role whatsoever in the title run-ins of the last few years, they did better in the FA Cup. In the 1925/26 season they reached the semi-finals of the competition. In 1926/27 they reached the third round, in 1927/28 they got to the sixth round, while in 1928/29 they lost in the fourth round and in 1929/30 United were knocked out in the third round.

The Poor Thirties 1930 - 1939