When Denis Law’s late backheel found the net against the club where he had enjoyed so much success on April 27th 1974, the Scot, along with everyone in the ground, thought his impish strike had ended Manchester United’s 36-year stay in football’s top flight as the Reds crashed into Division Two for the first time since 1937.
As it happened, it didn’t matter. The Reds would have been relegated anyway, but Law’s refusal to celebrate - in an era where not enjoying a goal against your former club was not the fashionable thing to do - spoke volumes about the feelings he still held for a club which was on the brink of capitulation.
United’s fall from grace had been on the horizon for some time but nobody could have foreseen just how swift their demise would be, after manager Matt Busby, the man who had rebuilt the club from the ashes following the Munich air tragedy of 1958 resigned his post.
Following the crash Busby had taken United to two further league titles, the FA Cup and a European Cup, thanks to the likes of George Best, Bobby Charlton and, of course, Denis Law; but by 1974 Matt had moved upstairs and many of those household names were now well past their best as the club went into freefall.
The United board decided to replace Busby with a former United player and now reserve team manager, the 31-year-old Wilf McGuinness, in the hope that the former Busby Babe could usher in a new era of youthful exuberance to the ailing club. Unfortunately, the decision turned out to be a disaster with McGuinness failing to live up to the huge expectations held by the club and the supporters and was sacked in December 1970.
His successor, Frank O’Farrell didn’t fare much better either as the club went into something of a tailspin thanks to a number of on-field failures and plenty of off-field friction and after less than a year in charge both of Busby’ successors had left the club, with Busby himself even coming out of retirement to try and halt the alarming slump.
In a final throw of the dice United employed the services of Scotland Manager Tommy Docherty during the Christmas period of 1972 in the hope that his larger-than-life persona and charismatic approach could resurrect a side that was quickly becoming something of a laughing stock.
With United staring relegation in the face the Doc was able to mount something of a salvage operation and ensured the club’s top-flight status thanks to a much more impressive second half of the 1972/73 season; but as it turned out it proved to merely be a stay of execution.
His job wasn’t made any easier by the fact that so many of the greats who had featured so heavily in the success United had enjoyed in the past decade could no longer be relied upon to produce the goods as in the spring of 1973 Bobby Charlton finally called time on a glorious club career.
Charlton’s departure signalled something of an exodus from Old Trafford with Denis Law also leaving the club having signed for neighbours City after struggling with a knee injury for much of the previous campaign; that and the departure of George Best meant that United were now a shadow of their former selves.
Six defeats in the first 12 matches of the 1973/74 season for United set the alarm bells ringing as the club, who were champions of Europe just five years before, even relied on the goal scoring exploits of penalty taking goalkeeper Alex Stepney to keep them afloat. This time, though, there would be no recovery as United only registered one win between the start of January and the end of March.
A brief spring revival gave United hope as they enjoyed the rarity of three successive victories over several of their fellow strugglers, but a draw at Southampton and defeat at Goodison Park meant nothing short of a win over Manchester City in their last home game of the season would do. Even then, they still needed Norwich City to do them a favour and beat Birmingham if they were to stay up.
So as United prepared to meet City, who had former hero Denis Law in their ranks, this highly charged encounter had even more riding on it than usual due to the fact that United knew that anything but a win would see them playing Second Division football for the first time since the days before World War II.
United threw everything at their opponents in the early stages of the encounter but the Blues gave as good as they got in front of an increasingly nervous and restless crowd of almost 60,000, but in the 82nd minute the nightmare scenario that many had feared might happen was played out in front of them.
After another United onslaught had been repelled City saw their chance to break and raced up the other end with Colin Bell galloping some 30 yards before nudging the ball through to Francis Lee on the edge of the box; he then found Law who, standing with his back to goal, instinctively back-heeled the ball past goalkeeper Alex Stepney and into the net.
Dazed and obviously in a state of shock Law stood dumbfounded inside the penalty area, shoulders slumped and looking like he was on the verge of tears as his teammates ran to him to celebrate a goal which had almost certainly resigned their fierce rivals to relegation.
Law was immediately substituted as it became obvious he could no longer play any active part in the game and after 19 years, 602 games and 303 goals the man known as The King of the Stretford End would never take to the field again in a professional game.
As the game reached its conclusion hundreds of United fans invaded the pitch, pouring down the terracing and running the length of the field to where most of the Manchester City fans were gathered as the two sides attempted to finish the game, while supporters ran around them in the hope that the game might be called off.
After several interruptions the referee was left with no option but to abandon the game and the result stood. United had indeed been relegated in the most incredible way imaginable but as it turned out Birmingham’s victory over Norwich would have meant United were down anyway.
But Law didn’t know that at the time and he was clearly heartbroken at the thought of what his goal might have done to his former club. ”I was inconsolable. I didn’t want it to happen,” he explained some years later. “After 19 years of trying my hardest to score goals, here was one that I almost wished hadn’t actually gone in.”
