1959–60 Manchester United F.C. season

The 1959–60 season was Manchester United's 58th season in the Football League, and their 15th consecutive season in the top division of English football. They finished seventh in the league, and striker Dennis Viollet scored a record 32 league goals in a season for the club.

Manchester United

1959–60 season
Chairman	Harold Hardman
Manager	Matt Busby
First Division	7th
FA Cup	Fifth Round
Top goalscorer	League: Dennis Viollet (32) All: Dennis Viollet (32)
Highest home attendance	66,350 vs Sheffield Wednesday (20 February 1960)
Lowest home attendance	33,677 vs West Bromwich Albion (19 December 1959)
Average home league attendance	48,012
Home colours Away colours

First Division

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
22 August 1959	West Bromwich Albion	A	2 – 3	Viollet (2)	40,076
26 August 1959	Chelsea	H	0 – 1		57,674
29 August 1959	Newcastle United	H	3 – 2	Viollet (2), Charlton	53,257
2 September 1959	Chelsea	A	6 – 3	Bradley (2), Viollet (2), Charlton, Quixall	66,579
5 September 1959	Birmingham City	A	1 – 1	Quixall	38,220
9 September 1959	Leeds United	H	6 – 0	Bradley (2), Charlton (2), Scanlon, Viollet	48,407
12 September 1959	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1 – 5	Viollet	55,402
16 September 1959	Leeds United	A	2 – 2	Charlton, own goal	34,048
19 September 1959	Manchester City	A	0 – 3		58,300
26 September 1959	Preston North End	A	0 – 4		35,016
3 October 1959	Leicester City	H	4 – 1	Viollet (2), Charlton, Quixall	41,637
10 October 1959	Arsenal	H	4 – 2	Charlton, Quixall, Viollet, own goal	51,626
17 October 1959	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2 – 3	Viollet, own goal	45,451
24 October 1959	Sheffield Wednesday	H	3 – 1	Viollet (2), Bradley	39,259
31 October 1959	Blackburn Rovers	A	1 – 1	Quixall	39,621
7 November 1959	Fulham	H	3 – 3	Charlton, Scanlon, Viollet	44,063
14 November 1959	Bolton Wanderers	A	1 – 1	Dawson	37,892
21 November 1959	Luton Town	H	4 – 1	Viollet (2), Goodwin, Quixall	40,572
28 November 1959	Everton	A	1 – 2	Viollet	46,095
5 December 1959	Blackpool	H	3 – 1	Viollet (2), Pearson	45,558
12 December 1959	Nottingham Forest	A	5 – 1	Viollet (3), Dawson, Scanlon	31,666
19 December 1959	West Bromwich Albion	H	2 – 3	Dawson, Quixall	33,677
26 December 1959	Burnley	H	1 – 2	Quixall	62,376
28 December 1959	Burnley	A	4 – 1	Scanlon (2), Viollet (2)	47,253
2 January 1960	Newcastle United	A	3 – 7	Quixall (2), Dawson	57,200
16 January 1960	Birmingham City	H	2 – 1	Quixall, Viollet	47,361
23 January 1960	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1 – 2	Bradley	62,602
6 February 1960	Manchester City	H	0 – 0		59,450
13 February 1960	Preston North End	H	1 – 1	Viollet	44,014
24 February 1960	Leicester City	A	1 – 3	Scanlon	33,191
27 February 1960	Blackpool	A	6 – 0	Charlton (3), Viollet (2), Scanlon	23,996
5 March 1960	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0 – 2		60,560
19 March 1960	Nottingham Forest	H	3 – 1	Charlton (2), Dawson	35,269
26 March 1960	Fulham	A	5 – 0	Viollet (2), Dawson, Giles, Pearson	38,250
30 March 1960	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2 – 4	Charlton, Viollet	26,821
2 April 1960	Bolton Wanderers	H	2 – 0	Charlton (2)	45,298
9 April 1960	Luton Town	A	3 – 2	Dawson (2), Bradley	21,242
15 April 1960	West Ham United	A	1 – 2	Dawson	34,969
16 April 1960	Blackburn Rovers	H	1 – 0	Dawson	45,945
18 April 1960	West Ham United	H	5 – 3	Charlton (2), Dawson (2), Quixall	34,676
23 April 1960	Arsenal	A	2 – 5	Giles, Pearson	41,057
30 April 1960	Everton	H	5 – 0	Dawson (3), Bradley, Quixall	43,823

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Burnley (C)	42	24	7	11	85	61	1.393	55	Qualified for the European Cup
2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	24	6	12	106	67	1.582	54	Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup
3	Tottenham Hotspur	42	21	11	10	86	50	1.720	53
4	West Bromwich Albion	42	19	11	12	83	57	1.456	49
5	Sheffield Wednesday	42	19	11	12	80	59	1.356	49
6	Bolton Wanderers	42	20	8	14	59	51	1.157	48
7	Manchester United	42	19	7	16	102	80	1.275	45
8	Newcastle United	42	18	8	16	82	78	1.051	44
9	Preston North End	42	16	12	14	79	76	1.039	44
10	Fulham	42	17	10	15	73	80	0.913	44
11	Blackpool	42	15	10	17	59	71	0.831	40
12	Leicester City	42	13	13	16	66	75	0.880	39
13	Arsenal	42	15	9	18	68	80	0.850	39
14	West Ham United	42	16	6	20	75	91	0.824	38
15	Everton	42	13	11	18	73	78	0.936	37
16	Manchester City	42	17	3	22	78	84	0.929	37
17	Blackburn Rovers	42	16	5	21	60	70	0.857	37
18	Chelsea	42	14	9	19	76	91	0.835	37
19	Birmingham City	42	13	10	19	63	80	0.788	36	Invited for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
20	Nottingham Forest	42	13	9	20	50	74	0.676	35
21	Leeds United (R)	42	12	10	20	65	92	0.707	34	Relegated to the Second Division
22	Luton Town (R)	42	9	12	21	50	73	0.685	30

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
9 January 1960	Round 3	Derby County	A	4 – 2	Goodwin, Charlton, Scanlon, own goal	33,297
30 January 1960	Round 4	Liverpool	A	3 – 1	Charlton (2), Bradley	56,736
20 February 1960	Round 5	Sheffield Wednesday	H	0 – 1		66,350

Squad statistics

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	David Gaskell	9	0	0	0	9	0
GK	Harry Gregg	33	0	3	0	36	0
FB	Shay Brennan	29	0	3	0	32	0
FB	Joe Carolan	41	0	3	0	44	0
FB	Ronnie Cope	40	0	3	0	43	0
FB	Ian Greaves	2	0	0	0	2	0
FB	Tommy Heron	1	0	0	0	1	0
HB	Bill Foulkes	42	0	3	0	45	0
HB	Freddie Goodwin	18	1	1	1	19	2
HB	Nobby Lawton	3	0	0	0	3	0
HB	Wilf McGuinness	19	0	0	0	19	0
HB	Maurice Setters	17	0	2	0	19	0
FW	Warren Bradley	29	8	2	1	31	9
FW	Bobby Charlton	37	18	3	3	40	21
FW	Alex Dawson	22	15	1	0	23	15
FW	Johnny Giles	10	2	0	0	10	2
FW	Mark Pearson	10	3	0	0	10	3
FW	Albert Quixall	33	13	3	0	36	13
FW	Albert Scanlon	31	7	3	1	34	8
FW	Dennis Viollet	36	32	3	0	39	32
–	Own goals	–	3	–	1	–	4