History of Manchester United F.C. (1969–1986)

Following an eighth-place finish in the 1969–70 season and a poor start to the 1970–71 season, Wilf McGuinness was sacked as manager of Manchester United in December 1970 after just 18 months in charge. Matt Busby returned to the manager's position on a temporary basis, and McGuinness returned to his position as reserve team coach.

In June 1971, having failed in attempts to lure Jock Stein and also Don Revie to Old Trafford, the United board appointed Frank O'Farrell as manager. O'Farrell's reign started well, with United re-emerging as title contenders in the first half of the 1971-72 season, but slumped in the second half of the season to finish eighth. O'Farrell was sacked in December 1972, following a 5-0 defeat at Crystal Palace and with United in danger of relegation from the First Division for the first time since the 1930s. Docherty saved Manchester United from relegation that season, only to see them relegated in 1974.

United's first team squad was being radically overhauled during the first two years of Docherty's reign. Denis Law had been given a free transfer in the summer of 1973 and Bobby Charlton had retired, with George Best repeatedly going AWOL and making his final appearance for the club halfway through the relegation season. Younger players including Stuart Pearson, Steve Coppell, Lou Macari and captain Martin Buchan were establishing themselves as key players in a revamped squad. The team won promotion at the first attempt, as Second Division champions, and reached the FA Cup final in 1976, but were defeated by Southampton, and also finished an impressive third in the league. They reached the final again in 1977, beating Liverpool 2–1. Docherty was dismissed shortly afterwards, following the revelation of his affair with the club physiotherapist's wife.

Dave Sexton, first approached to take over at Old Trafford back in 1971 following the departure of Wilf McGuinness, accepted the offer to replace Docherty as manager in the summer of 1977. Despite expensive major signings, including Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen, Gary Bailey and Ray Wilkins, the team failed to add any silverware in Sexton's four seasons as manager. They came close twice, losing to Arsenal in the 1979 FA Cup final, and finishing runners-up to Liverpool in the league a year later. In the autumn of 1980, Sexton signed United's first million-pound player - Nottingham Forest striker Garry Birtles - but the new signing proved to be a major disappointment and was unable to reignite United's season 1980-81 season, which ended with an eighth-place finish despite the final seven league games all being victories.

Sexton was dismissed in May 1981, leaving the United board to search for its fifth new manager in just over a decade. He was replaced by Ron Atkinson, who quickly began rebuilding the squad, including paying a British record transfer fee of £1.5million to sign midfielder Bryan Robson from West Bromwich Albion. Robson would soon be named captain of the United first team and would go on to help the club win a string of trophies under Atkinson and his eventual successor Alex Ferguson. Under Atkinson, Manchester United never finished outside the top four in the five full seasons he took charge, also winning the FA Cup twice, first beating Brighton in 1983 following a replay, and then winning the 1985 final against Everton, in which young forward Norman Whiteside scored the only goal of the game. In the autumn of 1985, Atkinson finally appeared to be on the brink of bringing the league title back to Old Trafford after an absence of nearly 20 years, as United won their opening 10 league games and were unbeaten from their first 15, but their form declined during the second half of the season and they finished fourth. That summer, the club's top scorer Mark Hughes was sold to FC Barcelona. The following November, with the club in the bottom four of the First Division, Atkinson was dismissed.