Stretford Ender

Not sure of the season but would guess mid 1960s based on the hairstyles. Chopper looks like a squaddie. I think this was the November 1973 2-2 draw. Chelsea were 2-0 up and coasting but we scored two late goals to take a point. Ex-Chelsea man Tommy Baldwin turned out for us a few times. I think the opponents here are Forest.

When Wilf McGuinness took over from Matt Busby, there was no clean break. Busby maintained his old office - a situation that persisted until Tommy Doc's arrival in 1972 - and the senior players would always go to him with whatever issues they had, effectively bypassing Wilf. When things came to a head and Busby was reinstated, David Meek (a Manchester Evening News hack who wrote about the club) was fed titbits about dissension in the ranks. There was a big row on the raining pitch between the younger stars, led by Brian Kidd, and the older ones, with Kidd accusing players of letting Wilf down. There was a similar scenario when Frank O'Farrell was sacked. I firmly believe Tommy Docherty would have brought the title to us by 1980 if he had been allowed to continue, but he too had to contend with Matt Busby's influence, especially on transfers. The Doc wanted to buy Shilton but Busby vetoed the move because he wouldn't pay the reported £200 a week wages. There are other examples. Colin Todd was another. The current situation is nothing new but it has been amplified by social media. And you're right, there is something rotten and, like a fish, it starts at the head and works its way down. As for Rooney, his outburst in 2010 (I think) has been vindicated. We are limited by the idiots in charge who place commercial gain above all else. The recent 'big picture' affair was stopped in its tracks but it was really just to test the waters. The Glazers and Mr. Henry will be back with another offer and, sooner or later, they will get what they want. You can count on that.

March 1969 again?

Bobby's last bow.

Not sure of the year, possibly 1969/70? Not sure of the date of this shot. Could be the same game. If it was December 1969, you won 2-0. Edit: The December game was at Old Trafford so it can't be that. Probably the March 1969 game when you won 3-2 at your place. Tambling, Hutchinson, and Webb scored for Chelsea, James and Law for United.

Leeds in red? I've seem them in all yellow but never in red before. They used to play in blue but the story goes that Don Revie wanted them to be as famous and as good as Real Madrid so he changed the strip to all white. Might be apocryphal but a Leeds fan told me that years ago.

Loved him as a player. However, he's been a manager for a long time, far longer than Frank has so a comparison is unwarranted. Frank seems to have a good plan and I really rate Jody Morris. We've got Mike Phelan who, though he was Fergie's number 2, has done sweet FA since 2013. Poch would need his head seeing to if he took the job. You could have anyone in there but as long as the Glazers are prioritizing commercial success over sporting, the underlying problem will remain. If Jose couldn't deal with them, what price Poch? It would be like having Levy on his back plus his evil twin.

My dad told me they got huge crowds in the immediate post-war years. He went to Wembley for the 1948 FA Cup final and said the official attendance didn't really reflect the true size of the crowd.

30,000 would be my guess...

I doubt it. I have a bad feeling about this season. From what I'm hearing from ex-players (Evra has been the most vocal) and the good journos, there's severe unrest inside Old Trafford. I've seen it before though when Busby retired and it has that feel about it again. Newcastle beat us last year and I reckon PSG will be out for blood. By the time we play Chelsea, we might well be on the ropes. I hate to see this happening but the way the club is mismanaged from the top down, it has an inevitable feeling about it.

I think a primary school art project ended up on United's third kit this year.

QPR's offside trap doesn't look too clever.

It's hardly a collegiate atmosphere but there again, it's a fan site. Those of us of a certain age can well remember the slow decline of 1969-74 after Busby retired. We remember David Gill telling us that there would be no repeat performance after Fergie went and that our next manager would be proven in Europe and have trophies under his belt. We got Moyes. I know that hindsight is 20/20 but some of us saw history about to repeat itself, and history often does that because nobody listens the first time. In my opinion, we should have brought Jose in after Fergie stepped down, just as we should have brought Clough in when Busby retired but, most of all, those with the power to do so should have stopped the Glazers in their tracks in 2005 but a combination of greed and hubris saw them take control. Now Joel Glazer is positioning himself to grab control of something much bigger.

I said months ago that the Sancho deal was a non-starter. Not being a clever clogs here but it was clear that the money asked was more than we could afford, especially given the pronouncements from Woodward that the coronavirus had impacted us. His lapdog, Neil Ashton, has spun the story so that greedy agents are to blame for the deal not going through. I don't believe a word of it.

That was amusing. They had a superb gif maker on there who produced some brilliant stuff that had me in tears. Funny how all that has been swept under the carpet of history now Liverpool are champions again. It's Rick Parry who is the prime mover behind this 'Project Big Picture' (backed, I'm sorry to say, by United) but that's for another thread.

That was amusing and they deserved all the scorn that was heaped on them. Trouble is, it's like water off a duck's back to to yer average dipper.

It was my anti-Glazer comments that did it. There are quite a few pro-Glazer types on there (or there used to be) who would post all kinds of guff about how debt was a good thing and how well the debt was being managed. That sort of thing. I think a lot of the posters have never set foot in Manchester never mind Old Trafford. The old 'RAWK goes into meltdown' did produce some brilliant satire though. This site is a good place and though I realize I'm here under sufferance, I tend to visit the Chelsea Vintage pages which are excellent. I haven't been abused yet but I expect a few barbs now and then and that's how it should be.

I got banned from there ages ago. Don't go near the place.

Dippers can't afford Dortmund's price. They are not a super-wealthy club. We botched it badly which I knew was going to happen. Chelsea must be favourite if he's coming back to England.

Found this footage from the 1965-66 season. FA Cup 3rd round and Chelsea get revenge for the semi-final defeat the previous season. You beat the losing finalists, Leeds 1-0 in the 4th round and lost to Wednesday in the semis. We lost to Everton 0-1 in the other semi, a game yours truly attended at Burnden Park.

It fits a pattern. Get CL, spend as little as possible. Miss out on CL, spend some money. As for performing, well need I say any more? As for Sancho, I reckon he's yours next summer.

Thomas Tallis - Third Mode Melody. Beautiful 16th century choral composed for Parker's Psalter. Perhaps England's finest composer of the period.

Chelsea 25/1 for the title now. Grab it while you can. Three games in and the gutter press are proclaiming Liverpool already.

I've always been impressed with him. We are desperate for a right-sided forward. United are so left-oriented we look like football's equivalent of the Socialist Workers' Party. Wan-Bissaka is not a wing back by any stretch so a player like Hudson-Odoi would be ideal. I doubt Chelsea would sell to us though and even if they did, the player might not fancy the set-up at United.

I though that he could play on either flank.