1960–61 Manchester United F.C. season
# 1960–61 Manchester United F.C. season

The 1960–61 season was Manchester United's 59th season in the Football League, and their 16th consecutive season in the top division of English football. It was also United's first season in the inaugural Football League Cup, and for the second successive season they finished seventh in the league.

## First Division

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 20 August 1960 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 1–3 | Charlton | 47,778 |
| 24 August 1960 | Everton | A | 0–4 | | 51,602 |
| 31 August 1960 | Everton | H | 4–0 | Dawson (2), Charlton, Nicholson | 51,818 |
| 3 September 1960 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 1–4 | Viollet | 55,445 |
| 5 September 1960 | West Ham United | A | 1–2 | Quixall | 30,506 |
| 10 September 1960 | Leicester City | H | 1–1 | Giles | 35,493 |
| 14 September 1960 | West Ham United | H | 6–1 | Charlton (2), Viollet (2), Quixall, Scanlon | 33,695 |
| 17 September 1960 | Aston Villa | A | 1–3 | Viollet | 43,593 |
| 24 September 1960 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–3 | Charlton | 44,458 |
| 1 October 1960 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–1 | Giles | 39,197 |
| 15 October 1960 | Burnley | A | 3–5 | Viollet (3) | 32,011 |
| 22 October 1960 | Newcastle United | H | 3–2 | Dawson, Setters, Stiles | 37,516 |
| 24 October 1960 | Nottingham Forest | H | 2–1 | Viollet (2) | 23,628 |
| 29 October 1960 | Arsenal | A | 1–2 | Quixall | 45,715 |
| 5 November 1960 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 0–0 | | 36,855 |
| 12 November 1960 | Birmingham City | A | 1–3 | Charlton | 31,549 |
| 19 November 1960 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 3–0 | Dawson, Quixall, Viollet | 32,756 |
| 26 November 1960 | Cardiff City | A | 0–3 | | 21,122 |
| 3 December 1960 | Preston North End | H | 1–0 | Dawson | 24,904 |
| 10 December 1960 | Fulham | A | 4–4 | Quixall (2), Charlton, Dawson | 23,625 |
| 17 December 1960 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 2–1 | Pearson (2) | 17,285 |
| 24 December 1960 | Chelsea | A | 2–1 | Dawson, Charlton | 37,601 |
| 26 December 1960 | Chelsea | H | 6–0 | Dawson (3), Nicholson (2), Charlton | 50,164 |
| 31 December 1960 | Manchester City | H | 5–1 | Dawson (3), Charlton (2) | 61,213 |
| 14 January 1961 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 2–0 | Pearson, Stiles | 65,295 |
| 21 January 1961 | Leicester City | A | 0–6 | | 31,308 |
| 4 February 1961 | Aston Villa | H | 1–1 | Charlton | 33,525 |
| 11 February 1961 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–2 | Nicholson | 38,526 |
| 18 February 1961 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 3–1 | Dawson (2), Quixall | 37,558 |
| 25 February 1961 | Nottingham Forest | A | 2–3 | Charlton, Quixall | 26,850 |
| 4 March 1961 | Manchester City | A | 3–1 | Charlton, Dawson, Pearson | 50,479 |
| 11 March 1961 | Newcastle United | A | 1–1 | Charlton | 28,870 |
| 18 March 1961 | Arsenal | H | 1–1 | Moir | 29,732 |
| 25 March 1961 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 1–5 | Charlton | 35,901 |
| 31 March 1961 | Blackpool | A | 0–2 | | 30,835 |
| 1 April 1961 | Fulham | H | 3–1 | Charlton, Quixall, Viollet | 24,654 |
| 3 April 1961 | Blackpool | H | 2–0 | Nicholson, own goal | 39,169 |
| 8 April 1961 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–1 | Pearson | 27,750 |
| 12 April 1961 | Burnley | H | 6–0 | Quixall (3), Viollet (3) | 25,019 |
| 15 April 1961 | Birmingham City | H | 4–1 | Pearson (2), Quixall, Viollet | 28,376 |
| 22 April 1961 | Preston North End | A | 4–2 | Charlton (2), Setters (2) | 21,252 |
| 29 April 1961 | Cardiff City | H | 3–3 | Charlton (2), Setters | 30,320 |
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 5 | Everton | 42 | 22 | 6 | 14 | 87 | 69 | 1.261 | 50 | |
| 6 | Leicester City | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 87 | 70 | 1.243 | 45 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup preliminary round |
| 7 | Manchester United | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 88 | 76 | 1.158 | 45 | |
| 8 | Aston Villa | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 78 | 77 | 1.013 | 43 | |
| 9 | Blackburn Rovers | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 77 | 76 | 1.013 | 43 | |

* ↑ Leicester City qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup preliminary round as the 1960–61 FA Cup runners-up, since the winners, Tottenham Hotspur, had already qualified for the European Cup.

## FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 7 January 1961 | Round 3 | Middlesbrough | H | 3–0 | Dawson (2), Cantwell | 49,184 |
| 28 January 1961 | Round 4 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 1–1 | Cantwell | 58,000 |
| 1 February 1961 | Round 4 Replay | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 2–7 | Dawson, Pearson | 65,243 |

## League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 19 October 1960 | Round 1 | Exeter City | A | 1–1 | Dawson | 14,494 |
| 26 October 1960 | Round 1 Replay | Exeter City | H | 4–1 | Quixall (2), Giles, Pearson | 15,662 |
| 2 November 1960 | Round 2 | Bradford City | A | 1–2 | Viollet | 4,670 |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Ronnie Briggs | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| GK | David Gaskell | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| GK | Harry Gregg | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| GK | Mike Pinner | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FB | Harold Bratt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FB | Shay Brennan | 41 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 0 |
| FB | Noel Cantwell | 24 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 2 |
| FB | Joe Carolan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FB | Ronnie Cope | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| FB | Tony Dunne | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FB | Tommy Heron | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| HB | Bill Foulkes | 40 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| HB | Frank Haydock | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| HB | Nobby Lawton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| HB | Jimmy Nicholson | 31 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 37 | 5 |
| HB | Maurice Setters | 40 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 4 |
| HB | Nobby Stiles | 26 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 2 |
| FW | Warren Bradley | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FW | Bobby Charlton | 39 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 21 |
| FW | Alex Dawson | 28 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 34 | 20 |
| FW | Johnny Giles | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 3 |
| FW | Ian Moir | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| FW | Kenny Morgans | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Mark Pearson | 27 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 33 | 9 |
| FW | Albert Scanlon | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| FW | Albert Quixall | 38 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 41 | 15 |
| FW | Dennis Viollet | 24 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 16 |
| – | Own goals | – | 1 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 1 |
