1965–66 season | |||
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Chairman | Louis Edwards | ||
Manager | Matt Busby | ||
First Division | 4th | ||
FA Cup | Semi-finals | ||
Charity Shield | Shared | ||
European Cup | Semi-finals | ||
Top goalscorer |
League: David Herd (24) All: David Herd (33) |
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Highest home attendance | 64,035 vs Benfica (2 February 1966) | ||
Lowest home attendance | 23,039 vs Aston Villa (9 May 1966) | ||
Average home league attendance | 41,352 | ||
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The 1965–66 season was Manchester United's 64th season in the Football League, and their 21st consecutive season in the top division of English football.
As defending champions of the First Division title, they finished fourth and secured qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. They made a strong challenge in the cup competitions as well, but their hopes of winning the FA Cup were ended in the semi-finals, when they lost to eventual winners Everton.
In the European Cup, they were also semi-finalists, edged out by Yugoslav league champions Partizan Belgrade. They had to negotiate a premilinary round of the competition before qualifying for the first round, and did so by achieving a 9–2 aggregate win over Finnish league champions HJK Helsinki.
Despite the headlines that George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law were attracting, United's top scorer for this season was the ageing David Herd, who found the net 24 times in the league and 33 in all competitions.
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points