That was a very strange match. It was basically a dead rubber after the season had finished and was played like a friendly. The crowd (43,000 according to this site) was much lower than usual for a Derby in those days. There were not many United fans there but I still remember some scrapping in the Kippax in the corner.Weird game, came back from 4 0 down to lose 4 3. When Andrews approached Busby all you could hear at Maine Rd was " City reject allo ,allo, cut out from broadczst not surprisingly. Think it must have been 1971 as still at school, one of smallest rag followings I can remember at a home Derby.
Been dead to me for a long time.You are writing in the past tense as if Law is dead?
Think City still had a chance of avoiding relegation that day but Chelsea won easily. Ugly scenes at the end and Zola looked pretty scared as fans swarmed around him, no way to treat a great player.Us in 2000 v Chelsea, ref blew up early.
Yes - 3 pitch invasions in total. Two during game and one before kick off.I was there with my dad (I was aged 12 ) stood in the scoreboard end and if I remember correctly there were either 2 or 3 pitch invasions…..all I remember is the Stretford End running across the pitch and climbing into the Scoreboard end….they seemed to be diving over our heads.
I remember the half time scores being announced and the results meaning United were being relegated whatever the result at OT and I was cheering and got slapped across the face by a United fan…..not that I would have done because it was pretty scary….but there’s no way my dad would let me retaliate.
At the end of the match they were all fighting amongst each other.
What it meant in the end was that we had humiliated them on their own patch…..regardless of the other results, it still felt as though we were responsible for their relegation.
What a pity a few years ago when we fluffed our lines at 2.0 up and with Sterling missing a hatful of chances….to win the league by beating them…..I think the emotions would have been very similar.
I’ve read it and really enjoyed it.Yes - 3 pitch invasions in total. Two during game and one before kick off.
The detailed article on the Denis Law Backheel and Utd’s relegation goes behind the paywall at the end of Monday so Bluemooners can read it for free now: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2022/09/20/denis-law-and-uniteds-relegation-2/ Enjoy!