Man Utd 0 Man City 1 27/04/74

[stan bowles]

I don’t buy that though. I can understand him being conflicted between doing his job and his loyalty to them but to walk off straight away always felt bizarre to me. The pitch invasion, I felt, made up his mind and he would have stayed on longer if it hadn’t have happened.

I thought Tony Book, recognising Law's conflicted loyalty and the fact his head had gone a bit after scoring, took the decision to sub Denis off rather than have him on the pitch at the end when all hell could break loose.

 

[Blue and still suffering]

I thought Tony Book, recognising Law's conflicted loyalty and the fact his head had gone a bit after scoring, took the decision to sub Denis off rather than have him on the pitch at the end when all hell could break loose.

That's my recollection as well.

 

[ROBSH34]

51 years today
Happy days.

 

[Eaststander1]

I'll never forget that day ....

I was stood in the United road paddock, down near the end where Law scored, when the atmosphere started to turn vile in the second half, and soon afterwards the ragshite, many of them dressed like members of the Bay City Rollers, invaded the pitch ..... some of them deliberately tried to intimidate City players, but others decided to climb over the scoreboard end fencing to reach City fans who had pretty much vacated that area already and had instead congregated in the nearby Scoreboard Paddock, and it was that stand where all the trouble kicked off .... the City fans were goading them with loud chants of 'City, City, City' as the rags got closer, and then fierce fighting ensued for quite some time ... it was going on right opposite me .... the coppers were absent from that area, and either stood on the pitch, or by the side of it, still trying to cope with the rest of the pitch invasion ..... the match itself just 'fizzled out', as the pitch invasion, and the fighting in the scoreboard paddock took centre stage, and i don't think the game restarted as it was almost full time anyway .... but to be honest i was just glad to get home that day, the trouble and hostility 'soured' any joy that Laws goal had brought.

 

[Eaststander1]

Was there no away end in those days? Could hear loads of City but couldn’t see any area that looked exclusively City?

How did away tickets work for all ticket games if there was dedicated end?

Never heard of Henson btw.

You could hear City because, as the pitch invasion happened, they all relocated into the scoreboard end paddock, from the scoreboard end .. and the City fans were then chanting loudly, and goading the rags as they climbed over the fences to confront them ... the media box, sound equipment and tv cameras were all to the left of them, and close by, so on tv or radio you would definitely have heard the City fans.

In other derbies, especially the later ones, the City fans massed across the scoreboard end, as segregation in grounds became much better organised, and patrolled/monitored .... but in the early-mid 70s in particular it was pretty much non existent, and you basically went to away games simply hoping for the best!

 

[City & Blue Brazil]

Thought the game was all ticket . Was in the ground about half one after running gauntlet of rags looking for city fans going in the ground. First chant of city and the rags came on the pitch mainly from Stretford end and we basically legged it to anywhere else in the stadium we could get into which is why there were so many city fans to the side of the coreboard end. Sure i can vaguely remember city fans singing Birmingham as fact they were winning meant relegation. Went on the pitch at the end as safest place to be and exited via utd rd. Exciting stuff for a naive 15 year old lad at first away Derby!

 

[No 1 City Fan]

View attachment 154344
Thought the game was all ticket . Was in the ground about half one after running gauntlet of rags looking for city fans going in the ground. First chant of city and the rags came on the pitch mainly from Stretford end and we basically legged it to anywhere else in the stadium we could get into which is why there were so many city fans to the side of the coreboard end. Sure i can vaguely remember city fans singing Birmingham as fact they were winning meant relegation. Went on the pitch at the end as safest place to be and exited via utd rd. Exciting stuff for a naive 15 year old lad at first away Derby!

I was also 16 at the time, my mates wouldn't go to the game so I went alone. I was in the scoreboard end and remember the scary atmosphere. You could tell what was going down. I still regret it to this day that I left one minute before Law scored as I was shitting it. I always remember the faces of the reds on the bus home...and singing "Division two is calling you Man Utd" in my head!

 

[percypawpaw]

I was also 16 and had a ticket for the scoreboard end, as previous it wasn't a good day for Blues, apart from the result.

 

[colinbellsboy]

I was stood in paddock next to k stand on the mainstand side, in the corner with some mates,utd and city, and ended up on the pitch near the corner flag. Tbh, it was a lot safer there than in the paddock, from what I can remember. I can't really recall much of the game, but it's great seeing replays of the back heel.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

View attachment 154344
Thought the game was all ticket . Was in the ground about half one after running gauntlet of rags looking for city fans going in the ground. First chant of city and the rags came on the pitch mainly from Stretford end and we basically legged it to anywhere else in the stadium we could get into which is why there were so many city fans to the side of the coreboard end. Sure i can vaguely remember city fans singing Birmingham as fact they were winning meant relegation. Went on the pitch at the end as safest place to be and exited via utd rd. Exciting stuff for a naive 15 year old lad at first away Derby!

I am sure I paid cash to get into the scoreboard paddock which seemed about 30 pc blues. There was no segregation. Most City fans were behind the goal but we all kept our heads down in my area at least. My main memory is afterwards. It was carnage on Warwick Road but I couldn’t stop laughing and a Rag fan spat in my face. I was 15 and in a group of pals from Withington, two of whom were United fans. We all got split up afterwards when all hell let loose outside.

 

[Sid C]

I am sure I paid cash to get into the scoreboard paddock which seemed about 30 pc blues. There was no segregation. Most City fans were behind the goal but we all kept our heads down in my area at least. My main memory is afterwards. It was carnage on Warwick Road but I couldn’t stop laughing and a Rag fan spat in my face. I was 15 and in a group of pals from Withington, two of whom were United fans. We all got split up afterwards when all hell let loose outside.

Warwick Rd was like Roukes Drift after the game, the poor little raggies were having a right hissey fit.

 

[spinney]

He didn't send them down, unfortunately. Because of results elsewhere, they were fucked, even if they beat us.

When Denis Law didn't relegate Manchester United with a backheel

One of English football's biggest myths is how Manchester United legend Denis Law relegated his former club with a backheel whilst playing for rivals Manchester City. He actually didn't. Here's a tribute to one of the finest to ever play... and what really happened.

www.planetfootball.com

He did , their results could still have changed

And they could have come back at us (haha)

So their own pitch invaders got them relegated

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

He didn't send them down, unfortunately. Because of results elsewhere, they were fucked, even if they beat us.

When Denis Law didn't relegate Manchester United with a backheel

One of English football's biggest myths is how Manchester United legend Denis Law relegated his former club with a backheel whilst playing for rivals Manchester City. He actually didn't. Here's a tribute to one of the finest to ever play... and what really happened.

www.planetfootball.com

As one Anthony H Wilson, a rag too, once said:
“When forced to pick between truth and legend, print the legend.”

 

[bluegaz13]

I mentioned this before in another thread some months back….I was there as a 13 year old with my dad in the scoreboard and was cheering at HT when the scores were announced. I seem to remember that Birmingham were winning and got a slap across the face from a United fan.

Not sure that I would have retaliated but my dad made doubly sure I didn’t

I seem to remember about three or four invasions with the Stretford End jumping over the fences into the Scoreboard end.

A great feeling though when Law scored and even if not true, it seemed as though we had relegated them.

At the end there were United fans punching their own that had made the trip from the Stretford End.

 

[NPBlue]

I'll never forget that day ....

I was stood in the United road paddock, down near the end where Law scored, when the atmosphere started to turn vile in the second half, and soon afterwards the ragshite, many of them dressed like members of the Bay City Rollers, invaded the pitch ..... some of them deliberately tried to intimidate City players, but others decided to climb over the scoreboard end fencing to reach City fans who had pretty much vacated that area already and had instead congregated in the nearby Scoreboard Paddock, and it was that stand where all the trouble kicked off .... the City fans were goading them with loud chants of 'City, City, City' as the rags got closer, and then fierce fighting ensued for quite some time ... it was going on right opposite me .... the coppers were absent from that area, and either stood on the pitch, or by the side of it, still trying to cope with the rest of the pitch invasion ..... the match itself just 'fizzled out', as the pitch invasion, and the fighting in the scoreboard paddock took centre stage, and i don't think the game restarted as it was almost full time anyway .... but to be honest i was just glad to get home that day, the trouble and hostility 'soured' any joy that Laws goal had brought.


View attachment 154625

I'm with you with that. I was on my own in the corner now occupied by the away supporters, and it was a horrible experience.

It was ferel, and I remember a marauding pack of united supporters kicking and booting a united supporter all the way down the terrace because they thought he was a City fan, despite his protestations and red and white scarf around his neck. He didn't move when he got to the bottom of the stand.

After that, with police horses on the pitch and general mayhem all around, some guy from a group in front of me turned around and said I should stand in the gulley between the two stands to stay out of sight, and they would protect me. They knew I was a City fan, but their intentions were good.

I stayed there for a while, watching or hearing Matt Busby pleading for calm, but I don't remember now when I left the ground.

I do recall a sense of relief when I got home, and like you say, there wasn't, at the time as far as I can remember, any sense of joy from what I had seen that day with regard to united being relegated.

I had survived, and that is my overwhelmng recollection.

 

[shnaghaicityfish]

I was in the Scoreboard End wearing a denim jacket covered in City badges. When they came across the pitch I escaped up the wall at the back into the seats (given a leg up by a copper!) and made it safely back to the coach back to Macc. Happy Days!

 

[Eaststander1]

I'm with you with that. I was on my own in the corner now occupied by the away supporters, and it was a horrible experience.

It was ferel, and I remember a marauding pack of united supporters kicking and booting a united supporter all the way down the terrace because they thought he was a City fan, despite his protestations and red and white scarf around his neck. He didn't move when he got to the bottom of the stand.

After that, with police horses on the pitch and general mayhem all around, some guy from a group in front of me turned around and said I should stand in the gulley between the two stands to stay out of sight, and they would protect me. They knew I was a City fan, but their intentions were good.

I stayed there for a while, watching or hearing Matt Busby pleading for calm, but I don't remember now when I left the ground.

I do recall a sense of relief when I got home, and like you say, there wasn't, at the time as far as I can remember, any sense of joy from what I had seen that day with regard to united being relegated.

I had survived, and that is my overwhelmng recollection.

Yep, it sounds like you were in that scoreboard paddock that was referring too, that's pretty much the section of the ground which the visiting fans are given at Old Trafford nowadays .... i was stood in the United Road/Cantilever stand directly opposite it and i could see a really bad situation developing, although I could clearly tell from the chanting that there was still quite a sizeable number of City fans still in that corner as united fans approached, you could also tell that from the fierce fighting that went on for a while too ..... like you say it's not a day to look back on with any positive thoughts .... the atmosphere just got worse as the 2nd half wore on, and the trouble near the end just 'killed' any enjoyment from the game .... in the 55 years I've been going to Old Trafford to watch derby matches, and I've been in EVERY stand there on many occasions, that day was the by far the worst ... other than for Laws late goal, only the trouble there that day sparks any kind of memory of the actual match.

I walked back to Hulme afterwards, where I was living at the time, but didn't see any further trouble .... I can recall it was all over the tv news reports/media though.