Wilf McGuinness, Manchester United manager

To Wilf McGuinness fell the unenviable task of following Sir Matt Busby. It would have been a challenge to the most experienced of managers, especially as Busby was still around. For someone with no management experience, it was an unfair appointment.

McGuinness was one of Busby’s babes. He joined Manchester United in 1953, aged sixteen, and played as a defensive wing-half. His playing career was short. He broke his leg in a reserve game in 1960, when only in his early twenties, and never played again. In 1961 he was appointed reserve and youth team trainer and later became reserve team coach. He worked for Busby throughout the successful 1960s and also, for a time, for Alf Ramsey and England. In January 1969 it was announced that at the end of the season Sir Matt Busby would retire. He would become General Manager and the team would be the responsibility of a ‘head coach’. It was Busby himself who nominated Wilf McGuinness for the role. McGuinness was only thirty-one when he was appointed.

The arrangement didn’t work. McGuinness was the same generation as some of the players and just didn’t have the stature or the experience for the job. The team he inherited was ageing and in need of rebuilding. He suggested new players to refresh the side, but none of them was signed. The star of his team was George Best but, in the early 1970s, Best was beginning to be uncontrollable. It was an impossible task. In 1969-1970, Manchester United finished eighth in the League, and reached the semi-finals of both FA Cup and League Cup. At the end of the season, McGuinness was officially given the title of manager, only then to be sacked a few months later. The start to the 1970-1971 season wasn’t great and, in December, Busby returned to the job.

McGuinness was again put in charge of the reserves. This time, he only stayed a short while before leaving Old Trafford and going to Greece. Apparently the stress of it all made him so ill, all his hair fell out. He managed in Greece for three years and then in York for a further two. He later worked in various capacities at Bury.