The funereal silence in the locker room is what Sammy McIlroy remembers most. Lou Macari doesn't think the players saw it coming. Alex Stepney admits the warning signs were there when Manchester United finished 18th last season.
April 27, 1974. The day United were relegated, although it was Birmingham's victory over Norwich and not, as legend has it, the Manchester derby defeat and an underhanded winner from the inconsolable Denis Law that confirmed their fate.
Law and Bobby Charlton had left United the previous year. George Best, the last of the Holy Trinity who inspired Matt Busby's European Cup-winning side, was gone in January as United were on their way to defeat.
Fifty years ago this week they were recovering from defeat to Oldham Athletic in the Second Division. It came at the end of a December that also saw the aristocrats of English football – and six years earlier the European champions – hold off a goalless goal at Old Trafford by Leyton Orient before sneaking a one-goal win at York City.
If United's relegation was a sensation at the time, it would be practically unthinkable now, even though they are just seven points above the drop zone. However, the 20-time England champions could find themselves in 15th place in the Premier League by the time they arrive at Anfield to take on old rivals Liverpool on Sunday.
Could it really happen again? Mail Sport talks to members of the Boys of '74 about the possibility of history repeating itself.
SAMMY McILROY (Midfielder, 1971-1982)
It just goes to show you that no matter how big your club is, what your history is, what players you've had, you can still go down if things aren't right on the pitch. Anything can happen, including relegation.
I look at the situation now, where we are 14th in the league. Deep down I don't think United will be relegated, but we need to get it right as quickly as possible.
Let's face it, we don't win games and when that happens you drop in the league and it gets even worse: confidence disappears, the supporters are on the edge, you get up in the first five minutes a goal down and the fans are starting to think. “Here we go.” Honestly, there's no worse feeling in football.
I am impressed by Ruben Amorim and the way he has been open about it. I think he says things like this to let the players know what could happen here if we don't get our act together.
It doesn't matter how big your club is, it's happening to you and you have to get on with it and fight.
Right now, the United players have to fight for their lives to get out of this situation and give 100 percent to make sure it happens like it happened in '74. There are a lot of players playing now who don't even know what happened in '74.
Character plays a huge role in a situation like this. You must have it in abundance. They can all play, but you need passion and dedication.
Results don't lie, league positions don't lie. You have to fight for your life to get out.
I am confident that these players will stay in this division and hopefully learn that they don't want to be in this situation again – and you certainly don't want the scenario we had.
It was the quietest locker room I've ever been in. It was crazy for a club like Manchester United to lose their top division status. Unthinkable, but it really happened.
No matter what anyone said to you, it was one of the worst feelings of my football career.
Once Denis scored, he walked off the field into the tunnel, and no one saw him afterward. We had a players' lounge at the time where we would have a drink and chat after the game, but I don't remember seeing him there.
That summer was terrible. Wherever you went, if people recognized you, they shouted at you. You had to grin and take it.
Fans of other teams absolutely loved that a club like United had been relegated. They were waiting for us at the bus and chuckled and laughed at us. In certain areas we came off the field and were spat at and had things thrown at us.
The opposition supporters ridiculed us because of the size of the club. They now let us know what to expect, this was no longer the First Division.
Our first match in the Second Division was away to Leyton Orient, a small ground filled to the brim. Their supporters gave it to us very strongly: this is what we can expect.
When we were relegated and came back, we got stronger and stronger. But Manchester United does not want to be relegated again, not in today's football.
Results can change players' confidence and mindset as you start to get some wins.
Everyone says to me: 'Oh my God, the next two games are away to Liverpool and Arsenal in the FA Cup'.
Those are two games that players want to play. Let's go out and show what we can do. I hope the players have that in mind for the coming matches.
If you give 100 percent and things don't go your way, you can hold your hands up and say I couldn't have done it more. Let's hope the players do that.
ALEX STEPNEY (Goalkeeper, 1966-1978)
At that moment you never think you are going down. The warning signs were there because we struggled last season, and from that point of view it looked like this could happen.
But out of 42 games in the league, I have only conceded 48 goals and we have lost eight games 1-0. That's not a form of relegation, is it?
It was Manchester United and we had won the European Cup in 1968, but Sir Matt Busby was right to resign due to his injuries from the plane crash, his knighthood and gaining Manchester's freedom. It was too much for him.
After that, it all depends on who becomes manager. We had four in four years with Wilf McGuiness, Frank O'Farrell and then Tommy Docherty following Matt.
Tommy brought in some loan players and I don't think that helped because we couldn't get a permanent team.
It had nothing to do with the George Best turmoil, it was a different turmoil with so many players on loan, chopping and changing, that put us in this situation.
We all know what happened with Denis' goal, a back heel from nowhere in the six-yard box, but that doesn't bother me. Birmingham got a result before us and that let us down.
But United will not be relegated this season, in my opinion they are too good for that.
They need to improve and hopefully Ruben Amorim can solve this by the end of the season. That's my opinion and I'm sure he will too. Absolutely, no problem in that regard.
He has to look at everything he has in his team. I have been very honest in saying that I don't think it will be until late January or February that you will see the same line-up for three or four games, if there are injuries now.
Halfway through the season, United is on 22 points. If they can get two or three results, that makes a very big difference.
If we go back to '74, it was a different situation. Two points for a win wasn't much at the time, but now three points is immense.
We play Liverpool this weekend and they are flying, but who would have thought United would beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final last season and at the Etihad last month? There are no easy games anymore.
LOU MACARI (Midfielder, 1973-1984)
I think it's fair to say we didn't see it coming. There had been huge changes with a new manager and new players, but there was no big drama around us from week to week and no talk of us going down, and I think the supporters believed in us.
In March and April we did not lose six games, of which we won four. Only when the rankings show that you are close to the bottom three do you realize that some problems may arise.
But I don't think United will be in a relegation battle again. Give it another two months and if they're in the bottom three I'd be a little concerned, but I think it's any three of five clubs and I don't think United are in those five.
I don't think many people are thinking about this happening right now either.
I could be wrong. As the weeks and months go by, things can change. It could all unravel if things just aren't happening for you.
If the manager says it, pay attention. “Let's not overlook that possibility.” But I'm overlooking it in the hope that it doesn't come to that.
At this point, I don't see them getting dragged into a dogfight. There is enough in the team to stay out of harm's way, but they need to start producing it quickly.
Liverpool at Anfield is never easy. This year is no different than last year or the season before. They are at the top of the tree and are bombing along.
But we can achieve something. Not so long ago we beat City. I don't know who predicted that, but I certainly didn't.
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