1973 was a more significant year in Manchester United history than you might realise.
The Golden era of the mid and late 1960s was in the past and the club had already completed its phoenix-like journey from the tragic ashes of the Munich air disaster to becoming the first English club to win the European Cup and be crowned continental champions.
But 1973 was the very last year Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best, otherwise known as United’s ‘Holy Trinity’, were at the club together before going their separate ways.
The trio, who are immortalised in statue form at the front of Old Trafford, came together on the pitch for the first time in January 1964 – all three scored that day in a 4-1 win over West Brom.
A teenage Best made his fist-team debut earlier that season. Charlton had emerged from the youth ranks in 1956 as one of the youngest members of the Busby Babes generation, while Law joined United from Torino in Italy in 1962 for a British record transfer fee of £115,000.
All three players won the Ballon d’Or during the 1960s. Law was first in 1964 off the back of a season in which he scored 46 goals in all competitions, which remains a club record to this day. Charlton was next in 1966, the year he won the World Cup with England, while Best’s time was in 1968 as he emerged as the main man when United conquered Europe.
They remain three of the greatest players, not just in United’s own history, but in English football.
United’s 1973 shirt had a distinctly smart and classy look, a step up from the rather more basic round neck jersey of previous years. The crisp white collar stands out sharp.
Prior to the 1970s, United shirts didn’t typically feature a badge or crest unless in a major final. Those that were included, on the 1968 European Cup final shirt, for example, resembled more a coat of arms than what would be recognisable as a modern football club badge.
It was in the early 1970s that a United badge today’s fans would recognise appeared on the shirt for the first time and that was also the first time that the club incorporated a Red Devil into the design. That makes the 1973 jersey particularly historic in terms of shirt design alone.
Historic, iconic, and available now on the United Direct store for £36 in a whole range of sizes.