Fifty years ago, Manchester United were relegated from the top flight. Seems an unthinkable sentence, doesn’t it? But that’s precisely what happened on 27 April 1974, when Birmingham City’s victory over Norwich City condemned Tommy Docherty’s side to demotion.
At the same time, United were playing in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford. That game has gone down in infamy; abandoned with minutes remaining, the result stayed, City having just taken a one goal lead. The hosts could have won - it would have been academic due to the result at St. Andrew’s.
The big question always asked is: how could such a thing happen?