ไทย
English
中國人
A stunning finish to a chaotic match may not have been enough to secure Michael Carrick's position on Sunday as United snatched a draw from the brink of defeat against Aston Villa at Old Trafford. Patrick Dorgu's (very) late equalizer still left the Red Devils ending the weekend inside the relegation zone.
According to a statistic circulating on social media, this marks the first time Manchester United have found themselves in the bottom three at this point of the season since 1986–87. United recovered to finish 11th that year—but only after a manager named Alex Ferguson was brought in during November.
With the prospect of appointing a modern equivalent of arguably the greatest manager in soccer history looking remote, the Opta supercomputer puts United's chances of going down at 21.58%—remarkably only 7% more likely than Ipswich Town's survival odds.
This weekend, as Nottingham Forest defeated Manchester City, the traveling supporters from the blue half of Manchester chanted, "We're going down with United."
Should it occur, United's relegation would be a seismic shock; a kind of reverse Leicester City title miracle. In the history of the Premier League, there has been nothing comparable.
Five Relegations in 132 Years
Today, United are undeniably one of the sport's most powerful and decorated institutions—ranked as the most valuable English soccer club by Forbes and the side with the most Premier League championships. But it hasn't always been this way.
It has been over 50 years since it last occurred, but Manchester United have been relegated before—five times, to be precise.
The very first time the club dropped out of England's top flight was in 1894. Known then as Newton Heath, the team had also finished bottom of the First Division the previous season, but survived via a playoff victory over the Second Division champions. There was no such escape the second time around, with a rising Liverpool winning that playoff 2–0.
United—by then actually bearing the United name and playing in red rather than green and gold following a 1902 rebrand—were relegated from the top flight again in both 1922 and 1931. The latter campaign began with a staggering 12 consecutive defeats that still stands as part of the club's longest-ever winless run.
The club came perilously close to dropping into the third tier for the first time in their history in 1934, but beat Millwall 2–0 on the final day of the Second Division season to stay up.
After earning promotion back to the First Division, United's fourth relegation—and second in six years—came in 1937. However, an immediate return followed and the club eventually stabilized over several decades thanks to new financial backing and the landmark 1945 appointment of Matt Busby.
Manchester United Relegations Throughout History
Humiliation in 1974
#onthisday in 1974... pic.twitter.com/jlWbZH4lqU
Following World War Two, United quickly established themselves as a powerhouse, claiming five First Division titles across the 1950s and 1960s, as well as becoming the first English club to lift the European Cup in 1968. Yet it was just six years after that iconic triumph over Benfica at Wembley that United suffered their fifth and (to date) most recent relegation.
A strange season saw the legendary George Best's contract terminated by New Year amid off-field issues, while goalkeeper Alex Stepney was handed penalty-taking duties—a quirk that made him the club's leading scorer for a notable stretch of a directionless campaign.
The second-to-last match of the season against rivals Manchester City entered English soccer folklore after former United icon Denis Law scored an 81st-minute backheel against his former club to hand City the win and effectively seal the Red Devils' fate—though results elsewhere meant relegation would have been confirmed regardless. The moment triggered a pitch invasion by United supporters hoping to have the result voided, but it proved futile.
Post-Ferguson Malaise
15 - Manchester United are now guaranteed to spend at least 15 consecutive days in the Premier League relegation zone. It is their longest run of days in the top-flight drop zone since September/October 1986 (28).
Dejected. pic.twitter.com/wtpy0nCLOx
United, whose swift decline after dominating Europe was startling, spent just a single season in the second tier and have not come particularly close to returning in the five decades since.
The club flirted with mediocrity during the 1980s, but Ferguson's arrival steered them clear of any genuine peril even as they regularly finished mid-table in the Scot's early tenure.
Between 1990 and 2013, United never finished outside the top seven in the league—claiming the title on 13 occasions.
But the stagnation of the post-Ferguson era and the directionless, self-serving ownership of the Glazer family has dramatically altered the picture. United came as close as they have in modern times to the drop in 2024–25, finishing 15th with just 42 points—though they never slipped into the bottom three during that campaign. That scare might have represented the club's recent low point had things not deteriorated further this season.
With nearly three quarters of 2026–27 still remaining, there is ample time for United to reverse course, but—with confidence at a modern-day low—there is also a sense that things could yet worsen. The memories of the 1970s no longer feel quite so remote.