If you didn’t know better Manchester United’s trip to The Hawthorns to face West Bromwich Albion on January 18, 1964 might look much like any other fixture. But it wasn’t. This was the game in which three players who would go on to form the core of one the greatest United sides ever took to the field together for the very first time.
The 1963/64 campaign wasn’t the greatest for United. They finished runners-up in the league to Liverpool, went out in the semi-finals of the FA Cup and crashed out of the European Cup Winners’ Cup after surrendering a 4-0 first-leg lead to Sporting Lisbon; but in terms of what was to come it was something of a watershed season.
That’s because George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton all found themselves in the starting XI for the very first time for the trip to West Brom and would go on to become one of the most successful and well-known trios, not just in the history of the club, but throughout the game as a whole.
The three came together at a time when the club was still rebuilding from the tragic plane crash at Munich following a European Cup tie in Belgrade just six years before which had all but wiped out the nucleus of a side that many felt was destined for greatness.
Bobby Charlton, one of the Busby babes and a Munich survivor himself, had already enjoyed success with United when he lifted the league title in 1956/57 until that young side’s inevitable march to glory was so abruptly halted on that horrific night in 1958.
Unsurprisingly the crash had a huge impact on United’s achievements in the years that followed as manager Matt Busby looked to salvage a side that had perished in the ashes of a German airfield and by the turn of the 1960s Manchester United were a shadow of their former selves, narrowly avoiding relegation in 1963 despite lifting the FA Cup the same year.
But this was also the season that a certain Denis Law joined the club from Torino and his performances were pivotal for the club when it came to maintaining their First Division status and achieving glory at Wembley as Law found the net 29 times during his first season including one in the final victory over Leicester.
Even so, Busby’s men were still some way off equalling the potential of the pre-Munich side and new recruits were still required, with one in particular proving to be the final piece in a jigsaw which would propel United on to become one of the greatest sides in Europe.
The addition of a skinny lad from Belfast called George Best proved to be a masterstroke as his dribbling ability, speed, balance and close control perfectly accompanied the grace, class and composure of Charlton along with the pace, aerial presence and goals of Law.
Their impact was almost instant with United claiming the league title in 1965, their first since Munich and in the Holy Trinity’s debut full season together as the three went on to reach the pinnacle of domestic and European football together as well as achieving individual recognition.
On the back of another league title in 1967 the club fulfilled Matt Busby’s and the club’s long-held ambition of lifting the European Cup in 1968 thanks to a Bobby Charlton brace and a typical goal from George Best earned United a 4-1 victory over the mighty Benfica.
And the contribution of United’s tremendous trio during this unrivalled period of success for the Old Trafford club didn’t go unnoticed; with Law in 1964, Charlton in 1966, and Best in 1968 all being awarded the prestigious Ballon d'Or award.
After reaching the height of their success that glorious era eventually came to a close as the curtain came down on the swinging sixties. A combination of Law’s persistent injuries, Best’s well-publicised battles with booze and Charlton’s ageing body, not to mention the retirement of the great Matt Busby, meant the holy trinity was finally dismantled in 1972.
Even so, some eight years after taking the field together on a cold January afternoon in the West Midlands three of the most recognisable names in football had bagged two league titles, a European Cup and three European Footballer of the year awards between them; while leaving a legacy that is still remembered to this day as the three are immortalized in the form a bronze statue outside Old Trafford.
And the score that fateful day? West Bromwich Albion 1 Manchester United 4; with goals from Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best, of course.
