Not so. A decent gentleman he was. A good manager and thinker on football too.He simply wasn’t backed by the club and was undermined by some senior players and Sir Matt.
Frank was a decent footballer too.
Rest In Peace.
RIP Frank O’Farrell
- Thread starter golden_blunder
- Start date
Frank was a decent footballer too.
Rest In Peace.
Absolutely.
John Giles speaks about him in the beginning of this. Frank had a go at him for swearing during a match
May he rest in peace.
Interesting. Seemed like his hands were tied before he came in. Big ego's, aging superstars, lack of foresight and a proper foundation built and a figure, though great, still prominent in the background. Quite familiar.
Must say Paddy Crerand doesn't come out well in the documentary at all. Quite mean infact.
But thanks for posting. This is a period of United I knew little of/about, so it's always fascinating to read, listen, watch about the clubs turbulent time post Sir Matt.
O'Farrell seemed like a decent guy too.
RIP Frank O'Farrell.
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Honestly I have no idea. The Edwards family had been happy to put their hands in their pockets and back Sir Matt in the 50s and 60s, and did so again for The Doc and his successors. O’Farrell also, though by then it was too little too late and the midfield was still being ignored (does that sound familiar?).
The weird time was immediately after Sir Matt’s initial stepping down. Wilf McGuinness simply wasn’t backed in the market at all, despite it being obvious that the team needed new blood, particularly in defence and midfield. The “unholy trinity” of Crerand, Foulkes and Stiles were all on their last legs thanks to age or injury and not one of them was adequately replaced. Sir Matt remained in place as General Manager and was supposedly in charge of transfers; the only player he bought was the famously awful Ian Ure to replace the great Bill Foulkes. McGuinness had apparently wanted Colin Todd from Sunderland, who would have largely fixed the defence for the next decade.
A weird fact that only emerged later was that in lieu of a pension and also (allegedly) to buy his loyalty, the Edwards family had given Sir Matt the club shop. Fan feeling at the time was that because that put him in their debt, he did all he could to save them money. They were spending a lot on Old Trafford at the time so probably hoped they could get away with not investing in the team and used Sir Matt as a shield from criticism.
I was only a young teenager at the time, and picked up most of what was going on from listening to older fans bemoaning the state of things. @Moriarty is a good deal more knowledgeable than me about that era.
PS I’m off to Belfast with my daughter next weekend to have a look round Queen’s
Nice one mate lets hope the weathers decent for you
Thanks! Forecast looks a lot better than it does for this weekend.
RIP
Have fun!
Thanks.
It's more for my daughter's benefit than mine, but I'm looking forward to going back to a place that I last visited less than 12 months after O'Farrell was sacked. I believe it's changed a bit since then...
A lot of change since then!
What I remember was getting off the Heysham ferry, passing a massive derelict shipyard, walking to the city centre and having an excellent breakfast at The Europa, which was famous for being "the most bombed hotel in Europe", surrounded by sandbags and anti-vehicle traps.
I was wearing my Parka, which was standard fare for Mancunian 16 year olds at the time. We got stopped at an army checkpoint and told that said garment, having a vaguely military appearance, might "attract small arms fire"
What I remember was getting off the Heysham ferry, passing a massive derelict shipyard, walking to the city centre and having an excellent breakfast at The Europa, which was famous for being "the most bombed hotel in Europe", surrounded by sandbags and anti-vehicle traps.
I was wearing my Parka, which was standard fare for Mancunian 16 year olds at the time. We got stopped at an army checkpoint and told that said garment, having a vaguely military appearance, might "attract small arms fire"
What a great experienceI love Belfast. IF you can, grab something to eat in StGeorges market
Googled it - looks fab. Will deffo go if time permits.
I love Belfast. IF you can, grab something to eat in StGeorges market
Is the Titanic “Experience” any good? My daughter is quite keen, but it looks like a bit of a gimmick without a lot if substance. Like, er, the presence of the Titanic…
I’ve got my eye on a couple of pubs on the Ormeau Road that are in the Good Beer Guide.
Back on topic, I’ve just watched the O’Farrell documentary. It all felt like yesterday, and was absolutely as I remember it. We did play some great stuff at the beginning of his reign, and Buchan and Storey-Moore were excellent signings; a tragedy that the latter turned out to be a crock. MacDougall and Davies smacked of desperation though. At least Docherty was backed to purge the squad; maybe Frank would have been had he taken a harder line.
I’ve only been in it once when it first opened. My wife was heavily pregnant with our first, it was roasting and they delayed our group from going from room to room, including the lift which was broken at the time. We felt like a group waiting for a life craft. It wasn’t a good day, my wife wasn’t offered water and I can’t tell you how warm it was in there.
We were also disappointed that we didn’t get to go on the stairs and take a photo. We were told that it was only for ViPs, which is not how it was marketed at the time.
As far as the museum itself, it was well setup. There were some really interesting bits
It was a few years ago so hopefully they’ve ironed out the kinks.
Right - we’ll give it a go and report back.
My grandfather was an adviser to the Board of Enquiry set up by the Government in the wake of the disaster. One of its recommendations was that the Board of Trade should beef up their Merchant Shipping Inspectorate and put him in charge of it. It’s an ill wind…
Honestly I have no idea. The Edwards family had been happy to put their hands in their pockets and back Sir Matt in the 50s and 60s, and did so again for The Doc and his successors. O’Farrell also, though by then it was too little too late and the midfield was still being ignored (does that sound familiar?).
The weird time was immediately after Sir Matt’s initial stepping down. Wilf McGuinness simply wasn’t backed in the market at all, despite it being obvious that the team needed new blood, particularly in defence and midfield. The “unholy trinity” of Crerand, Foulkes and Stiles were all on their last legs thanks to age or injury and not one of them was adequately replaced. Sir Matt remained in place as General Manager and was supposedly in charge of transfers; the only player he bought was the famously awful Ian Ure to replace the great Bill Foulkes. McGuinness had apparently wanted Colin Todd from Sunderland, who would have largely fixed the defence for the next decade.
A weird fact that only emerged later was that in lieu of a pension and also (allegedly) to buy his loyalty, the Edwards family had given Sir Matt the club shop. Fan feeling at the time was that because that put him in their debt, he did all he could to save them money. They were spending a lot on Old Trafford at the time so probably hoped they could get away with not investing in the team and used Sir Matt as a shield from criticism.
I was only a young teenager at the time, and picked up most of what was going on from listening to older fans bemoaning the state of things. @Moriarty is a good deal more knowledgeable than me about that era.
PS I’m off to Belfast with my daughter next weekend to have a look round Queen’s
McGuinness didn't get a break. He wasn't backed by the players or the board. I have no idea to this day why he was selected. When he was finally sacked, there was a big row in the dressing room (led by Brian Kidd so the story goes) about players not happy with Wilf. But again, Matt Busby kept his office door open and any player with a gripe went over Wilf's head to Matt. Our league form under Wilf was patchy that season. Towards the end, we got hammered 1-4 at Maine Road and 1-3 at Highbury. Wilf's last game was a 4-4 draw at a frozen Baseball Ground but he did manage a good run in the League Cup.
It was a foggy, miserable October night in 1970. 'O' levels were approaching and I had homework. Nevertheless, Chelsea were in town for a League Cup match so I wangled it and went. Lucky for me as I witnessed one of the finest goals George Best ever scored. Taking a pass from Aston on the half-way line, he cut through the Chelsea defence like it wasn't there, he rode a leg-breaker from Chopper Harris, went round Bonnetti and slotted the ball in at the Stretford End to win the match. A home tie followed against Palace and we won 4-2, but 3rd Division Villa put us out in the semi-final. I think it was defeat that cost Wilf his job. It was cumulative of course, but that was embarrassing.
O'Farrell was cut some slack in the transfer market. Martin Buchan was easily his best signing, Storey-Moore was a great player but injury prone. Denis Law remarked that he saw Moore strapping up his ankles before his first training session and knew it wasn't a good sign. Wyn Davies came in from City and scored a cracker on his debut against Derby. The idea was to team him up with Ted MacDougall and they scored a few but the partnership didn't last too long. There was a memorable game against Liverpool marked with crowd violence, police horses on the pitch, and a pitched battle as the Stretford End charged the Scoreboard. Davis got the first and MacDougall the second against a visibly rattled Liverpool team.
We got turned over 0-3 at Maine Road the next weekend. We beat Norwich and Southampton, lost at Stoke, and then went to Palace. By that time, it was common knowledge that Tommy Docherty was the man the club wanted. And so it turned out. It took the Doc seven games before we won a game, beating Wolves at home. We got battered 1-4 at Ipswich and 1-3 at St. Andrews. Bobby Charlton's last season was a relegation dogfight and those two goals in the Doc's first win against Wolves were his last two league goals at Old Trafford. I think he got one more away - Southampton if memory serves = but it was a bit of an ignominious ending for such a great career. Sorry to wander off topic a bit but there was a tendency at the time to put the blame for our demise on Frank O'Farrell. It wasn't. he was always swimming upstream.
One last thing. My dad worked for the newspapers then and knew many of the sportswriters. According to one nationally-known writer, Matt Busby couldn't retire and had to maintain a level of control. He just couldn't let go and watched all the games. I had heard, as @Revaulx mentioned, that he had a stake in the club shop but I hadn't heard the bit about it being in lieu of a pension. Interesting.
What a great post! I’m obviously a couple of years younger than you.
That 4-2 League Cup win v Palace was my first game as a regular Stretford Ender, having only been a TV fan up to then. I tagged along with a lad I was at school with and his mates. The Serious Pundits in the crowd seemed equally divided between the Wilf Is Crap brigade and the He Hasn’t Been Backed lot. The latter were very much of the opinion that if he’d been allowed to have a say over what players were signed (i.e. not Ian Ure; surely the most despised regular starter for United ever) the players would have had far more respect for him. Maybe, but he’d clearly been chosen to be a yes man.
My favourite player was John Fitzpatrick, obvs. He scored on my debut
I reckon the Board got The Doc in because they thought he was capable of doing the job that neither O’Farrell or the Board itself could: put an end to Sir Matt’s interference. Which he did.
The end of 72-73 was pretty dire all in all, and an ignominious end for Law as well as Charlton. We basically clogged our way to survival; 73-74 started off in a similar vein, until we suddenly started playing nice football in the spring.
RIP
RIP