The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 9 Fall

"The Red Devils' glory came and went quickly. After Mangnall resigned, the team quickly fell into trouble. But no matter what difficulties they encountered, the Red Devils always moved forward firmly."

--Inscription

A glorious era that can be called a dynasty is not easy to establish.

The same goes for the Red Devils. Winning two league titles is not enough to dominate the football world for a long time.

The Red Devils won the league championship for the second time in the 1910-1911 season and were already facing an aging crisis. In the season when they won the championship, veteran Billy Meredith was already 37 years old, Sandy Turnbull was already 39 years old, and other players who played with him at the time were also old.

When Mansfield relied on the old players to burn their last passion, he had no time to care about the young players in the team, and it was difficult for young players to stand out. In addition, the status of several players introduced into the team was also sometimes good and sometimes bad. The whole club seemed to be in a period of transition, and hidden dangers had already appeared.

After the Red Devils won the 1910-11 season championship, the team should have been cleaned up, and after stabilizing the core of the team, strong foreign players should have been quickly introduced to rebuild a strong enough team. Man wanted to clean up some of the main players in the team, but this aroused opposition in the locker room.

In addition to the infighting in the locker room, there were serious differences of opinion between coach Mangnall and chairman Davis.

Mangnall insisted on leading the transfer. He wanted to sell some veterans he didn't like and bring in more new players, but Davis believed that some veterans had given everything for the club and were still in good shape, so he disagreed with the coach's opinion.

The serious disagreement between the owner and the head coach ultimately led to the failure of the team's reconstruction.

The Red Devils went from prosperity to decline in the 1911-1912 season. Not only did the team fail to defend the league title, but the performance in the game was also very poor, and the final points ranked only 12th. Fans criticized the coach and believed that it was all Mangnall's fault.

Mangnall was so angry that he resigned at the end of the season and moved to Manchester City, the Red Devils' neighbor and arch-rival.

Mangnall's "decisive" betrayal left a regrettable impression on him among the Red Devils fans.

After Mangnall, chairman Davis appointed Bentley as the new head coach of the Red Devils. Under the efforts of the new coach, the Red Devils' performance improved in the 1912-1913 season, ranking back to fourth. In the 1913-1914 season, the Red Devils' performance in the league was ups and downs, and they performed very poorly, and finally ranked only th in the standings.

Davis was not satisfied with the team's performance and personally led the reform of the club's management system. In December 1914, the Red Devils officially separated the roles of secretary and head coach, with Bentley becoming a full-time secretary and John Robson becoming the head coach.

Robson's ability was mediocre. After he took office, the Red Devils fell into trouble and finally avoided relegation by only 1 point.

The Red Devils fans are becoming more and more angry and helpless. The legendary team in their minds is now falling into uncontrollable depravity.

Just when the Red Devils were in a state of panic, the First World War broke out in 1914. England was quickly drawn into the flames of war and the football league was completely suspended.

Even though the war was raging, regional competitions in England were still held. The Red Devils lost most of their main players because their players joined the army, but they still participated in the Lancashire Championship and kept the flame of the professional club alive.

The flames of World War I spread throughout Europe, and many Red Devils players joined the army to fight for their country. Turnbull was killed in a battle in France in 1917, and the Red Devils lost a hero of the team at the beginning of the century. As the war continued, many Red Devils players also died heroically...

The First World War ended at the end of 1918, and football returned to people's lives. When the league resumed, players, referees, coaches and fans of both teams participated in a moment of silence on match days. Many people printed poppies on their chests to commemorate the heroes who gave their lives for the country.

In August 1919, the English Football League was restarted, and the First Division was expanded to 8 teams. The Red Devils played against Derby County in the first round of the league. In this game, the Red Devils' starting lineup was new except for two old players who played in the 22-1914 season, while the opponents were all new. Before the game, all the Red Devils fans stood in silence to mourn the meritorious player Turnbull, and also expressed their condolences to the innocent victims who died in the war.

In this game, the legendary star of the Red Devils, Meredith, was still able to play. But the aging Meredith was like a portrayal of the Red Devils, unable to regain his glory and performing very poorly.

At the end of the league, the Red Devils ranked only 12th.

After that, the Red Devils fell into various problems, and the team's reconstruction was not smooth. In the 1920-1921 season, the Red Devils continued to struggle in 13th place. In the 1921-1922 season, Chapman served as both head coach and team secretary, but his coaching could not bring progress to the Red Devils, but instead plunged the Red Devils into greater chaos. Meredith also transferred to Manchester City in anger, and other players also left.

Chapman used an iron fist to clean up many meritorious players, but did not bring in enough strong reinforcements. The Red Devils were a mess throughout the season, winning only 42 games in 8 league games and unfortunately being relegated.

It was not until the 1924-1925 season that the Red Devils struggled in the Second Division for three years before they returned to the First Division with the efforts of leader Frank Balson. In the 1925-1926 season, they ranked ninth and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, which was considered stable in the middle.

Two months into the 1926-1927 season, the English Football Association announced a ban on Chapman, which embarrassed the Red Devils.

Clarence Hilditch took over as manager temporarily, which led to chaos in the dressing room. The Red Devils finally appointed Herbert Bamlett as manager at the end of the season, which puzzled everyone because he was just a referee. Bamlett did not lead the team to success, and the team only ranked 1926th in the 1927-15 season, which was already in the bottom.

The Red Devils suffered their biggest blow in 1927. Henry Davis, the great chairman of the club who had saved the team and built Old Trafford, passed away.

Henry Davies is the greatest club chairman in the history of the Red Devils. It was his generosity that saved the Red Devils from bankruptcy; it was his decisive words that officially named the team; it was also his insight that selected Mangnall as the head coach, leading the Red Devils to win two consecutive top league titles, opening up the first peak period of the Red Devils. What makes the Red Devils remember forever is his selfless love and extraordinary support for the team. It was he who personally selected the site, invested alone, and built the best Old Trafford stadium, allowing the Red Devils to truly embark on the road to becoming a top club.

The death of Davis is the greatest loss to the Red Devils Club, and it also makes his fans and relatives who love him extremely sad.

Davis' death also took away the good fortune of the Red Devils. The team continued to struggle in the 1927-1928 season, ranking only 18th at the end of the league, and the alarm bell of relegation had already sounded; the Red Devils barely returned to 1928th in the 1929-12 season, and fell to 1929th in the 1930-17 season, just one step away from relegation. In these years, although the players worked hard and Spencer continued to score goals, the team's strength was limited and it was unable to maintain a stable state in the fierce league.

In the 1930-1931 season, the Red Devils lost 12 games in a row, losing 0-6 to Huddersfield at home and 4-7 to Newcastle. Such a big defeat was embarrassing, and the team's state was getting worse and worse. In the end, the Red Devils lost 42 games in 27 games, conceded 115 goals, and the team had to be relegated.

The Red Devils were relegated twice in less than 10 years, and the confidence of the entire team hit rock bottom.

The Red Devils performed poorly and the fans were very angry. Only 3507 people attended the first league game after relegation, and the fans silently condemned the club's "degeneration". As the competition fell into a slump, the Red Devils also fell into a crisis in operation. By December of this year, the money in the Red Devils' account was not enough to pay wages, and they were once again facing a bankruptcy crisis.

In times of crisis, James Gibson, the owner of a Manchester military uniform production company, took decisive action. He invested 30,000 pounds to help the club pay wages, resolve debts, and get the team back up and running.

Gibson appointed a new head coach, Scott Duncan, and gave him ample funds to attract foreign players, hoping to rebuild a strong team. However, Duncan did not have the ability to turn things around. In the 1933-1934 season, his team's performance was extremely poor, and they were almost at the bottom of the Second Division and almost fell to the third-level league. In the last game of the season, it was still thanks to Tom Manley and Jack Cape's goals that the Red Devils defeated Millwall 2-0 and retained their "poor" Second Division qualification.

Gibson certainly could not tolerate such results. He chose to trust the coach, but he led the purge of players and actively introduced a number of strong players, determined to revive the team. The Red Devils had a new look this season and finally ranked fifth, making great progress. Gibson once again strengthened the team. The Red Devils played with long-lost passion in the 1935-36 season. They were unstoppable and led the standings all the way. They also had an unbeaten record in the last 19 league games. After defeating Bury 3-2, they won the English League Two championship and returned to the first level league.

After the Red Devils were promoted to the First Division, they underestimated the intensity of the top league, did not make adequate preparations, and did not immediately strengthen the lineup and enhance their strength. As a result, the Red Devils suffered another setback in the 1936-37 season, ranked second from the bottom in the league, and unfortunately relegated to the Second Division again.

The failure to avoid relegation made Gibson determined to change the head coach. Duncan left Manchester in November 1937, and Cremo was once again appointed to take charge of the team.

The Red Devils made careful plans and took steady steps in the 1937-1938 season, and successfully upgraded to the second place in the Second Division. After returning to the First Division this time, the Red Devils attached great importance to it and continued to recruit players with big money to enhance their overall strength. Klimo led a new team and discovered the talented new star Johnny Kelly. Johnny Kelly is an excellent full-back. His rise in the Red Devils is amazing. Not only is his defense solid, but his offense is also very sharp. Kelly played a total of 32 games in the new season, scored 6 goals, and assisted 8 times, with a dazzling performance. After a hard battle, the Red Devils were able to successfully avoid relegation and stayed in the First Division, ranking 14th in points.

Just as the Red Devils were hoping to continue to improve, World War II broke out in 1939. The war ruthlessly destroyed the English Football League. Under the bombing of German aircraft, London and Manchester suffered heavy losses. The English leagues at all levels were quickly stopped and were not restarted until the end of the war in 1945.

World War II caused particularly severe damage to the Red Devils. On March 1941, 3, Old Trafford was damaged by a German air raid. The main stand, players' locker room and club offices were destroyed and many people were injured.

From 1912 to 1945, the Red Devils lost the championship, fell into the middle, were relegated to the second division, and then struggled to be promoted and relegated again. It was a thorny journey and difficult at every turn. From Mangnall's betrayal to Davis' death, from a wealthy "rich team" to a poor team on the verge of bankruptcy, the Red Devils went from heaven to hell and encountered difficult challenges. From the First World War that took away many Red Devils' legendary players to the Second World War when Old Trafford was bombed, the Red Devils experienced the "first dark age" and the team almost went bankrupt and disbanded at its worst.

In the most difficult and desperate times, the war was raging, the league was suspended, the club had no income, and the players and staff were unemployed... But even so, the Red Devils did not give up. The players and staff started to save themselves, and no one escaped or abandoned the team.

It is with the indomitable spirit that the Red Devils have seen the light of hope.