“…We have to prepare the season and when you have a lot of commercial activities also for the players, and you have to travel distances, you have to fly a lot, you have also jet lag, and that is not very positive for a good preparation.” – Louis van Gaal
At time of writing, Manchester United were hours away from a rare kick-off in my time zone. Thankfully for supporters in North America, a pre-season visit from our beloved Reds is becoming more common. I was there in Seattle in 2003 when we beat Glasgow Celtic 4-0 and the club returned to this side of the Atlantic in 2004.
But new boss Louis van Gaal is not so enamoured with the current tour – which could last close to a fortnight and see MUFC play four [or hopefully five, if we progress to the final of the International Champion’s Cup] matches.
One wonders what Van Gaal would have thought of the schedule in 1950 then – when the club played it’s last league fixture on 29 April and headed straight to North America for the start of their six-week, twelve match tour. The squad traveled by sea on the Queen Mary [Southampton to New York City] and played the first tour match on 10 May in Toronto. Two players – John Aston, Sr. and Henry Cockburn then headed to Brazil for the 1950 World Cup.
By my count, the Reds have toured North America almost a dozen times over the years. But let’s take a more detailed look at their first visit, more than sixty years ago.
Manager – Matt Busby: The United supremo took a seventeen-man squad with him, for what would be a long trip with a lot of matches squeezed in. I’m not sure that the players would have had to deal with the same level of commercial commitments that we see today – but it was a big deal among the North American ‘soccer’ community for the Reds to come calling.
Busby would lead the team to eight victories, two draws and two losses – MUFC would score fifty-seven goals, allowing the opposition to score only twenty.
Goalkeepers: Jack Crompton would have played all twelve matches, as Busby left the backup keeper – Irishman Sonny Feehan – at home. The varying degree of opposition meant that Crompton had it easy in some of the games, but it’s worth noting that United only managed four clean sheets during the tour.
Defenders: There was a big stir after our recent friendly victory over L.A. Galaxy when United lined up with three at the back. This was much more common in the ‘50s, when most English teams played the ‘W-M’ formation – pioneered by Arsenal’s Herbert Chapman.
Skipper Johnny Carey led the back line in this squad, along with another veteran in England international John Aston. Providing depth were Tom McNulty and Johnny [Jack] Ball.
Midfielders: Regulars Allenby Chilton and Henry Cockburn would likely have filled the two half back slots. This pairing would notch almost seven hundred United appearances during their careers.
Welshman Jack Warner, Scot Tommy Lowrie and Englishman Sammy Lynn would also have seen some playing time in the centre of the park.
Forwards: Fans of offence would have loved the days when every team played with five up front – with two inside forwards and two wingers supporting a centre forward.
On the wing we would see Scot Jimmy Delaney, who had joined United from Celtic when he was in his thirties. The right-winger would go on to 184 appearances for the Reds before heading back north to Aberdeen in November 1950. On the left was Charlie Mitten – who would score eight goals on tour – in what would be his United farewell. The Burma-born Mitten had made 162 appearances for Manchester United, scoring 61 goals – but he was sold to Colombian side Santa Fe right after the tour.
United’s forward line was fearsome in this era, and the main trio of Jack Rowley [12 goals on tour, 424 appearances, 211 goals, fourth all-time scorer], Stan Pearson [343 appearances, 148 goals] and John Downie [10 tour goals, 116 appearances and 37 goals] must have been quite worrisome for most of the opposition we faced.
Providing backup were Scot Tommy Bogan and England’s Brian Birch.
Opposition: As is sometimes the case on these tours, United faced all manner of opposition as they travelled the continent. There were the usual ‘All-Star’ XI’s; some established clubs and a match against an All-England side that was essentially the England team warming up for their upcoming World Cup.
As mentioned, Manchester United managed eight victories. The largest margins were in the 9-2 rout of the New York All-Stars and the 7-1 trouncing of the Los Angeles ‘A’ Stars, which closely mirrored the score line of our recent match against the Galaxy.
The Kearny/Philadelphia Stars managed a 2-2 draw against the Red Devils in a match where the opposition led 2-1, prior to John Aston equalizing in the 89th minute. If you haven’t heard of Kearny, New Jersey you’re not alone. But the town was a hotbed for the American Soccer League of the era, with two clubs – Celtic and Scots – who had been runners-up to the powerful pair of Philly teams – the Nationals and Americans. The Stars side featured no less than four future US Soccer Hall of Famers.
Mexico’s Atlas FC was the other team to manage a draw with the Reds – playing to a 6-6 score line in Los Angeles. By all accounts this was a scrappy affair, with Atlas coming from behind no less than three times and the players coming to blows in the second half. United led 6-5, until late in the match when Carey conceded the penalty that was converted to share the honours.
The wheels came off during the last two matches – with United losing to the aforementioned England side [4-2 in Toronto] as well as the final match of the tour, a rematch against Sweden’s Jönköpings Södra IF that saw the Scandinavians exact revenge for their loss earlier on tour by beating Manchester United 3-1 in Chicago.
At the end of the day the tour must have been a successful endeavour, as Busby brought the club back across the pond in 1952 and 1960. Other managers took the club on USA tours in the seventies and early eighties and Sir Alex Ferguson resumed the practice in 2003.
While the game continues to grow in North America, with the Premier League especially popular and record ratings for the recent World Cup – it remains to be seen if the sport will crack the mainstream landscape here. I doubt it could ever take down hockey here in Canada, or NFL is the USA – but it’s encouraging that with every tour we continue to win over new supporters. Not to mention the commercial value of the tour to a club who courts major US sponsors such as Chevrolet.
Louis van Gaal will likely gain better control over tour schedules and the player’s commercial commitments – but the interest in North America is likely too strong for the club to ignore now.
Manchester United 1950 Tour itinerary:5/10/50 Manchester United 5, National League All-Stars 0 (at Toronto, Ontario)5/14/50 Manchester United 9, New York All-Stars 2 (at Randalls Island, NYC; att. est. 9,500)5/17/50 Manchester United 2, New England All-Stars 0 (at Fall River, MA; att. 3,704)5/21/50 Manchester United 2, Kearny-Philadelphia Stars 2 (at Randalls Island, NYC; att. 13,147)5/25/50 Manchester United 5, Simpkins FC 0 (at St. Louis, MO; att. 7,700)5/31/50 Manchester United 7, Los Angeles “A” Stars 1 (at Los Angeles, CA; att. est. 5,000)6/4/50 Manchester United 6, Atlas FC 6 (at Los Angeles, CA; att. 15,000)6/7/50 Manchester United 2, Montreal All-Stars 1 (at Montreal, Quebec)6/9/50 Manchester United 4, Jönköpings Södra IF 0 (at Polo Grounds, New York; att. est. 21,000)6/11/50 Manchester United 2, Beşiktaş JK 1 (at Kearny, NJ; est. att. 6,500)6/14/50 Manchester United 2, All-England 4 (at Toronto, Ontario; att. 24,809)6/20/50 Manchester United 1, Jönköpings Södra IF 3 (at Chicago, IL; att. 7,500)With thanks to Dave Litterer of the American Soccer History Archives
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