Could 2024/25 Be Man United’s Worst League Season for 50 Years?

Given Manchester United’s relative struggles in recent years, it’s easy to forget that no side has won the English top-flight title more times than the Red Devils. With 20 championships in the bag, they stand alone at the top of the tree – although Liverpool might well have drawn level by the time you read this! United have also finished second in the top flight on 17 occasions, more than any other side, and 13 of their 20 successes have come in the Premier League era – though none since club legend Alex Ferguson left the dugout.

Since Ferguson’s golden era, the Red Devils haven’t been appalling and they finished second in 2017/18 and 2020/21, and third as recently as 2022/23. But the 2024/25 season has indeed been appalling by the great club’s standards – at least in the Premier League. At the time of writing there are five games left to play, but based on current form, and indeed based on their form over the league season, Man United could be facing their worst performance for half a century!

Man United’s Worst League Finishes Since 1975

Here are the only times the Red Devils have finished outside of the top six in the top division since they were last promoted from the second tier at the end of the 1974/75 campaign.

*Stats correct as of 24th April 2025 with five league games yet to play

It’s interesting to note that for three of four previous occasions on which United finished outside of the top 10 in the top flight, Alex Ferguson was the manager. Indeed, their lowest league finish (since last getting promoted from the second tier) was in 1989/90. At the time there was talk of a managerial change, but Ferguson saved his bacon by winning the FA Cup. The rest, as they say, is history. It wasn’t too long before the club’s trophy cabinet was bulging, to say the least.

At the time of writing, United are in 14th position in the table, and based on their points-per-game ratio from their first 33 games, they could well finish with a total of between 42 and 44 points. This might not be quite as poor as the 42 points they achieved back in 1977/78 (and that was from a 42-game season), but the current crop would do well to get near the goals total the former achieved. Averaging just 1.15 goals per league game, they could well fall short of the previous (recent-ish) low point of the 45 goals they managed in 1988/89. At least they’ve already equalled the total number of goals scored in the 1973/74 league campaign (although that ended in relegation to the second tier!).

Could the Europa League Salvage a Forgettable Season?

Your semi-finalists 🤝#UEL pic.twitter.com/AZ7FbkBEZt

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) April 17, 2025

Ordinarily, a Man United manager whose side was struggling this badly, this late in the campaign would be ushered towards the exit with some haste. But Ruben Amorim has only been in the job since November, and despite having an overall win percentage of around 38%, there is one thing that is certainly keeping him in his job: the Europa League.

There is clearly no chance United will qualify for Europe through the conventional league route this term, but they might well sneak in via the back door. And not just to the Europa League or the even less prestigious Europa Conference League… the winners of the Europa League will earn a place in next season’s Champions League.

That would be a massive bonus to United, both financially and in terms of their ability to attract top players to the club during the summer. And given the Red Devils are in the semi-finals, they have a very good chance of going all the way. But will they steal glory, or will they stumble when the prize is almost within their grasps?

Will Man United Win the Europa League?

Amorim’s United finished a creditable third in the League Phase of the Europa League, with 18 points from their eight matches. It’s fair to say they avoided any really tough matches and their trickiest test was a trip to Porto in October, a game from which United scraped a 3-3 draw. The two teams to finish above the Red Devils were Lazio and Athletic Bilbao… the latter of whom United face in the semis.

In the Round of 16, Man United had one of their best results of the season. They faced Spanish side Real Sociedad, and though they only managed a 1-1 draw away in the first leg, Amorim’s troops battled to an impressive 4-1 victory on home soil, Bruno Fernandes proving the hero of the hour (and a half) with a fine hat-trick.

As had become something of a habit in recent times, United didn’t make things easy for themselves in the quarters. They performed well enough in the first leg against Lyon in France, although they could have done without letting their 2-1 lead slip in the 95th minute! The return game was almost comically open at times and this time the Red Devils let go of a two-goal lead and were taken to extra time.

Both United and Lyon scored another two goals each in extra time and as it looked as though penalties were on the cards, up popped Harry Maguire to score the winner, United progressing by the unlikely scoreline of 7-6 on aggregate!

And so Athletic Bilbao await in the semis. And United’s season could be broken or made based on that and – hopefully – the final that follows against either Tottenham or Bodø / Glimt. And if they win the Europa League and sneak into the Champions League, United fans probably won’t care a jot if their side does stutter to their worst league finish for 50 years!