Best Front Men to run out for Man United in the Time Before Alex Ferguson Was Appointed Manager

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Without a shadow of a doubt, the largest soccer club in the world is Man United.  The selection of players on offer to a team of that prominence is fairly enormous.  In the past Manchester United have therefore had some top rated footballers out on the pitch for them. What place in a soccer team has a tendency to steal the headlines?  Well, whether you like it or not, the centre forwards continuously appear to grab the limelight.

With that in mind, who have been the top strikers for Man United over the years?  For what they are worth, here are my thoughts on the top 5 strikers in the years prior to Ferguson’s reign at Manchester United. Don’t worry, I’m well aware not everyone who reads this will agree with me.

I’ve decide to work forward in time.  Starting just before the Matt Busby era at United my first selection is Jack Rowley.  He joined United before Busby came along.  Rowley played for United between 1937 and 1955, amassing a grand total of 211 goals in 424 appearances.  That alone gets him a spot among my top strikers.

Overlapping in time and therefore sharing the pitch, my next selection is Stan Pearson who scored 148 goals in 343 appearances playing between 1937 to 1953.

Next I’ve picked out Dennis Violet who played for the reds of Manchester in no fewer than 291 games during the Busby Babes period.  The lightening quick centre forward scored 178 goals for United and was one of the survivors of the Munich air disaster.

No list of United greats is complete without a certain Bobby Charlton and he is my next pick. Another member of the Busby Babes who also survived the crash in Munich Bobby netted 249 times for Man United – the club record.  As well as the goal scoring record, Bobby Charlton also held the appearances record of 758.  This record has only fairly recently been broken by Ryan Giggs who went past that total at the Champions League Final in Moscow on 21 May 2008.

Last, but certainly not least, among my top five we have little Dennis law.  ‘The King’ or the ‘Lawman’ as he was affectionately known played for Manchester United between 1962 and 1973.  With 237 goals during 409 appearances he has an impressive record.  Law won European Footballer of the year in 1965, during a season in which he top-scored for Man United with 28 and helped them to win their first league title since Munich.

As with any main-stream sport there is plenty of merchandise available in football, the major item being football clothing.  With a club the size of Man Utd you can guarantee there are products available, with a huge range of Man United football kits on offer, with unique shirts of many players.

That just about wraps it up.  Dennis Law draws to a close my greatest 5 pre-Ferguson Manchester United front men.   Why did I make the distinction and only feature forwards who played for Manchester Utd before Alex Ferguson became manager in 1986?  In fact it’s due to the fact that I feel the centre forwards that have been at Utd during Alex Ferguson’s long reign as boss of the reds warrant a write up all to themselves.  There are loads of good forwards who have run onto the pitch for the red half of Manchester for Sir Alex.  It’s possible this will not be my last word on the subject.  A write-up on the strikers who played for Alex may be on the cards.

Tagged with: Alex Ferguson • Bobby Charlton • Busby Babes • First Selection • Forwards • Front Men • Grand Total • Limelight • Man United • Manchester United • Matt Busby • Munich Air Disaster • One Of The Survivors • Prominence • Rowley • Ryan Giggs • Shadow Of A Doubt • Soccer Club • Soccer Team • Strikers

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