Manchester United F.C. season 2006–07

"Preceding article: Manchester United F.C. season 2005-06"

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"Succeeding article: Manchester United F.C. season 2007-08"

Infobox Football club season
club = Manchester United

season = 2006-07
manager = flagicon|SCO Sir Alex Ferguson
chairman = flagicon|USA Joel & Avram Glazer
league = Premier League
league result = 1st
cup1 = FA Cup
cup1 result = Runners-up
cup2 = Carling Cup
cup2 result = Fourth Round
cup4 = UEFA Champions League
cup4 result = Semi-finals
league topscorer = Cristiano Ronaldo (17)
season topscorer = Cristiano Ronaldo (23)
Wayne Rooney (23)
highest attendance = 76,098 vs Blackburn Rovers (31 March 2007)
lowest attendance = 61,325 vs Middlesbrough (19 March 2007)The 2006-07 season was Manchester United's 115th season in the Football League, and their 32nd consecutive season in the top division of English football. [cite web |url=http://www.stretfordend.co.uk/seasons/season2007.html |title=Manchester United Season 2006/07 |accessdate=2007-10-08 |publisher=StretfordEnd.co.uk ] United enjoyed a much more successful season than the season before, winning the Premier League by a six-point margin over Chelsea. They also reached the final of the FA Cup and the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, losing to Chelsea and AC Milan respectively. However, for all their success in the major competitions, the club was unable to defend the Carling Cup title they had won in 2005-06, losing to Southend United in the Fourth Round.

Manchester United were not only dominant on a team level in 2006-07, but also on an individual level, with eight United players earning spots in the PFA Team of the Year, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo picking up no less than eight individual awards for his performances over the season and Sir Alex Ferguson winning the Premier League's Manager of the Season award.

The 2006-07 season also marked the 50th anniversary of the Busby Babes' first foray into European competition. The event was marked by a charity football match, organised in collaboration with UEFA, who were commemorating 50 years since the signing of the Treaty of Rome, against a team of the best players from Europe's top clubs.

Pre-season and friendlies

United began their pre-season in July 2006 with a friendly tournament in South Africa, their first time in the country for 13 years. The tournament involved matches against South Africa's top two teams, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, followed by a further match against the winner of a play-off between the two host sides. The Red Devils started well, beating Orlando Pirates 4-0 in their first game, but almost came unstuck against Kaizer Chiefs, requiring an 83rd minute goal from Dong Fangzhuo to secure the 1-0 win. Kaiser Chiefs then beat Orlando Pirates in the play-off, and managed to hold a relatively sub-par United side to a 0-0 draw before beating them 4-3 on penalties.

The team then took their pre-season back to Britain, beating Celtic 3-0 at Parkhead. This was followed by a 2-1 defeat to Preston North End, but the team bounced back to defeat Macclesfield Town 2-1 two days later.

The start of August saw United take part in the Amsterdam Tournament, involving Ajax, Internazionale and FC Porto. The Reds played two games in Amsterdam, beating both Porto and Ajax, but the tournament will be remembered mostly for the sendings-off of both Paul Scholes - for a clumsy, mistimed challenge in the match against Porto - and Wayne Rooney - who inadvertently caught Porto defender Pepe in the face with his hand as he jumped uncontested for a high ball. In accordance with FIFA disciplinary procedure, the red cards resulted in the pair missing the first three games of the season.

Back to Britain again, and a fixture against Oxford United was next up, which United won comfortably 4-1. Finally, United returned home to Old Trafford on 12 August for their only home friendly of the 2006-07 pre-season. The visitors were Sevilla who helped mark the official opening of Old Trafford's new North-West and North-East quadrants with a 3-0 win to United in front of a half-capacity crowd.

United played one more friendly during the 2006-07 season, this final one marking the 50th anniversary of the Busby Babes' first foray into European competition as the Red Devils took on a European XI managed by Italian World Cup-winning manager Marcello Lippi. The match also celebrated 50 years since the signing of the Treaty of Rome, the treaty that laid the foundations for what we know today as the European Union. The original squad selected by Lippi was hit by last minute injuries and withdrawals by some big names like Ronaldinho and David Beckham, forcing replacements to be drawn from Premiership teams like Bolton Wanderers and Portsmouth at short notice. United started the game very brightly, finding themselves 4-1 up at half-time, thanks to goals from Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wes Brown. However, no further goals came for the home side as the visitors scored two consolation goals, leaving United as 4-3 winners.

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

FA Cup

Transfers

In

Loan out

References

ee also

*Manchester United F.C. seasons