NUFC Season Summaries

NUFC Season 1979/80

A disastrous season for McGarry in which United led the table almost continuously until February whereupon they collapsed spectacularly. It was the beginning of the end for Bargaining Bill

After the mass comings and goings of the previous season this was a much more settled season. Ian Davies, Stuart Boam, Billy Rafferty and Bobby Shinton all arrived but more significantly United lost Irving Nattrass under the new freedom of contract rules.

In the first two thirds of the season United were at last beginning to look more like a sum of their parts and when we beat Orient 2-0 on January 19th we were in top spot. But after that the team went into freefall; in the last 16 games their record was won: 1, drew:7, lost 8.

The loss of influential midfielder Mick Martin in December and McGarry's failure to replace him is usually cited as the reason for the fall from grace, but in reality the malaise went far deeper than that.

The Cups brought their usual distress; Sunderland knocking us out of the League Cup on penalties and an embarrasing home defeat by Chester in the FA Cup.