Ex-Manchester United manager Frank O’Farrell dies at the age of 94 

Frank O’Farrell, the man who replaced Sir Matt Busby as Manchester United manager, has died at the age of 94.

West Ham, who O’Farrell played for from 1948-56, said in a statement: ‘Everyone at West Ham United would like to express their sincere condolences to Frank’s family and friends at this sad time.’

Born in Dublin in 1927, O’Farrell joined West Ham from boyhood club Cork United and also played for Preston North End and Weymouth before retiring in 1961 to manage the club.

In 1965, he took on what would be the first of four stints as Torquay manager before going to Leicester in 1968. He led them to the 1969 FA Cup final, where they were beaten by Manchester City.

O’Farrell was selected by Busby to replace him at United in 1971 and he was in charge at Old Trafford for 18 months. He was sacked after a 5-0 defeat by Crystal Palace that left United third from bottom in Division One. 

To this day, he is the only Irishman to have managed United.

O’Farrell felt he needed more time to rebuild United, having inherited a side where players such as Sir Bobby Charlton and Denis Law who, O’Farrell said, had their best days behind them.

‘The team had reached its peak two seasons before by winning the European Cup,’ O’Farrell told the Manchester Evening News in 2011. ‘Sir Matt said it would take five years to rebuild because there was quite a bit of work to do.

‘Most of the players’ best days were behind them. But you cannot replace players like Bobby Charlton and Denis Law quickly. You cannot do things overnight and I took the job on that basis, but got dismissed after 18 months.’

O’Farrell admitted that he felt let down by Busby when United sacked him, having taken the job on the basis he would have five years to rebuild the team.

‘I was more disappointed in him than anything else,’ he said. ‘He wasn’t true to his word,’ O’Farrell said. ‘He hand-picked me. He outlined what needed to be done, which is why I had a five-year contract. I couldn’t do it in just 18 months.

‘He was around the place and all the players had grown up with him. He was a father figure to them.

‘The alarm bells started ringing when he questioned my decisions. After we lost a home game against Tottenham he started finding fault with Martin Buchan.

‘He also said that he wouldn’t have dropped Bobby Charlton. If he wouldn’t have dropped Charlton, why didn’t he stick in the job himself? That to me was interfering and that made the job untenable.’

He also had a spell managing Cardiff as well as a two-year stint at the helm of the Iran national team. He won the gold medal with them in the 1974 Asian Games.