Top flight* League fixture
*Then known as Division One

Manchester United 2     Notts County 0
Hughes 39
Robson 57
 

Attendance:- 46,278
Referee:- George Courtney (Spennymoor)
Weather:- Rain followed by bright sunshine
 

Manchester United
Colours:- Red shirts, White shorts, Black socks
League Position:- first match of season, had finished 6th/20 (top flight) the previous season
Manager:- Alex Ferguson

1.   Peter Schmeichel
2.   Denis Irwin
3.   Clayton Blackmore
4.   Steve Bruce
5.   Darren Ferguson +
6.   Paul Parker
7.   Bryan Robson
8.   Paul Ince *
9.   Brian McClair
10. Mark Hughes
11. Andrei Kanchelskis

Sub: Gary Pallister *64
Sub: Ryan Giggs +76
 

Notts County
Colours:- Black & white striped shirts, Black shorts, Black socks
League Position:- first match of season, had finished 4th/24 (2nd tier) the previous season
Manager:- Neil Warnock

1.   Steve Cherry
2.   Charlie Palmer
3.   Alan Paris
4.   Craig Short
5.   Dean Yates
6.   Don O'Riordan *
7.   Dean Thomas
8.   Phil Turner
9.   Dave Regis
10. Mark Draper
11. Tommy Johnson +

Sub: Kevin Bartlett *51
Sub: Chris Short +63

Video of the match:- Video cameras were at the match but only a goals report was shown on Television.

No report available
 

Up the Maggies footnote:
When Notts had won promotion in 1981 it had been 55 years since they had last graced the top flight, yet here we were again after just a 7 season absence this time with the added experience of winning two Wembley finals and playing admirably in front of millions of live TV viewers in an FA Quarter final. I think we were all pretty optimistic that Notts would stay up, I wrote down my own prediction for the final League table at the start of the season and correctly forecasted that Luton and West Ham would go down, but I placed Coventry City 3rd bottom - sadly they would finish one place higher. I got a little carried away with Notts - I had them finishing 11th! Our opening day opponents Manchester United had been the first English club to lift European silverware back in May following the five year ban, this game v Notts would be their first competitive game since they had beaten Barcelona in the European final and there were apparently thousands of fans locked outside Old Trafford with the ground full to capacity. The famous old Stretford End terraces were still there whilst the rest of the ground was now all seating except for the front paddock at the scoreboard end where most of the Notts support were stood. I was sat in the main stand, a few seats away from BBC radio Notts correspondent Colin Slater. I'd been to Wembley, yet Old Trafford seemed more impressive and much more modern - even though the re-building process wasn't yet finished. The roar that greeted Bryan Robson's brilliant 2nd goal was really quite something, but Robson later disgraced himself with an absolutely appalling tackle on Mark Draper which unbelievably failed to earn him even a booking (let alone the red card it so clearly deserved). United had taken a while to show their obvious superiority as County battled well in the early stages and even created a few problems in United's box, but referee George Courtney (who had been under fire from Neil Warnock in the past) made some very bad decisions in favour of the home team; As well as failing to book Bryan Robson, he cautioned Craig Short for throwing the ball away whilst taking no action against the home players for similar offences. Six minutes before half-time, a free-kick that shouldn't have been was miss-headed by Regis which fell to Hughes who stuck out a boot to make it 1-0 in front of the Stretford end. County might have equalised early in the 2nd half when Johnson raced clear, but a bobble on the pitch broke that attack down. Robson's 20 yard volley that made it 2-0 was the result of a corner not properly cleared. Notts were then made to look utterly clueless as Cherry repetitively cleared the ball up-field only for United to effortlessly re-gain possession and launch yet another attack. In the end, we were fortunate to lose by only 2 goals. I remember being locked in the ground for quite a while afterwards having to remind myself that we wouldn't have to face teams as good as Man Utd every week, but sadly - more often than not - we would continue to find ourselves up against star-struck officials. Our veteran sweeper Don O'Riordan left the field injured in this fixture and it proved to be his last ever appearance - Still, not a bad way to end your career playing in a top flight match at Old Trafford. United's no.3 that day later had a spell with Notts.
 

Notts County Season 1991/92
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