“Attack, attack, attack” is a common refrain to come belting out of the Stretford End, and over the years Manchester United have been pretty good at heeding that cry.
While the Red Devils have had their problems in front of goal in recent seasons the club have a rich history of resounding victories, more often than not at Old Trafford before the United faithful.
Here we take a look at the biggest wins in United’s history:
Man United's biggest ever wins
Date Season Competition Home/Away Opponent Score
26/09/1956 1956-57 European Cup H RSC Anderlecht 10-0
15/10/1892 1892-93 First Division H Wolverhampton Wanderers 10-1
02/02/2021 2020-21 Premier League H Southampton FC 9-0
04/03/1995 1994-95 Premier League H Ipswich Town 9-0
12/02/1949 1948-49 FA Cup H Yeovil Town 8-0
06/02/1999 1998-99 Premier League A Nottingham Forest 1-8
19/03/1969 1968-69 First Division H Queens Park Rangers 8-1
17/09/2024 2024-25 EFL Cup H Barnsley FC 7-0
25/10/1997 1997-98 Premier League H Barnsley FC 7-0
08/04/1970 1969-70 First Division H West Bromwich Albion 7-0
24/10/1964 1964-65 First Division H Aston Villa 7-0
08/03/1950 1949-50 First Division H Aston Villa 7-0
28/08/2011 2011-12 Premier League H Arsenal FC 8-2
07/02/1970 1969-70 FA Cup A Northampton Town 2-8
27/11/2010 2010-11 Premier League H Blackburn Rovers 7-1
10/04/2007 2006-07 Champions League H AS Roma 7-1
01/04/2000 1999-00 Premier League H West Ham United 7-1
02/10/1968 1968-69 European Cup H Waterford United 7-1
31/12/1892 1892-93 First Division H Derby County 7-1
26/01/2020 2019-20 FA Cup A Tranmere Rovers 0-6
12/01/2008 2007-08 Premier League H Newcastle United 6-0
26/01/2003 2002-03 FA Cup H West Ham United 6-0
05/09/2000 2000-01 Premier League H Bradford City 6-0
25/02/1996 1995-96 Premier League A Bolton Wanderers 0-6
04/05/1968 1967-68 First Division H Newcastle United 6-0
06/10/1965 1965-66 European Cup H HJK Helsinki 6-0
12/04/1961 1960-61 First Division H Burnley FC 6-0
26/12/1960 1960/-61 First Division H Chelsea FC 6-0
27/02/1960 1959-60 First Division A Blackpool FC 0-6
09/09/1959 1959-60 First Division H Leeds United 6-0
25/09/1957 1957-58 European Cup A Shamrock Rovers 0-6
28/04/1951 1950-51 First Division H Huddersfield Town 6-0
05/11/1949 1949-50 First Division H Huddersfield Town 6-0
08/01/1949 1948-49 FA Cup H Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic 6-0
30/10/1897 1897-98 Second Division H Walsall FC 6-0
Manchester United 10-0 RSC Anderlecht
The only time United hit double figures and kept a clean sheet in the same match was against Anderlecht in the first round of the European Cup in 1956. The Red Devils followed up a 2-0 first-leg win in Belgium with a 10-0 thumping at Old Trafford.
Dennis Viollet and Tommy Taylor tussled over the match ball, scoring four and three goals respectively, Liam Whelan chipped in with a brace and Johnny Berry bagged one while Sir Matt Busby watched on from the dugout.
United beat Borussia Dortmund then Athletic Bilbao but lost out to eventual winners Real Madrid in the semi-final.
Newton Heath 10-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Newton Heath became Manchester United well over 100 years ago, and in all that time the modern incarnation of the club hasn’t been able to equal their green and gold predecessor’s biggest league goal tally.
Newton Heath smashed Wolverhampton Wanderers 10-1, the only time the club have managed to reach double figures in the league, and were ahead within a minute through James Hendry.
William S Stewart and Bob Donaldson each scored a hat-trick, and Alf Farman, William Hood and Adam Carson also made it onto a very crowded scoresheet.
Manchester United 9-0 Southampton
United’s joint-biggest win of the Premier League era, and their most recent landslide victory, came during the Covid lockdown when things were really purring under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Southampton made the long trip to an empty Old Trafford and were comprehensively humbled 9-0 as the Red Devils gave a glimpse of what they were capable of under the Norwegian.
After the Saints went down to ten men just two minutes in, United went for the jugular with goals flying in from all over the pitch. The opener came from an unlikely source in Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but apart from Jan Bednarek’s own-goal the scoresheet was a who’s-who of the Red Devils’ attack at the time.
Anthony Martial bagged a brace, and Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani, Bruno Fernandes, Scott McTominay and Dan James scored one apiece.
Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town’s 9-0 demolition at Old Trafford in 1995 goes down on paper as a defeat to Man United, but was really a one-man bludgeoning from Andy Cole.
In his first full season as a Red Devil the former Newcastle United striker took the Tractor Boys apart with a goalscoring masterclass, becoming the first player to hit five in a Premier League match. He was aided and abetted by strike partner Mark Hughes, who scored twice, while Roy Keane and Paul Ince contributed a goal each.
United were pipped to the title by Blackburn Rovers but got back to winning ways the following season – and the one after that.
Manchester United 8-0 Yeovil Town
United’s biggest FA Cup win to date came in 1949 and featured another five-goal haul for a dominant centre-forward. Jack Rowley’s sub-twenty-minute hat-trick put the Red Devils well on their way to knocking Yeovil Town out of the round of 16, and the United legend bagged two more after the interval for good measure.
Ronnie Burke popped up with a quick-fire brace and there was one for Charlie Mitten as the Glovers were sent back to Somerset with their tail between their legs. United edged past Hull City in the quarter finals and forced a replay against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the semi-final, ultimately losing out to the eventual winners.
Nottingham Forest 1-8 Manchester United
The baby-faced assassin masterminded United’s 9-0 drubbing of Southampton from the dugout but was the definition of a supersub for the Red Devils’ biggest ever away triumph. Solskjaer replaced Dwight Yorke with 20 minutes to go at the City Ground and doubled United’s tally with a late scoring frenzy which saw the Norwegian on target four times in a little over ten minutes.
Before his introduction the iconic Cole/Yorke striking duo had bagged a brace apiece; the pair each scored in the first ten minutes, either side of a Forest equaliser which gave the hosts a few seconds of hope. In almost any other season this thrashing would have been a crowning glory, but this was no ordinary season – United went on to win a historic treble, thanks in no small part to a certain Norwegian coming off the bench in Barcelona to down Bayern Munich in the dying seconds of the Champions League final.
Manchester United 7-0 Various
United have racked up five 7-0 wins over the years, but only against three different opponents. Aston Villa had seven put past them in 1950 – Mitten scoring four, including a hat-trick of penalties – and again in 1965. This time it was Denis Law scoring four, with a brace for David Herd and one for John Connelly as the Red Devils edged towards a title won on goal average at Leeds United’s expense.
A few years later Villa’s Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion fell to the same scoreline thanks to doubles from John Fitzpatrick, Bobby Charlton and Alan Gowling, with George Best finishing off the resounding victory.
Only one team have felt the sting of a 7-0 loss at Old Trafford in the Premier League era, with Barnsley suffering the same fate twice. In 1997 Cole was again the hat-trick hero, ably assisted by Ryan Giggs netting twice and strikes from Paul Scholes and Karel Poborsky.
Barnsley’s second time on the sharp end of the scoreline was in the FA Cup in 2024. Erik ten Hag’s United side ran wild with goals from all across a frontline which ultimately fell apart barely a year later – Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Christian Eriksen scored two each and Antony slotted home a penalty handed to him to try and reverse his poor form.
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