Manchester United: The Original Trinity

An examination of the United Trinity and their antecedents.

Down and along Sir Matt Busby Way, facing what is now the East Stand at Manchester United’s magnificent Old Trafford Stadium, is a large statue. Standing high upon a mottled, marble base are three bronze figures: one of a young Ulsterman with his right hand upon his hip, one of a Scot with his right arm and index finger pointing high into the sky, and the last of an Englishman carrying a football in his left hand. Inscribed in gold lettering halfway up that mottled, marble base is the inscription ‘The United Trinity’, and below that, the names of the three bronze figures standing above: Best, Law, and Charlton. Icons in the history of not only Manchester United, but also British and European football.

However, are those three great players really the original Manchester United Trinity? The original Manchester United Trinity came from the famous Busby Babes team that was so prolific from 1955 until February 1958, when they perished in a terrible accident at the end of a snowy runway in Munich, Germany. The three players who deserve the accolade of ‘United’s Original Trinity’ are Tommy Taylor, Dennis Viollet, and Liam ‘Billy’ Whelan.

All three were supremely gifted players and prolific goal scorers. When played in the Manchester United team together as an inside-forward trio, they averaged almost three goals per game. It is an incredible record at the highest level of the English game, and a record which, it is suspected, will never be broken. This book will set the record straight by comparing and charting their record against the many great forward combinations of players who are littered throughout Manchester United’s history.