2001–02 Manchester United F.C. season
season of football team
The 2001–02 season was Manchester United's tenth season in the Premier League, their 100th season in league football, and their 27th consecutive season in the top division of English football.
In May 2001, at the conclusion of the previous season, Sir Alex Ferguson had announced his intention to retire from football at the end of this season, and the club began the process of trying to find a successor for the most successful manager in their history. Months later, however, he reversed his decision, citing his wife and three sons as the reason for the u-turn.
The second full season of the new millennium was a disappointing one for the Red Devils as they failed to win any silverware for the first time in four years. The club finished third place in the league, their lowest finish in the Premier League era at that time, and they were knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth round. They were also knocked out of the League Cup after fielding what was effectively a reserve team against a strong Arsenal side in the third round. United's best success this season came in the UEFA Champions League, in which they reached the semi-finals before being knocked out by eventual runners-up Bayer Leverkusen on away goals. Ultimately, United's failure to win anything came down to a dismal run of form in November and early December when they suffered five defeats in seven league games, including three defeats in a row against Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham United. They also lost six home games in the Premier League, their worst home record since the 1977–78 season; Ferguson cited this as the main reason why they failed to win the league. They only lost three more league games all season, but that terrible form earlier in the campaign counted against United for the rest of the campaign and they finished 10 points behind champions Arsenal (who secured the title by defeating United 1–0 at Old Trafford in the penultimate game of the season) and three points behind runners-up Liverpool.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “2001–02 Manchester United F.C. season” is season of football team. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Manchester, United and season, not as a finished interpretation.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3844352. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2001 and 1977.
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