Top Front Men to run out for Man Utd Before Ferguson Became Manager

Manchester United, certainly the largest soccer club on this planet.  The collection of players offered to a team of that stature is rather large.  In the past Man United have thus had some top rated players in their teams. As a rule, the position in any football team that will get by far the most attention is striker.

That brings me on to the point of all this.  Who among the many Utd strikers of the past have been the best?  What follows gives my views on some of the absolute best strikers Utd have had.  You'll note however that initially I have limited my selections to those from the pre-Ferguson period. I have a strong suspicion that if you happen to be reading this your views may not align with mine, but I can live with that.

Let's start in the past and work forward - seems to be fairly logical.  I'm going to claim that the first forward of real note is a certain Jack Rowley who was part of the team before and during the Busby Babes era.  Though not the whole story, naturally a striker is measured to some extent by his goal tally.  Rowley managed to net 211 times in 424 games for United before leaving the club in 1955.  His tally of 211 makes him one of only 3 players to break the 200 mark.

Overlapping in time and therefore sharing the pitch, my next selection is Stan Pearson who scored 148 goals in 343 appearances playing between 1937 to 1953.

There were loads of incredible players at Man United that formed the Busby Babes.  Leading the line for 291 games during that period was Dennis Violet, my next selection.  The lightening quick centre forward scored 178 goals for United and was one of the survivors of the Munich air disaster.

No list of Man Utd greats is complete without a certain Bobby Charlton and he is my next pick. Another member of the Busby Babes who also survived the crash in Munich Bobby netted 249 times for Manchester Utd - the club record.  For a long time he also held the record for the most appearances for the club at 758, a figure that has since been surpassed by Ryan Giggs.

Last, but certainly not least, among my top five we have little Dennis law.  Playing for Manchester Utd up until 1973, having joined them in 1962 Dennis was a favorite with the fans.  Known as 'The King' and the 'Lawman' he always had a good following.  With 237 goals during 409 appearances he has an impressive record.  The 64 / 65 season was a good one for Law and Man Utd.  As well as helping Man United to their first league title since the Munich disaster with 28 goals he also won European Footballer of the Year.

As you would expect you can buy plenty of football related goods including football apparel to show your appreciation of your team.  With a club the size of Manchester Utd you can guarantee there are products available, with a huge range of Man United football kits on offer, including player specific shirts like Bobby Charlton football shirts.

That just about wraps it up.  Dennis Law ends my greatest 5 pre-Ferguson Manchester Utd forwards.   Why did I make the distinction and only feature forwards who played for Man United before Alex Ferguson became manager in 1986?  In reality it's because I feel the strikers that have been at Man Utd during Alex Ferguson's prolonged reign as boss of the reds are worthy of a write up all to themselves.  There are many of terrific centre forwards who have played for the red half of Manchester under the command of Sir Alex Ferguson.  Details of my pick of that bunch will have to wait for another day.