You have to thumb through five decades to find the previous time six years passed without Manchester United winning a trophy. Then, Ron Atkinson’s 1983 vintage of Norman Whiteside, Gary Bailey and Bryan Robson claimed the FA Cup to bridge the gap to Tommy Docherty’s XI of Stuart Pearson and Brian and Jimmy Greenhoff that had triumphed in the same competition in 1977.
Erik ten Hag hopes to end the club’s longest trophy drought in 40 years. The Europa League victory of May 2017 under José Mourinho is the last of United’s 66 pieces of silverware (including Charity/Community Shields), the 2021 final of the same competition being the nearest miss since.
