| Div 2 | 19th |
| FA Cup | R3 |
| Attendance | 21,276 |
| Chairman | J Lunn |
| Manager | T Mather |
| Trainer | H Bedford, A McCombie |
| Captain | J Carver |
| Top Scorer | B Imrie/J Park (9) |
Position-wise United's worst ever season; but it could easily have been even worse. They just survived relegation to the Third Division North by 1/10 of a goal but gained a significant bit of luck when the game against Stockport was abandoned because of bad light with only 13 minutes left and the score at 2-2.
When the game was replayed United won and that "additional" point meant that Barnsley were relegated along with bottom placed Stockport.
The club was at one of the many crossroads it has reached in it's history. Fans were deserting the club in alarming numbers, debts were spiralling and shareholders were rebelling.
The club returned to a former player to try and turn them around. They approached Stan Seymour and after turning down the managers job he agreed to join the Board.
Kit images copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission
The season could not have started much worse as United won only one of their first eleven games and by the end of October were in 20th place. However that one victory - a 6-0 thrashing of Sheffield United - would vitally shore up United's goal difference.
Slightly improved form saw them slowly but not so surely climb the table and by the beginning of March they'd reached the heady heights of tenth.
A significant factor in the turnaround was the arrival in November of Ray Bowden who cost £5,000 from Arsenal. However he was one of a number of players who spent a number of weeks on the treatment table and his absence during most of April was almost disastrous.
Just as important was the shock sale of centre-forward Jack Smith to Man United. His goals had been crucial to United over the last few seasons and Billy Cairns struggled to make up for his loss.
The Novacastrians ended the season disastrously with two wins, one draw and nine defeats. At the end Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Barnsley all had 38 points but it was The Tykes who would go down.
The final game had seen United crushed 4-1 at Luton; it was an inauspicious day for a debut for a young lad from Wallsend called Albert Stubbins.
| 28/8 | A | Man Utd | L | 0-3 | ||
| 01/9 | H | Barnsley | L | 0-1 | ||
| 04/9 | H | Sheff Utd | W | 6-0 | ||
| 06/9 | A | Barnsley | L | 0-3 | ||
| 11/9 | A | Tottenham | D | 2-2 | ||
| 15/9 | H | Luton | L | 1-3 | ||
| 18/9 | H | Burnley | D | 2-2 | ||
| 25/9 | A | Bury | D | 1-1 | ||
| 02/10 | H | Coventry | L | 1-2 | ||
| 09/10 | A | Nottm F | D | 0-0 | ||
| 16/10 | A | Aston Villa | L | 0-2 | ||
| 23/10 | H | Bradford PA | W | 3-0 | ||
| 30/10 | A | WHU | L | 0-1 | ||
| 06/11 | H | Southampton | W | 3-0 | ||
| 13/11 | A | Blackburn | L | 1-2 | ||
| 20/11 | H | Plymouth | W | 3-1 | ||
| 27/11 | A | Fulham | W | 2-1 | ||
| 04/12 | H | Sheff Wed | W | 1-0 | ||
| 18/12 | H | Swansea | W | 1-0 | ||
| 25/12 | H | Stockport | D | 0-0 | ||
| 01/1 | H | Man Utd | D | 2-2 | ||
| 15/1 | A | Sheff Utd | L | 0-4 | ||
| 29/1 | A | Burnley | L | 1-2 | ||
| 02/2 | H | Tottenham | W | 1-0 | ||
| 05/2 | H | Bury | W | 1-0 | ||
| 12/2 | A | Coventry | L | 0-1 | ||
| 19/2 | H | Nottm F | W | 3-1 | ||
| 26/2 | H | Aston Villa | W | 2-0 | ||
| 02/3 | A | Stockport | W | 3-1 | ||
| 05/3 | A | Bradford PA | L | 0-2 | ||
| 12/3 | H | WHU | D | 2-2 | ||
| 19/3 | A | Southampton | L | 0-1 | ||
| 26/3 | H | Blackburn | W | 2-0 | ||
| 02/4 | A | Plymouth | L | 1-2 | ||
| 09/4 | H | Fulham | L | 1-2 | ||
| 15/4 | H | Norwich | L | 0-1 | ||
| 16/4 | A | Sheff Wed | L | 0-3 | ||
| 18/4 | A | Norwich | D | 1-1 | ||
| 23/4 | H | Chesterfield | W | 3-1 | ||
| 25/4 | A | Chesterfield | L | 0-2 | ||
| 30/4 | A | Swansea | L | 0-2 | ||
| 07/5 | A | Luton | L | 1-4 |
| W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
| 01 | Aston Villa | 25 | 7 | 10 | 73 | 35 | 57 |
| 02 | Man Utd | 22 | 9 | 11 | 82 | 50 | 53 |
| 03 | Sheff Utd | 22 | 9 | 11 | 73 | 56 | 53 |
| 04 | Coventry | 20 | 12 | 10 | 66 | 45 | 52 |
| 05 | Tottenham | 19 | 6 | 17 | 76 | 54 | 44 |
| 06 | Burnley | 17 | 10 | 15 | 54 | 54 | 44 |
| 07 | Bradford PA | 17 | 9 | 16 | 69 | 56 | 43 |
| 08 | Fulham | 16 | 11 | 15 | 61 | 57 | 43 |
| 09 | West Ham | 14 | 14 | 14 | 53 | 52 | 42 |
| 10 | Bury | 18 | 5 | 19 | 63 | 60 | 41 |
| 11 | Chesterfield | 16 | 9 | 17 | 63 | 63 | 41 |
| 12 | Luton | 15 | 10 | 17 | 89 | 86 | 40 |
| 13 | Plymouth | 14 | 12 | 16 | 57 | 65 | 40 |
| 14 | Norwich | 14 | 11 | 17 | 56 | 75 | 39 |
| 15 | Southampton | 15 | 9 | 18 | 55 | 77 | 39 |
| 16 | Blackburn | 14 | 10 | 18 | 71 | 80 | 38 |
| 17 | Sheff Wed | 14 | 10 | 18 | 49 | 56 | 38 |
| 18 | Swansea | 13 | 12 | 17 | 45 | 73 | 38 |
| 19 | Newcastle | 14 | 8 | 20 | 51 | 58 | 36 |
| 20 | Nottm Forest | 14 | 8 | 20 | 47 | 60 | 36 |
| 21 | Barnsley | 11 | 14 | 17 | 50 | 64 | 36 |
| 22 | Stockport | 11 | 9 | 22 | 43 | 70 | 31 |
| R3 | 08/1 | A | WBA | L | 0-1 |
| Player | A | G |
|---|---|---|
| Ancell B | 30 | |
| Bowden R | 21 | 4 |
| Cairns B | 16 | 4 |
| Carver J | 28 | |
| Connelly E | 7 | |
| Denmark J | 17 | |
| Docking S | 12 | 1 |
| Fairhurst D | 18 | |
| Garnham A | 6 | |
| Gordon J | 40 | 1 |
| Grundy A | 1 | |
| Imrie B | 38 | 9 |
| Leighton B | 1 | |
| Livingstone A | 13 | 3 |
| McPhillips B | 8 | |
| Mooney T | 17 | 5 |
| Park J | 37 | 9 |
| Pearson T | 42 | 4 |
| Richardson JR | 15 | 4 |
| Richardson Joe | 36 | |
| Rogers E | 14 | |
| Shiel J | 1 | |
| Smith J | 19 | 7 |
| Stubbins A | 1 | |
| Swinburne T | 25 | |
| Tapken N | 10 |
Total Number of games: 43
Total Number of players used: 26
01: Tapken > Swinburne > McPhillips
02: Richardson J
03: Ancell
04: Gordon
05: Carver > Denmark
06: Imrie
07: Park
08: Livingstone > Richardson/Bowden
09: Smith > Cairns
10: Docking/Bowden
11: Pearson
| Name | Date | From | Fee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark James | 06/37 | 24 | Third Lanark | £2,550 |
| Bowden Edwin | 11/37 | 28 | Arsenal | £5,000 |
| Wright Doug | 05/38 | 21 | Southend |
| Name | Date | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Davidson David | 06/37 | Hartlepool | £50 |
| Johnson Henry | 06/37 | Port Vale | |
| Mcmenemy Harry | 07/37 | Dundee | £1,200 |
| Smith Jack | 02/38 | Man Utd | £6,500 |
| Connelly Edward | 03/38 | Luton | £2,100 |
| Richardson James | 03/38 | Millwall | |
| Docking Stanley | 05/38 | Tranmere | £1,100 |
| Leighton William | 05/38 | Southend | £1,000 |
| Shiel J | 05/38 | North Shields | £0 |
