| Div 1 | 16th |
| FA Cup | R4 |
| Attendance | 44,521 |
| Chairman | R Rutherford |
| Manager | S Seymour |
| Trainer | N Smith |
| Captain | J Harvey |
| Top Scorer | G Robledo (18) |
During the close season United undertook an arduous tour of South Africa in which they played 16 matches in 70 days and travelled thousands of miles. They arrived back a mere four weeks before the start of the season. Many questioned the wisdom of the excursion and the team's performances during the season bore them out.
They got off to a bad start in the League but recovered towards the end of the year and climbed into mid-table. Unfortunately the New Year saw a disastrous run in which they lost six, drew four and won none. It left them looking anxiously at the bottom of the table. In the end they finished only two points above a relegation position in a very tight finish.
It was a particularly bad year for Milburn who missed a lot of the season through cartilage trouble and at one point he was so despondent he slapped in a transfer request.
After setting a new record of sixteen unbeaten games in the FA Cup when they beat Swansea they were surprisingly knocked out by mid-table Second Division side Rotherham.
Two other notable events were the first floodlit game held at SJP (a friendly against Celtic) and Newcastle's participation in the Coronation Cup to celebrate the accession of Queen Elizabeth.
Kit images copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission
| 23/8 | A | Sheff Wed | D | 2 - 2 | H | |
| 27/8 | A | WBA | L | 0 - 1 | ||
| 30/8 | H | Tottenham | D | 1 - 1 | ||
| 06/9 | A | Burnley | L | 1 - 2 | ||
| 10/9 | H | Sunderland | D | 2 - 2 | ||
| 13/9 | H | Preston | W | 4 - 3 | ||
| 17/9 | A | Sunderland | W | 2 - 0 | ||
| 20/9 | A | Stoke | L | 0 - 1 | ||
| 27/9 | H | Man City | W | 2 - 0 | ||
| 04/10 | A | Liverpool | L | 3 - 5 | ||
| 11/10 | A | Wolves | L | 0 - 2 | ||
| 18/10 | H | Charlton | W | 3 - 2 | ||
| 25/10 | A | Arsenal | L | 0 - 3 | ||
| 01/11 | H | Derby | W | 1 - 0 | ||
| 08/11 | A | Blackpool | W | 2 - 0 | ||
| 15/11 | H | Chelsea | W | 2 - 1 | ||
| 22/11 | A | Man Utd | D | 2 - 2 | ||
| 29/11 | H | Portsmouth | W | 1 - 0 | ||
| 06/12 | A | Bolton | L | 2 - 4 | ||
| 13/12 | H | Aston Villa | W | 2 - 1 | ||
| 20/12 | H | Sheff Wed | L | 1 - 5 | ||
| 25/12 | H | Cardiff | W | 3 - 0 | ||
| 27/12 | A | Cardiff | D | 0 - 0 | ||
| 01/1 | H | WBA | L | 3 - 5 | ||
| 03/1 | A | Tottenham | L | 2 - 3 | ||
| 17/1 | H | Burnley | D | 0 - 0 | ||
| 24/1 | A | Preston | L | 1 - 2 | ||
| 07/2 | H | Stoke | L | 1 - 2 | ||
| 14/2 | A | Man City | L | 1 - 2 | ||
| 21/2 | H | Liverpool | L | 1 - 2 | ||
| 28/2 | H | Wolves | D | 1 - 1 | ||
| 07/3 | A | Charlton | D | 0 - 0 | ||
| 14/3 | H | Arsenal | D | 2 - 2 | ||
| 21/3 | A | Derby | W | 2 - 0 | ||
| 28/3 | H | Blackpool | L | 0 - 1 | ||
| 03/4 | H | Middlesbrough | W | 1 - 0 | ||
| 04/4 | A | Chelsea | W | 2 - 1 | ||
| 06/4 | A | Middlesbrough | L | 1 - 2 | ||
| 11/4 | H | Man Utd | L | 1 - 2 | ||
| 18/4 | A | Portsmouth | L | 1 - 5 | ||
| 25/4 | H | Bolton | L | 2 - 3 | ||
| 01/5 | A | Aston Villa | W | 1 - 0 |
| W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
| 01 | Arsenal | 21 | 12 | 9 | 97 | 64 | 54 |
| 02 | Preston | 21 | 12 | 9 | 85 | 60 | 54 |
| 03 | Wolves | 19 | 13 | 10 | 86 | 63 | 51 |
| 04 | West Brom | 21 | 8 | 13 | 66 | 60 | 50 |
| 05 | Charlton | 19 | 11 | 12 | 77 | 63 | 49 |
| 06 | Burnley | 18 | 12 | 12 | 67 | 52 | 48 |
| 07 | Blackpool | 19 | 9 | 14 | 71 | 70 | 47 |
| 08 | Man Utd | 18 | 10 | 14 | 69 | 72 | 46 |
| 09 | Sunderland | 15 | 13 | 14 | 68 | 82 | 43 |
| 10 | Tottenham | 15 | 11 | 16 | 78 | 69 | 41 |
| 11 | Aston Villa | 14 | 13 | 15 | 63 | 61 | 41 |
| 12 | Cardiff | 14 | 12 | 16 | 54 | 46 | 40 |
| 13 | Middlesbrough | 14 | 11 | 17 | 70 | 77 | 39 |
| 14 | Bolton | 15 | 9 | 18 | 61 | 69 | 39 |
| 15 | Portsmouth | 14 | 10 | 18 | 74 | 83 | 38 |
| 16 | Newcastle | 14 | 9 | 19 | 59 | 70 | 37 |
| 17 | Liverpool | 14 | 8 | 20 | 61 | 82 | 36 |
| 18 | Sheff Wed | 12 | 11 | 19 | 62 | 72 | 35 |
| 19 | Chelsea | 12 | 11 | 19 | 56 | 66 | 35 |
| 20 | Man City | 14 | 7 | 21 | 72 | 87 | 35 |
| 21 | Stoke | 12 | 10 | 20 | 53 | 66 | 34 |
| 22 | Derby | 11 | 10 | 21 | 59 | 74 | 32 |
| R3 | 14/1 | H | Swansea | W | 3 - 0 | H | |
| R4 | 31/1 | H | Rotherham | L | 1 - 3 |
| Player | A | G | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batty R | 12 | ||
| Black N | 1 | ||
| Brander G | 5 | 2 | |
| Brennan F | 40 | 1 | |
| Cahill T | 3 | ||
| Casey T | 35 | ||
| Cowell B | 39 | ||
| Crowe C | 23 | ||
| Davies R | 22 | 6 | |
| Duncan J | 1 | ||
| Foulkes B | 18 | 2 | |
| Hannah G | 24 | 4 | |
| Harvey J | 20 | 1 | |
| Keeble V | 20 | 10 | |
| Keery S | 1 | ||
| McMichael A | 35 | ||
| Milburn J | 16 | 5 | |
| Mitchell B | 38 | 11 | |
| Mulgrew T | 14 | ||
| Prior K | 2 | 1 | |
| Robinson B | 5 | ||
| Robledo E | 2 | ||
| Robledo G | 26 | 18 | |
| Simpson R | 40 | ||
| Stokoe B | 19 | ||
| Walker T | 30 | 2 | |
| White L | 3 | ||
| Woollard A | 1 |
Total Number of Games: 44
Total Number of Players Used: 27
(Figure in brackets = total players used in that position)
01: (2) Simpson
02: (3) Cowell
03: (3) McMichael
04: (4) Casey or Stokoe > Harvey
05: (3) Brennan
06: (2) Crowe or Casey
07: (3) Walker > Foulkes
08: (5) Davies or Mulgrew
09: (5) Milburn or Robledo or Keeble
10: (7) Hannah or Robledo
11: (3) Mitchell
| Name | Date | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casey Thomas | 08/1952 | Bournmouth | £7,000 |
| Robinson Robert | 08/1952 | Sunderland | £2,500 |
| Waugh Kenneth | 08/1952 | Internal | £10 |
| Cooper Joseph | 09/1952 | Winlaton Mill | £2,000 |
| Tait Alex | 09/1952 | Internal | |
| Mulgrew Thomas | 10/1952 | Northampton | £9,000 |
| Keery Stanley | 11/1952 | Shrewsbury | £8,250 |
| Taylor John | 11/1952 | Internal | |
| Woolard Arnold | 12/1952 | Peterborough | £5,000 |
| White Len | 02/1953 | Rotheram United | £12,500 |
| Name | Date | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairbrother John | 06/1952 | Peterborough (p/m) | |
| Paterson Thomas | 07/1952 | Watford | £750 |
| Smith Thomas | 08/1952 | Annfield Plain | |
| Robledo George | 05/1953 | Colo-Colo | £15,000 (jd) |
| Robledo Edward | 05/1953 | Colo-Colo | (jd) |