| Div 1 | 17th |
| FA Cup | R4 |
| Attendance | 27,118 |
| Chairman | J Lunn |
| Manager | A Cunningham |
| Trainer | J McPherson jnr |
| Captain | J Hill |
| Top Scorer | D Hutchinson (14) |
The management had tired of Hughie Gallagher's on and off-field misdemeanours and had sold him to Chelsea for a record fee at the end of the 1929/30 season. It was a move which not only infuriated the Gallowgate faithful, but also represented a huge risk; Gallacher had finished top scorer in all his seasons at the club and their play revolved around him.
United invested heavily as Cunningham sought to reshape the team and there were significant changes in personnel. Between May and December the Magpies paid out an incredible amount, almost £25,000.
New centre-forward Duncan Lindsay scored 6 times in the first 8 games, but he couldn't maintain that goalscoring form and was replaced by Duncan Hutchinson who would finish as top scorer despite only scoring 14 goals.
It was another disappointing season where United occasionally won in style, but usually lost and often decisively. And the 17th placed finish represented only a marginal improvement on last season's near disaster.
Gallagher's return with Chelsea (in United's first home game) drew the biggest crowd in the club's history. The exact attendance is unknown, but is usually quoted as 68,386 with thousands more locked outside.
In the FA Cup United slumped to a 4-1 defeat against Leeds in the Fourth Round.
Kit images copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission
United started well enough with four wins in their first eight games including a 7-4 win at bottom placed Man United.
Newcastle then hit a disastrous spell of eight defeats in ten games that saw them plummet from 6th to 18th. The run included a 7-4 home defeat against Portsmouth and a 5-0 thrashing at Roker Park.
Andy Cunningham rang the changes which helped United regain some of their early season form, but performances remained erratic as when a 5-0 home defeat by Middlesbrough was followed by a 5-1 win away at Derby
Gradually they clambered back up to 11th before 6 wins and 2 draws in the last 8 matches sent them tumbling back down to 17th.
| 30/8 | A | Sheff Wed | L | 1-2 | ||
| 03/9 | H | Chelsea | W | 1-0 | ||
| 06/9 | H | Grimsby | L | 1-2 | ||
| 10/9 | A | Birmingham | D | 1-1 | ||
| 13/9 | A | Man Utd | W | 7-4 | ||
| 17/9 | H | Birmingham | D | 2-2 | ||
| 20/9 | H | WHU | W | 4-2 | ||
| 27/9 | A | Bolton | W | 3-0 | ||
| 04/10 | H | Liverpool | L | 0-4 | ||
| 11/10 | A | Middlesbrough | L | 1-3 | ||
| 18/10 | H | Derby | L | 2-5 | ||
| 25/10 | A | Sheff Utd | L | 1-3 | ||
| 01/11 | H | Leeds | W | 4-1 | ||
| 08/11 | A | Blackpool | D | 0-0 | ||
| 15/11 | H | Portsmouth | L | 4-7 | ||
| 22/11 | A | Sunderland | L | 0-5 | ||
| 29/11 | H | Blackburn | L | 2-3 | ||
| 06/12 | A | Man City | L | 0-2 | ||
| 13/12 | H | Leicester | W | 5-2 | ||
| 20/12 | A | Arsenal | W | 2-1 | ||
| 26/12 | A | Huddersfield | W | 3-0 | ||
| 27/12 | H | Sheff Wed | L | 1-2 | ||
| 01/1 | H | Aston Villa | W | 2-0 | ||
| 03/1 | A | Grimsby | D | 2-2 | ||
| 17/1 | H | Man Utd | W | 4-3 | ||
| 26/1 | A | WHU | L | 2-3 | ||
| 31/1 | H | Bolton | W | 4-0 | ||
| 07/2 | A | Liverpool | L | 2-4 | ||
| 14/2 | H | Middlesbrough | L | 0-5 | ||
| 21/2 | A | Derby | W | 5-1 | ||
| 28/2 | H | Sheff Utd | W | 1-0 | ||
| 07/3 | A | Leeds Utd | L | 0-1 | ||
| 14/3 | H | Blackpool | L | 0-2 | ||
| 21/3 | A | Portsmouth | W | 2-1 | ||
| 28/3 | H | Sunderland | W | 2-0 | ||
| 03/4 | H | Huddersfield | D | 1-1 | ||
| 04/4 | A | Blackburn | L | 0-1 | ||
| 07/4 | A | Aston Villa | L | 3-4 | ||
| 11/4 | H | Man City | L | 0-1 | ||
| 18/4 | A | Leicester | L | 1-3 | ||
| 25/4 | H | Arsenal | L | 1-3 | ||
| 02/5 | A | Chelsea | D | 1-1 |
| W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
| 01 | Arsenal | 28 | 10 | 4 | 127 | 59 | 66 |
| 02 | Aston Villa | 25 | 9 | 8 | 128 | 78 | 59 |
| 03 | Sheff Wed | 22 | 8 | 12 | 102 | 75 | 52 |
| 04 | Portsmouth | 18 | 13 | 11 | 84 | 67 | 49 |
| 05 | Huddersfield | 18 | 12 | 12 | 81 | 65 | 48 |
| 06 | Derby | 18 | 10 | 14 | 94 | 79 | 46 |
| 07 | Middlesbrough | 19 | 8 | 15 | 98 | 90 | 46 |
| 08 | Man City | 18 | 10 | 14 | 75 | 70 | 46 |
| 09 | Liverpool | 15 | 12 | 15 | 86 | 85 | 42 |
| 10 | Blackburn | 17 | 8 | 17 | 83 | 84 | 42 |
| 11 | Sunderland | 16 | 9 | 17 | 89 | 85 | 41 |
| 12 | Chelsea | 15 | 10 | 17 | 64 | 67 | 40 |
| 13 | Grimsby | 17 | 5 | 20 | 82 | 87 | 39 |
| 14 | Bolton | 15 | 9 | 18 | 68 | 81 | 39 |
| 15 | Sheff Utd | 14 | 10 | 18 | 78 | 84 | 38 |
| 16 | Leicester | 16 | 6 | 20 | 80 | 95 | 38 |
| 17 | Newcastle | 15 | 6 | 21 | 78 | 87 | 36 |
| 18 | West Ham | 14 | 8 | 20 | 79 | 94 | 36 |
| 19 | Birmingham | 13 | 10 | 19 | 55 | 70 | 36 |
| 20 | Blackpool | 11 | 10 | 21 | 71 | 125 | 32 |
| 21 | Leeds | 12 | 7 | 23 | 68 | 81 | 31 |
| 22 | Man Utd | 7 | 8 | 27 | 53 | 115 | 22 |
| R3 | 10/1 | H | Nottm F | W | 4-0 | ||
| R4 | 24/1 | A | Leeds Utd | L | 1-4 |
| Player | A | G |
|---|---|---|
| Bedford H | 25 | 13 |
| Betton A | 1 | |
| Boyd J | 25 | 9 |
| Burns M | 15 | |
| Cape J | 15 | 7 |
| Chalmers W | 6 | |
| Davidson D | 26 | |
| Devine J | 6 | 3 |
| Fairhurst D | 34 | |
| Harris J | 6 | |
| Hill J | 15 | |
| Hutchison D | 27 | 14 |
| Keen E | 1 | |
| Lang T | 12 | 4 |
| Lindsay D | 19 | 12 |
| MacKenzie R | 19 | 1 |
| Mathison G | 2 | |
| McDonald T | 3 | |
| McInroy A | 29 | |
| Naylor J | 24 | |
| Nelson J | 25 | |
| Park O | 2 | |
| Richardson JR | 12 | 4 |
| Richardson J | 12 | |
| Robinson J | 1 | |
| Starling R | 38 | 6 |
| Thomson B | 16 | |
| Weaver S | 36 | 1 |
| Wilkinson J | 32 | 7 |
| own goals | 2 |
01: McInroy
02: Nelson/Richardson
03: Fairhurst
04: Naylor
05: Hill >
06: Weaver
07: Cape > Boyd
08: Richardson JR > Bedford
09: Lindsay > Hutchinson
10: Starling
11: Wilkinson > Lang
| Name | Date | Age | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McPhillips William | 07/30 | 20 | Musselburgh Bruntonians | |
| Naylor Jimmy | 07/30 | 29 | Huddersfield | £4,000 |
| Nelson James | 08/30 | 29 | Cardiff City | £7,000 |
| Bedford Harry | 12/30 | 31 | Derby County | £4,000 |
| Feeney Wilfred | 12/30 | 20 | Whitby Utd | £25 |
| Betton Alec | 01/31 | 27 | Scarborough | £500 |
| Robinson James | 01/31 | 29 | Scarborough | £300 |
| Ford Joseph | 05/31 | 20 | Rosewell Rosedale | £40 |
Although United had already spent the Gallacher money by the end of May they kept on spending.
Cunningham went for quality and experience bringing in Scottish international right-back James Nelson, England international Harry Bedford and England triallist James Naylor.
United also brought in a number of non-league players to strengthen the squad including a couple of centre-halves from Scarborough after the Midland League side's FA Cup exploits that season.
| Name | Date | Age | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fidler Albert | 08/30 | 23 | Walker Celtic | |
| Mccurley John | 08/30 | 24 | East Fife | |
| Wilson Joseph | 08/30 | 19 | Southend | £500 |
| Scott George | 09/30 | 26 | Crawcrook Albion | |
| Keen Errington | 12/30 | 20 | Derby | Exchange |
| Devine Joseph | 02/31 | 25 | Sunderland | £2,597 |
| Lindsay Duncan | 05/31 | 28 | Bury | £525 |
| Mcdonald Thomas | 05/31 | 35 | York City | Free |
| Park Oswald | 05/31 | 26 | Northampton | Free |
| Robinson James | 05/31 | 29 | Released |
Most of the players who left before or during the season were reserves although it was a suprise to see Joe Devine leave within a year of joining after he played such an important role in saving United from relegation in the previous campaign.
At the end of the season centre-forward Duncan Lindsay departed after only one year at the club and Thomas Mcdonald departed after providing the Magpies with ten years brilliant service. He had played 367 games and scored 113 goals.