In the post-war years it was boom time for attendances and United's average attendance for League and Cup matches was 49,435. Even a pre-season trial match attracted 27,763.
There were 1,500 season tickets made available and the club was deluged with applications. The 60,00 marker was surpassed three times with the highest attendance being 65,798 for the match against Manchester City.
Unfortunately the expectancy generated by their huge following created a lot of pressure and the team often performed better away from home. They only won half of their matches at SJP and this was a major factor in promotion being missed.
The club unveiled plans to cover the 1s 3d enclosure; the St James' Terrace side. They also applied for permission to construct a car park and a training ground within the land adjacent to Leazes Park.
The biggest controversy of the season was over allocation of tickets for the semi-final. Both clubs were given 16,000 despite the massive difference in the support for the two teams.
United could have sold their tickets twice over and the club faced heavy criticism over their distribution methods with fans being urged to apply via local travel firms then finding that the firms did not have enough tickets to go around. The fact that Charlton did not sell all their tickets simply rubbed salt in the wounds.
As a result many fans had to pay way over the odds on the black market.