How United used to train: 1960s

Continuing on from Wilf McGuinness’ insight into how the players were put through their paces in the 1950s, European Cup winning goalkeeper Alex Stepney is up next to shed light on how the men in between the sticks were trained in the 1960s – a time where the backpass rule didn’t exist and where keepers had only just started to wear gloves.

Stepney had an illustrious career in a United shirt after arriving from Chelsea in the summer of 1966. In his 12-year stint at the club, where he kept 175 clean sheets, Alex helped United to three major honours: the first division, the FA Cup and of course, the European Cup in 1968, where he pulled off a stunning save to deny Benfica’s Eusébio in the final.

When it comes to training though, goalkeepers were often the forgotten player in the 1960s, as Alex recalled…

“From my position as a goalkeeper it was bloody hard; there were no goalkeeping coaches in those days and so I had to do the same running as the players – something I wasn’t very good at!”