The Leicester City and Manchester United former manager, Frank O’Farrell, has been confirmed to have passed on at the age of 94, after a brief illness.
Aside from both football teams, the deceased nonagenarian managed Cardiff, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates club, Al-Shaab, as well as having two further spells in charge of Torquay United.
Before his retirement and eventual death, the Irishman was in charge of the Red Devils between July 1971 and December 1972, after taking over from Sir Matt Busby who had briefly returned to management after his initial successor Wilf McGuiness was sacked.
O’Farrell led a First Division title charge at United during the 1971/72 season, losing just once in his first 14 league matches in charge but they eventually fell away from the race and finished eighth at the end of the season.
He was eventually sacked as United manager in late 1972 after a 5-0 defeat to Crystal Palace left the club languishing third from bottom in England’s top flight. His overall Manchester United record saw him win 30 out of his 81 games in charge.
O’Farrell guided Leicester to the 1969 FA Cup final during his three-year spell in charge but the Irishman was best known as the man who succeeded Sir Matt Busby as United manager in 1971, although his Old Trafford reign would last only 18 months.
O’Farrell was a wing-half who played for his native Cork, West Ham, and Preston, winning nine Republic of Ireland caps between 1952 and 1959.
He began his managerial career at Weymouth in 1961 and spent three years at Torquay before landing the Leicester job in 1968. Leicester was beaten 1-0 by Manchester City in the following year’s Cup final and relegated from the First Division three weeks later.
Leicester returned to the top flight as Second Division champions in 1971 and O’Farrell was quickly appointed as Busby’s successor. After a promising start which saw United top the table for the first time in three years, O’Farrell fell out with George Best and the team ended the season eighth. O’Farrell was sacked in December 1972 with United third from bottom.