How a goalkeeper was United's joint-top scorer

It was the second time the legendary Reds no.1 had converted a spot-kick in the ill-fated 1973/74 season, and enough to make him joint-top scorer for a spell in a misfiring team, struggling to find the net.

Of course, the campaign would end in relegation for Tommy Docherty's men but how did it transpire that Stepney found himself among the goals?

In the game against Birmingham, George Best was belatedly making his first appearance of the term, and the Northern Ireland superstar had scored two penalties in the previous campaign, yet it was the goalkeeper who retained spot-kick duties after previously converting past Peter Shilton in a 2-1 home defeat to Leicester City a month earlier.

We caught up with Alex to provide more insight and the full feature will appear in the next edition of Inside United, the official club magazine.

It had all come about because he scored in a penalty shootout win during pre-season, in a competition in Murcia. A match was drawn against Penarol, former club of current Red Facundo Pellistri, so it needed deciding from the spot. It had stuck in the mind of captain Martin Buchan, who suggested Alex was the man for the job when it came down to league duties.

"For some unknown reason, I took a penalty in Spain," recounted Stepney, a hero of the European Cup win against Benfica five years earlier. "I made a couple of saves too and we got through, I'm sure we played Murcia in the final. We won anyway but I thought no more about it really, until we played Leicester.

"It was about six or seven games into the season. I think we were at home on the Wednesday night and Gerry Daly used to take penalties, but he failed a fitness test.

"When the bell went to go out, we said who was taking any penalties and Martin, the captain, said: 'Alex'.

"And then we played Birmingham," he added. "It was down to me to run from the Stretford End to the Scoreboard End, as it was in those days, and beat Mike Kelly, who was the Birmingham goalkeeper.

"In all due respect, I was getting my own back because, when I was an amateur, I played for Tooting & Mitcham and our local derby was against Wimbledon and Mike was their goalkeeper at the time. And then I went to Millwall and he was with Queens Park Rangers, and I think they beat us too, so, at last, I got my own back!

"I mean, obviously, that gave us the victory as well but we eventually came up against Wolves [in February] and I used to smash my penalties but it hit the keeper, Gary Pierce, and went out for a throw-in. So I had time to get back!"

The miss against Wolves, in a goalless draw, spelt the end for Stepney's penalty exploits but he remained joint-top scorer for another 10 matches, when Lou Macari and Sammy McIlroy both netted in a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town, during our final game of 1973.

Jim McCalliog was the next man to net from the spot, in a 1-1 draw at Southampton towards the end of the season.

"It was one of those things," accepted Alex. "I mean I haven't looked at the records too well before, but I think Martin Buchan and myself did play every game [they did appear in all 42 league matches and the three cup ties]. In all of the 42 games, I think we only conceded 48 goals but we only scored 38. So, you know, we clearly needed goals from somewhere. Relegation was hard but, you can say now it was probably the best thing to happen to us in the long run."

Look out for the full feature with Alex Stepney in the next edition of Inside United, the official club magazine.