How did United fare in the crazy festive fixtures?

There were 66 goals across 10 top-flight Boxing Day matches, with Fulham beating Ipswich Town 10-1 and Blackburn Rovers winning 8-2 at West Ham United.

Seven goals were netted in our game, unfortunately six of them went to Burnley at Turf Moor. Yet, a mere two day later, revenge was swift and sweet, as the Clarets returned from Old Trafford on the end of a 5-1 pasting.

So what was the wider context to our involvement in that crazy goal-laden spell?

Well, let's start with the away game on 26 December. A surface described as "skiddy" may have contributed to the slipshod defending and it's worth noting this was the so-called 'Big Freeze', when the country suffered one of its coldest winters on record.

Nearby Bury had their home clash with Portsmouth postponed but there were no excuses for United's heavy defeat in Lancashire, instead condemnation focusing on Paddy Crerand for receiving a red card.

It was the fifth dismissal of the season for Matt Busby's men, and Denis Law was still serving a suspension after receiving a 28-day ban for an incident at Aston Villa that saw the Scotland striker receive his marching orders from referee Jim Carr for kicking out at Alan Deakin.

"I don't like sending players off," said Carr at the time. "But I saw everything very clearly and so I had no option in this case." 

This had garned huge media scrutiny, with some claiming the master marksman's career was in crisis.

Crerand's altercation with Ian Towers, 13 minutes from time, received a lot of press attention. Busby was grilled by reporters about the team's disciplinary record but insisted: "There has been nothing deliberate about it. I think that happened has happened in the heat of the moment . It is just one of those things."

The ire towards the disciplinary situation meant Andy Lochhead's four goals went a little overlooked, with future Red Willie Morgan scoring the other two.

David Herd had equalised for United on the half-hour mark but this heavy loss, on the back of a 4-0 thumping at Everton five days earlier, gave much cause for consternation. It left us in sixth place in the table but there would soon be a chance for redemption, with Burnley coming to Manchester on 28 December.

There is a great line in one of the national newspapers at the time: "As he has done so often in the past, manager Busby has turned to youth at a moment of crisis."

The youth in question were teenage wingers George Best and Willie Anderson. Their performances helped one report dub them 'the new Babes' after a 5-1 demolition of the Clarets on a torrid afternoon for full-backs John Angus and Alex Elder.

Best had made his debut back in the September, but sustained an ankle injury against West Brom, and been biding his time playing in the Central League. "On this showing, he could be in the first team for some time," predicted matchday reporter John Field.

Herd claimed a 10th-minute opener, following an Elder error, and, although Burnley tried to respond, with Lochhead again a major threat and Ray Pointer hitting the woodwork, United ran away with things.

When a Herd header was only half cleared, Graham Moore doubled the lead and Best's first senior goal was tapped home by the precocious Northern Irishman before the interval. Two goals in two minutes, by Moore and Herd, made it five, but any hope of bettering the result at Turf Moor were ended when Lochhead punished a stray backpass by Maurice Setters to bag his fifth across the two matches (the Scottish striker ended up with 11 goals against the Reds during his Clarets career). 

Busby had struck gold with Best, fulfilling his thought that "we may have a genius on our hands". The Belfast Telegraph reported on somebody who would become one of their favourite sons: "His speed, drive and enthusiasm helped a great deal in United's 5-1 defeat of Burnley. Indeed, George's development is considered remarkable at Old Trafford.

"He did not make his debut for United's Reserves side until the opening day of this season and, before Saturday, had only played once for the first team - at outside-right against West Bromwich in September."

Best would finish the campaign with six goals in 24 games, becoming a regular and a darling of the supporters. 

As for Anderson, he made only two more appearances in 1963/64, one of them in a 3-2 FA Cup third-round victory at Southampton in the January, when a certain Mr Crerand atoned for his red card for taking Boxing Day too literally, with a cracking late winner to complete a remarkable comeback from 2-0 down.