Why was Stuart Pearson called Pancho?

One of those was striker Stuart Pearson, who enjoyed cult status and still has a tremendous relationship with the supporters in his role as a speaker in the matchday hospitality lounge at Old Trafford.

I believe the other was Ron Tudor Davies, who did not start a game for the club and signed in November rather than before we had kicked a ball in that 1974/75 season.

All fans from that era recognise Stuart as 'Pancho', more on that later, and he was one of the spearheads, alongside Jimmy Greenhoff, to the swashbuckling Tommy Docherty team still talked about in excited adulation by those old, and lucky, enough to remember it.

Pearson had plenty of pedigree in the division with boyhood club Hull City and Docherty had worked with him already, at Boothferry Park.

Speaking ahead of coaching our Legends team for the first time, at Southampton on Saturday (15:00 GMT kick-off), Pancho takes up the story.

"A lot of people forgot Tommy Doc went to Hull as Terry Neill's assistant, so did Tommy Cavanagh," he said. "They obviously got to know me quite well. 

"Tommy, when he left, said: 'I will come back one day and sign you, Pancho'. I was like 'I believe you', nobody believed Tommy! But he came back and bought me, once they got relegated, which I didn't mind at all. It's just the name, Manchester United, and the history of the club and they had tremendous players as well.

"You had Martin Buchan in the team, Alex Stepney was still going great. Then, after that, we managed to get Gordon Hill, Stevie Coppell, Jimmy Greenhoff. Lou Macari went back into midfield from being a striker because, when I first signed, Lou played up front with me. When he dropped to midfield, him and Sammy McIlroy were fantastic. You had Buchan at the back, with Brian Greenhoff as well, so we had a super team.

"All we wanted to do was go and attack teams and everybody loved it. Now, when I do the hospitality, they still love talking about that era."

It was no surprise that United ended up winning the league to bounce back up at the first attempt, with Pearson the top league scorer for the free-flowing Reds with 17 goals.

Even more noteworthy was the fact we had the highest average attendance in the country, ahead of all the Division One clubs, as the fans truly stuck with their team, despite the despair of relegation and accepting life without superstars Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best.

"We played at York City [in the December, Pearson scoring the only goal] and it [Bootham Crescent] only held 10,000 [fans]," he explained. "There were 30,000 there. No wonder they all went on the pitch and it took ages to play the game because we couldn't get rid of them!

"They had Besty, as a winger, Law and Charlton but Hill took over and so did Coppell, and they loved getting to the byline and crossing balls. Manchester United were brought up with that. Besty was more of an individual winger, he didn't really want to keep setting up Bobby and Denis up because he wanted to score himself! So itw as just a little bit different but everyone always just loved it.

"I missed 10-12 games that year as I tore my hamstring, that was frustrating. So it was nice to get nearly 20 goals in the year [18 in all competitions]. The thing with me, I was never like Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has got to score 30 goals a year. I'd rather play well and let Jimmy score or Lou score and that's why I just accepted I'm only going to get 15-20 goals a year. I was never a 30-goal-a-year man because, if I'm through with the keeper to beat, and Jimmy is in a better position, I'd pass it to him. Whereas a lot of players are lot more selfish, so I used to really enjoy it, you know."

Pearson went on to score in the 1977 FA Cup final against Liverpool, helping deny the Merseysiders becoming the first English club to do the Treble, something that would take another 22 years to occur, thanks to Alex Ferguson's brilliant team.

After burying his shot past Ray Clemence, he celebrated with his trademark clenched fist, in front of the delirious supporters. It remains one of the enduring images from that day at Wembley that meant so much to United supporters, who had been plunged into the Second Division only three years earlier, and seen our fiercest rivals rise to the top of the English and European game.

"I always did that," he revealed. "It started at Hull City. I don't know why I did it.

"I used to do a lot of boxing when I was a bit younger. I don't know what cause it but I'd look at other players and never wanted to copy anybody else. It was just the adrenaline flowing, when you scored, and you see these players run off and they look knackered by the time they get back! What's the point in doing that? You might as well stand there and let other people jump on my back.

"I enjoyed it but I remember getting close to a few of the opposition fans, when I scored. Then, it was oh God, it's the Everton fans and they're all trying to kill me! It was just something I did, I really enjoyed it and the fans got to like it as well."

And, let's clear up the Pancho nickname, which originated with another United player but predates Stuart's time at Old Trafford.

Mark Pearson had long sideburns which earned him the monicker - Pancho being a shortened version of Francisco, and gaining worldwide recognition from Mexican revolutionary 'Pancho' Villa and as a character in the film 'The Cisko Kid'.

Mark made his debut in the famous game against Sheffield Wednesday in 1958, the club's first after the Munich Air Disaster.

"It was Mark, yeah, what it was, was Tommy Doc going to Hull and there were two Pearsons before me, and they called them Pancho. So Tommy started calling me Pancho. That's all it was. I didn't have a moustache or grow long sideburns, so, no, that is all it was.

"So everybody knows me as Pancho now. All of my team-mates called me it but I've been called worse from the opposition players!"

Get tickets to see United Legends play at Southampton's St Mary's on Saturday, 15:00 GMT kick-off.