Peter Davenport - Manchester United

Manchester United

Peter Davenport completed his transfer to Manchester United on 12 March 1986 for a fee of £750,000. By this stage of the season, United were falling behind Everton and Liverpool in the league title race which they had looked so certain to win after a 10-match winning start to the season. A hectic fixture schedule followed, with 10 games being played between Davenport's arrival on 12 March leading up to his first goal in a 4-0 win over Leicester City on 26 April. By then, however, the impressive win was too late to revive United's title challenge as it had become a three-horse race between Everton, Liverpool and West Ham United, with Liverpool eventually winning.

United manager Ron Atkinson had signed him as a successor to Mark Hughes, who would be signing for FC Barcelona at the end of the season.

Davenport himself didn't have a bad start to the 1986-87 season, but United's performances in the league were some of their worst since relegation in the 1973-74 season. By the beginning of November, Davenport had scored five goals in the league and another goal in the Football League Cup, but United were second from bottom in the league and battling against relegation when just months earlier they had been title contenders. Davenport scored his seventh goal of the season on 4 November 1986, but it came as United were thrashed 4-1 by Southampton in the fourth round replay of the League Cup. Ron Atkinson was then sacked and replaced by Alex Ferguson.

Ferguson was intent on building a new side, but there were few changes to the line-up while the 1986-87 season wore on and Davenport was undoubtedly one of the best players in the side that season. In December, he scored twice in successive 3-3 draws with title challengers Tottenham Hotspur and fellow strugglers Aston Villa. On 20 April 1987 he scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win over deadly rivals Liverpool which helped end Liverpool's defence of the league title, which was won by Everton. By now, United's relegation worries had long gone and they finished a healthy 11th in the final table. Davenport finished the season as United's top goalscorer with 16 goals (14 in the league and 2 in the League Cup) and for the 1987-88 season he would have a new strike partner in the shape of Brian McClair following the departure of Frank Stapleton.

McClair's arrival took the pressure off Davenport as the Scotsman was top scorer for a United side who finished second behind Liverpool in the league in 1987-88, scoring 24 goals in the league and 31 in all competitions. Davenport played in 34 out of 40 league games (13 as a substitute) and scored five league goals. In all competitions he made 40 appearances and scored six goals, vying with Norman Whiteside (normally a midfielder) for the role of United's second striker.

However, the 1988 close season saw the return of Mark Hughes to Old Trafford after two years away and it was widely expected that Davenport would leave, but he began the 1988-89 season still a United player. He scored in successive league games in September and was also on the scoresheet in a League Cup tie, but it was soon clear that he would never be a regular fixture in the United team again and he was sold to newly promoted Middlesbrough in November 1988. He had scored his last goal for United on 28 September 1988, finding the net in a 1-0 Football League Cup second round first leg win over Rotherham United at Millmoor.