On this day: Manchester United debut 'Holy Trinity'

By Liam Apicella, Features Editor | 18 January 2014

Fifty years ago today, George Best, Denis Law and Sir Bobby Charlton appeared in the Manchester United starting lineup together for the first time.

At the age of 17, George Best was handed his senior Manchester United debut by Sir Matt Busby during a match against West Bromwich Albion in September 1963.

However, despite having acknowledged that he had a genuine talent at his disposal, Busby was cautious with the young Northern Irishman and after that outing, the winger was sent back to the reserves.

He wouldn't appear for the first team again until late December, when his goal during a 5-1 win over Burnley convinced Busby that he was ready to become a regular fixture in his starting lineup.

A win over Southampton and a defeat at the hands of Birmingham City soon followed, before United made the trip to West Brom 50 years ago today. The Baggies would be the first opposition team to come up against a United side that contained Best, Denis Law and Sir Bobby Charlton.

Despite it being their maiden outing together, the attack-minded trio displayed what appeared to be a telepathic understanding that inspired United to a 4-1 win at The Hawthorns. For the record, Law scored twice, while Best and Charlton also found the net.

Later dubbed 'The Holy Trinity', the three went on to start 293 United matches together in which they scored a total of 365 goals.

During that time, United won two Division One titles and one European Cup, while all of them were named European Footballer of the Year (now the FIFA Ballon d'Or) between 1964 and 1968.

To commemorate the success of the triumvirate, United unveiled a statue outside of Old Trafford in 2008, 40 years to the day that the club had lifted the first of their three European Cups.

Man United XI that faced West Brom on January 14, 1964: Gaskell; Dunne, Cantwell, Crerand, Foulkes; Setters, Herd, Moore; Charlton, Law, Best