New Trinity exhibition launched at Old Trafford

New Trinity exhibition launched at Old Trafford

For the first time since 1973, the Manchester United shirts of George Best, Denis Law and Sir Bobby Charlton are reunited at Old Trafford in a new Museum exhibition.

Last week, the Museum welcomed guests to see the brand-new installation, celebrating the magnificent contributions of three players who shared a stage for the best part of a decade. Known as the Trinity, Best, Law and Charlton are considered three of the best to have ever played the game.

The event was attended by a number of special guests, including family of Best, and two legends that shared a pitch with the Trinity – Alex Stepney and Sammy McIlroy (pictured above). The two shared their memories of playing with the famous three, and how they shaped the club’s history, before cutting the ribbon and declaring the exhibition open.

The Trinity first played together in the same side in January 1964, in a match against West Brom, in which all three managed to find the net. This was the first of 293 times that the Trinity would play together, and it set a precedent. It was the beginning of a hugely successful period for each player and for Manchester United, culminating in the team winning the European Cup in 1968, and in each player winning football’s greatest individual honour, the Ballon d’Or.

Denis was the first to be voted Europe’s finest footballer in 1964, with Sir Bobby winning the accolade two year later in 1966, before the youngest member of the Trinity, George, followed in the path of his team-mates in ’68. Whilst other European teams may have had more Ballon d’Or winners overall, never before, nor after, has any one team contained three winners in the same side. They were a truly gifted and unique group of players and the term ‘Trinity’ was coined to recognise their remarkable achievements in the game.

The Museum at Old Trafford has a collection of around 50,000 objects, which is as wide-ranging as you could possibly imagine. Despite this comprehensive collection detailing the club’s rich history, we have never had a United shirt of Best’s in our possession for any length of time, since of course the 1970s, when George himself was here wearing one.

This exhibition came together for a number of reasons, primarily because we were offered the opportunity to borrow one of George’s shirts from the TAHTO Center for Finnish Sports Culture.

Furthermore, following the passing of the great Sir Bobby, we were looking for new ways to honour his legacy in the Museum, his presence is already woven through the fabric of this stadium and our Museum, but we wanted to create something new in his memory. It therefore seemed the perfect moment to dedicate time and space to the players who dedicated so much to this club.

To celebrate the opening of the exhibition, we want to see you strike your best Trinity pose.

Share your pictures and memories at manutd.com/myunitedtrinity and you could win retro shirts for you and your Trinity trio pals, as well as a visit to the Museum to see the exhibition in real life. T&Cs apply.

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