When Did Man Utd Last Win Five Games in a Row?

Four games into Michael Carrick’s reign, Manchester United stand on the brink of a fifth straight win.

Michael Carrick is on the cusp of an important milestone. | James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images

A club as historically successful as Manchester United knows that consistency is often what underpins that success.

Consistency, in this case putting multiple wins together, sets you apart from the competition, and is something that has ultimately been lacking.

United’s inability to string wins together under Ruben Amorim was an issue. The most the Portuguese achieved was three, which he did twice—one early in his reign against Rangers, Fulham and FCSB, and another towards the end against Liverpool, Sunderland and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Michael Carrick has already matched and surpassed that in his opening four games as interim manager. Despite being tasked with facing Manchester City and Arsenal straight off the bat, Carrick quickly found what works, adding wins against the Premier League’s top two with follow-up victories over Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur. Now, beating West Ham United on Tuesday could make it five.

Five has become something of a ‘magic number’ because of the unfortunate attention drawn by viral fan Frank Ilett and his vow not to cut his hair until Manchester United win five games in a row.

Originally from Oxford and now based in Spain, it’s been 495 days since he started this bizarre ‘challenge’ featuring daily updates via his ‘The United Strand’ handle.

On the plus side, it’s not solely about social media gain. Ilett intends to donate his hair, whenever it gets cut, to the Little Princess Trust, a UK charity providing wigs for children who have lost theirs as a result of illness. He also says around £6,000 ($8,201) has been raised for the cause.

But the team’s inconsistency stretches back further than the birth of ‘The United Strand’ in October 2024. The last time United recorded five straight victories was February of that year.

Rasmus Højlund was banging in the goals the last time Man Utd won five in a row. | Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty Images

It came under Erik ten Hag and was spread across the FA Cup and Premier League, starting with a fourth-round tie against Newport County in the former competition on Jan. 28, 2024, a 4–2 triumph that featured Kobbie Mainoo’s first senior goal.

Mainoo netted again, this time a 97th-minute winner, when United prevailed 4–3 against Wolverhampton Wanderers a few days later, while Rasmus Højlund then took over the goalscoring mantle, striking four times in the next three games against West Ham, Aston Villa and Luton Town.

The winning streak was ended at five games by a defeat to Fulham at Old Trafford on Feb. 24, 2024. The Cottagers claimed a 2–1 victory courtesy of a very late winner from Alex Iwobi.

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Man Utd’s Longest-Ever Winning Streak

Five consecutive wins is a relatively modest number.

The club record stands at an astonishing 14, but is well over a century old. It was set during the 1904–05 season, beginning only a couple of years after the name change from Newton Heath to Manchester United. After an indifferent start to the Second Division campaign, Ernest Mangnall’s United faced Lincoln City at home—Bank Street in the days before Old Trafford—on Oct. 15, 1904 and won 2–0 through goals from Thomas Arkesden and Alfred Schofield.

United then just kept winning, including 6–1 and 7–0 thrashings of Port Vale and Bradford City in games 12 and 13. The final win of that streak was a 4–2 victory away at Bolton Wanderers on Jan. 3, 1905, and it ended four days later with a 1–1 draw away at Bristol City.

However, a 14-game winning streak still wasn’t good enough for promotion to the top flight, with those places taken by Liverpool and Bolton. Promotion came the year after and, by 1907–08, Mangnall delivered the first of what is now a joint English record 20 league titles.

José Mourinho oversaw nine straight wins when Michael Carrick was a player. | John Peters/Manchester United/Getty Images

Even in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, Manchester United teams have managed as many as nine consecutive wins on two separate occasions. José Mourinho put together such a streak a few months into his debut season in charge, starting with a 2–0 scoreline in the Europa League against Zorya Luhansk on Dec. 8, 2016. Taking in six Premier League fixtures, the FA Cup third round and the first leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final, it carried on until drawing with Liverpool in mid-January 2017.

The aforementioned Ten Hag matched that between November 2022 and January 2023, a period that included the sudden acrimonious departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and a five-week pause in the club football calendar for the World Cup in Qatar. The fixture list was certainly favourable, although the ninth and final win was against Manchester City (2–1) at Old Trafford.

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What Next for Man Utd?

Michael Carrick can ultimately be confident about keeping this run going.

After beating Manchester City and Arsenal already, there are no better sides they will face this season and the fixture list ahead is certainly favourable by comparison to the start he had.

Carrick also has the team playing a brand of stripped back, but direct, intense and entertaining football that is in keeping with the ‘United DNA’ we’ve heard so much about in recent months. The squad is in a very good place compared to previous seasons, with few injuries—the loss of Patrick Dorgu is still a blow—and Bruno Fernandes, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha all in fine form.

Man Utd’s forwards are in top form. | Copa/Getty Images

Ole Gunnar Solskjær won eight games on the bounce in similar circumstances during the 2018–19 season, as interim manager auditioning to have the job on a permanent basis.

The proverbial carrot is securing Champions League qualification by finishing in the Premier League top four—fifth place might also be good enough—which will be as important for next season’s budget as much as it will be for the prestige and status it brings.

Man Utd’s Next Five Fixtures

Date	Competition	Opponent
Tuesday, Feb. 10	Premier League	West Ham United (A)
Monday, Feb. 23	Premier League	Everton (A)
Sunday, March 1	Premier League	Crystal Palace (H)
Wednesday, March 4	Premier League	Newcastle United (A)
Sunday, March 15	Premier League	Aston Villa (H)

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