Pictures and analysis of West Brom 5 Man United 5

The Hawthorns played host to a "where were you?" afternoon to round off a remarkable season.

And in the end it had little to do with Sir Alex Ferguson. The Manchester United manager began the final day of the campaign with star billing as he prepared to end a storied career.

But he ended it with a significant but brief walk-on role in an exhilarating sporting drama that no-one will ever forget.

The first 5-5 draw in the English top flight since 1984 – Queens Park Rangers against Newcastle, for the record – will go down as a contender to be the greatest match in Premier League history.

And a crowd that threatened at times to become mired in petty squabbles and ugly, tribal disputes ended the day united in admiration for a truly astonishing spectacle.

We could debate the shortcomings of a West Brom display that, for a dreadful opening 35 minutes was utterly dismal as United raced into a 3-0 lead.

We could laud the reserves of character that enabled Steve Clarke's side to fight back from 3-0 to 3-2 and then from 5-2 to a barely believable 5-5.

And, most of all, we could marvel at the magnificent match-changing contribution of half-time substitute Romelu Lukaku, whose 36-minute hat-trick was the centre-piece of a fabulous thrill-ride.

But it was a day, above all else, to simply revel in the kind of football match that comes around just two or three times in most supporters' lifetimes.

For much of the opening period, the half-soaked Baggies were run ragged by a Red Devils side determined to send their legendary manager out in style.

When the visitors led 3-0 with just 30 minutes on the clock, West Brom fans were extremely disgruntled and fearing their visitors might score more than New Zealand's cricketers had mustered at Lord's hours earlier.

The Baggies defence vanished on six minutes when Javier Hernandez chased a pass into the corner and crossed to the near post, where Shinji Kagawa was unmarked just a handful of yards from goal to head home the first.

And there was further chaos in the Baggies' backline just three minutes later as Antonio Valencia was allowed to race down the right.

He crossed towards Hernandez, with Jonas Olsson turning the ball haplessly into his own net to make it 2-0.

The third goal arrived on the half-hour as Hernandez and Tom Cleverley combined on the edge of the box to feed Alexander Buttner.

He surged forward into space from left-back and was given all the time he needed to drill home a low, left-footed shot.

The Baggies were imploding and isolated pockets of trouble involving rogue United fans in home sections of the Hawthorns threatened to turn the whole occasion sour.

What unfolded in the next hour reminded both sets of fans just why they love football.

Five minutes before half-time, Youssouf Mulumbu seized on a loose pass in midfield and fed Graham Dorrans, who crossed for James Morrison to make it 3-1 and give the hosts a glimmer of hope.

Lukaku then changed the mood inside the ground within five minutes of his introduction.

He powered in from the left and bent home a shot that crept inside the far post off the hand of Anders Lindegaard who, in truth, should have done better.

But United restored their two-goal cushion just three minutes later with another move down the Baggies' brittle left flank.

Makeshift left-back Chris Brunt was beaten by Valencia, whose cross was turned in by Robin van Persie.

And they extended the advantage on 63 minutes when Hernandez turned home a cross from Ryan Giggs to make it 5-2 and, seemingly, settle the game.

Then, however, the remarkable conclusion to the masterpiece of sporting drama began.

Albion should have made it 5-3 when Olsson missed a glaring sitter from a Dorrans cross before two goals in a minute left the comeback well and truly on.

First substitute Markus Rosenberg split the United defence and Lukaku rounded Lindegaard to score, then Billy Jones pulled a cross back for Youssouf Mulumbu to slide home a shot with nine minutes to play.

And, with four minutes left, Lukaku applied the final twist to an astonishing tale when he bundled home from close range after a misdirected cross from Mulumbu to send a rocking Hawthorns into delirium.

As he departed the Premier League scene for the final time without pausing for interviews, Ferguson offered just three words of reflection: "Emotional. Very emotional".

In the circumstances, perhaps one of his more famous post-match quotes was more appropriate. "Football. Bloody hell."

By Steve Madeley