Manchester United

Manchester United FC is a professional football club that was formed as Newton Heath L&YR FC, by workers of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in 1878. They first played games at a poor venue in North Road before moving to Bank Street, Clayton in 1893, the year after they had gained admission to the Football League. 

The L&YR was dropped from the clubs title at this point. Manchester United became the club name on 26 April 1902, when the current colours of red, white and black were also adopted.

It was 1906 before "The Red Devils" reached Division One, with them going on to win their first championship two years later. This was aided by United capitalising on neighbours City's problems. 

The club was found guilty of illegally paying players, with them being fined heavily as a club and all players being banned for appearing for City ever again. United picked off the best players for themselves. The title was again secured in 1911 after winning the FA Cup for the first time in 1909, which was the season the club moved into Old Trafford. 

United then went a further 41 years before they next won the league (indeed they had a spell as somewhat of a "yo-yo" club playing in the top two divisions) despite winning the Cup again in 1948.

By then United had appointed Matt Busby (later Sir Matt) as manager. He revolutionised the club as he became one of the first ever managers to pick his own team and run training sessions. His former club Liverpool turned him down for their job because of his wishes. He produced an experienced winning title team in 1952, before he realised the clubs future success would be sought by an extensive youth system producing their own players. 

They once again won the League in 1956, with an average age of only 22. Busby's original "crop" of youth players was referred to as the Busby Babes, the jewel in the crown of which was a wing-half named Duncan Edwards. The boy from Dudley in the West Midlands made his United debut at the age of just 16 back in 1953. 

It was said that Edwards could play at any position on the field, and many who saw him play said that he was the greatest player ever. More titles were lifted in 1956 and 1957 as they became the first English entrants in the European Cup, a competition Busby was much in favour of, despite the dinosaurs at the FA having other thoughts.

Disaster struck after the second leg of the tie away to Red Star Belgrade in early 1958. The plane carrying the party back had to stop in Munich for refuelling. As it tried to take off it crashed killing eight United players: Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor, Liam Whelan and the great Duncan Edwards, as well as fifteen other passengers including United staff and the legendary former England goalkeeper Frank Swift who by then worked as a reporter. 

Busby hung on for dear life and was given the last rights before he slowly recovered. The footballing world rallied behind United (which ever since has caused some kind of sick jealousy from fans of some other clubs) as they somehow reached the FA Cup Final with a scratch team made up mainly of reserves and loan signings, before going down to Bolton Wanderers. 

The disaster also decimated the England team. It could be argued that Edwards would have led his country for many years in the future, meaning the games history could well have looked very different.

Busby went back to the drawing board but continued to rely mainly on youth. With quality signings, most notably Denis Law along with Bobby Charlton and the new young hero George Best, United won the Cup in 1963 as well the League in 1965 and 1967. The club followed that up with making history by becoming the first English club to win the European Cup, beating Benfica at Wembley.

To see the victory , click here: 

Sadly this proved to be the pinnacle for the side as it aged and Busby was persuaded to take a job "upstairs", not helped by Best showing brilliance on the pitch but getting very much carried away off it. The club banned him for indiscipline, only for him to come back and humiliate poor old Northampton Town (see their section for highlights). Best never really got hold of his demons, which would sadly lead to his untimely death in 2005 at the age of 59. 

For a tribute to the legend, click here: 

United were relegated in 1973-74 before charismatic Tommy Docherty took over as boss. They beat great rivals Liverpool in the 1977 FA Cup Final, a year after being defeated by Southampton in the final, but the Scotsman had to go after an affair with the physio's wife caused ructions.

Dave Sexton took over and added the likes of Ray Wilkins, Gordon McQueen and Joe Jordan to the squad. However his side failed to win the league title as well as reaching the 1978-79 FA Cup which ended in a 3-2 defeat to Arsenal. Sexton was replaced by Ron Atkinson in 1981.

'Big Ron' led his exciting side to win the FA Cup after a replay in 1982-83 against Brighton & Hove Albion after the signing of Bryan Robson in a record fee. The following season saw United reach the semi-final of the European Cup-Winners Cup before going out to Juventus.

The team couldn't lift the holy grail of the league title but won the 1984-85 FA Cup in extra time against Everton through a Norman Whiteside goal. The board eventually ran out of patience and sacked Atkinson in November 1986 and replaced him with Aberdeen manager Alex Ferguson. 

Ferguson had a mixed opening few seasons and it was alleged he was one defeat from the sack at one point in 1990 before the FA Cup third round game away to Nottingham Forest. United won the game and went on to lift the Cup after a repay against Crystal Palace.

Ferguson looked to youth including wingers Lee Sharpe and Ryan Giggs. Gradually he built up a formidable outfit including the likes of Peter Schmeichel, Mark Hughes, Gary Pallister, Steve Bruce, Denis Irwin and Paul Ince.

United followed up by their cup success by lifting the European Cup-Winners Cup against FC Barcelona in Rotterdam. Meanwhile events were colourful off the pitch. Martin Edwards who had inherited the club from his butcher father Louis, looked to sell up.

A ‘businessman’ by the name of Michael Knighton arrived on the scene ball juggling and generally looking to impress. Knighton's financial backers pulled out, although he was given a place on the board in exchange for keeping confidentiality after he had scrutinised the clubs’ books.

In 1991-92 the Red Devils won the League Cup for the first time as Nottingham Forest were defeated at Wembley. Ferguson made the absolute crucial signing of French maverick Eric Cantona from deadly rivals, Leeds United.

Cantona was the catalyst as United won their first League title for twenty-six years in 1992-93 with the club becoming the first winners of the Premier League. United went one better in 1993-94 as they retained the league title and won the FA Cup against Chelsea to complete their first double.

This was a fitting tribute to Sir Matt Busby who had passed away during the season. No trophies arrived at Old Trafford in 1994-95 before completing another double in 1995-96, with the FA Cup win coming against Liverpool. The Premier League title was retained in 1996-97 as well as a run to the last four of the European Champions League.

The most impressive of these seasons was 1998-99 when United won the treble. In addition to the big two in English domestic football including the FA Cup against Newcastle United, they pulled off a breathtaking win in the Champions League Final against Bayern Munich in Barcelona. See it here: 

Ferguson received a knighthood while David Beckham, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Teddy Sheringham, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Dwight Yorke all made huge contributions during this period. United were crowned as league champions for the sixth time since the formation of the Premier League in 1999-00 before retaining it in 2000-01.

Bayer Leverkusen ended hopes in the 2001-02 Champions League in the semi-final stage. United recovered to lift another Premier League title in 2002-03. In the following season the team won the FA Cup for an eleventh time, thanks to a 3-0 win against Millwall.

United were FA Cup runners-up to Arsenal in 2004-05 with the team including Rio Ferdinand, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy before a second League Cup triumph came in 2005-06 with a win over Wigan Athletic.

The club had faced some turmoil off the pitch over the successful period. Not long after Knighton's failed attempts to buy the club, they were listed on the stock market in an attempt by Edwards to cash in. In 2004, American Malcolm Glazer attempted to buy the club. 

The bid was extremely controversial due to his plan to borrow large amounts of money to buy the club and then transfer the debt onto the club itself. United supporters made several anti-Glazer demonstrations before matches.

The supporters' organisations Shareholders United and IMUSA encouraged supporters to buy shares in the club to prevent a takeover, but these attempts were unsuccessful, and Glazer acquired control of the club on 12 May 2005.

Some supporters fed up with being priced out and the way the club was run, moved away and formed their own breakaway club, FC United of Manchester. The club had massive debts requiring servicing every season and the fans were basically paying for the Glazers dalliance.

The 2006-07 season saw United lift the league crown again as well as losing the FA Cup final against Chelsea as Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidić and Michael Carrick had made their way into the team.

In 2007-08 United regained the league title as well as defeating Chelsea in Moscow to become champions of Europe for a third time after their victory on penalties as Carlos Tevez played a starring role throughout the season.

The 2008-09 saw United win their third successive Premier League crown, win the League Cup against Tottenham Hotspur and then reach the Champions League final against FA Barcelona at Stade de France which ended in a 2-0 defeat.

A fourth League Cup was won following victory against Aston Villa in 2009-10 as the team continued to show its class on the pitch with another title win in 2010-11, which brought their total to nineteen to overtake their great rivals Liverpool as the most successful league club. 

United also reached the Champions League final at Wembley but succumbed to an amazing FC Barcelona team who destroyed them far greater than the 3-1 scoreline reflected. The following season ended trophy less.

In predictable fashion United and Ferguson fought back in the 2012-13 season as they added their twentieth title. However, this was to be the managers last act as he retired at the end of the campaign after an incredible, and probably never to be beaten, spell in charge.

Ferguson advised the owners of who should succeed him in the hot seat. The choice was Everton manager David Moyes. Ferguson told United fans to stick behind the new man who took over an ageing side requiring replacements in vital positions.

Moyes was gone before the end of the season as a series of bad results led to fury from the fans and nerves from the owners as the club failed to qualify for European football for the first time in decades. Playing stalwarts Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes took care of team affairs until the end of the campaign before the Holland national coach Louis Van Gaal took over.

Van Gaal splashed the cash on numerous signings, taking the side to a fourth place finish in 2014-15 before another spending spree took place in the summer of 2015 with Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin and Anthony Martial the pick of the bunch.

Van Gaal's side finished in fifth position in the league as well as being knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage. United went on to win the FA Cup as Crystal Palace were beaten in extra time; but the manager was sacked with José Mourinho being appointed as his replacement.

Big name signings Zlatan Ibrahimović, Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan arrived at the club as United lifted the League Cup with a 3-2 win against Southampton. While a sixth place finish failed to secure a Champions League place for the following season, Mourinho's men qualified through another route.

United went on a Europa League run that saw Saint-Étienne, FC Rostov, RSC Anderlecht and Celta Viga defeated in the knock out stages. Ajax were beaten 2-0 in the final thanks to goals from Pogba and Mkhitaryan in Stockholm.

In the summer of 2017 Manchester United added expensive Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matić to their squad as the team finished nineteen points behind champions Manchester City in second place in the league before going down to Chelsea in the final of the FA Cup.

Mourinho was sacked in December 2018 after an alleged dressing room revolt heavily involving Pogba. Ole Gunnar Solskjær arrived as caretaker boss for the remainder of the season.

The former playing legend stabilised the ship as the side including many youngsters such as Marcus Rashford aided by star signing Bruno Fernandes produced lots of entertaining football without winning any silverware.

A third place in the Premier League in 2019-20 was bettered by one position the following campaign. 2020-21 also saw United reach the final of the Europa League where they were defeated on penalties by Villarreal on penalties after a scoreless draw in Gdansk.

The back end of the season had seen further protests against the Glazer's ownership with the fallout from the aborted European Super League seeing the home match against Liverpool being postponed owing to fans disruptions.

Ralf Rangnick eventually took over from Solskjær in December 2021 on an interim basis until the appointment of former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag in April 2022. He took the side to victory in the League Cup the following season with a 2-0 win against Newcastle United, while neighbours Manchester City proved too strong in the fa Cup Final, winning 2-1.

Huge sums were spent on attracting new players, but the team continued to disappoint. The Glazers put the club up for sale, with Manchester born businessman Jim Ratcliffe purchasing 25% along with control of football operations which was put in the hands of his INEOS sports company.

Manchester United FC will play in the Premier League in the 2023-24 season.

My visits

Rugby League Premierships Finals Day (Sunday 17th May 1987) att: 38,756

I travelled on the train with my brother Nick for a day out at the rugby league. There were two games that day. One for the second division which saw Swinton defeat Hunslet 27-10 with the main match being played seeing Wigan beat Warrington 8-0. 

The competition was played before the days of Super League at the end of each season and was a knock out between the top eight sides in each division.

We got there early enough to have a look inside Old Trafford Cricket Ground before paying for a place in the Stretford End.

The Stretford End was a huge terracing with a small seated section at the rear (where we later sneaked in). It was joined with a corner terrace to the Main Stand which was seated with a small terraced paddock at the front. That continued round to the Scoreboard End.

This was the start of the cantilever stand that became the United Road Side when it went round the corner. It had seats at the back with terracing at the front and executive boxes (some of the first in the UK) at the rear. The only open part of the ground was a small gap between the stand and the Stretford End.

It was a decent enough day out with a ride on the train direct to the ground in a new city.

Manchester United 5 Hull City 0 (Wednesday 23 September 1987) League Cup Round Two, First Leg (att: 25,041)

The usual gang gathered in the Albion pub in Scarborough to catch the coach for the much awaited cup clash at Old Trafford. We were in hopeful spirits as we laughed along the journey. The City following took the police by surprise as 5,000 Tigers tried to gain admission. 

Inside we were in the corner paddock between the Scoreboard End and United Road Side with the United fans above us giving us plenty of abuse. The police had to open extra sections to fit us all in. Sadly City didn't reflect our performance as United tore them apart after a bright opening. It was an interesting walk back to the coaches and a long silent journey home.

Stadium Tour (Wednesday 23rd August 2006)

I had stayed over in Manchester after watching Scarborough play at Stalybridge Celtic the previous evening. I took the tram and once again popped inside the shabby cricket ground to take photos. I commenced down what was now Sir Matt Busby Way (formerly United Road) to the imposing main entrance behind the North Stand.

I was put on a tour a little later but was allowed to look inside the magnificent museum first. It was one of the better museums I'd ever been in, with undoubtedly the highlight being the Munich disaster display and tributes. I found it extremely emotional.

Eventually it was my turn for the tour and our guide took us into the North Stand for our initial introduction. I immediately thought he was a clever dick, showing arrogance beyond belief as he laughed at anyone who wasn't a United fan. He just said "who?" when I replied I was a Scarborough fan. This was exactly the opposite of the attitude at the City of Manchester Stadium, the previous day. Fortunately the view behind him made up for it.

Old Trafford really had changed since my previous visit. The ground was now all seated with the paddocks being cleverly re-aligned to offer good views. The stand we were in, the North Stand had been extended with two extra tiers being fitted. It has the largest capacity of any stand in the UK. 

Extra large tiers had been added to both ends, with new corner sections joining the stands together. This left the Main Stand, which hadn't changed structurally since my last call, save for the players tunnel moving from their to the South West Corner. There was doubt whether this side will ever be developed as a railway runs directly behind it.

The tour took us round all four stands as well as visits into press rooms, changing rooms, the trophy room and a walk up the tunnel onto the edge of the pitch. in fairness to our guide, he had an excellent knowledge and he was a true United fan, having a season ticket since the early 70's, rather than any old employee just doing their jobs. 

I stopped to once more to reflect on my way out by the Munich memorial and clock, before calling in at the The Trafford, a huge barn of a place where I chatted to some Pompey fans on their way to their game at City that evening.