Everything about Manchester United F C totally explained
Manchester United Football Club is an
English football club, based at the
Old Trafford stadium in
Trafford,
Greater Manchester, and is arguably the most popular football club in the world, with over 330 million supporters worldwide – almost 5% of the world's population. The club was a founding member of the
Premier League in 1992, and has played in the top division of English football since 1975. Average attendances at the club have been higher than any other team in
English football for all but six seasons since
1964–65.
The club is the second most successful in the history of English football and by far the most successful of recent times, having won 20 major honours since the start of
Alex Ferguson's reign as manager in November 1986. They are the Premier League's reigning champions, and have won England's top division 17 times, one short of
Liverpool's record of 18 league titles. In 1968, they became the first English club to win the
European Cup, beating
S.L. Benfica 4–1. They won a second European Cup as part of an unprecedented
Treble in 1999, before winning their third in 2008, 40 years almost to the day after their first. The club also holds the record for the most
FA Cup titles with 11.
Since the late 1990s, the club has been one of the richest in the world with the highest revenue of any football club, and is currently ranked as the richest and most valuable club in football, and indeed any sport, with a value of
£897 million (
€1,333 mil /
$1.8 billion) as of May 2008. Manchester United was a founding member of the now defunct
G-14 group of Europe's leading football clubs and its replacement, the
European Club Association.
Sir Alex Ferguson has been
manager of the club since
6 November 1986. The current club captain is
Gary Neville, who succeeded
Roy Keane in November 2005.
History
Early years (1878–1945)
The club was formed as
Newton Heath L&YR F.C. in 1878 as the
works team of the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at
Newton Heath. The club's shirts were green and gold halves. They played on a small, dilapidated field on
North Road, near the future site of the
Manchester Piccadilly railway station for fifteen years, before moving to
Bank Street in the nearby town of
Clayton in 1893. The club had entered
the Football League the previous year and began to sever its links with the rail depot, becoming an independent company, appointing a club secretary and dropping the "L&YR" from their name to become simply
Newton Heath F.C.. Not long afterwards, in 1902, the club neared bankruptcy, with debts of over £2,500. At one point, their Bank Street ground was even closed by the bailiffs.
Just before having to be shut down for good, the club received a sizeable investment from
J. H. Davies, the managing director of Manchester Breweries.. Legend goes that
Harry Stafford, the club captain, was showing off his prized
St. Bernard dog at a club fund-raiser, when Davies approached him to buy the dog. Stafford declined, but was able to persuade Davies to invest in the club and become club chairman. It was decided at one of the early board meetings that the club required a change of name to reflect the fresh start they'd been afforded.
Manchester Central and
Manchester Celtic were among the names suggested, before Louis Rocca, a young
immigrant from
Italy, said "Gentlemen, why don't we call ourselves Manchester United?" The name stuck, and Manchester United officially came into existence on
26 April 1902. Davies also decided it would be appropriate to change the club's colours, abandoning the green and gold halves of Newton Heath, and picking red and white to be the colours of Manchester United.
Ernest Mangnall was appointed as club secretary after
James West had resigned as manager on
28 September 1902. Mangnall was charged with trying to get the club into the First Division, and fell just short of that target at the first attempt, finishing in 5th in
Division Two. Mangnall decided that it was necessary to bring in some fresh faces to the club, and signed players such as
Harry Moger in goal,
Dick Duckworth at half-back and John Picken up front, but it was another new half-back by the name of
Charlie Roberts who made the biggest impact. He cost the club a then-record £750 from
Grimsby Town in April 1904, and helped them to a third place finish in the
1903–04 season, just a point short of the second promotion place.
It wasn't long, however, before the club was at last promoted to the First Division for the first time under their new name, finishing in second place in the 1905–06 Second Division. A season of consolidation followed, with the club finishing in 8th, before they finally won their first league title in 1908.
Manchester City had recently been under investigation for paying some of their players a salary over the amount allowed by
FA regulations. They were fined £250 and eighteen of their players were banned from playing for them ever again. United were quick to pounce on the situation, picking up
Billy Meredith (the Welsh Wizard) and
Sandy Turnbull, amongst others. The new boys from across town were ineligible to play until
New Year's Day 1907, due to their suspension, so it was left until the
1907–08 season for them to make a proper impact on United's bid for the title. And that they did, getting the campaign off to a storming start, with a 2–1 victory over Sheffield United, beginning a run of ten consecutive victories. Despite a shaky end to the season, United managed to hang on and finished the season nine points ahead of their closest rivals,
Aston Villa.
The following season began with United picking up another piece of silverware, the first ever
Charity Shield, and ended with another, the club's first FA Cup title, sowing the seeds for what has become a record number of FA Cup titles. Just as they were in the club's first title-winning campaign, Turnbull and Meredith were instrumental in this season, Turnbull scoring the winner in the
FA Cup Final. The club had to wait another two years before winning any more silverware, winning the First Division for the second time in the
1910–11 season. In the meantime, United moved to their new ground at Old Trafford. They played their first game there on
19 February 1910 against
Liverpool, but lost 4–3 having thrown away a 3–0 lead. They then went trophyless again in the
1911–12 season, which not only proved to be the last with Mangnall in charge (he moved to Manchester City after ten years with United), but also the last time the club won the First Division for 41 years, the longest they've gone without winning the league in their history.
For the next ten years, the club went into a state of gradual decline before being relegated back down to Division Two in 1922. They were promoted again in 1925, but struggled to get into the top half of the table, and were relegated again in 1931. In the eight years leading up to the
Second World War, the club became somewhat of a
yo-yo club, reaching their all-time lowest position of 20th in Division Two in 1934. They were promoted and relegated once again before being promoted in the penultimate season before the Second World War. They guaranteed their place in the top flight for after the war by finishing in 14th in the
1938–39 season.
The Busby years (1945–1969)
1945 saw the appointment of
Matt Busby to the manager's post at Old Trafford. He took an uncommon approach to his job, insisting that he be allowed to pick his own team, choose which players to sign and direct the team's training sessions himself. He had already missed out on the manager's job at his former club, Liverpool F.C., because the club saw those tasks as jobs for the directors, but United decided to take a chance on Busby's innovative ideas. Busby's first signing wasn't a player, but a new assistant manager by the name of
Jimmy Murphy. The risk the club had taken in appointing Busby paid immediate dividends, with the club finishing second in the league in 1947, 1948 and 1949 and winning the FA Cup in
1948, thanks in part to the locally-born trio of
Stan Pearson,
Jack Rowley and
Charlie Mitten (Rowley and Pearson both scored in the 1948 Cup Final), as well as the centre-half from the North-East,
Allenby Chilton.
Charlie Mitten had fled to
Colombia in search of a better salary, but the remainder of United's old heads managed to win the First Division title back in 1952. Busby knew, however, that football teams required more than just experience in the side, and so he adopted a policy of bringing in players from the youth team whenever possible. At first, the young players such as
Roger Byrne,
Bill Foulkes,
Mark Jones and
Dennis Viollet, took time to bed themselves into the side, sliding to a low of 8th place in 1953, but the team won the league again in 1956 with an average age of only 22, scoring 103 goals in the process. The youth policy set in motion by Busby has now become a hallmark of the most successful periods in the club's history (the mid-1950s, mid-to-late-1960s and 1990s). 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 début 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. The following season,
1956–57, they won the league again and reached the FA Cup final, losing to Aston Villa. They also became the first English team to compete in the
European Cup, at the behest of the FA, who had denied
Chelsea the same opportunity the previous season, and reached the semi-final, only to be knocked out by
Real Madrid. En route to the semi-final, United also recorded a win that still stands as their biggest win in all competitions, beating
Belgian champions
Anderlecht 10–0 at
Maine Road.
Tragedy struck the following season, when the plane carrying the team home from a European Cup match crashed on take-off at a refuelling stop in
Munich,
Germany. The
Munich air disaster of
6 February 1958 claimed the lives of eight players -
Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne,
Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards, Mark Jones,
David Pegg,
Tommy Taylor and
Liam "Billy" Whelan - and another fifteen passengers, including United staff members
Walter Crickmer,
Bert Whalley and
Tom Curry. There had already been two attempted take-offs before the fatal third, which was caused by a build-up of slush at the end of the runway slowing the plane down to a speed insufficient for take-off. The plane skidded off the end of the runway, through a fence and into an unoccupied house. United goalkeeper
Harry Gregg managed to maintain consciousness after the crash, and through fear of the plane exploding at any second, he grabbed both
Bobby Charlton — who had made his United début less than 18 months earlier — and Dennis Viollet by their waistbands and dragged them to safety. Seven United players died at the scene, while Duncan Edwards died a fortnight later in hospital. Right-winger
Johnny Berry also survived the accident, but injuries sustained in the accident brought his football career to a premature end. Matt Busby wasn't given much hope of survival by the Munich doctors, and was even given the
Last Rites at one point, but recovered miraculously and was finally let out of hospital after having spent over two months there.
There were rumours of the club folding and withdrawing from competitions, but with Jimmy Murphy taking over as manager while Busby recovered from his injuries, the club continued playing with a makeshift side. Despite the accident, they reached the
FA Cup final again, where they lost to
Bolton Wanderers. At the end of the season,
UEFA offered the FA the opportunity to submit both United and the eventual champions,
Wolverhampton Wanderers, for the
1958–59 European Cup as a tribute to the victims, but the FA declined. United managed to push Wolves right to the wire the following season, finishing in a creditable 2nd place; not bad for a team that had lost nine first-team players to the Munich air disaster.
Busby rebuilt the team throughout the early 1960s, signing players such as
Denis Law and
Pat Crerand, all the while nurturing his new generation of youngsters. Perhaps the most famous of this new batch was a young man from
Belfast named
George Best. Best had a natural athleticism rarely seen, but his most valuable asset was his close control of a football. His quick feet allowed him to pass through almost any gap in the opposition defence, no matter how small. The team won the FA Cup in
1963, albeit finishing in 19th place in the First Division. The FA Cup triumph seemed to reinvigorate the players, who helped the club to 2nd place in 1964, and then went one better by winning the league in 1965 and 1967. United won the European Cup in 1968, beating
Eusébio's SL Benfica 4–1 in the
final, becoming the first English club to win the competition. This United team was notable for containing three
European Footballers of the Year: Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best. Matt Busby resigned as manager in 1969 and was replaced by the reserve-team coach and former United player,
Wilf McGuinness.
1969–1986
United struggled to replace Busby, and the team struggled under Wilf McGuinness in the
1969–70 season, finishing a disappointing 8th, and following a poor start to the
1970–71 season, McGuinness was demoted back to the position of reserve team coach. Busby was coaxed back to the club, albeit only for six months. Results got better with Busby's guidance, but he finally left the club for the last time in the summer of 1971. In the meantime, United had lost a number of high-profile players such as
Nobby Stiles and Pat Crerand.
Despite approaching
Celtic's European Cup-winning manager,
Jock Stein, for the manager's job — Stein had agreed a verbal contract to join United, but pulled out at the last minute —
Frank O'Farrell was appointed as Busby's successor. However, like McGuinness, O'Farrell only lasted less than 18 months, the only difference between the two being that O'Farrell reacted to the team's poor form by bringing in some fresh talent, most specifically
Martin Buchan from
Aberdeen for £125,000.
Tommy Docherty became manager at the end of 1972. Docherty, or "the Doc", saved United from relegation that season but United were relegated in 1974, by which time the golden trio of Best, Law and Charlton had left the club. Denis Law had moved to Manchester City in the summer of 1973, and ended up scoring the goal that many people say relegated United, and politely refused to celebrate the goal with his team mates. Players like
Lou Macari,
Stewart Houston and
Brian Greenhoff were brought in to replace Best, Law and Charlton, but none could live up to the stature of the three that came before.
The team won promotion at the first attempt, with a young
Steve Coppell making his début towards the end of that season, having joined from
Tranmere Rovers, and reached the FA Cup final in 1976, but were beaten by
Southampton. They reached the final again in 1977, beating Liverpool 2–1. In spite of this success and his popularity with the supporters, Docherty was sacked soon after the final when he was found to have had an affair with the physiotherapist's wife.
Dave Sexton replaced Docherty as manager in the summer of 1977, and made the team play in a more defensive formation. This style was unpopular with supporters, who were used to the attacking football preferred by Docherty and Busby. Major signings under Sexton included
Joe Jordan,
Gordon McQueen,
Gary Bailey and
Ray Wilkins, but Sexton's defensive United failed to break out of mid-table obscurity, only once finishing in the top two, and only reached the FA Cup final once, losing to
Arsenal. Because of this lack of trophies, Sexton was sacked in 1981, even though he won his last seven games in charge.
He was replaced by the flamboyant
Ron Atkinson, whose extrovert attitude was reflected in the clubs he managed. He immediately broke the British record transfer fee to sign
Bryan Robson from his old club,
West Brom. Robson would come to be touted in the future as United's best midfield player since Duncan Edwards. Atkinson's team featured new signings such as
Jesper Olsen,
Paul McGrath and
Gordon Strachan playing alongside former youth-team players
Norman Whiteside and
Mark Hughes. United won the FA Cup twice in three years, in
1983 and
1985, and were overwhelming favourites to win the league in the
1985–86 season after winning their first ten league games, opening a ten-point gap over their rivals as early as October. The team's form collapsed, however, and United finished the season in fourth place. The poor form continued into the following season, and with United on the edge of the First Division's relegation zone by the beginning of November 1986, Atkinson was sacked.
Alex Ferguson era, pre-Treble (1986–1998)
Alex Ferguson arrived from Aberdeen to replace Atkinson and guided the club to an 11th place finish. The following season (
1987–88), United finished second, with
Brian McClair becoming the first United player since George Best to score twenty league goals in a season.
However, United struggled throughout the next two seasons, with many of Ferguson's signings not reaching the expectations of the fans. Alex Ferguson was reportedly on the verge of being sacked at the beginning of 1990 but a Mark Robins goal gave United a narrow 1–0 win in the third round of the FA Cup over
Nottingham Forest. This kept the season alive, and the team went on to win the competition, beating
Crystal Palace in a replay in the final.
United won the European Cup Winners' Cup in
1990–91, beating that season's Spanish champions
Barcelona in the final, but the following season was a disappointment as a late season slump saw them miss out on the league to rivals
Leeds United. Meanwhile in 1991, the club floated on the
London Stock Exchange with a valuation of £47 million, bringing its finances into the public eye.
The arrival of
Eric Cantona in November 1992 provided the crucial spark for United, and blending with the best of trusted talent in
Gary Pallister,
Denis Irwin and
Paul Ince, as well as budding stars like
Ryan Giggs, they finished the
1992–93 season as champions for the first time since 1967. They won
the double (the league and the FA Cup) for the first time the following season, aided by the capture of Roy Keane, a determined midfielder from Nottingham Forest, who would go on to become the team captain. In the same year, however, the club was plunged into mourning following the death of legendary manager and club president Sir Matt Busby, who died on
20 January 1994.
In
1994–95, Cantona received an eight month suspension for jumping into the crowd and assaulting Crystal Palace supporter Matthew Simmons, who had given Cantona racial abuse as he left the field, in United's game at
Selhurst Park. Drawing their last league match and losing to
Everton in the FA Cup final left United as runners-up in both the league and FA Cup. Ferguson then outraged the supporters by selling key players and replacing them with players from the club's
youth team, including
David Beckham, Gary Neville,
Phil Neville and
Paul Scholes. The new players, several of whom quickly became regular internationals for
England, did surprisingly well and United won the double again in
1995–96. This was the first time any English club had won the double twice, and the feat was nicknamed the "Double Double".
They won the league in
1996–97, and Eric Cantona announced his retirement from football at the age of 30. They started the following season (
1997–98) well, but they finished in second place, behind the double-winning champions Arsenal.
The Treble (1998–99)
The
1998–99 season for Manchester United was the most successful season in English club football history as they became the first and only English team to win The Treble — winning the Premiership, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in the same season. After a very tense Premier League season, Manchester United won the title on the final day beating
Tottenham Hotspur 2–1, whilst Arsenal won 1–0 against Aston Villa. Winning the Premiership was the first part of the Treble in place, the one part that manager Alex Ferguson described as the hardest. In the final match of that season, the
1999 UEFA Champions League Final they defeated
Bayern Munich in what is considered one of the greatest comebacks ever witnessed, losing going into
injury time and scoring twice to win 2–1. Rounding out that record breaking year, Manchester United also won the Intercontinental Cup after beating
Palmeiras 1–0 in
Tokyo.
After the Treble (1999–present)
United won the league in 2000 and 2001 but the press saw these seasons as failures as they failed to regain the European Cup. In 2000, Manchester United became one of 14 founder members of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs. Ferguson adopted more defensive tactics to make United harder to beat in Europe but it wasn't a success and United finished the
2001–02 Premiership season in third place. They regained the league the following season (
2002–03) and started the following season well, but their form dropped significantly when
Rio Ferdinand received a controversial eight month suspension for missing a
drugs test. They did win the
2004 FA Cup, however, knocking out Arsenal (
that season's eventual league champions) on their way to the final in which they beat
Millwall.
The
2004–05 season was characterised by a failure to score goals, mainly due to the injury of striker
Ruud van Nistelrooy and United finished the season trophyless and in third place in the league. This time, even the FA Cup eluded them as Arsenal beat United on penalties after a goalless draw after 120 minutes. Off the pitch, the main story was the possibility of the club being taken over and at the end of the season,
Tampa businessman
Malcolm Glazer,
acquired a controlling interest in the club.
United made a poor start to the
2005–06 season, with midfielder Roy Keane leaving the club to join Celtic after publicly criticising several of his team-mates, and the club failed to qualify for the knock-out phase of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in over a decade after losing to
Portuguese team Benfica. Their season was also dealt cruel blows with injuries to key players such as
Gabriel Heinze,
Alan Smith, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. However, they were prevented from being left empty-handed in successive seasons – a disappointment not endured in the last 17 years – by winning the 2006 League Cup, beating newly-promoted neighbours
Wigan Athletic in the
final 4–0. United also ensured a second-place finish and automatic Champions League qualification on the final day of the season by defeating
Charlton Athletic 4–0. At the end of the 2005–06 season, one of United's key strikers,
Ruud van Nistelrooy, left the club to join
Real Madrid, due to a row with Alex Ferguson.
The
2006–07 season saw United return to the attacking style of football that was the cornerstone of their years of success in the late 1990s, scoring almost 20 more goals in 32 matches than second placed side Chelsea. In January 2007, United signed
Henrik Larsson on a two-month loan from
Swedish side
Helsingborgs, and the
striker played an important role in advancing United to the
semi-finals of the Champions' League, with hopes for a second
Treble; however, upon reaching the semi-finals, United lost to
A.C. Milan 3–5 on
aggregate.
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Manchester United's entry into European competition, as well as the 50th anniversary of the
Treaty of Rome, Manchester United played
Marcello Lippi's
European XI at Old Trafford on
13 March 2007. United won the game 4–3.
Four years after their last title, United claimed back the Premier League title on
6 May 2007, after Chelsea drew away with Arsenal, leaving the Blues seven points behind with two games to go, following United's 1–0 victory in the
Manchester derby the previous day, making it their ninth Premiership title in the 15 seasons of its existence. However, an unprecedented fourth Double wasn't to be, as Chelsea beat United 1–0 in extra time in
the first FA Cup Final to be held at the new
Wembley Stadium; the first to be held in England since the old stadium was demolished seven years earlier.
2007-08 saw United successfully complete the
European double: on
11 May 2008, United retained the Premier League title with a win over Wigan Athletic. With title rivals Chelsea only able to draw with Bolton Wanderers, United finished the season two points clear. The club also reached the
European Cup final for the third time in their history, having knocked out such clubs as Barcelona and
Roma en-route to the final. They beat Chelsea 6–5 on penalties in the final in
Moscow's
Luzhniki Stadium, after a 1–1 draw in normal time on
21 May 2008. With this win, they earned their third European Cup title and kept up their record of never having lost a major European final. Coincidentally, this season marked the 100th year since Manchester United won their first League title, 50 years after the
Munich air disaster and 40 years after Manchester United became the first ever English side to win the
European Cup.
The Malcolm Glazer takeover
On
12 May 2005,
American businessman Malcolm Glazer acquired a controlling interest in the club through his investment vehicle Red Football Ltd. in a takeover valuing the club at approximately
£800
million (approx.
$1.5
billion). On
16 May, he increased his share to the 75% necessary to de-list the club from the Stock Exchange, making it private again, and announced his intention to do so within 20 days.
In July 2006, the club announced a refinancing package. The total amount will be £660 million, on which interest payments will be £62 million a year. This result of this new financing plan will be a 30% reduction of annual payments.
Club crest and colours
During its days as
Newton Heath, the club's home jerseys were yellow and green; this strip was revived as an away kit in the early 1990s. In 1902, in conjunction with the name change to Manchester United, the club changed their colours to red jerseys, white shorts and black socks, which has become the standard for most Man Utd home kits ever since. The most notable exception to this is the shirt that the team wore in the
1909 FA Cup Final against
Bristol City, which was white with a thin red V-neck. This design was resurrected in the 1920s before United reverted back to the all-red shirts.
Away strips are usually white jerseys with black shorts and white socks, but other colours have been used, including a blue and white striped shirt used on-and-off from 1903 to 1916, an all-black kit in 1994 and 2003 and a navy blue shirt with silver horizontal pinstripes in 2000. One of the most famous, yet short-lived, United away kits, though, was the all grey kit from 1995–96. This kit was dropped after Manchester United failed to win a single game while wearing it. At half-time during a game against Southampton, when United were already 3–0 down, they switched to their blue and white third kit, but eventually lost 3–1. According to the players, the grey kit wasn't visible enough which led to the poor results. Another famous Man Utd away kit included a reversible shirt that was white with black sleeves and gold trim on one side, and gold with black trim on the other side. This shirt was released as the last kit created by
Umbro for the club before the change to
Nike, and commemorated 100 years since the club had changed its name from Newton Heath to Manchester United.
The United third kit is traditionally all-blue in homage to the kit that the 1968 European Cup was won in. Exceptions to this rule have included a bright yellow kit worn in the early 1970s, the aforementioned blue and white striped shirt from 1996, which proved to be a firm favourite with the fans, and a white shirt with black and red horizontal pinstripes from 2004. United have also used what were originally used as training shirts as their third kit in the past, having adopted an all-black kit in the 1998–99 season and a dark blue shirt with maroon sides in 2001 for games against Southampton and PSV Eindhoven.
Currently, Manchester United's home jerseys are red with a vertical, white broken stripe with black trim on the reverse. The stripe is adorned with the letters MUFC at the top of the bottom portion, and a silhouette of the devil from the club badge at the top of the top portion. The
AIG and Nike logos are also white. A patch with the words "The Red Devils" written in white, over an image of the club badge's devil, is attached to the bottom-left of the shirt. The club crest sits on a red kiss-cut shield on the left breast. The away jerseys are similar in template to the home shirt, but are black. The crest sits in a black shield, also on the left breast. There is a red-coloured piping running from the neck to the armpit and the AIG and Nike logos are white. The shirt also features the broken stripe on the reverse.
The Manchester United crest has been altered on a few occasions, but the basic form remains similar. The badge is derived from the crest of the city of
Manchester. The devil on the club badge stems from the club's nickname "The Red Devils", which was adopted in the early 1960s after Matt Busby heard it in reference to the red-shirted
Salford rugby league side. By the end of the 1960s, the devil had started to be included on club programmes and scarves, before it was finally incorporated into the club badge in 1970, holding its unmistakable trident. In 1998, the badge was once again redesigned, this time removing the words "Football Club". This move was met with opposition from some supporters, who viewed it as a move away from the club's footballing roots and more into the business side of the game.
Players
First-team squad
As of
21 March 2008, according to combined sources on the official website.
For more details see: Manchester United F.C. season 2007–08.
For recent transfers, see List of English football transfers 2007-08.
On loan
Reserves and academy
For the reserve and academy squads, see Manchester United F.C. Reserves & Academy.
Former players
For details on former players, see List of Manchester United F.C. players and .
Club captains
Player records
As of match played 21 May 2008 and according to the official statistics website. Players in bold are still currently playing for Manchester United.
Most appearances
Most goals
European Footballers of the Year (Ballon d'Or)
The following players have won the
European Footballer of the Year award (Ballon d'Or) whilst playing for Manchester United:
- Denis Law — 1964
- Bobby Charlton — 1966
- George Best — 1968
Ladies team
Manchester United Ladies FC was founded in 1977, and officially became a part of Manchester United FC at the start of the
2001–02 season. They played in the Northern Combination league (the third tier of women's football in England) until they were controversially disbanded before the start of the 2004–05 season for financial reasons. The decision was met with considerable criticism given the huge profits made by Manchester United and also due to the fact that the teams were withdrawn from all their leagues before the players were even informed of the decision.
Club officials
Owner: Malcolm Glazer
Honorary Life President: Martin Edwards
Manchester United Limited
Joint Chairmen: Joel Glazer & Avram Glazer
Directors: Bryan Glazer, Kevin Glazer, Edward Glazer & Darcie Glazer
Chief Executive: David Gill
Chief Operating Officer: Michael Bolingbroke
Commercial Director: Richard Arnold
Manchester United football club
Directors: David Gill, Michael Edelson, Sir Bobby Charlton, Maurice Watkins
Club Secretary: Ken Ramsden
Assistant Club Secretary: Ken Merrett
Global Ambassador: Bryan Robson
Coaching and Medical Staff
Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson
Assistant Manager: Carlos Queiroz
First Team Coach: Mike Phelan
Technical Skills Development Coach: René Meulensteen
First Team Coach (Strikers): Ole Gunnar Solskjær
Goalkeeping Coach: Richard Hartis (Acting)
Fitness Coach: Tony Strudwick
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Mick Clegg
Caretaker Reserve Team Coach: Brian McClair
Chief Scout: Jim Lawlor
Chief European Scout: Martin Ferguson
Director of Youth Academy: Brian McClair
Director of Youth Football: Jimmy Ryan
Club Doctor: Dr. Steve McNally
Assistant Club Doctor: Dr. Tony Gill
First Team Physiotherapist: Rob Swire
Managerial history
Support
Before the Second World War, few English football supporters travelled to away games because of time, cost, and logistical constraints such as the scarcity of cars amongst the population. As City and United played home matches on alternate Saturdays, many Mancunians would watch United one week and City the next, but after the war, a stronger rivalry developed and it became more common for a supporter to choose to follow one team exclusively.
When United won the league in 1956, they'd the highest average home attendance in the league, a record that had been held by Newcastle United for the previous few years. Following the Munich air disaster in 1958, more people began to support United and many started to go to matches. This caused United's support to swell and is one reason why United have had the highest league attendances in English football for almost every season since then, even as a Second Division side in 1974–75.
In the late 1990s and early part of the 2000s, an increasing source of concern for many United supporters was the possibility of the club being taken over. The supporters' group IMUSA (Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association) was extremely active in opposing a proposed takeover by Rupert Murdoch in 1998. Another pressure group, Shareholders United Against Murdoch (which became Shareholders United and is now the Manchester United Supporters' Trust) was formed at around this time to encourage supporters to buy shares in the club, partly to enable supporters to have a greater say in the issues that concern them, such as ticket prices and allocation, and partly to reduce the risk of an unwanted party buying enough shares to take over the club. However, this scheme failed to prevent Malcolm Glazer from becoming the majority share holder. Many supporters were outraged, and some formed a splinter club called F.C. United of Manchester. Despite the anger of some supporters towards the new owners, attendances have continued to increase.
The atmosphere produced by the fans has, however, been criticised at times. In 2000, comments made about sections of the Old Trafford crowd by the then-club captain Roy Keane, claiming some fans couldn't "spell football, never mind understand it" led to them being dubbed the "prawn sandwich brigade". Alex Ferguson has also made several comments about the crowd, even going as far as claiming the atmosphere on 1 January 2008 was like a "funeral". After a famous 1–0 win over Barcelona at Old Trafford, which sent United to the final of the Champions League in Moscow, Ferguson said that United fans "were absolutely brilliant" and that they "got us over the line".
Stadium
When the club was first founded, Newton Heath played their home games on a small field on North Road in Newton Heath, near to where Manchester Piccadilly Station is currently located. However, visiting teams often complained about the state of the pitch, which was "a bog at one end and rocky as a quarry at the other".
Following investment to get the club back on an even keel, they renamed as Manchester United, though still with a desire for a passable ground. Six weeks before United's first FA Cup title in April 1909, Old Trafford was named as the home of Manchester United, following the purchase of the necessary land for around £60,000. Architect Archibald Leitch was hired by United chairman John Henry Davies, and given a budget of £30,000 for construction. Original plans indicated that the stadium would hold around 100,000, though this was scaled back to 77,000. Despite this, a record attendance of 76,962 was recorded, which is more than even the current stadium officially supports. Construction was carried out by Messrs Brameld and Smith of Manchester. At the opening of the stadium, standing tickets cost sixpence, while the most expensive seats in the grandstand would have set you back five shillings. The inaugural game was played on 19 February 1910 against Liverpool F.C., and resulted in a 4–3 win for the visitors. As it happened, the change of ground couldn't have come soon enough. Only a few days after the club played their last game at Bank Street, the main stand was blown down in a storm.
Bombing during the Second World War, on 11 March 1941, destroyed much of the stadium, notably the main stand. The central tunnel in the South Stand was all that remained of that quarter of the ground. Though the ground was rebuilt in 1949, it meant that a game hadn't been played at Old Trafford for nearly 10 years as the team played all their "home" games in that period at Manchester City's ground, Maine Road. Man City charged the club £5000 per year for the use of their stadium, plus a nominal percentage of the gate receipts. United filed a report with the War Damage Commission and received compensation to the value of £22,278 for the reconstruction of the ground.
Subsequent improvements occurred, beginning with the addition of a roof first to the Stretford End and then to the North and East Stands. However, the old-fashioned roof supports obscured the view of many fans, resulting in the upgrading of the roofs to incorporate the cantilevering still seen on the stadium today. The Stretford End was the last stand to receive the upgrade to the cantilevered roof, the work being completed in time for the start of the 1993–94 season.
Floodlights were first installed at the ground in the mid-1950s. Four -tall pylons were erected, each housing 54 individual floodlights. The whole lighting system cost the club £40,000, and was first used for a match on 25 March 1957. However, the old style floodlights were dismantled in 1987, to be replaced by a new lighting system embedded in the roof of each of the stands, which has survived to this day.
In 1990, following the Hillsborough disaster, a report was issued which demanded all stadia must be all-seater stadia, leading to subsequent renovation, which dropped capacity to around 44,000. However, the club's popularity ensured that further development would occur. In 1995, the North Stand was redeveloped into three tiers, bringing the capacity up to approximately 55,000. This was followed by expansions of first the East and then West Stands to reach a total capacity of 68,000. The most recent expansion was completed in 2006, when the North-East and North-West Quadrants were opened, allowing the current record of 76,098, only 104 short of the stadium's maximum capacity. Manchester United now has the most valuable sponsorship deal in the world, due to the renegotiation of the £15 million-a-year deal Juventus had with oil firm Tamoil. The four-year agreement has also been heralded, by extension, as the largest sponsorship deal in British history, eclipsing Chelsea's deal with Samsung.
Companies that Manchester United currently have sponsorship deals with include:
AIG — Principal Sponsor
Nike — Official Sportswear Partner
Audi — Official Car Supplier and Dugout Seat Provider
Budweiser — Official Beer
Betfred — Official Betting Partner
Xfm Manchester — Official Radio Station
The club has only ever had three main shirt sponsors. The first and longest-running was Sharp Electronics, who sponsored the club from 1982 to 2000, which was one of the lengthiest and most lucrative sponsorship deals in English football. Sharp's logo was on the front of United's shirts during these 17 years, during which the team won seven Premier League titles, five FA Cups, one Football League Cup, one European Cup Winners' Cup and one European Cup. As this period was something of a golden era for the club, with a (coincidental) decline in fortunes happening once Vodafone became the new shirt sponsors in 2000, some fans now term this period—particularly 1993–2000—as The Sharp Years. Vodafone took over in an initial four-year £30 million deal. The sponsorship has been extended an extra two years and totalled £36 million. On 23 November 2005, Vodafone announced that they'd part ways after their deal expired.
Similarly, the club has only had four independent kit manufacturers, the first being Admiral. Adidas took over in the mid-1980s, only for local sportswear company Umbro to replace them in 1992. Umbro's sponsorship lasted for ten years, until the club struck a record-breaking £302.9 million deal with Nike. The agreement with Nike will last an initial 13 years, although the American company does have the option to cancel the deal in 2008. Otherwise, the contract will run until at least 2015.
Rivalries
United's number one rival is difficult to determine. Traditionally, the closest rivals have been Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds, though Arsenal have come into the frame in recent years. Currently, most fans see Liverpool as their biggest rivals, due to the success of both clubs as well as their proximity to each other, while others rate intra-city rivals Manchester City as their biggest rivals. The Liverpool rivalry began during the 1960s when the two clubs were among the strongest in England, and have been competing closely just about every season since. The Manchester City rivalry dates back to the Newton Heath era of the 1890s, and has remained fierce due to both clubs being in the same division for much of their history.
Whilst based in traditional Yorkshire-Lancashire rivalry, the rivalry with Leeds United began during the late 1960s when Leeds emerged as a top side, and continued through the 1970s and 1980s before arguably reaching its apex when Leeds pipped United to the league title in 1992. The rivalry with Arsenal is more recent and based more on battles on the pitch; it has been particularly intense since Arsenal and United have been in direct competition for several trophies since the late-1990s.
Honours
Domestic
League
Premier League: 10
First Division: 7
Second Division: 2
Cups
FA Cup: 11
- 1909, 1948, 1963, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2004
League Cup: 2
FA Charity/Community Shield: 16 (12 outright, 4 shared)
- 1908, 1911, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1965*, 1967*, 1977*, 1983, 1990*, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007 (* joint holders)
European
European Cup/UEFA Champions League: 3
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1
European Super Cup: 1
International
Intercontinental Cup/World Club Championship: 1
Doubles and Trebles
The Double (League and FA Cup): 3
The European Double (League and European Cup): 2
The Treble (League, FA Cup and European Cup): 1
Single match competitions such as the Charity/Community Shield, Intercontinental Cup/World Club Championship or Super Cup are not generally considered to contribute towards a Double or Treble.
The only major honour that Manchester United F.C. has never won is the UEFA Cup.
Club records
» For a full list of Manchester United F.C.'s records and statistics, see Manchester United F.C. records and statistics.
Further Information
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