Manchester United Football Club Formation and Early Years (1878-1945)
A group of Manchester railway workers got together in 1878 to form a works football team called Newton Heath (Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway) later shortened to Newton Heath. They played on an old field in North Road. Their place in the Football League was assured when the Football Alliance and Football League merged in 1892. A year later, in 1893 they moved to a new ground Bank Street in the nearby town of Clayton.
In 1902, Cheadle born John Henry Davies, the Managing Director of Manchester Breweries saved the Club from bankruptcy with debts of over £2,500. Even their new ground was also closed temporarily by bailiffs.
Urban myth has it that Davies attending a fund raising event at the Club ground offered to buy the captain's prize winning St. Bernard dog. The offer was declined; instead Davies was persuaded to invest in the Club and become its new Chairman.
The Board changed the name to Manchester United Football Club to reflect the team's new start. The playing colours were also changed from gold and green to red and white. At that time, Manchester United was in the 2nd Division. Their new secretary Ernest Mangnall appointed in 1902 was tasked with getting the team into the 1st Division. After failing at his first attempt, Mangnall brought in new players including: Harry Moger, Dick Duckwort and John Picken with the greatest impact being Charlie Roberts from Grimsby Town at a cost of £750 in 1904. Promotion to the 1st Division eluded them by one point in the 1903-04 season where they finished in 3rd place. The 1905-06 season saw them finish second in the 2nd Division promotion to the 1st Division. In 1908, they won the league.
The end of the 1907-08 season United was 9 points clear of their nearest rivals Aston Villa despite a previous debarkle of payments to players, Club fines, player bans and the inevitable new players replacements.
The first piece of Manchester United silverware, the Charity Shield was acquired in the 1909-10 season. The FA Cup title was also awarded to them that year. They won the 1st Division title a second time in the 1910-11 season and their first game at their current ground Old Trafford was played on 19th February 1910 against Liverpool.
A gradual decline and relegation to the 2nd Division occurred in 1922. However, 1925 saw Manchester United back in the 1st Division only to be relegated again in 1931. After a series of relegations and promotions, they finally settled into the 1st Division in 1938-39. The Second World War caused the temporary cessation of the English Football League.
Matt Busby's Era (1945-1969)
In 1945, at the age of 36 Matt Busby was appointed Manchester United's manager. His first signing was his Assistant Manager Jimmy Murphy. This combination proved highly successful with United finishing second in the 1st Division in 1947, 1948 and 1949 picking up the FA Cup in 1948.
This success was due mainly to Matt Busby's unique approach of selecting the team; choosing which players to sign and personally conducting the team's training sessions. Previously, some of these tasks were seen as belong to the Directors. Busby also believed in home grown talent from the youth team. 1956 saw them win the league title again and reach the FA Cup final but lost to Aston Villa with a relatively young average team age of 22. In the same year, Manchester United were also the first United Kingdom team to compete in the European Cup but exited at the hands of Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
On 6th February 1958, the aircraft carrying the team back from a European Cup on a scheduled refueling stop in Munich crashed shortly after take-off killing 8 players and 15 other passengers including some United staff members. Matt Busby was even given the Last Rites but made a miraculous recover after spending over two months in hospital. United managed to reach FA Cup Final again despite a depleted side and temporarily not having Busby in charge. On this occassion, they lost to Bolton Wanderers.
During the 1960s, Manchester United was rebuilt with players. The most famous of which was George Best. The team won the FA Cup in 1963 despite finished 19th in the 1st Division. In 1964 they finished second in the league but won in 1965 and 1967. As if that wasn't enough they won the European Cup in 1968 beating SL Benfica 4-1 and making then the first English club to win the competition. Matt Busby was replaced by Wilf McGuiness the reserve team manager after he resigned in 1969.
Manchester United were exceptional at that time for having three European Player's Of The Year from the same era: Bobby Charlton (who had been dragged out of the wreckage of the Munich air disaster), Dennis Law and George Best.
1969-1986
Wilf McGuiness was sent back to manage the reserves after poor results from the 1969-70 and 1970-71 season. Busby did another stint back at the Club in 1971 and results improved. Busby's eventual successor was Frank O'Farrell who only lasted 18 months. At the end of 1972 Tommy Docherty appointed as manager saved them from relegation. However, in 1974 United were relegated. By this time Charlton, Law and Best had departed the Club. Additional players were brought in to replace these great talents but they were a difficult act to follow.
Promotion from the 2nd Division occurred in the first season with united reaching the FA Cup final in 1976 but were beaten by Southhampton. The next year, 1977, they beat Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup final. Docherty's success and popularity were unable to save him from dismissal after an affair with the physiotherapist's wife.
1977 saw the appointment of Dave Sexton as manager who preferred a more defensive style of play. This proved unpopular with players and fans alike and left United mid-table of the 1st Division not seeing much of the top of the table and reaching an FA Cup final only once but losing to Arsenal. In 1981 Sexton was dismissed and replaced by Ron Atkins. The mid-fielder Bryan Robson was immediately signed by Atkins from his old club West Bromwich Albion for a record transfer fee. Under Atkinson, between 1983 and 1985 United won the FA Cup twice. United's form didn't last under Atkinson and United saw relegation looming at the start of November 1986 Atkinson was dismissed.
Alex Ferguson's Era (1986 - present day)
Ferguson and deputy Archie Knox arrived at United from Aberdeen on the day Atkinson was dismissed. The next few seasons saw an 11th, 2nd and 11th place 1st Division finish. Things were not going well for Ferguson. Widespread speculation predicted that he would lose his job at the beginning of 1990. United eventually went on to win the FA Cup 1-0 in a replay match against Crystal Palace (the first match being a a 3-3 draw) that year. In 1991 they reached the final of the League Cup eventually losing to Sheffield Wednesday. They did however win the Cup Winners' Cup beating Barcelona 2-1 in Rotterdam. This win granted them access to the 1991 UEFA Super Cup. They beat Red Star Belgrade 1-0 at Old Trafford. 1992 saw them in the League Cup final against Nottingham Forest which they won 1-0.
Public ownership of United at a value of £47 million came the same year despite chairman Martin Edwards' attempt to sell to property tycoon Micheal Knighton for £20 million.
Goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel's signing to the Club assisted them into a second place league finish behind Leeds United with the best defensive record of 17 league clean sheets in 1991-92.
Ferguson recognising the need for a striker, signed Eric Cantona from Leeds United for £1.2 million. After that, it wasn't long before United won their first league title since 1967. United added a consecutive league title for the first time since 1957 once Roy Keene had joined from Nottingham Forest in July 1993. For the first time in the Club's history they also won the FA Cup in the same year. Their former manager Matt Busby died in January of this year.
1994-95 saw United lose in the FA Cup to Everton. There was no silverware added to the cabinet that year. Notable additions to the team included Andy Cole from Newcastle United for a record £6 million. An extraordinary and stereotypical Cantona episode of drop-licking a spectator shouting racial abuse from the stadium at the end of a game with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park lead to Cantona's eight month suspension from the game. Some opinion suggests that United without Cantona couldn't complete a third league title.
Ferguson was galvanised into action by replacing Paul Ince, Andrei Kanchelskis and Mark Hughes with David Beckham, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes. Due to these players young ages and promotion from the youth side, it was felt United lacked experience. On Cantana's return from suspension in October 1995 United become the first win the double twice (the Double Double). The young players soon went on to play for their country.
Eric Cantona was named as the new United captain on the departure of Steve Bruce to Birmingham City in July 1996. The 1996-97 season saw a fourth league title in five years. Cantona retired from the game at a relatively young age of 30 that same year. Teddy Sheringham replaced Cantana as captain and Beckham was handed the No. 7 Cantona shirt.
1998-99 saw United won the Premiership, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League - an unprecedented event in English football. Ferguson was knighted for his services to football as a result. As if that wasn't enough, they also won the Intercontinental Cup.
The league was won by United in 200 and 2001 but declined to take part in the 1999-2000 FA Cup. They did however take part in the FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil. United finished the 2001-02 Premiership in third place resulting from their more defensive tactics adopted playing in Europe. The next year saw them retain the league. Significantly Rio Ferdinand caused their form to drop in 2002-03 by serving a eight month ban for failing to attend a drugs test. Cristiano Ronaldo made his United debut as a 60th minute substitute against Bolton Wanderers played at Old Trafford in 2003. In 2004 United beat Arsenal in the FA Cup final.
Ruud van Nistelrooy's injuring during the 2004-05 season created a goal drought finishing third in the league and loosing to Arsenal on penalties in a 120 minute FA Cup final draw. On 28th September, Wayne Rooney made his debut for United against Fenerbahçe S.K. of Turkey scoring a hat-trick during the game that was won 6-2. In the same year United returned to private ownership though a 75% stake holding by American businessman Malcolm Glazier. This valued the Club at over £800 million. On 8th June, Glazier's sons were appointed as non-executive directors to the board.
2005-06 was quite an eventful season with Roy Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooy joining Celtic (start of the season) and Real Madrid (end of the season) respectively. Park Ji-Sung's debut for United was on 9th August 2005 in a 2-0 win at Everton. In the same season, injuries plagued Gabriel Heinze, Alan Smith, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. United won the 2006 League Cup and finished the league in second place.
2006-07 was the return of United's attacking style famous in the late 1990s. Their nereset rival Chelsea were eclipsed by the significantly higher number of goals scored. The Premier league title was again secured on 6th May 2007. In the 15 years since inception, the Premiership title has been won 9 times by Manchester United.
Machester United successfully completede the European double and retained the Premiership title in 2007-08. They earned their third European Cup title by winning 6-5 on penalaties after a 1-1 draw against Chelsea in Moscow. Significantly, Ryan Giggs made his 759th Manchester United appearance overtaking Bobby Charlton's previous record.
The 2008 FIFA Club World Cup was added to the silverware when Wayne Rooney scored the winning goal against LDU Quito of Equador in Japan on 21st December 2008.