History

Manchester United was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath. The team initially played games against other departments and rail companies, but on 20 November 1880, they competed in their first recorded match; wearing the colours of the railway company - green and gold - they were defeated 6-0 by Bolton Wanderers' reserve team. By 1888, the club had become a founding member of The Combination, a regional football league. However, following the league's dissolution after just one season, Newton Heath joined the newly formed Football Alliance, which ran for three seasons before being merged with the Football League. This resulted in the club starting the 1892-93 season in the First Division, by which time it had become independent of the rail company and dropped the "LYR" from its name. After just two seasons, the club was relegated to the Second Division.

In October 1945, the impending resumption of football led to the managerial appointment of Matt Busby, who demanded an unprecedented level of control over team selection, player transfers and training sessions. Busby led the team to second-place league finishes in 1947, 1948 and 1949, and to FA Cup victory in 1948. In 1952, the club won the First Division, its first league title for 41 years. With an average age of 22, the media labelled the back-to-back title winning side of 1956 "the Busby Babes", a testament to Busby's faith in his youth players. In 1957, Manchester United became the first English team to compete in the European Cup, despite objections from The Football League, who had denied Chelsea the same opportunity the previous season. En route to the semi-final, which they lost to Real Madrid, the team recorded a 10-0 victory over Belgian champions Anderlecht, which remains the club's biggest victory on record.

Following an eighth-place finish in the 1969-70 season and a poor start to the 1970-71 season, Busby was persuaded to temporarily resume managerial duties, and McGuinness returned to his position as reserve team coach. In June 1971, Frank O'Farrell was appointed as manager, but lasted less than 18 months before being replaced by Tommy Docherty in December 1972. Docherty saved Manchester United from relegation that season, only to see them relegated in 1974; by that time the trio of Best, Law, and Charlton had left the club. The team won promotion at the first attempt and reached the FA Cup final in 1976, but were beaten by Southampton. They reached the final again in 1977, beating Liverpool 2-1. Docherty was dismissed shortly afterwards, following the revelation of his affair with the club physiotherapist's wife.

Alex Ferguson and his assistant Archie Knox arrived from Aberdeen on the day of Atkinson's dismissal, and guided the club to an 11th-place finish in the league. Despite a second-place finish in 1987-88, the club was back in 11th place the following season. Reportedly on the verge of being dismissed, victory over Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup Final replay (after a 3-3 draw) saved Ferguson's career. The following season, Manchester United claimed its first Cup Winners' Cup title and competed in the 1991 UEFA Super Cup, beating European Cup holders Red Star Belgrade 1-0 in the final at Old Trafford. A second consecutive League Cup final appearance followed in 1992, in which the team beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 at Wembley. In 1993, the club won its first league title since 1967, and a year later, for the first time since 1957, it won a second consecutive title - alongside the FA Cup - to complete the first "Double" in the club's history. A white football player with short, dark, greying hair. He is wearing a red shirt, white shorts, white socks and white football boots. He is running and has puffed-out cheeks. Ryan Giggs is the most decorated player in English football history.

Manchester United's 1998-99 season was the most successful in English club football history as they became the first team to win the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League - "The Treble" - in the same season. Losing 1-0 going into injury time in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjar scored late goals to claim a dramatic victory over Bayern Munich, in what is considered one of the greatest comebacks of all time. The club also won the Intercontinental Cup after beating Palmeiras 1-0 in Tokyo. Ferguson was subsequently knighted for his services to football.

In 2000, Manchester United competed in the inaugural FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil, and won the league again in the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons. The team finished as runners-up in 2001-02, before regaining the title in 2002-03. They won the 2003-04 FA Cup, beating Millwall 3-0 in the final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. In the 2005-06 season, Manchester United failed to qualify for the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in over a decade, but recovered to secure a second-place league finish and victory over Wigan Athletic in the 2006 Football League Cup Final. The club regained the Premier League in the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, and completed the European double by beating Chelsea 6-5 on penalties in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. Ryan Giggs made a record 759th appearance for the club in this game, overtaking previous record holder Bobby Charlton. In December 2008, the club won the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup and followed this with the 2008-09 Football League Cup, and its third successive Premier League title. That summer, Cristiano Ronaldo was sold to Real Madrid for a world record 80 million pounds. In 2010, Manchester United defeated Aston Villa 2-1 at Wembley to retain the League Cup, its first successful defence of a knockout cup competition.

After finishing as runner-up to Chelsea in the 2009-10 season, United achieved a record 19th league title in 2010-11, securing the championship with a 1-1 away draw against Blackburn Rovers on 14 May 2011. In start of the following season, United as champions faced FA Cup winners Manchester City in the 2011 Community Shield, United end up winning the match 3-2 to secure thier 19th Shield.

Player profiles