Manchester United F.C.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"MUFC" redirects here. For other uses, see MUFC (disambiguation).

This article is about the men's professional football team. For the women's
team associated to the same club, see Manchester United W.F.C. For the
independent club established by supporters, see F.C. United of Manchester.
Manchester United

Full name Manchester United Football Club

Nickname(s) The Red Devils[1]

United

Short name Man United[2][3]

Man Utd

Man U

Founded 1878; 145 years ago, as Newton Heath LYR F.C.

1902; 121 years ago, as Manchester United F.C.

Stadium Old Trafford

Capacity 74,310[4]

Owner Manchester United plc (NYSE: MANU)

Co-chairmen Joel and Avram Glazer

Manager Erik ten Hag

League Premier League

2021–22 Premier League, 6th of 20

 Website Club website

Home colours Away colours Third colours

 Current season

Departments of Manchester United

Men's Football Women's Football Academy

Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man

United (often stylised as Man Utd), or simply United, is a
professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester,
England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division in
the English football league system. Nicknamed the Red Devils, it was founded
as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, but changed its name to
Manchester United in 1902. The club moved from Newton Heath to its current
stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910.

Manchester United have won a record 20 League titles, 12 FA Cups,

five League Cups, and a record 21 FA Community Shields. They have won
the European Cup/UEFA Champions League three times, and the UEFA
Europa League, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, the UEFA Super Cup,
the Intercontinental Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup once each.[5][6] In 1968,
under the management of Matt Busby, 10 years after eight of the club's
players were killed in the Munich air disaster, they became the first English
club to win the European Cup. Alex Ferguson is the club's longest-serving
and most successful manager, winning 38 trophies, including 13 league titles,
five FA Cups, and two Champions League titles between 1986 and 2013. [7]
[8] In the 1998–99 season, under Ferguson, the club became the first in the

history of English football to achieve the European treble of the Premier

League, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League.[9] In winning the UEFA
Europa League under José Mourinho in 2016–17, they became one of five
clubs to have won the original three main UEFA club competitions (the
Champions League, Europa League and Cup Winners' Cup).

Manchester United is one of the most widely supported football clubs in the
world[10][11] and has rivalries with Liverpool, Manchester
City, Arsenal and Leeds United. Manchester United was the highest-
earning football club in the world for 2016–17, with an annual revenue of
€676.3 million,[12] and the world's third most valuable football club in 2019,
valued at £3.15 billion ($3.81 billion).[13] After being floated on the London
Stock Exchange in 1991, the club was taken private in 2005 after a purchase
by American businessman Malcolm Glazer valued at almost £800 million, of
which over £500 million of borrowed money became the club's debt. [14] From
2012, some shares of the club were listed on the New York Stock Exchange,
although the Glazer family retains overall ownership and control of the club.

History
See also: List of Manchester United F.C. seasons

A chart showing the progress of Manchester United through the English football league system from joining as Newton Heath

in 1892–93 to the present.

Early years (1878–1945)

Main article: History of Manchester United F.C. (1878–1945)

Manchester United was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club
by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire
Railway (LYR) depot at Newton Heath.[15] The team initially played games
against other departments and railway 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.[16] By 1888, the club had become a founding member of The
Combination, a regional football league. Following the league's dissolution
after only 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 railway company
and dropped the "LYR" from its name.[15] After two seasons, the club was
relegated to the Second Division.[15]

The Manchester United team at the start of the 1905–06 season, in which they were runners-up in the Second Division

In January 1902, with debts of £2,670 – equivalent to £310,000 in 2023 [nb 1] –
the club was served with a winding-up order.[17] Captain Harry Stafford found
four local businessmen, including John Henry Davies (who became club
president), each willing to invest £500 in return for a direct interest in running
the club and who subsequently changed the name; [18] on 24 April 1902,
Manchester United was officially born.[19][nb 2] Under Ernest Mangnall, who
assumed managerial duties in 1903, the team finished as Second Division
runners-up in 1906 and secured promotion to the First Division, which they
won in 1908 – the club's first league title. The following season began with
victory in the first ever Charity Shield[20] and ended with the club's first FA Cup
title. Manchester United won the First Division for the second time in 1911, but
at the end of the following season, Mangnall left the club to join Manchester
City.[21]

In 1922, three years after the resumption of football following the First World
War, the club was relegated to the Second Division, where it remained until
regaining promotion in 1925. Relegated again in 1931, Manchester United
became a yo-yo club, achieving its all-time lowest position of 20th place in the
Second Division in 1934. Following the death of principal benefactor John
Henry Davies in October 1927, the club's finances deteriorated to the extent
that Manchester United would likely have gone bankrupt had it not been
for James W. Gibson, who, in December 1931, invested £2,000 and assumed
control of the club.[22] In the 1938–39 season, the last year of football before
the Second World War, the club finished 14th in the First Division. [22]

Busby years (1945–1969)

Main article: History of Manchester United F.C. (1945–1969)

The Busby Babes in 1955. Manager Matt Busby is pictured front right.

In October 1945, the impending resumption of football after the war led to the
managerial appointment of Matt Busby, who demanded an unprecedented
level of control over team selection, player transfers and training sessions.
[23] 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.[24] They then won back-to-back league titles in
1956 and 1957; the squad, who had an average age of 22, were nicknamed
"the Busby Babes" by the media, a testament to Busby's faith in his youth
players.[25] 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.[26] 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.[27]

A plaque at Old Trafford in memory of those who died in the Munich air disaster, including players' names
The following season, on the way home from a European Cup quarter-final
victory against Red Star Belgrade, the aircraft carrying the Manchester United
players, officials and journalists crashed while attempting to take off after
refuelling in Munich, Germany. The Munich air disaster of 6 February 1958
claimed 23 lives, including those of eight players – Geoff Bent, Roger
Byrne, Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy
Taylor and Billy Whelan – and injured several more.[28][29]

The United Trinity statue of George Best (left), Denis Law (centre) and Bobby Charlton (right) outside Old Trafford

Assistant manager Jimmy Murphy took over as manager while Busby

recovered from his injuries and the club's makeshift side reached the FA Cup
final, which they lost to Bolton Wanderers. In recognition of the team's
tragedy, UEFA invited the club to compete in the 1958–59 European
Cup alongside eventual League champions Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Despite approval from The Football Association, The Football League
determined that the club should not enter the competition, since it had not
qualified.[30][31] Busby rebuilt the team through the 1960s by signing players
such as Denis Law and Pat Crerand, who combined with the next generation
of youth players – including George Best – to win the FA Cup in 1963. The
following season, they finished second in the league, then won the title in
1965 and 1967. In 1968, Manchester United became the first English club to
win the European Cup, beating Benfica 4–1 in the final[32] with a team that
contained three European Footballers of the Year: Bobby Charlton, Denis Law
and George Best.[33] They then represented Europe in the 1968
Intercontinental Cup against Estudiantes of Argentina, but lost the tie after
losing the first leg in Buenos Aires, before a 1–1 draw at Old Trafford three
weeks later. Busby resigned as manager in 1969 before being replaced by the
reserve team coach, former Manchester United player Wilf McGuinness.[34]