1878 TO 1909
Manchester United Football Club was first formed in 1878, albeit under a different name – Newton Heath LYR (Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway).
Little suspecting the impact they were about to have on the national, even global game, the workers in the railway yard at Newton Heath indulged their passion for association football with games against other departments of the LYR and other railway companies.
Indeed, when the Football League was formed in 1888, Newton Heath did not consider themselves good enough to become founder members alongside the likes of Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End. Instead, they waited until 1892 to make their entrance, joining the league at Division One level but were sadly relegated to Division Two after just two seasons in the top flight.
Financial problems plagued the club and, by the start of the 20th Century, it seemed they were destined for extinction. The team was saved, however, by local brewery owner John Henry Davies. Legend has it that he learned of the club’s plight when he found a dog belonging to captain Harry Stafford.
Davies decided to invest in Newton Heath, in return for some interest in running it. This led to a change of name and, after several alternatives including Manchester Central and Manchester Celtic were rejected, Manchester United was born in April/May of 1902.
The next influential figure to arrive at United was Ernest Mangnall, who was appointed secretary in September 1903 but is widely acknowledged as being the club’s first manager. His side, including new signings like goalkeeper Harry Mogerand forward Charlie Sagar, finished third in the Second Division in 1903/04 and again in 1904/05.
The following season, 1905/06, was to prove one of the greatest in the early life of Manchester United. The half-back line of Dick Duckworth, Alex Bell and captain Charlie Roberts were instrumental in the side which reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup but, more importantly, finished as runners-up in the Second Division. Some 12 years after being relegated, United reclaimed their place in the top flight. To celebrate, Mangnall signed Billy Meredith from rivals Manchester City. Nicknamed the Welsh Wizard, Meredith had been implicated in a bribery scandal at City, and was due to be auctioned along with 17 other players. Mangnall shrewdly made his move early, and acquired Meredith’s signature before the bidding began.
The winger’s arrival proved to be inspirational – Meredith set up countless goals for Sandy Turnbull in 1907/08 when United won the Football League title for the first time. As champions, United played in the first-ever Charity Shield in 1908. They duly won the trophy, beating Southern League champions QPR 4-0 thanks largely to a hat-trick from Sandy’s namesake, Jimmy Turnbull. The third trophy to be added to the club’s honours board was the FA Cup, at the end of a tremendous run in 1909. United beat Bristol City 1-0 in the final, thanks to Sandy Turnbull’s winner.
1910 TO 1919
The words Old Trafford entered footballing folklore for the first time during the 1909/10 season. The land on which the stadium was built was bought by the Manchester Brewery Company (through John Henry Davies) and leased to the club.
Davies himself paid for the building work, which commenced in 1908 under the supervision of architect Archibald Leitch. By 1910, the club had moved lock, stock and barrel from their old home of Bank Street. United’s opening fixture at Old Trafford was played on 19 February 1910. The new hosts lost 4-3 to their first visitors Liverpool, but the stadium was successful in accommodating an 80,000 capacity crowd. Two days previously, the old wooden stand at Bank Street had been blown down by strong winds – further evidence, perhaps, that United were suited to and needed their new home.
Indeed, United were crowned League champions for the second time at the end of their first full season at Old Trafford – 1910/1911. The Reds clinched the title at home on the final day of the season, beating Sunderland 5-1 with Harold Halse grabbing two of the goals. Halse also scored six goals as United beat Swindon Town 8-4 to clinch the Charity Shield.
Despite such feats, United could not maintain the winning run and, in 1911/12, the defending champions finished in a disappointing 13th place. Secretary-manager Ernest Mangnall bore the brunt of the criticism, and resigned to join United’s neighbours and rivals Manchester City. The search for Mangnall’s successor finished at the door of JJ Bentley, the president of the Football League. Under his guidance, the Reds claimed fourth place in the League at the end of the 1912/13 season.
The 1913/14 term was a period of transition, while the following campaign was notable for a change of management – in December 1914, the roles of secretary and team manager were separated for the first time. Bentley became full-time secretary and John Robson was appointed to look after and select the team. Robson’s team was a shadow of the one which had performed so well in the previous decade, as only George Stacey, Billy Meredith, Sandy Turnbull and George Wall remained from the 1909 FA Cup-winning side. Not surprisingly, the club struggled, only escaping relegation by a single point.
Before United could form a plan for recovery, the outbreak of the First World War put football firmly to the back of people’s minds. The Football League was suspended, and clubs resorted to playing in regional competitions. United played in the Lancashire Prinicipal and Subsidiary Tournaments for four seasons, but this was a less than successful diversion, the misery compounded by the fact that two of the club’s players were found guilty of match fixing. Enoch West was banned for life, as was Sandy Turnbull, who joined the Footballers’ Battalion to help Britain’s war effort. Tragically, Turnbull was killed during battle in France in May 1917, and another link to the club’s earliest glory years lost
1920 TO 1929
Manchester United returned to League football on 30 August 1919, following a four-year gap caused by the First World War. The team for that first match back against Derby County included many new faces – in fact only two of the men on duty had played in United’s previous league game at the end of the 1914/15 season.
Billy Meredith was still at Old Trafford, but reaching the end of his illustrious Old Trafford career. He made only 19 appearances in 1919/20 when United finished 12th in the First Division. The new hero of the terraces, Joe Spence, finished the season as the team’s top scorer with 14 League goals. He was joint-top scorer again in 1920/21, but this time with half the tally as United again under-achieved to finish in 13th place.
Manager John Robson then left the club, to be replaced by John Chapman, who reverted to the dual role of secretary/manager last held by JJ Bentley. Meanwhile, former manager Ernest Mangnall continued to make the local headlines with City, as they moved into a new stadium at Maine Road.
Mangnall also re-signed Meredith for City and despite his advancing years, it was perhaps no coincidence that United were relegated in their first season without him, winning only eight of their 42 matches in 1921/22. Chapman’s team managed to climb out of the Second Division at the third attempt, when the on-field leadership of Frank Barson helped ensure promotion at the end of 1924/25. United finished second to Leicester City, after losing only eight games.
1930 TO 1939
The decline that had started in the 1920s continued at the outset of the 1930s as United finished 17th in 1929/30, to fill the fans with dread.
Their fears were realised in the next season, when United made the worst start in their history by losing their first 12 league matches in a row. The dozen defeats included back-to-back thrashings at Old Trafford, 6-0 by Huddersfield Town and then 7-4 by Newcastle United. The Reds eventually lost 27 out of 42 league matches in 1930/31, conceding 115 goals. Relegation led to manager Herbert Bamlett bowing out, and secretary Walter Crickmer taking charge of team affairs. The patience of the supporters was being severely tested, and many of them did not hang around – only 3,507 turned up for the opening match of the following season. As the season went on, the situation deteriorated. By December, there was no money to pay the players’ wages. Bankruptcy was a real threat.
The club’s saviour came in the shape of James Gibson, a manufacturer of army uniforms. He invested £30,000, paid the players and got things back on track. He appointed a new manager, Scott Duncan, who was given money to spend. However, he did not make the most of it. A dreadful run under Duncan in 1933/34 took United to the brink of being relegated into the Third Division for the first time in the club’s history. Survival was only secured on the last day of the season, when a 2-0 win, with goals from Tom Manley and Jack Cape, sent opponents Millwall down instead. In that same week, Manchester City won the FA Cup, with a man named Matt Busby in their side.
United finished the 1934/35 season in fifth place and, then in the following term, claimed their first silverware of the decade. Unbeaten during the last 19 games of the campaign, the Reds secured the Second Division championship with a 3-2 win over Bury at Gigg Lane. The end-of-season form in the Second Division suggested United would do well on returning to the top flight but, by Christmas, the side had only won four matches, including one on 25 December itself! Only 10 wins in the whole season led to relegation, with City’s fortunes again proving in stark contrast as they were crowned League champions. The relegated United team included Walter Winterbottom, who would later be knighted after managing England for 16 years.
1940 TO 1949
The outbreak of the Second World War forced football to the very back of people’s minds between 1939 and 1946. But even in the absence of League football, Old Trafford was still the focus of attention.
On 11 March 1941, the stadium was bombed during a German air raid. The attack destroyed the main stand, dressing rooms and offices. It was a devastating blow but, within a few years, there would be optimism again around the famous old ground.
It came with a man named Matt Busby, who would prove to be a hugely important figure in the history of Manchester United. A former Manchester City and Liverpool player, Busby served in the Ninth Battalion of the King’s Liverpool Regiment, where his leadership qualities shone through. These qualities did not go unnoticed by United.
Busby joined the Reds in 1945, initially on a five-year contract. Little did he know he would still be managing the club 25 years later! The young boss did not waste any time making his mark, altering the positions of several key players. He also founded the ‘Famous Five’ forwards when he brought together Jimmy Delaney, Stan Pearson, Jack Rowley, Charlie Mitten and Johnny Morris.
Perhaps the most important signing Busby made, however, was on the coaching staff. Matt had metJimmy Murphy during the war, and identified him as his perfect right-hand man. The pair formed a partnership that would see United become a power in world football.
Busby and Murphy’s first step on the road to glory was to build a team that was capable of challenging for domestic honours. They succeeded almost at the first attempt, as United finished second to Liverpool in the first Football League campaign after the war, 1946/47. It was the club’s highest placing for 36 years, and there was extra cause for optimism when the Reserves won their (Central) League Championship in the same season.
1960 TO 1969
After building one of the greatest teams seen in England, Matt Busby had to start all over again at the start of the 1960s. The Munich Air Disaster had robbed him, and football, of some of the era’s greatest players. But once the great manager had recovered from his own injuries, he set about forging another side to take the world by storm.
Dennis Viollet was one of the leading names within this team. In 1959/60, the Munich survivor broke Jack Rowley’s club record by scoring 32 goals league goals in one season, a record that still stands to this day.
By 1962 Viollet had left the club as Busby reshaped his side once more. This next great team still retained a link to the Busby Babes in the shape of Bill Foulkes and Bobby Charlton, the latter coming through the ranks to break goalscoring records for both club and country. Nobby Stiles also rose through the ranks, while Denis Law came via a record £115,000 transfer from Torino.
United’s form was erratic at the start of the decade, while new names settled in, but then everything came together with a run to Wembley for the 1963 FA Cup Final. Busby’s new-look team beat Leicester 3-1, with two goals from David Herd and one by Law.
The next season saw United build on the foundations of FA Cup success to challenge for the title – finishing second, only four points behind the champions Liverpool. The 1962/63 season was also notable for the signing and debut of George Best, the young man from Belfast who would become football’s first superstar. His incredible skill, pace and control left opponents in knots, making him a hit with the fans, while his film-star looks helped elevate his fame to celebrity status.
In 1964/65, the famous Trinity of Best, Law and Charlton took United to new heights. They won the League championship, pipping Leeds on goal difference, and reached the semi-finals of the European Fairs Cup and the FA Cup. Law plundered goals galore and was named the European Footballer of the Year.
1970 TO 1979
With memories of the European Cup triumph beginning to fade, Manchester United’s attentions turned to their managerial vacancy. Sir Matt Busby had led the club to the promised land but had now retired, leaving big boots to fill.
Their decision was to appoint from within, by promoting one of Busby’s coaches and former players, Wilf McGuinness, to the senior position. A combination of ageing stars and the lack of overall control in team affairs meant that McGuinness struggled to impose his authority. Putting popular figures like Denis Law and Shay Brennan on the transfer list didn’t help matters, neither did George Best‘s distracting off-field behaviour.
Wilf wasn’t allowed to struggle for too long. On Boxing Day 1970, he was relieved of his duties and Sir Matt was put back in temporary charge. Frank O’Farrell was the next man to take over in June 1971 but, despite a promising start, United’s 5-0 defeat by Crystal Palace on 16 December 1972 was the Irishman’s last match in charge.
Although O’Farrell’s tenure was short, he still left his mark by signing Martin Buchan for a record fee of £125,000. The former Aberdeen captain was to become a key player for O’Farrell’s successor, Tommy Docherty, who was appointed around Christmas in 1972.
The Doc’s first challenge was to keep the team in the top flight, while gradually replacing the legends of the 1960s. Bobby Charlton had announced he would retire at the end of the 1972/73 season, Best was frequently veering off the rails once again and Law had passed his peak. Law, in fact, was given a free transfer in July 1973, a move which later came back to haunt Docherty. The striker joined Manchester City and scored at Old Trafford in April 1974, on a day when United’s relegation to the Second Division was confirmed.
1980 TO 1989
United made a poor start to the 1980s but Dave Sexton and his team recovered to win eight of their last ten league games in the 1979/80 campaign, finishing just two points behind Liverpool in the title race.
The Reds produced another blistering finish at the end of the following season, 1980/81, when they won their last seven league games in a row. This time, however, only an eighth-placed finish in the table was secured – a position which the club’s board could not tolerate. Sexton was sacked on 30 April 1981, after four seasons in the hot-seat.
Sexton’s replacement Ron Atkinson brought in Mick Brown as assistant manager and Eric Harrison as youth coach. But it was his on-field acquisitions that really excited the fans. He broke the British transfer record to recruit Bryan Robson from his old club West Bromwich Albion for £1.5million and spent around a third of that to add another ex-Albion man, Remi Moses, to the United squad.
In midfield, the new arrivals wonderfully complemented the finesse of Ray Wilkins, the ball-playing England star. But still there was something missing. United needed a forward who could match the strike-rate of Ian Rush at Liverpool, with the Merseysiders winning the title again in 1982, 1983 and 1984. Atkinson’s men were never far behind, finishing third or fourth in every season of his reign. That elusive league title remained agonisingly out of reach, however.
1990 TO 1999
The dawn of the 1990s saw Alex Ferguson collect his first silverware as Manchester United manager, and Liverpool winning their last League title with an ageing team. The tide was turning…
Ferguson’s first FA Cup, achieved after a replay against Crystal Palace, at the time seemed to be a stand-alone success, one that possibly saved his job after another poor season in the League. But nine years later, it seemed that Lee Martin‘s winning goal against Palace lit the fuse for an explosion of unprecedented success.
First and foremost, winning the FA Cup in 1990 allowed United to make a return to European competition after an absence of five years following the Heysel disaster. Far from being rusty, the Reds went all the way to the final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup in Rotterdam where the opponents were Barcelona, the former club of United striker Mark Hughes. Two goals by Hughes sealed the match 2-1 in United’s favour in May 1991, 23 years after the club’s previous triumph in Europe.
The other long wait, for that elusive League championship, very nearly ended in 1992. The Reds had already won the manager’s third trophy in March, the League Cup, and were in a two-horse race with Leeds. Liverpool were out of the running, but still had a say in the destiny of the title, beating United 2-0 at Anfield to end their arch rival’s challenge.
2000 TO 2009
United started the new decade, century and millennium in typical pioneering fashion, entering a brand new competition – the FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil – but at the expense of participation in the FA Cup, of which the Reds were the holders.
The January jaunt to South America didn’t result in any silverware but it gave the players valuable relaxation time in the sun. Rejuvenated by this, United raced ahead of the rivals in the title race on return to England, after they had failed to capitalise at the start of the year. Sir Alex’s men achieved their sixth Premiership title early, in April, and still without a convincing replacement for Peter Schmeichel.
A host of goalkeepers, including Mark Bosnich, tried and failed to establish themselves during the 1999/2000 season. So it was hardly surprising when World Cup and European Championship winner Fabien Barthez joined United in July 2000.
The eccentric but formidable French goalkeeper helped United to win a third successive title in 2000/01, a feat that had previously been achieved by only a handful of clubs in England. Liverpool had been the last team to do it, in 1982, 1983 and 1984, but this was under the supervision of two different managers – Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan.
Sir Alex had been at the helm for all three of United’s back-to-back titles, and was the first manager in English football to achieve the hat-trick. On the back of this latest trophy, he announced his impending retirement, only to thankfully change his mind and decide to stay.
Ferguson’s major signing in the summer of 2002 was Rio Ferdinand, one of England’s best performers at the World Cup finals in Japan and Korea. The £30m acquisition from Leeds added the steel that had arguably been missing from United’s defence since the departure of Jaap Stam to Lazio.
2010 ONWARDS
Despite a solid start to the campaign, United’s 2009/10 term contained a sting in the tail as Chelsea’s late surge for the line ended the Reds’ chances of winning a fourth successive title by a single point in a race which ran until the final day of the season.
There was some solace to be found in the retention of the League Cup, achieved at Aston Villa’s expense and secured by a late winner from Wayne Rooney, whose individual excellence was rewarded with both the PFA Player’s Player of the Year and Football Writers’ Player of the Year awards.
Despite that single piece of silverware, the 2009/10 campaign was most notable for the heightened stakes of the Manchester derby, with a club takeover inflating the ambition of Manchester City and putting them in the frame for honours. United’s local authority was exerted, however, with home and away Premier League wins and a League Cup semi-final triumph, with each victory dramatically procured in injury-time.
Both Manchester clubs were intent on bringing the Premier League trophy back to the North-West as the 2010/11 season began, and United’s squad was bolstered by the low-key captures of promising youngsters Javier Hernandez and Chris Smalling.
Though largely unknown, the duo quickly gelled with the squad and, despite a season of largely unconvincing away form, United reclaimed the title for a record 19th domestic rule. While Rooney had powered the 2009/10 campaign with his prolific form in front of goal, 2010/11 was notably more of a squad success.
From the goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar – in his last season at the club – through to the ageless influence of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, up to a revitalised Rooney, all hands were at the pump as Chelsea were dethroned.
A remarkable home record was the cornerstone of the success but, in Europe, it was miserly away form that helped propel the Reds into another Champions League final against Barcelona, this time at Wembley. For the second time in three years, Lionel Messi and co were ultimately too strong for United on the night, but it was that record 19th league title that made it another season to remember at Old Trafford.
The bid to quickly usher number 20 into the record books looked strong in the early stages of 2011/12. Sir Alex Ferguson strengthened his squad with the signings of David De Gea, Phil Jones and Ashley Young, while homegrown talents Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck made the step up to senior regularity.
Despite a breathtaking start to the campaign, the Reds were rocked by a spate of injuries and a thumping home defeat to City, who had emerged as the only genuine challengers for the title. Having fought on admirably against adversity – and welcomed Scholes back in a shock retirement U-turn, United gradually reeled in Roberto Mancini’s side and, with a month of the season remaining, had built an eight-point lead.
However, a quickfire run of poor results allowed City to retake the lead on the home straight, and they secured their first title in 44 years in heartbreaking fashion, scoring twice in injury-time on the final day of the season to beat Queens Park Rangers and top the table on goal difference.
Inevitably, Sir Alex remained defiant, congratulating the new champions while warning: “We’re disappointed about losing the eight-point lead, but I’m not going to have any recriminations for any of my players. They’re a solid bunch of lads and they’ll be fine. Don’t worry about that.”
Sir Alex’s prophecy proved right less than 12 months later when his squad, fired by the aforementioned bitter disappointment and bolstered by the signings of Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa, romped to a record 20th league title. The triumph was sealed early on 22 April 2013, with top scorer van Persie appropriately netting a hat-trick in a glorious 3-0 home victory over Aston Villa.
The end of that 2012/13 season brought the news that millions of Reds had been dreading for a long time: Sir Alex Ferguson was to step down as manager of Manchester United. His retirement was announced on 8 May 2013 and his selection as successor was named the very next day. David Moyes arrived from Everton, tasked with following in the footsteps of British football’s most successful manager.
It proved to be too tall an order for the Scot, despite his impressive if trophy-less track record at Goodison Park. Towards the end of a disappointing 2013/14 season, with United unable to win any of the cup competitions and lying in seventh place, it was announced that Moyes had left the club. On the same day, 22 April 2014, the Reds’ longest serving and most-decorated player Ryan Giggs was placed in temporary charge until the end of the season.
Louis van Gaal‘s appointmentas the permanent new manager – and the club’s first boss from outside the UK and Ireland – was announced on 19 May 2014 and he started work in July after guiding his native Netherlands to the semi-finals of the World Cup in Brazil. Giggs, who had retired in May at the end of a long and glorious one-club playing career, was retained by van Gaal in the role of assistant manager.
By the close of his first transfer window as United manager, van Gaal had acquired six new players – club record signing Angel Di Maria for £59.7m, Radamel Falcao on loan from Monaco, Daley Blind, Ander Herrera, Marcos Rojo and Luke Shaw – and had allowed many other players to leave, resulting in a much-changed squad for 2014/15.
With no European fixtures to play, van Gaal’s debut season was a purely domestic affair. In the Barclays Premier League, the first objective was achieved as the Reds finished the campaign in the top four and therefore qualified for a return to the Champions League. Further reinforcements for van Gaal’s squad came in the summer transfer window of 2015, with the most exciting of the lot arriving in the shape of Anthony Martial, the young French forward from Monaco. But perhaps the most important deal was the new one signed by first-choice keeper David De Gea, who had been pursued by Real Madrid for months prior to his move falling through at the eleventh hour on deadline day.
Despite a decent start to 2015/16 – United navigated a Champions League qualifying round by beating Bruges home and away and overcoming Liverpool 3-1 at Old Trafford in the league with a debut goal by Martial – it became a difficult campaign with multiple injuries disrupting van Gaal’s plans. Luke Shaw’s leg fracture was the most serious of these, ruling him out for the rest of the season from September. That blow occurred away to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League and the Reds later bowed out by finishing third in the group behind the Dutch side and Wolfsburg. A descent into the Europa League led to elimination by Liverpool over two legs in the last-16 round.
An early exit in the League Cup, at home to Middlesbrough on penalties, was more than compensated for by a stirring run in the FA Cup as van Gaal’s men brought the trophy back to Old Trafford for a record-equalling 12th time overall and the first time since 2004. But with United’s sometimes patchy league form not good enough to secure a top-four position and a place in the Champions League, media speculation about the manager’s future was rife. Forty-eight hours after his team won the cup final at Wembley, van Gaal and the club parted company – his tenure was over, two years into a three-year contract.
Intense speculation that Jose Mourinho would be appointed as United’s new manager proved to be accurate on Friday 27 May 2016 when the club announced his arrival in a statement on ManUtd.com. Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward commented: “José is quite simply the best manager in the game today… his track record of success is ideal to take the club forward.”
Mourinho himself said: “To become Manchester United manager is a special honour in the game. It is a club known and admired throughout the world. There is a mystique and a romance about it which no other club can match.”
By the time the new 2016/17 Premier League season kicked off, the new boss had already collected his first piece of silverware – the Community Shield, secured with a 2-1 win over league champions Leicester City at Wembley – and he had acquired four exciting new players in Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahmovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and club record signing Paul Pogba. The latter embarked on his second spell with United, having previously made seven first-team appearances in 2011/12 after rising through the Academy and Reserves ranks.
By the end of Mourinho’s debut season at Old Trafford he had added two more trophies, the League Cup sealed with victory over Southampton thanks to Zlatan’s late Wembley winner and, thrillingly, the Europa League, that trophy completing United’s full set of honours after a cup final triumph over Ajax in Stockholm.