History
Manchester United was established in 1878 as Newton Heath, the works team for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway workers in the local area. In 1892 the Alliance was immersed into the Football League which was restructured into two divisions. The club is one of the most well-known football clubs in English football history and has millions of supporters across the world. Today Manchester United is a global brand and one of the most successful clubs on the planet, but in the late nineteenth century they were a very mundane club indeed.
It was under the management of Sir Matt Busby during the 1950s that Manchester United really came to the fore though, as Scotsman Busby built a side based on players he had groomed through the united youth structure, and created a great side which became known as the Busby Babes due to their precocious talent at young ages.
The Red Devils, as the team is sometimes called, are the reigning champions of the Premier League. Man United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has retained their Premier League Champions title after winning the 2007-2008 Premiership season, beating Chelsea to the Premiership title on the final day of the season. This means that Manchester United scored more goals than the average team, and also allowed fewer goals. An FA Cup win in 1963 was followed by English league title wins in 1965 and 1967 and was capped off by winning the European Cup in 1968 at Wembley, with Manchester United becoming the first English club to get their hands on European premier club trophy.
Before the start of the 09/10 season Manchester United sold World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £80 million, a world record. They also lost the services of Carlos Tevez, who joined rivals Manchester City. Former Liverpool legend Michael Owen joined United on a free transfer.
Manchester United are currently owned by the Glazier family. Fans have been protesting against these owners because of the debt the have put the club in. The debt is currently around the £700 million mark and the interest on their loans is around £46 million. Manchester United fans have started a group called MUST (Manchester United Supporters Trust). This group has 150,000 members and their aim is to oust the owners.
Another group dubbed the Red Knights are gathering together rich Manchester United fans to put together a consortium and out in a bid to buy Manchester United. They are looking to raise £1 billion. Their recent attempts to purchase the club were thwarted, but they have redoubled their efforts and are looking to make a new bid in the near future.
Manchester United are the most successful English team within the Premier League. From the debut season of the premier league they have won 13 times. They have won a record 20 league titles altogether which puts them two better than Liverpool FC who have 18.
They won the European Cup in the 1967/68 season beating Benfica 4-1 in the Final. The European Cup then got renamed to the Champions League in 1992. Man Utd have won the cup twice since then. The first time was in the historic treble winning year. They beat Bayern Munich 2-1. They were losing from the 6th minute to the 91st when they equalized. They scored the winner in the 93rd minute. The last won the Champions league in the 2007/08 final beating Chelsea. The match ended 1-1 after extra time. Goals came from Christiano Ronaldo and Frank Lampard. United won on penalties 6-5. They returned to the final in the 2008/2009 season but were defeated 2-0 by Barcelona.
Trophy History
- Premier League titles - 13
- First Division - 7
- Second Division - 2
- FA Cup - 11
- League Cup - 4
- Community Shield - 19
- European Cup - 1
- UEFA Champions League - 2
- UEFA Cup Winners Cup - 1
- UEFA Super Cup - 1
- Intercontinental Cup - 1
- FIFA Club Cup - 1
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