|
Club History
|
HISTORY
The seeds for Manchester United's future success were sown when workers with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway decided to form a team of their own in 1878.
It was run by the Dining Room Committee of the Carriage and Wagon Works, and was known as the Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Cricket and Football Club.
Only after Newton Heath went bankrupt did Manchester United emerge from the ashes in 1902. Having joined the Football League in 1892, the club has played in one or other of the top two divisions ever since.
With winger Billy Meredith a powerful influence, Manchester United earned their first major honour in 1908 when the club won the championship. It followed up its league success the next year with an FA Cup victory. Although it won the league again in 1911, there followed a notably barren spell lasting until after the Second World War.
During the war, heavy bomb damage meant Manchester United had to temporarily abandon its Old Trafford ground and play matches at their Manchester rivals' Maine Road stadium.
With the end of hositilities, Matt Busby took over as manager and - with the help of captain Johnny Carey - set the club on the path to phenomenal post-war success.
While players such Jack Rowley and Stan Pearson helped them to win the 1948 FA Cup and the 1952 league championship, the club increasingly became renowned for nurturing youthful talent. And so were born the 'Busby Babes': Roger Byrne, Bobby Charlton, Duncan Edwards, Tommy Taylor, and many more.
Qucikly dominating English football, the new team won the First Division in successive seasons before the 1958 Munich air crash claimed the lives of eight players.
From the wreckage, Busby set about building another magnificent team, using the skills of Charlton and Denis Law, and harnessing the teenage talents of George Best. At the height of its power in the mid-Sixties, every Manchester United player was an international.
FA Cup winners in 1963, First Division champions in 1965 and 1967, the pinnacle of the team's achievements was the 4-1 win over Benfica at Wembley in the 1968 European Cup Final.
Managers found it difficult to emulate Busby's success, despite the efforts of men such as Tommy Docherty, Dave Sexton and Ron Atkinson. Only under Alex Ferguson, who took over in 1986, have star players managed to combine to live up to the memory of their heroic predecessors
|
|
|
|
|
Other facts
|
Year Formed: 1878
Home Ground: Old Trafford, Manchester, England. (Nicknamed the Theatre of Dreams)
Supporters: Who knows how many?! They are all over the world! But definitely enough to make merchandising Man United's top revenue of income.
Names: Newton Heath Football Club (1878), Manchester United Football Club (1902) & Manchester United (1998).
Nickname: The Red Devils
Brief History: In 1878, a group of railway workers from the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Company decided to form a football team. They called themselves Newton Heath Football Club. They joined the Football Alliance in 1889 and 3 years later, achieved Football League status. They nearly went bankrupt in 1902, but were rescued by a local brewer and was re-named Manchester United Football Club. Within 6 years, the Red Devils had claimed their first League Championship, and under the leadership of Welshman Billy Meredith, would secure the FA Cup in 1909 and a second title in 1911. However, for the next 40 years, Old Trafford remained trophy-free as their arch rivals, Manchester City, scooped all the honours.
After World War II, a man named Matt Busby arrived at Man United to be the new coach. He totally changed the future of the club. He assembled a great team, full of youthful players, yet mixed with the experienced players. They became known as the Busby Babes. Sadly, no one would know their full potential. In February 1958, while returning home from a European Cup tie with Bayern Munich, the airplane carrying the United team, crashed while taking off in a blizzard at Munich. Only 8 members survived, of those Sir Matt Busby. The last rites were performed for him, but against all odds, he survived. Ten years later, another team of Busby Babes won the European Cup, the first English team to do so.
Today, United is still filled with Sir Matt's vision. Their youth system is arguably the best in Great Britain, maybe even Europe. The fact that United's average first team age is 23, pays tribute to the successful youth programme. In the last 6 years of the new Premiership, United have won 4 times, in 1993, 1994, 1996 & 1997. Blackburn Rovers took the 1995 Championship and Arsenal took last year's.
I certainly look forward to another century of Manchester United leading the way!
|
|
|
|
