A Little History

The story of Manchester United begins in 1878 when employees of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company's Carriage and Wagon Works requested permission and sponsorship from their employers to start a football team. Permission was given, and Newton Heath LYR (which stood for "Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway") was born, playing at a pitch on North Road. Initially they played against other teams of railway workers, within their own company and against teams from other companies, but in 1885, they entered in the Manchester Cup competition and reached the final. The next year, they won the competition.

The club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902. They won their first title in 1908, but it was not until the 1950s, and after the great Sir Matt Busby had taken over as manager, that the club enjoyed its first period of sustained success. He steered the club to three championships over the decade, and United also became the first English club to compete in the European Cup, where they lost in the semi-finals to Real Madrid in 1957. The club endured its darkest day in 1958 when the plane carrying the team home from a European match crashed, killing eight players in a tragedy known as the Munich air disaster.

Busby, who survived the crash along with arguably the club's greatest ever player Sir Bobby Charlton, rebuilt the team. A side featuring the dazzling George Best and Denis Law won two league titles in the 60s, before claiming their maiden European Cup, defeating Benfica in the 1968 final.After Busby resigned in 1969, no manager came close to emulating his success until Ferguson arrived in 86. After reportedly coming within one defeat of losing his job in 1990, Ferguson built a dynasty at Old Trafford and the club began their Premier League dominance with the 1993 title and which proved to be the springboard to becoming the force they are today.