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Manchester United F.C.

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Award winners

Ballon d'Or

The following players have won the Ballon d'Or whilst playing for Manchester United:

European Golden Shoe

The following players have won the European Golden Shoe whilst playing for Manchester United:

UEFA Club Footballer of the Year

The following players have won the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award whilst playing for Manchester United:

FIFA World Player of the Year

The following players have won the FIFA World Player of the Year award whilst playing for Manchester United:

Ladies team

Manchester United Ladies FC was founded in 1977 as Manchester United Supporters Club Ladies. They joined the Three Counties League in 1979, and became founder members of the North West Women's Regional Football League in 1989, when they officially changed their name to Manchester United Ladies FC. Although they were relegated from the league in their first season, they were promoted again the season after and went on to win the league title in 1995–96. For the 1998–99 season, the team joined the Northern Combination, two steps below the FA Women's Premier League. They were officially brought under the banner of Manchester United FC at the start of the 2001–02 season, but they were controversially disbanded before the start of the 2004–05 season for financial reasons. The decision was met with considerable criticism given the profits made by Manchester United and also due to the fact that the teams were withdrawn from all their leagues before the players were even informed of the decision. However, the club is still involved in girls' football, offering coaching to girls under the age of 16.

Club officials

Manchester United Limited

  • Co-chairmen: Joel Glazer & Avram Glazer
  • Chief executive: David Gill
  • Chief operating officer: Michael Bolingbroke
  • Commercial director: Richard Arnold
  • Executive director: Ed Woodward
  • Non-executive directors: Bryan Glazer, Kevin Glazer, Edward Glazer & Darcie Glazer

Manchester United football club

Coaching and Medical Staff

Managerial history

Main article: List of Manchester United F.C. managers
Dates Name Notes
1878–1892 Unknown
1892–1900 England A. H. Albut
1900–1903 England James West
1903–1912 England Ernest Mangnall
1912–1914 England John Bentley
1914–1922 England Jack Robson
1922–1926 Scotland John Chapman First manager from outside of England
1926–1927 England Lal Hilditch
1927–1931 England Herbert Bamlett
1931–1932 England Walter Crickmer
1932–1937 Scotland Scott Duncan
1937–1945 England Walter Crickmer
1945–1969 Scotland Matt Busby First post-Second World War manager and longest serving manager in United's history
1969–1970 England Wilf McGuinness
1970–1971 Scotland Matt Busby
1971–1972 Republic of Ireland Frank O'Farrell First manager from outside the United Kingdom
1972–1977 Scotland Tommy Docherty
1977–1981 England Dave Sexton
1981–1986 England Ron Atkinson
1986–present Scotland Alex Ferguson Most successful manager in terms of trophies

Support

Before the Second World War, few English football supporters travelled to away games because of time, cost, and logistical constraints such as the scarcity of cars amongst the population. As City and United played home matches on alternate Saturdays, many Mancunians would watch United one week and City the next, but after the war, a stronger rivalry developed and it became more common for a supporter to choose to follow one team exclusively.

When United won the league in 1956, they had the highest average home attendance in the league, a record that had been held by Newcastle United for the previous few years. Following the Munich air disaster in 1958, more people began to support United and many started to go to matches. This caused United's support to swell and is one reason why United have had the highest league attendances in English football for almost every season since then, even as a Second Division side in 1974–75. In fact, for two of the seasons that United did not have the league's largest attendance, Old Trafford was undergoing major building work (1971–72 and 1992–93).

A 2002 report, entitled Do You Come From Manchester?, showed that a higher proportion of Manchester City season ticket holders live in the Manchester postal districts, whilst United had the higher absolute number of season ticket holders living in the same area.

In the late 1990s and early part of the 2000s, an increasing source of concern for many United supporters was the possibility of the club being taken over. The supporters' group IMUSA (Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association) was extremely active in opposing a proposed takeover by Rupert Murdoch in 1998. Another pressure group, Shareholders United Against Murdoch (which became Shareholders United and is now the Manchester United Supporters' Trust) was formed at around this time to encourage supporters to buy shares in the club, partly to enable supporters to have a greater say in the issues that concern them, such as ticket prices and allocation, and partly to reduce the risk of an unwanted party buying enough shares to take over the club. However, this scheme failed to prevent Malcolm Glazer from becoming the majority share holder. Many supporters were outraged, and some formed a splinter club called F.C. United of Manchester. Despite the anger of some supporters towards the new owners, attendances have continued to increase.

The atmosphere produced by the fans has, however, been criticised at times. In 2000, comments made about sections of the Old Trafford crowd by the then-club captain Roy Keane, claiming some fans could not "spell football, never mind understand it" led to them being dubbed the "prawn sandwich brigade". Alex Ferguson has also made several comments about the crowd, even going as far as claiming the atmosphere on 1 January 2008 was like a "funeral". Afterwards, he commented "I think there have been days like this in the past. It happened some years ago, when we were dominant". After a famous 1–0 win over Barcelona at Old Trafford, which sent United to the final of the Champions League in Moscow, Ferguson said that United fans "were absolutely brilliant" and that they "got us over the line".

Stadium

Main articles: North Road, Bank Street, and Old Trafford
Old Trafford
Theatre of Dreams
Old Trafford after its most recent expansion
LocationSir Matt Busby Way,
Old Trafford,
Greater Manchester,
England
OwnerManchester United
OperatorManchester United
Capacity76,212 seated
Construction
Broke ground1909
Opened19 February 1910
Construction cost£90,000 (1909)
ArchitectArchibald Leitch (1909)
Tenants
Manchester United (Premier League) (1910–present)

When the club was first founded, Newton Heath played their home games on a small field on North Road in Newton Heath. However, visiting teams often complained about the state of the pitch, which was "a bog at one end and rocky as a quarry at the other". The changing rooms were also nothing to be proud of, being located ten minutes walk away at the Three Crowns pub on Oldham Road. They were later moved to the Shears Hotel, another pub on Oldham Road, but a change was needed if the club was to continue in the Football League.

The Heathens remained at their North Road ground for fifteen years from 1878 to 1893, a year after entering the Football League, before moving to a new home at Bank Street in nearby Clayton. The new ground was not much better, only a few tufts of grass sticking up through the sandy surface, and clouds of smoke coming down from the factory next door. On one occasion, the Walsall Town Swifts even refused to play, the conditions were so bad. A layer of sand was put down by the groundsman and the visitors were finally persuaded to play, eventually losing 14–0. They protested against the result, citing the poor conditions as the reason for their loss and the match was replayed. The conditions were not much better the second time around, and the Walsall team lost again, although this time they only lost 9–0.

In 1902, the club went close to bankruptcy and the Bank Street ground was closed by bailiffs due to its insolvency. The club was saved at the last minute by captain Harry Stafford, who managed to scrape together enough money to pay for the club's next away game at Bristol City and found a temporary ground at neighbouring Harpurhey for the next home game against Blackpool.

Following investment to get the club back on an even keel, they renamed as Manchester United, though still with a desire for a passable ground. Six weeks before United's first FA Cup title in April 1909, Old Trafford was named as the home of Manchester United, following the purchase of the necessary land for around £60,000. Architect Archibald Leitch was hired by United chairman John Henry Davies, and given a budget of £30,000 for construction. Original plans indicated that the stadium would hold around 100,000, though this was scaled back to 77,000. Despite this, a record attendance of 76,962 was recorded, which is more than even the current stadium officially supports. Construction was carried out by Messrs Brameld and Smith of Manchester. At the opening of the stadium, standing tickets cost sixpence, while the most expensive seats in the grandstand would have set you back five shillings. The inaugural game was played on 19 February 1910 against Liverpool F.C., and resulted in a 4–3 win for the visitors. As it happened, the change of ground could not have come soon enough – only a few days after the club played their last game at Bank Street, one of the stands was blown down in a storm.

Bombing during the Second World War, on 11 March 1941, destroyed much of the stadium, notably the main stand. The central tunnel in the South Stand was all that remained of that quarter of the ground. After the war, United filed a report with the War Damage Commission and received compensation to the value of £22,278 for the reconstruction of the ground. Though the ground was rebuilt in 1949, it meant that a game had not been played at Old Trafford for nearly 10 years as the team played all their "home" games in that period at Manchester City's ground, Maine Road. Manchester City charged United £5,000 per year for the use of their stadium, plus a nominal percentage of the gate receipts.

Subsequent improvements occurred, beginning with the addition of a roof first to the Stretford End and then to the North and East Stands. However, the old-fashioned roof supports obscured the view of many fans, resulting in the upgrading of the roofs to incorporate the cantilevering still seen on the stadium today. The Stretford End was the last stand to receive the upgrade to the cantilevered roof, the work being completed in time for the start of the 1993–94 season.

Floodlights were first installed at the ground in the mid-1950s. Four 180-foot (55 m)-tall pylons were erected, each housing 54 individual floodlights. The whole lighting system cost the club £40,000, and was first used for a match on 25 March 1957. However, the old style floodlights were dismantled in 1987, to be replaced by a new lighting system embedded in the roof of each of the stands, which has survived to this day.

In 1990, following the Hillsborough Disaster, a report was issued which demanded all stadia be converted to all-seaters, leading to subsequent renovation, which dropped capacity to around 44,000. However, the club's popularity ensured that further development would occur. In 1995, the North Stand was redeveloped into three tiers, bringing the capacity up to approximately 55,000. This was followed by expansions of first the East and then West Stands to reach a total capacity of 68,000. The most recent expansion was completed in 2006, when the North-East and North-West Quadrants were opened, allowing the current record of 76,098, only 104 short of the stadium's maximum capacity.

It has been estimated that for any further development to be attempted on the stadium, specifically the South Stand which is still only one tier high, development costs would almost equal the £114 million already spent on the stadium in the last fourteen years. This is due to the fact that up to fifty houses would have to be bought out by the club, which would cause a lot of disruption to local residents, and any extension would have to be built over the top of the railway line that runs adjacent to the stadium. Ideally, the expansion would include bringing the South Stand up to at least two tiers and filling in the South-West and South-East quadrants to restore the "bowl" effect of the stadium. Present estimates put the projected capacity of the completed stadium at approximately 96,000, more than the new Wembley Stadium.

Sponsorship

AIG are the main sponsors of Manchester United, and as part of the sponsorship deal, their logo is displayed on the front of the club's shirts and a plethora of other merchandise. The AIG deal was announced by Manchester United chief executive David Gill on 6 April 2006, and is worth a British record £56.5 million, to be paid over four years (£14.1 million a year). The deal became the most valuable sponsorship deal in the world in September 2006 after the renegotiation of the £15 million-a-year deal Juventus had with oil firm Tamoil. On 21 January 2009, it was announced that AIG would not be renewing their sponsorship of the club at the end of the deal in May 2010. It is not clear, however, whether or not AIG's agreement to run MU Finance will continue. American reinsurance company Aon was named as the club's principal sponsor on 3 June 2009, with their sponsorship of the club taking effect from the beginning of the 2010–11 season. The terms of the deal were not revealed, but it has been reported to be worth approximately £80 million over four years, which would make it the biggest sponsorship deal in football history.

The club has only ever had three main shirt sponsors. The first and longest-running was Sharp Electronics, who sponsored the club from 1982 to 2000, which was one of the lengthiest and most lucrative sponsorship deals in English football. Sharp's logo was on the front of United's shirts during these 17 years, during which the team won seven Premier League titles, five FA Cups, one Football League Cup, one European Cup Winners' Cup and one European Cup. Vodafone took over in an initial four-year £30 million deal on 11 February 2000, with the sponsorship to begin at the start of the 2000–01 season. In December 2003, the sponsorship was extended by four years with Vodafone agreeing to pay £36 million over the four years from 2004 to 2008. However, on 23 November 2005, Vodafone announced that they would be ending the deal in May 2006 in order to concentrate on their sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League.

Similarly, the club has only had four independent kit manufacturers, the first being local sportswear company Umbro. Admiral took over in 1975, and became the first company to place their logo on a Manchester United shirt in 1976. Adidas followed in 1980, before Umbro started a second spell as the club's kit manufacturers in 1992. Umbro's sponsorship lasted for a further ten years, before the club struck a record-breaking £302.9 million deal with Nike. The agreement with Nike will last an initial 13 years, running until at least 2015.

Rivalries

Main articles: Manchester derby, Liverpool F.C. and Manchester United F.C. rivalry, and Leeds United A.F.C. and Manchester United F.C. rivalry

Historically, Manchester United's closest rivals have been Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds United. Currently, most fans see Liverpool as their biggest rivals due to the success of both clubs.

The Liverpool rivalry began during the 1960s when the two clubs were among the strongest in England, and have been competing closely just about every season since. The Manchester City rivalry dates back to the Newton Heath era of the 1890s and has remained fierce due to both clubs being in the same division for much of their history. Whilst based in traditional Yorkshire-Lancashire rivalry, the rivalry with Leeds United began during the late 1960s when Leeds emerged as a top side, and continued through the 1970s and 1980s before arguably reaching its apex when Leeds pipped United to the league title in 1992.

Honours

Domestic

League

Cups

European

Worldwide

Doubles and Trebles

Especially short competitions such as the Charity/Community Shield, Intercontinental Cup, FIFA Club World Cup or Super Cup are not generally considered to contribute towards a Double or Treble.

The only major honour that Manchester United has never won is the UEFA Cup, although they reached the quarter-finals in 1984–85 and the semi-finals of the competition's precursor tournament, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, in 1964–65.

See also

Supporters' organisations
Fanzines

References

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  2. "Anatomy of the United Bench". Inside United (195): 18–19. 2008. Richard Hawkins has the fascinating title of 'head of human performance'. He works with the sports science team at Carrington, helping the players reach peak physical performance. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  3. Cite error: The named reference attendance was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. Dr. Adam Brown (2002). "Do You Come From Manchester?" (PDF). Manchester Metropolitan University. p. 3. Retrieved 28 May 2007.
  5. Andy Walsh and Adam Brown. "Fan Power". redpepper.org.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2007.
  6. "Home 10 classic Roy Keane rants". Guardian. 24 August 2006. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
  7. ^ "Home support disappoints Ferguson". BBC Sport. 2 January 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
  8. "Boss: Fans forced us to play". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  9. "FERGUSON HAILS SCHOLES GOAL". Football365. 28 April 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
  10. Cite error: The named reference sky_sports was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference north_road was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. Murphy, Alex (2006). "1878-1915: From Newton Heath to Old Trafford". The Official Illustrated History of Manchester United. London: Orion Books. p. 15. ISBN 0-7528-7603-1.
  13. Murphy, Alex (2006). "1878-1915: From Newton Heath to Old Trafford". The Official Illustrated History of Manchester United. London: Orion Books. p. 27. ISBN 0-7528-7603-1.
  14. White, John (2007) . The United Miscellany (2nd ed.). London: Carlton Books. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-84442-745-1.
  15. ^ "Old Trafford 1909-2006". ManUtdZone.com. Retrieved 21 May 2007.
  16. "Man Utd sign £56m AIG shirt deal". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 6 April 2006. Retrieved 28 May 2007.
  17. "Oilinvest to renegotiate Juventus sponsorship". SportBusiness.com. 7 September 2006. Retrieved 28 May 2007.
  18. "AIG ends Man Utd sponsorship deal". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 21 January 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
  19. Communications Dept (3 June 2009). "Future shirt sponsor unveiled". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  20. "Man Utd in new shirt sponsor deal". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  21. ^ "Vodafone in £30m Man Utd tie-up". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 11 February 2000. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
  22. ^ "United must find new shirt sponsor". CNN.com International. 24 November 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
  23. "Man Utd rings up £36m shirt deal". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1 December 2003. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
  24. "Vodafone ends Man Utd shirt deal". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 23 November 2005. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
  25. "Manchester United Shirts 1970-79". Pride Of Manchester. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  26. "Manchester United Shirts 1980-89". Pride Of Manchester. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  27. "Manchester United Shirts 1990-99". Pride Of Manchester. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  28. "A to Z of Manchester United — N". ManUtdZone.com. Retrieved 22 May 2007.
  29. "Bitter rivals do battle". Daily Telegraph. 15 April 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2008.
  30. "United's rivalries". Manchester Evening News. 16 September 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  31. "Liverpool v Manchester United preview". Sky Sports. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  32. ^ Upon its formation in 1992, the Premier League became the top tier of English football; the First and Second Divisions then became the second and third tiers, respectively. The First Division is now known as the Football League Championship and the Second Division is now known as Football League One.
  33. "Trophy Room". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  34. "UEFA Cup — Season 1984-1985 - Quarter-finals". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  35. Zea, Antonio (9 January 2008). "Fairs' Cup 1964-65". rsssf.com. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 15 February 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

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