History

1879-1909

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 or 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. They waited instead until 1892 to make their entrance.

Financial problems plagued Newton Heath, and by the start of the twentieth century it seemed they were destined for extinction. The club was saved, however, by a local brewery owner, John Henry Davies. Legend has it that he learned of the club's plight when he found a dog belonging to Newton Heath captain Harry Stafford.

Davies decided to invest in the club, 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 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 Moger and 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. Twelve 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 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 Championship for the first time. As champions, United played in the first ever Charity Shield in 1908. They duly won the trophy, beating FA Cup winners QPR 4-0 thanks 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 goal.

And so the first chapter in the club's history ended on a high note, with the promise of more to come in the next, including a move to a certain new stadium

1910-1919

The words Old Trafford entered football 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 (John Henry Davies) and leased to the club. Davies himself paid for the building work, which commenced in 1908 under the supervision of the renowned architect Archibald Leitch. By 1910, the club had moved lock, stock and barrel from their old home of Bank Street.

United's first 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 in their history, at the end of their first full season at Old Trafford - 1910/1911. They 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 wasn't the only goalscoring hero of that second Championship season. Another was the swashbuckling forward Enoch ‘Knocker’ West, who scored 19 goals during the campaign. United also won the Charity Shield, beating Swindon Town 8-4, with Halse grabbing a double hat-trick.

Despite such feats, United could not keep up their winning run and in 1911/12, the defending champions finished disappointingly in thirteenth 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 season was a period of transition, with Charlie Roberts and Alex Bell sold to Oldham and Blackburn respectively. United finished in 14th, with West finishing as top scorer for the third season in a row.

The 1914/15 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. To rub salt into the wound, Mangnall's Manchester City side finished in fifth place, thirteen places above United.

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 a battle in France in May 1917, to leave Manchester United without another of their early century heroes for their return to league football in 1919/20.

1920-1929

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 8 of their 42 matches in 1921/22.

Chapman's team that played in the Second Division was bereft of any star names, and failed to win promotion at the first (1922/23) or even the second attempt (1923/24). The on-field leadership of Frank Barson eventually brought about a marked improvement, however, resulting in promotion at the end of 1924/25. United finished second to Leicester City, after losing only eight games.

United's top flight status was cemented with a ninth-place finish in 1925/26. Chapman's team also went on a great run in the FA Cup, but this came to a halt in the semi-finals when Manchester City beat them 3-0 at Bramall Lane. City's luck then ran out, as they lost both the final (to Bolton) and their place in the First Division.

Not that United supporters could afford to laugh at City. Two months into the 1926/27 season, they had troubles of their own when the FA suspended manager John Chapman with immediate effect, the reasons for which never became public. Wing-half Clarence Hilditch took over as player-manager while the club looked for a more permanent replacement, but 'Lal' was reluctant to pick himself to play, and the team suffered as a result.

Chapman's permanent successor, Herbert Bamlett, arrived later that season. He was already known to United fans as the referee who called off the club's FA Cup quarter-final tie at Burnley in 1909, when their team was trailing 1-0 in the midst of a blizzard. Bamlett, though, was too cold to blow the final whistle, so Charlie Roberts did the job and United went on to win the Cup that season!

Sadly Bamlett had no further impact on United's success as their manager. The team slowly slipped down the First Division, finishing 15th in 1926/27 and 18th in 1927/28, only to recover slightly to 12th in 1928/29. Joe Spence continued to score goals by the bucketload but not even he could stop United's steady decline

1930-1939

The decline that had started in the 1920's continued at the outset of the 1930's. United finished 17th in 1929/30, to fill their fans with dread.

Their fears were realised in the next season, when United made the worst start in their history by losing their first twelve 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 season was into November before Herbert Bamlett's team took their first points, by winning 2-0 at home to Birmingham City.

United eventually lost 27 of their 42 league matches in 1930/31, conceding 115 goals. Their relegation led to Bamlett bowing out, and secretary Walter Crickmer taking charge of team affairs. There was to be no immediate improvement, however. United lost their opening two matches of 1931/32, in the Second Division.

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. 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 the club 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 they won 2-0 with goals from Tom Manley and Jack Cape to send their opponents, Millwall, down instead. In that same week, Manchester City had 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 1935/36 claimed their first silverware of the decade. Unbeaten during the last 19 games of the campaign, they secured the Second Division Championship with a 3-2 win over Bury at Gigg Lane, thanks to goals from Manley and George Mutch.

Their end-of-season form in the Second Division suggested United would do well on their return to the First, but by Christmas they had only won four matches, including one on Christmas Day itself! Only ten wins in the whole season meant relegation, with City again providing stark contrast as the League Champions. The relegated United team included Walter Winterbottom, who would later be knighted after managing England for 16 years.

The yo-yoing continued as United were promoted again the next season, 1937/38, as runners-up to Aston Villa. Scott Duncan could only claim some of the credit, as he left the club in November 1937 to become manager of Ipswich Town. Walter Crickmer again stepped into the breach as United's caretaker manager.

The highlight of Duncan and Crickmer's season was the discovery of Johnny Carey, who would later be recognised as one of the greatest full-backs in football history. Playing 32 games and scoring six goals, Carey helped United to stay up this time, finishing 14th, while City took their turn to be relegated! There was no time to gloat, however - the outbreak of war put the Football League on hold again, for several years.

1940-1949

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 the most 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!

Busby didn't waste any time in 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 met Jimmy 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.

Busby's mix of young local lads and established players won their first trophy the following year, when they beat the Blackpool side of Stanley Matthews, Stan Mortensen and Harry Johnston in the 1948 FA Cup Final. It was 39 years to the day that United had previously won the Cup, in 1909.

The FA Cup was also the club's first major honour since winning the League Championship in 1911, and recapturing the title would now become the number one target for Matt Busby's men. During the first five seasons of his post-war reign, United finished second on four occasions, and fourth on the other (1949/50).

The thrill of the chase for honours brought the fans flooding back – more than one million of them passed through the turnstiles in the 1947/48 season, dragging the club out of debt. Surely these fans wouldn't have to wait long to be rewarded with the prize they all craved

1950-1959

If all good things must come to an end, it was certainly true of Matt Busby’s first post-war United side at the dawn of the 1950’s.

Dressing room dissent led to the break-up of the 1948 FA Cup winning team, with Johnny Morris departing for Derby and Charlie Mitten exporting his wing wizardry to Colombia. Some United supporters were worried to lose star players of that calibre, but any fans that placed their faith in Busby were soon rewarded.

The great Scot’s plan was to promote the youngsters he’d been recruiting and grooming in the late 1940’s. Jackie Blanchflower and Roger Byrne were the first to emerge and be labelled ‘Babes’ by the newspapers; in their debut season 1951/52, United won the League Championship for the first time since 1911.

Byrne, aged 21, played a big part in that success, making 24 appearances, including the final six on the wing, from where he scored seven goals. He then returned to his customary left-back role, and captained the side for four years from February 1954.

In 1955/56 and 1956/57, Byrne lifted the Championship trophy as skipper of a great young side that included several more products of Busby’s youth academy. Eddie Colman, Mark Jones and David Pegg were all first team regulars, having cut their teeth in the FA Youth Cup, which United won five years in a row from its inception in 1953.

Not all the young talent was home-grown, however. The United manager was equally happy to plunge into the transfer market, and in March 1953, he spent one pound short of thirty thousand on Tommy Taylor, the prolific Barnsley striker. He proved to be an excellent signing, as he continued to knock in the goals for United and England. Another big-money transfer saw Harry Gregg arrive from Doncaster Rovers in December 1957. The fee of £23,000 was a world record fee for a goalkeeper at the time, but it was money well spent as Gregg immediately became United's regular shot-stopper. He was also number one for his country, Northern Ireland.

Another young man who excelled for club and country was Duncan Edwards. So powerful, talented and mature was the Dudley teenager that Matt Busby could not hold him back from United’s first team. In April 1953, he became the First Division’s youngest-ever player at the age of 16 years and 185 days.

One match that perhaps epitomised the new Busby Babes era more than most was against Arsenal at Highbury on 1 February 1958. In front of a crowd of 63,578 the Reds beat the Gunners in a nine-goal thriller with goals from Edwards, Taylor (2), Bobby Charlton and Dennis Viollet.

Sadly, what was perhaps their greatest game on English soil was certainly to be the last for that particular Manchester United team. From Highbury, the Babes headed off into Europe to play the second leg of a tie against Red Star Belgrade. Again they won 5-4, this time on aggregate, but on the way home their celebrations were cut short by tragedy.

After refuelling in Munich on 6 February 1958, the United aeroplane crashed, killing twenty-two people, including seven players – Byrne, Colman, Jones, Pegg, Taylor, Geoff Bent and Liam Whelan. Duncan Edwards became the eighth player to die of his injuries, fifteen days later in a German hospital.

The club, the city of Manchester and the English game entered a long period of mourning, and it seemed inconceivable that United could ever recover from such an appalling disaster.

But as Matt Busby defied the medics to recover from his crash wounds, the team bounced back and, patched up by assistant manager Jimmy Murphy, they reached the FA Cup Final in May 1958. They lost at Wembley to Bolton Wanderers, twelve months after losing the final to Aston Villa.

To continue the theme of finishing a close second, the Reds were also runners-up in the League Championship of 1958/59. By then, the team was again in a transitional period, as Matt Busby constructed another great team for another great decade.

1960-1969

After building one of the greatest teams seen in England, Matt Busby had to start all over again at the start of the 1960's. The Munich air disaster had robbed him, and football, of some of the era's greatest players. But the great manager was never one to sit still for long. Once he had recovered from his own injuries, he set about building 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 in one league season. The team in total scored 102, but they conceded too many (80) at the other end and finished in seventh place.

Viollet wasn't the only player to survive Munich and enjoy a great career at Old Trafford; others included Bill Foulkes, and Bobby Charlton, who came through the club's youth ranks to break goalscoring records for club and country. Nobby Stiles followed the same path, from youth team to first team, while Denis Law came the more direct route, by record £115,000 transfer from Torino.

United's form was erratic at the start of the decade, while the new names settled in, but then everything came together with a run to Wembley for the 1962/63 FA Cup Final. Matt Busby's new-look team beat Leicester City 3-1, with two goals from David Herd and one by Denis Law.

The next season saw United build on the foundations of FA Cup success to challenge for the title – United finished second, only four points behind the champions Liverpool, to whom they lost both at home and away. 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. It was a case of Best by name, best by nature. His incredible skill, pace and control left opponents in knots, making him a hit with the fans, while his filmstar looks made him a hit with the ladies.

In 1964/65, the famous trio 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.

The title-winning team seemed to be the finished article but they took their foot off the gas during the next season, 1965/66, losing the title to Liverpool again and finishing fourth. Two cup runs, with United losing in the semi-finals of both the FA and European Cups, seemed to take their toll towards the end of the season. The highlight had been the 5-1 away thrashing of Benfica in the European Cup quarter-finals, when Best had been in blistering form.

In 1966/67 United were crowned League Champions again, with Law scoring 23 goals in 36 games. The title success secured another season of top-level European football in 1967/68. Hibernians, FK Sarajevo, Gornik Zabrze and Real Madrid were swept aside as the Reds marched towards the European Cup final at Wembley.

Benfica put up a good fight in the final. Jaime Graca equalised Charlton's headed goal to take the game into extra-time; in fact Benfica might have won the match in normal time had Alex Stepney not saved superbly from Eusebio.

Best, Brian Kidd and Charlton bossed the added half-hour, scoring one goal each to crush the Portuguese champions 4-1. The European Cup was heading to Old Trafford for the first time. Just 10 years after Sir Matt had seen his dream team destroyed by tragedy, he had performed the impossible. He was knighted soon afterwards.

It was a case of after the Lord Mayor's show in 1968/69. The European Champions could only finish eleventh in the league, and they were knocked out of the FA Cup in the sixth round and the European Cup at the semi-final stage. They also lost the World Club Championship 2-1 on aggregate to Estudiantes.

Despite the anti-climatic end to the decade, United fans could feel delighted with the 1960's. Few could begrudge Sir Matt Busby's decision to retire at the end of 1968/69, after all he'd achieved.

1970-1979

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 just 10 years after losing half his team, and nearly his own life, in the Munich tragedy. But now he had retired, to leave the board with a problem.

Their first solution was to appoint from within, by promoting one of Busby's coaches and former players Wilf McGuinness to the senior position. To say that he had a big job on his hands in following Sir Matt is an understatement of huge proportions. A combination of ageing players and the lack of overall control in team affairs meant that McGuinness struggled with Sir Matt looking over his shoulder. Putting players like Denis Law and Shay Brennan on the transfer list didn't help matters, neither did George Best's continuing antics off the field.

Wilf wasn't allowed to struggle for too long. On Boxing Day 1970 he was relieved of his duties and Sir Matt was put in temporary charge while the club again looked for a worthy successor.

Frank O'Farrell was the next man to attempt mission impossible, after leaving Leicester City for United in June 1971. Despite a promising start to the 1971/72, the Irishman did not fare much better than McGuinness. United's 5-0 defeat by Crystal Palace on 16 December 1972 was his last match in charge.

Although O'Farrell's reign was short, he still left his mark on the team of the 1970's 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 at Christmas in 1972.

The Doc's first challenge was to keep the team up while gradually replacing the legends of the 1960's. Sir Bobby Charlton had announced he would retire at the end of the 1972/73 season, George Best was veering off the rails once again and Denis 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 against the Reds at Old Trafford in April 1974, on a day when United's relegation to the Second Division was confirmed.

Some of Docherty's predecessors must have felt aggrieved when he was spared the sack after taking United down. But to Docherty's credit, the Reds bounced back very quickly. They won the Second Division Championship in 1974/75, with top scorer Stuart 'Pancho' Pearson scoring 17 league goals. Lou Macari scored the goal that clinched promotion, at Southampton on 5 April 1975.

United then reached two successive FA Cup finals, losing to Southampton in 1976, but then returning twelve months later to beat Liverpool 2-1. The Doc's men rose perfectly to the challenge of destroying Liverpool's Treble hopes – the Merseyside club won the League Championship and the European Cup on either side of United's triumph under the Twin Towers.

The joy of that win didn't last very long for the Doc, however. Just 44 days later, he was sacked when it emerged he had set up home with his lover Mary, the wife of the club physiotherapist Laurie Brown.

QPR manager Dave Sexton stepped into the breach, and although he finished no higher than tenth in the table in his first two seasons 1977/78 and 1978/79, he again guided the side to Wembley in 1979. Unfortunately the Reds lost there, 3-2 to Arsenal in one of the most memorable finishes to an FA Cup Final. Gordon McQueen and then Sammy McIlroy scored in the last five minutes to bring United back from 2-0 down, only for Alan Sunderland to grab Arsenal's winner on the brink of extra-time.

Those frenetic last few moments at Wembley summed up the 1970's for United, a decade of high drama when great highs and lows were never far apart. Greater stability was called for as the 1980's dawned.

1980-1989

Manchester United made a poor start to the 1980's. In January 1980, Tottenham knocked them out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle. In early March, Dave Sexton's side was thrashed 6-0 at Ipswich Town.

However, Sexton and his team refused to acknowledge any vultures that might have circled overhead – instead they recovered to win eight of their last ten league games, and finish just two points behind Liverpool in the title race.

United 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, they could only finish eighth in the table – a position which the club's board could not tolerate. Sexton was sacked on 30 April 1981, after four seasons in the hotseat.

Sexton’s replacement Ron Atkinson brought in Mick Brown as assistant manager and Eric Harrison as youth coach. But it was his on-the-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 £1.5m and he spent around a third of that again 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, who again won the Championship in 1982, 1983 and 1984. Atkinson’s men were never far behind, finishing third or fourth in every season of his reign. But they were never that close either.

The domestic cups offered United their best chances of silverware, and in 1983, they reached Wembley in both competitions. Liverpool beat them 2-1 after extra-time to win the Milk (League) Cup, while little-fancied Brighton and Hove Albion provided the opposition in the FA Cup final.

Big Ron’s Reds were expected to stroll it against the Seagulls, but instead they found Brighton to be a tough nut to crack and the showpiece match finished 2-2. In fact, the underdogs would surely have won the Cup, had United goalkeeper Gary Bailey not blocked Gordon Smith’s shot in the last minute of extra-time.

The nation braced itself for a televised repeat five days later, but this time, Brighton could not match United who stormed to a 4-0 replay win with goals from Robson (2), Arnold Muhren and Norman Whiteside.

Whiteside’s habit of rising to the big occasion was never more gratefully received than in 1985, when he curled in the only goal of the FA Cup Final to beat Everton 1-0. United had earlier been reduced to ten men by the dismissal of Kevin Moran, who formed a great defensive partnership in the 1980’s with Paul McGrath.

It was Atkinson’s second FA Cup success in three seasons, but eighteen months later he became the fourth successive United boss to be sacked, for his inability to break Merseyside’s monopoly of the League Championship. Not even ten straight wins at the start of 1985/86 could lead him to the Holy Grail.

In November 1986, Manchester United at last appointed a proven winner. As Aberdeen manager, Alex Ferguson had claimed every prize that Scotland had to offer, not to mention the added bonus of the European Cup Winners Cup when his team defied overwhelming odds to beat Real Madrid!

Fergie clearly had the talent for the job, but he also needed time to turn United round. The club remained patient as the Reds finished eleventh in 1986/87 and again in 1988/89. After all, the season in between, 1987/88, had offered encouraging signs as United finished second to Liverpool by winning eight and drawing two of their last ten games.

The promise of that season, and some of the signings he had made, would soon be fulfilled by Mr Ferguson.

1990-1999

The dawn of the 1990's saw Alex Ferguson collecting his first silverware as Manchester United manager, and Liverpool winning their last League Championship with an ageing team. The tide was turning…

Fergie's first FA Cup, achieved after a replay against Crystal Palace, seemed at the time 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 their return to European competition after an absence of five years. Far from being rusty, they went all the way to the final of the European Cup Winners Cup in Rotterdam where their opponents were Barcelona, the former club of United striker Mark Hughes. Two goals by Hughes sealed the match 2-1 in Fergie'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 April 1992. The Reds had already won Fergie's third trophy in March, the League Cup, and were in a two-horse race with Leeds. Liverpool were out of the running, but they still had a say in the destiny of the title, beating United 2-0 at Anfield to ruin their challenge.

The 1991/92 title would be remembered in Manchester as the title that United lost, rather than the one that Leeds actually won. Leeds, after all, were not the greatest of football powers in the 1990's and their star quality was further reduced when they allowed one of their best players to join Manchester United in December 1992.

In selling Eric Cantona to Old Trafford, the Yorkshire club practically handed over the keys to the League Championship. The Frenchman brought that little extra bit of magic that had been missing from United's previous campaigns and was an instant hit with the Mancunian faithful, scoring nine goals to help the Reds win their first title in 26 years.

In the following season 1993/94, the team virtually picked itself en route to an historic League and FA Cup Double, with Cantona sporting the number seven shirt that had been Bryan Robson’s property for so long. The number one, meanwhile, was undoubtedly Peter Schmeichel, arguably the best goalkeeper ever seen at Old Trafford.

Cantona’s eight-month absence from January 1995, following his clash with a fan at Crystal Palace, proved to be United’s undoing as they tried to defend their Double. They lost the title by one point to Blackburn Rovers and then lost the FA Cup final by one goal to Everton. The former champions were hampered at Wembley by an injury to Steve Bruce, the brave captain who was a defensive rock in the early 1990’s.

Bruce also missed the following year's FA Cup Final, at the end of the 1995/96 season, but this time the result was rather different. Liverpool stood between United and a first-ever ‘Double Double’ and were holding out for extra-time, when Cantona struck home a sublime shot in the 86th minute. The French skipper had throughout the season been an inspiration to the talented young players in the team, including David Beckham and Gary Neville.

In May 1997, Cantona helped the club to its fourth League Championship of the decade. It was to be his last, as he surprisingly retired from football later that same month. The shock waves of Eric’s decision seemed to last for a whole year, as the Reds went empty-handed in 1997/98 while Arsenal won the Double. Again, injuries to key players, especially Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane were cited for United’s downfall.

The influence that Giggs could have on results was never more apparent than in the 1998/99 FA Cup semi-final replay, when he scored perhaps the goal of the decade – a solo run and finish that left Arsenal's defenders grasping at thin air. It booked United's place in their fifth FA Cup final of the 1990's, and this time they won it, beating Newcastle United 2-0 with goals by Paul Scholes and substitute Teddy Sheringham.

That result clinched United's third Double, six days after the Premiership title had been wrapped by Andy Cole's goal against Tottenham at Old Trafford. But still there was more to come from a remarkable campaign.

After an epic Champions League semi-final against Juventus, when Keane inspired the team to fight back from 2-0 down in the second leg, United marched into an epic final against Bayern Munich in Barcelona.

United's attempts to win the European Cup for the first time since 1968 looked to be doomed when Bayern took an early lead through Mario Basler and defended it with typical German resilience. But then, in injury time, the Reds produced one of the most stunning revivals in sporting history – Sheringham equalised, and moments later his fellow substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer fired in the winner to make the score 2-1. United had won the Treble; their manager Alex Ferguson was subsequently knighted as his fans around the globe basked in the glory.

The Treble became a quadruple later in the year when Sir Alex Ferguson's men travelled to Tokyo to compete for the Inter-Continental Cup. Keane's goal against Palmeiras of Brazil bestowed upon United the title of World Club Champions. Officially, at the end of the millennium, the biggest football club in the world had also become the best in the world!

2000-2009

Manchester United started the new decade, century and millennium in typical pioneering fashion. They entered a brand new competition – the FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil – but at the expense of their participation in the FA Cup, of which they were the holders.

The January jaunt to South America didn't result in any silverware – beating the Brazilian sides in their own backyard and stifling climate was a bridge too far – but it gave the Reds valuable relaxation time in the sun. Rejuvenated by this, they raced ahead of their rivals in the title race when they returned to England. They achieved their sixth Premiership title early, in April, and still without a convincing replacement for Peter Schmeichel.

Several goalkeepers including Mark Bosnich tried and failed to establish themselves during the 1999/2000 season. So it was hardly surprising when Fabien Barthez joined United in July 2000, fresh from adding the European Championships crown to his World Cup winners medal.

The eccentric but brilliant French goalkeeper helped United to win their 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 Ferguson had been at the helm for all three of United's back-to-back titles, and was therefore the first manager in English football to achieve the hat-trick. On the back of this latest trophy, Fergie announced he would be retiring from management at the end of the 2001/02 season. Meanwhile, his right-hand man Steve McClaren announced he would be leaving immediately to replace Bryan Robson as Middlesbrough manager.

Ferguson filled the gap left by McClaren by promoting ex-players Jim Ryan and Mike Phelan to the posts of assistant manager and first team coach respectively. But Sir Alex then created another troublesome void by offloading star defender Jaap Stam to Lazio in a transfer that took everyone by surprise, including the player!

One of Barthez's World Cup-winning team-mates, Laurent Blanc, joined United on a free transfer to play in Stam's position and forge a new partnership with Wes Brown, Gary Neville or Ronny Johnsen.

Many people assumed Blanc would be Fergie's last signing as United manager, especially after the expensive acquisitions of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Juan Sebastian Veron. But Sir Alex splashed the cash again in January 2002, to sign Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan from Independiente.

It was difficult to see where Forlan would fit in, given that van Nistelrooy had just set a new Premiership record by scoring in eight consecutive league games. United had won all those games to rejoin the title race, having previously lost more matches (six by early December) than was usual for their trail-blazing standards.