Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club who play at Old Trafford in Stretford, Greater Manchester. Having won a joint-record 18 league titles and a record 11 FA Cups, Manchester United is one of the most successful clubs in the history of English football, and are the reigning Premier League champions and Football League Cup holders. The club is one of the wealthiest and most widely supported football teams in the world.
Founded as Newton Heath LYR F.C. in 1878, the club joined The Football League in 1892 and has played in the top division of English football since 1938, with the exception of the 1974–75 season. They were the first English club to win the European Cup, in 1968, and the Treble, in 1999; they added a third Champions League title in 2008.
Alex Ferguson has been manager since 6 November 1986 and is the most successful manager in the club's history, having won 26 major honours. The club captain is Gary Neville who succeeded Roy Keane in November 2005. Average attendances at Old Trafford have been higher than at any other English club ground for all but six seasons since 1964–65.
History
The club was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR F.C., the works team of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath. In 1892, they joined The Football League and became independent of the rail company, dropping the "LYR" from their name. They moved to a new ground at Bank Street, Clayton in 1893.
In January 1902, with debts of £2,670 – equivalent to about £210,000 as of 2010 – the club was declared bankrupt. After seeking new investment, four local businessmen, found by captain Harry Stafford, invested £500 each in return for a direct interest in running the club, and it was decided that the club should change its name; on 26 April 1902, Manchester United officially came into existence.
After finishing as Second Division runners-up in 1905–06, Manchester United were promoted to the First Division and won their first league title in 1908. The following season began with victory in the first ever Charity Shield[13] and ended with the club's first FA Cup title. The club would have to wait another two years before winning any more trophies – winning the First Division for the second time in the 1910–11 season – which would prove to be the last time the club won the First Division for 41 years (the longest they have gone without winning the league in their history).
Following a period of gradual decline, the club was relegated to the Second Division in 1922, where it remained until its promotion in 1925. Manchester United became a yo-yo club, and were again relegated in 1931, achieving their all-time lowest position of 20th in the Second Division in 1934. However, in the 1938-39 season, the last year of football before the outbreak of the Second World War, the club finished 14th in the First Division.
Grounds
Old Trafford (Theatre of Dreams)
Location : Sir Matt Busby Way,Old Trafford,Greater Manchester,England
Broke ground : 1909
Opened : 19 February 1910
Owner : Manchester United
Operator : Manchester United
Construction cost : £90,000 (1909)
Architect : Archibald Leitch (1909)
Capacity : 75,957 seated
Club officials
• Owner : Malcolm Glazer
• Honorary president: Martin Edwards
• Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson
• Assistant manager: Mike Phelan
Honours
Domestic
League
• First Division (until 1992) and Premier League: 18
1907–08, 1910–11, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1992–93, 1993–94,
1995–96,1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
• Second Division: 2
1935–36, 1974–75
Cups
• FA Cup: 11
1908–09, 1947–48, 1962–63, 1976–77, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1989–90, 1993–94, 1995–96,
1998–99,2003–04
• League Cup: 4
1991–92, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10
• FA Charity/Community Shield: 17 (13 outright, 4 shared)
1908, 1911, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1965*, 1967*, 1977*, 1983, 1990*, 1993, 1994, 1996,
1997, 2003, 2007, 2008 (* joint holders)
European
• European Cup/UEFA Champions League: 3
1967–68, 1998–99, 2007–08
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1
1990–91
• UEFA Super Cup: 1
1991
Worldwide
• Intercontinental Cup: 1
1999
• FIFA Club World Cup: 1
2008
Doubles and Trebles
• Doubles:
League and FA Cup: 3
1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99 (as part of the Treble)
League and League Cup: 1
2008–09
European Double (League and European Cup): 2
1998–99 (as part of the Treble), 2007–08
• "The Treble" (League, FA Cup and European Cup): 1
1998–99
