The highs. The heartbreak. The people who made it. This is their story.
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FC HISTORYEST. 1878
Manchester United ↗
Founded
1878
Known as
The Red Devils
Home turf
Old Trafford
From
Greater Manchester
The long read
More than a scoreline.
From local beginnings to the big occasions. This is Manchester United.
An introductory history of the men’s first team, from the club’s origins through 1999. Selected turning points and honours, rather than a complete season archive; later results are outside this edition.
From Newton Heath
Manchester United’s beginnings lie with railway workers and Newton Heath L&YR in 1878. Financial difficulties preceded the change of name in 1902. The first league championship came in 1908, and Old Trafford opened two years later. Source →
Busby’s teams and Munich
Matt Busby developed a young side that won successive league titles in 1956 and 1957. The Munich air disaster of February 1958 killed 23 people, including eight players. Any account of the rebuilding must first acknowledge the lives lost and the people left behind. Source →
Wembley, ten years later
Busby remained central to the recovery. With Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best among the era’s great players, United returned to championship success. The 1968 European Cup final victory over Benfica made them the first English winners of the competition. Source →
Ferguson and the Treble
Alex Ferguson’s first league championship arrived in 1993. In 1999 United combined the Premier League and FA Cup with the Champions League, won through two late goals against Bayern Munich. The Treble became the defining achievement of that team. Source →
The league, FA Cup and Champions League are won. [source]
Home turf
More than a ground.
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Old Trafford
United moved to Old Trafford in 1910. Wartime bomb damage later forced a period sharing Manchester City’s Maine Road before the return to their own ground.
Busby’s rebuilding, the 1960s team and Ferguson’s 1990s.
A growing record
Our first chapter is an introduction, not an exhaustive archive. We credit existing research and will expand the collection as more material is checked. Our editorial approach ↗