"The Outcasts"

"The Outcasts"

For years since the formation of the Professional Footballers Union, tensions had mounted as players were unable to get their employers to recognise them as unionists. Things finally came to a head before the 1909-10 season when the League decided to ban, without pay, any player who was a union member.

The move inflamed the players, Manchester United's especially. They refused to give up union membership. Most clubs turned to amateurs to replace their professional players, but United were unable to sign enough. It was during this period that the famous "Outcasts FC" photograph was taken. Finally, the day before the season was due to begin, the League gave in, removing the suspensions and recognising the union.

Old Trafford

1909 was also a milestone for United for another reason. John Henry Davies once again lent financial support by lending £60,000, a huge sum at the time, to finalise the team's move to Old Trafford. They played their first game there on 19 February 1910 as Liverpool spoiled the celebrations with a 4-3 win in a close game.

The Manchester United team at the start of the 1913-1914 season – note the ‘Welsh Wizard’, Billy Meredith, at the back left

Ernest Mangnall's leadership brought United to their first successful era. They would be the first winners of the Charity Shield in 1908, and the League again in 1911 pipping Aston Villa on a tense last day of the season. The Charity Shield victory in 1911 would be the end of this era and J. Ernest Mangnall would leave the next year for Manchester City.

Without Mangnall, the club stumbled to 13th place in 1912. Attendances slumped to 15,000 and the squad started to age under the leadership of JJ Bentley. They narrowly escaped relegation in 1914-15 by one point; three of United's players were later found to have conspired with Liverpool players in fixing a United win in the match between the sides, in the 1915 British football betting scandal. The United players were found guilty of match-fixing and banned for life.

The Football League was suspended at the outbreak of the First World War, during which Sandy Turnbull was killed in France.

Post-World War I

The League resumed in 1919 following the end of the war, but United were overshadowed by the rebuilding of Manchester City under old manager Ernest Magnall and despite crowds sometimes in excess of 40,000, the club only managed 13 wins and finished in 12th place. The worst was yet to come and in 1921/22, they won only eight of 42 games, conceded 72 goals and were relegated. Billy Meredith had also left in 1921, following Ernest Mangnall to a thriving Manchester City.

Demoted to Division 2, United were a mere shadow of the former team. None of the big names from the pre-war era remained and fans had to get used to seeing the likes of Clapton and South Shields visit Old Trafford. Having finished 4th in their first season after relegation, they ended up 14th during the 1923/24 season, losing to sides like Clapton.

United finally returned to the top flight under John Chapman in 1925, finishing second to Leicester City. But in 1927, one of the great builders of Manchester United died. John Henry Davies, who had saved the club from extinction and brought them to Old Trafford, died and was replaced by G H Lawton as club president. That same year, Chapman received a lifetime ban from involvement with football for reasons known only to himself and the F.A., and was replaced for the rest of the season by experienced player Lal Hilditch. The team lost 15 games and finished a disappointing 15th.

A new manager, Herbert Bamlett, was appointed but his reign was not a successful one as United slowly slipped in the standings, never finishing higher than 12th in 1929 and finally finishing bottom of the league in 1931 after starting the season losing twelve times in a row. The finances were once again in a mess, and the much criticised Herbert Bamlett lost his job. Secretary Walter Crickmer was given control of the team for the next season, and was aided by chief scout Louis Roca, largely because the club couldn't afford a new manager. The players had gone to collect their wages on Christmas week and were told there was no money available. Another financial bailout was needed.

Enter James W. Gibson, who was approached by a Manchester sportswriter, Stacey Lintott. He met with the board and offered to help on condition that he became chairman and could choose his directors. They had little choice but to agree, and Gibson invested £30,000 into the club. A new manager was found, Scott Duncan, one of the new breed of managers who were retired players, now common, but an innovation in those days.

Scott Duncan

In 1934, United reached their lowest ever league position. On the final day of the season they were placed second-last in the table with their final match away against Millwall, who were one point ahead. With destiny in their own hands, they beat Millwall 2-0 and stayed in the Second Division by one point.

The next season saw an improvement with the side winning ten out of eleven games during October and November 1934. It seemed things were back on track and the fans started to flock back to Old Trafford as United finished 5th, and they announced their return to the top flight with a shout as they won the Second Division title in 1936 after being unbeaten in the last 19 games of the season. The title was won with a 3-2 victory at Bury, where over 31,000 fans invaded the pitch to celebrate a return to the big time.

Their joy was short-lived, however, as they were relegated back to the Second Division the next season. Scott Duncan resigned, and Crickmer resumed the manager's chair. Although now £70,000 in debt, United picked themselves up and finished runners-up in 1938, returning to the First Division, with future stars such as Johnny Carey, Jack Rowley and Stan Pearson. They would stay there for 36 years; after finishing 14th the next season, World War II broke out.

Old Trafford is bombed

First-class football was suspended for the duration of the Second World War (1939-45), but Manchester United continued to compete in part-time regional competitions. Old Trafford was severely damaged during a German air raid on Manchester in the early hours of 11 March 1941. It took eight years to rebuild and until 1949 United ground-shared with neighbouring Manchester City at Maine Road.

source : www.wikipedia.org

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MAN U history

The story of Manchester United began 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 L&YR (which stood for "Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway") was born, playing at a pitch on North Road in Newton Heath.

The club played few recorded matches in their early years, initially playing against other teams of railway workers, within their own company and against teams from other companies. The 1882–83 season saw the Heathens play a total of 26 recorded friendly matches, and the next season they applied for the Lancashire Cup. However, they were knocked out in the first round by the reserve team of the previous season's FA Cup winners, Blackburn Olympic, losing 7–2.

Perhaps viewing the county cup as too much of a challenge, Newton Heath applied for the Manchester and District Challenge Cup in 1884, reaching the final at the first attempt. The team never failed to score at least three goals in each of the rounds leading up to the final, including a first round match against Eccles that had to be replayed after the Eccles management protested about Newton Heath's third goal.Unfortunately, the team lost their goalscoring form in the final and lost 3–0 to Hurst at Whalley Range.The club's failure to progress past the second round of the Lancashire Cup, however, caused them to refrain from entering for the next four seasons.

After that, Newton Heath reached the final of the Manchester and District Challenge Cup five times, only losing once. Meanwhile, in 1886, the club decided to expand by turning what was a "junior" club into a senior one. They signed players of national reputation such as Jack Powell, who became club captain, Jack and Roger Doughty, and Tom Burke.The club's greater stature meant an increased level of opposition, and they entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886–87. They were drawn away to Fleetwood Rangers in the first round, and managed to earn a 2–2 draw by the end of normal time. However, the referee had turned up to the game expecting to play extra time in the event of a draw; the Newton Heath captain Jack Powell refused to play the extra period, though, and Fleetwood were awarded the tie, after a protest to the Football Association.Newton Heath then went into a self-imposed exile from the FA Cup, not entering again until 1889.

In 1888, having been spurned by the Football League earlier in the summer, Newton Heath entered their first ever league competition, becoming founder members of The Combination. Their first season of league football began brightly enough, but in April 1889, the Combination hit financial difficulties and was wound up before the season could be completed.

The Football Alliance

Although Newton Heath were not good enough to join the Football League, they were quickly outpacing their local competition. Newton Heath spent the first ten months of 1888 unbeaten at their home ground. However, the idea of inter-town football had caught on, and in 1889, a group of twelve clubs, Newton Heath among them, formed the Football Alliance. They finished eighth.

The next year, Newton Heath began to sever their railway ties, dropping "LYR" from their official name. However, strong connections remained intact, although they no longer were sponsored by the company, most of their players were still LYR employees.

1892 proved to be a successful season for the "Heathens", as they finished second to Nottingham Forest after losing only three times all season. That same year, the Football League enlarged and, with the merger of the Alliance, divided into two divisions. Newton Heath and Nottingham Forest were invited to join the First Division. They finished last and needed a win against Small Heath in the playoff against the Second Division champions to preserve their First Division status.

In 1893, the team moved to a new ground in Bank Street, Clayton, next to a chemical plant. It was said that when Newton Heath were losing, the plant would belch out acrid fumes in a bid to affect the visiting team.

The 1893-94 campaign, however, was no better, and they once again were in the relegation playoff against Liverpool. This time Newton Heath were defeated 2-0 and had the dubious honour of being the first team to be relegated to the Second Division.

Near-bankruptcy

On the face of it Newton Heath began the twentieth century well, but they had failed to gain promotion and the money was running out fast. The financial situation only worsened, dragging down their on-field play. They managed only 10th place in the 1901 season, losing more games than they won and with ticket sales flagging and debts mounting, the club decided to hold a four-day bazaar to raise money. One of the attractions was a St. Bernard dog, which escaped with a collection tin on one of the nights after the bazaar had closed. The dog then found its way to John Henry Davies whose daughter became so smitten with it that he enquired about the origin of the tin, and in doing so saved the club from near ruin.

It was the escape and recapturing of the dog which led to the meeting between team captain Harry Stafford and Davies, who would lead a group of businessmen. Together, they came up with £2,000 to save the club from bankruptcy.

John Henry Davies became the club president, and on 28 April, 1902, the new owners renamed the club Manchester United Football Club, after considering the alternate names "Manchester Celtic" and "Manchester Central". They also changed the team's colours to red and white. The cavalry arrived just in time as Newton Heath ended a disastrous season 15th with only 28 points.

The Manchester United team at the start of the 1905/6 season in which they were runners up in Division 2 and promoted

Having been saved from oblivion by four wealthy businessmen, the club played its first season as Manchester United in 1902/03. The badly needed injection of cash, plus some new players, gave the flagging side the boost it needed. They won 15 league games, notched up 38 points and finished fifth.

After a bad start to the season, the club took another important step in 1903 in hiring their first real team manager, J. Ernest Mangnall, a charismatic publicist who knew how to work the media. His dynamic style forced the side to go up a gear. By the end of the season 28 players had figured in first team games. He believed the ball should be kept away from players during training to make them even keener to get hold of it on Saturdays. Under his leadership, the team finished third in the Second Division. The following season, Manchester United set a record when they went 18 games undefeated after losing to Bolton 2-0 in September 1904 up until they lost to Lincoln 3-0 in February 1905. During the season they finished 3rd with 53 points. Off the field the club suffered a financial setback when they were banned from selling alcohol inside the ground.

Mangnall created United's first successful side with a series of signings, eventually winning promotion in 1906. They finished second overall and reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, beating Aston Villa 5-1 in the fifth round. Among these signings was Billy Meredith, the legendary winger who was probably the greatest player of that era.

Ernest Mangnall managed to sign star defender Herbert Burgess, Alec "Sandy" Turnbull, and Jimmy Bannister after a scandal hit Manchester City and forced them to sell off most of their team. It paid off, and Manchester United won their first League Championship in 1908. At one point they won ten games on the trot. They even attempted to sign Australian rugby footballer, Dally Messenger, a man recognised by some to be the top footballer of any code in his day. It was, without doubt, a classic season, marred only by the first signs of crowd trouble at Sheffield.

The next year, FA Cup success would follow as they beat Bristol City in the final 1-0. Sandy Turnbull scored the only goal and Billy Meredith was named man of the match.

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MAN U managerial history

From 1878 to 1914, the team was selected by a committee whose secretary had the same powers and role as a manager has today. There were four secretaries during this period, A. H. Albut, James West, J. Ernest Mangnall and John Bentley.

Ernest Mangnall was the first man to bring any major silverware to the club, winning the club's first ever Football League Championship in 1908. This was followed by the FA Cup the following season, and another league title in 1911. Despite this success, though, he left the club a year later to join local rivals Manchester City. John Bentley took over as club secretary, but was replaced two years later by Jack Robson, who became the club's first full-time manager. He remained in the post for seven years, but resigned in December 1921 after succumbing to a bout of pneumonia.

Robson was followed soon after by John Chapman. However, in Chapman's first season at the club, they were relegated to the Second Division for the first time since 1906. Three years in the Second Division followed, before promotion back to the First Division. After guiding the club to 9th place in the league and the FA Cup semi-finals in 1925–26, Chapman received a telegram from the Football Association on 8 October 1926 informing him of his suspension from management for the rest of the season; no reason was given.half-back Lal Hilditch took over for the remainder of the season, before Herbert Bamlett took permanent control.

Bamlett was manager for four years, but was unable to muster any success, the club's highest position during his reign being 12th. The club was relegated to the Second Division again in 1931, and Bamlett was replaced by club secretary Walter Crickmer. This was Crickmer's first of two spells as manager of the club, retaining his position as secretary all the while. It lasted only a season, though, as he failed to return the club to the First Division. In June 1932, Scott Duncan was appointed as manager, but in his second season in charge he led the club to what remains a club record lowest League position; 20th in the Second Division. The club held faith in Duncan though, and he managed to get the club back into the First Division by 1936. However, the club was relegated again the following year, and Walter Crickmer resumed control until the end of the Second World War.

Before the end of the war, the club approached Matt Busby, who had just turned down the opportunity to join the coaching staff at Liverpool, on the grounds that he wanted more responsibility over the playing side of the club than merely the selection of the team. United allowed Busby the responsibilities he requested, and in his first five seasons in charge he guided the team to four second-place finishes in the league, before finally winning his first title in 1952. He soon set about replacing many of the more experienced players with a group of youths who came to be known as the "Busby Babes". This team went on to win two league titles in 1955–56 and 1956–57, as well as reaching two FA Cup finals. Unfortunately, the careers of many of the players were cut short by the Munich air disaster, which also left Busby fighting for his life.

While Busby was in hospital recovering from the injuries he sustained in the air crash, his managerial duties were left to his assistant, Jimmy Murphy. After Busby recovered, he set about rebuilding his side, and within five years, in 1963, he had won the FA Cup for the first time in 15 years. This was followed up by two league titles in three years, and then the greatest prize in European club football, the European Cup. He continued as manager for one more year after this success, leaving his managerial duties to club trainer Wilf McGuinness. McGuinness struggled in his new post, however, and Busby was convinced to return for the second half of the 1970–71 season. However, he retired from football permanently that summer, and was succeeded that summer by Frank O'Farrell. O'Farrell's stay was short-lived, though, as his inability to control George Best's extravagances forced the board to sack him with three years still to run on his contract.

O'Farrell's replacement was to be Scotland's newly-appointed coach, Tommy Docherty. Docherty left the Scotland job after only a month in charge, and his first task at United was to keep the club in the top flight. He managed it once, but he was unable to pull it off again and the club was relegated in 1973–74. They bounced straight back up the following season, though, and in their first season back in the top flight, the team cruised to a third place finish and yet another FA Cup final. The next year, they went one better, beating Liverpool in the final to claim his first and only trophy at Old Trafford. It was soon discovered, however, that Docherty was having an affair with the wife of the club's physiotherapist, and he was immediately fired, replaced by Queens Park Rangers' manager Dave Sexton.

Sexton remained in the United job for four years, but was unable to produce any silverware, and was replaced in 1981 by Ron Atkinson. Atkinson was able to rekindle the club's cup success, leading his side to two FA Cups in his five year tenure. He also oversaw a series of respectable finishes in the league, but after his disastrous start to the 1986–87 season, he was sacked. His replacement, Alex Ferguson, had, in recent years, become the first manager to break the dominance of Rangers and Celtic in the Scottish league for over 15 years, winning the Scottish First Division title with Aberdeen three times in six years, as well as finishing as runner-up twice.

Since his appointment, Ferguson has been credited with the distinction of making some of the most shrewd purchases in the club's history, including the signings of Peter Schmeichel and Eric Cantona, each for less than £1.5m. With these signings, combined with the club's many experienced players, Ferguson brought the league title back to Old Trafford for the first time in 26 years. In the following decade, he won the Premier League title another six times, including a hat-trick of titles from 1999 to 2001, a feat that no other manager has yet achieved with the same club. In 1999, he also led the club to an unprecedented Treble of Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. Since then, he has added another three league titles to his trophy haul, despite a number of promises of retirement. Ferguson won his tenth Premier League title in the 2007–08 season, and followed this up with his second Champions League title ten days later.

source : www.wikipedia.org

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manchester united

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English football club, based at the Old Trafford stadium in Trafford, Greater Manchester, and is arguably the most popular football club in the world, with over 330 million supporters worldwide^[3][4] – almost 5% of the world's population.The club was a founding member of the Premier League in 1992, and has played in the top division of English football since 1938, with the exception of the 1974-75 season. Average attendances at the club have been higher than any other team in English football for all but six seasons since 1964–65.

The club is the second most successful in the history of English football and by far the most successful of recent times, having won 20 major honours since the start of Alex Ferguson's reign as manager in November 1986.They are the Premier League's reigning champions, and have won England's top division 17 times, one short of Liverpool's record of 18 league titles. In 1968, they became the first English club to win the European Cup, beating S.L. Benfica 4–1. They won a second European Cup as part of an unprecedented Treble in 1999, before winning their third in 2008, 40 years almost to the day after their first. The club also holds the record for the most FA Cup titles with 11.

Since the late 1990s, the club has been one of the richest in the world with the highest revenue of any football club, and is currently ranked as the richest and most valuable club in football, with a value of £897 million (€1,333 mil / $1.8 billion) as of May 2008. Manchester United was a founding member of the now defunct G-14 group of Europe's leading football clubs and its replacement, the European Club Association.

Alex Ferguson has been manager of the club since 6 November 1986. The current club captain is Gary Neville, who succeeded Roy Keane in November 2005.


source : www.wikipedia.org

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