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Manchester United Football Club was formed in 1878 under the name Newton Heath LYR (Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway). The workers at the Newton Heath railway yard played games against other departments of the LYR, and did not even consider themselves good enough to become founder members of the Football League, when it formed in 1888. They eventually followed in the footsteps of teams like the Blackburn Rovers in 1892 and signed up. Never having much money it seemed that the end may be in sight for the club at the start of the twentieth century but salvation came in the form of John Henry Davies, a local brewery owner when he heard from the Newton Heath captain Harry Stafford of the clubs plight. Davies’ involvement led to the name change Manchester United, so named in 1902. The clubs first manager was Ernest Mangnall and the turning point for them was in 1905/06 when they reached the quarter finals of the FA Cup, and were runners up in the Second Division. In 1907/08 United won the Football League Championship for the first time, followed by the first ever Charity Shield in 1908 and the FA Cup in 1909.

Old Trafford stadium was up and running by 1910, when the club moved from Bank Street, with Davies paying for the building work. The Club’s first fixture was played there in February 1910, and United….lost! However by the end of their first full season at Old Trafford they were League Champions for the second time. World War I meant that the Football League was suspended, and clubs played only regionally.

They returned to the League after the war and only two of the men on duty for their first match against Derby County had played at the end of the 1914/15 season. Former manager Mangnall moved to City as did Billy Meredith, and in 1921/22 United won only 8 of their 42 matches. However in 1925/26 United finished in ninth place, but City beat them at the semi finals! They had a bit of a downward spiral finishing 15th in 1926/27, 18th in 1927/28, recovering slightly in 1928/29 to 12th. This decline continued into the 1930s, losing 27 of their 42 league matches in 1930/31, conceding 115 goals – so only 3,507 fans showed up at the opening match of the next season. Bankruptcy threatened, but this time the saviour was James Gibson, who invested £30,000 to get the club back on track. Only ten wins in the season of 1935/36 with City as the League Champions again left fans and players disillusioned. The relegated team included Walter Winterbottom who would go on to manage United for 16 years.

World War II meant that football wasn’t as important between 1936 and 1946. In 1941 Old Trafford was bombed during a German air raid. Matt Busby joined United in 1945 on a five year contract and would still be involved with managing the club 25 years later. He got several brilliant players involved including the famous five: Jimmy Delaney, Stan Pearson, Jack Rowley, Charlie Mitten and Johnny Morris. Busby also signed Jimmy Murphy as his right-hand man and together they made United become a power in world football.

Busby’s team won the 1948 FA Cup Final, 39 years to the day that United had previously won the Cup, in 1909. It was the club’s first major honour since winning the League Championship in 1911, and the fans came back – more than one million of them attended matches in the 1947/48 season.

In the 1950s Busbys winning team fell apart when Johnny Morris departed for Derby and Charlie Mitten went to Colombia. However there was no need to worry as Busby promoted the youngsters he had been recruiting in the 1940’s. ‘Babes’ Jackie Blanchflower and Roger Byrne made their debut in 1951/52, and in doing so United won the League Championship for the first time since 1911.

The United Manager didn’t just use great British talent, he also signed internationals such as Tommy Taylor and Harry Gregg. The Busby Babes were in top form and beat Arsenal in 1958 in a nine-goal thriller. Unfortunately the glory was cut short when the United aeroplane, on its return from Munich crashed killing 22 people including 8 players - Byrne, Colman, Jones, Pegg, Taylor, Geoff Bent, Liam Whelan and Duncan Edwards. The team entered into a period of loss and transition.

The team had to be built up again at the start of the 1960s, and Dennis Viollet was one of the leading players to do this. United’s form was erratic during the early 1960s but won the 1962/63 FA Cup Final. It was during this season that George Best was signed to the team, and became footballs first celebrity. Best, Law and Charlton did great things for the club and in 1964/65 won the League Championship and reached the semi-finals of the European Fairs Cup and the FA Cup. Law was named the European Footballer of the Year. They were League Champions again in 1966/67 and won the European Cup. Matt Busby retired in 1969 after a very successful term which paved the way for the future success of Manchester United.