The glorious history of MUFC

The name Newton Heath L&YR (Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway) FC may sound oddly unfamiliar to many people, but the world’s most supported football club – Manchester United began its life by that name. The club was born in the year 1878, launched by a group of Victorian industrialists who decided that their workers needed some healthy exercise. Little did they know that after a few generations, the club would become one of the most popular clubs in the world with over 600 million fans spread around every corner of the globe.

After the first ever trophy – The Manchester Cup, which MUFC won in the year 1886 after beating Manchester City FC 2-1, the club has gone far, winning the top flight English Football League, known as the English Premier League, 19 times and 3 European titles, now known as the UEFA Champions League.

However, the early years of MUFC were like hell as they were not admitted to the Football League until season 1892-93. They competed in the FA Cup on four occasions between 1886 and 1892. Their very first entry into the FA Cup resulted in a first round exit at the hands of Fleetwood Rangers. The match ended 2-2 after 90 minutes and the referee asked the two clubs to play a period of extra-time in the hope of settling the tie. MUFC refused and the tie was consequently awarded to their opponents.

The club nearly went bankrupt at the start of the twentieth century, yet within a few years Manchester United were champions and in 1910, moved into the finest club stadium in the country – Old Trafford, also popularly known as ‘The Theatre of Dreams’.

After a period of decline, a young manager called Matt Busby took over the club, with its bomb-damaged stadium. He began to focus on developing young talent, but so many of the Busby Babes would lose their lives in the Munich Air Disaster of 1958. Somehow Busby found the will to do it all again and eventually built a team around the likes of Best, Law and Charlton and finally won the European Cup in 1968.

After triumph came relegation and disappointment, until Sir Alex Ferguson took charge in 1986 and, under him, United rose again. With the start of the Premier League era, the Reds would dominate, thanks to stars like Cantona, Giggs, Scholes, Ronaldo and Rooney winning more Premier League titles than all the others put together.

For me, Manchester United FC is the best football club on this planet, keeping in mind its rich history and the great comeback spirit. I don’t think any other club would have been able to reach the great heights that Manchester United has reached after losing one of its first teams to a tragic airplane crash and recovering from the verge of bankruptcy.