Manchester United F.C.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional
football club, based in
Old Trafford,
Greater Manchester, that plays in the
Premier League. Founded as
Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to
Old Trafford in 1910.
Manchester United has won many trophies in
English football, including a record 19
league titles, a record 11
FA Cups,
[3] four
League Cups and a record 19
FA Community Shields. The club has also won three
European Cups, one
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, one
UEFA Super Cup, one
Intercontinental Cup and one
FIFA Club World Cup. In
1998–99, the club won a
Treble of the Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, an unprecedented feat for an English club.
The 1958
Munich air disaster claimed the lives of eight players. In 1968, under the management of
Matt Busby, Manchester United was the first English football club to win the
European Cup. The current manager, Sir
Alex Ferguson, has won 24 major honours since he took over in November 1986.
[4][5]
Manchester United is one of the wealthiest and most widely supported football teams in the world.
[6][7][8][9]
In January 2013, Manchester United became the first sports team in the
world to be valued at $3 billion. Forbes Magazine valued the club at
$3.3 billion – $1.2 billion higher than the next most valuable sports
team.
[10] After being floated on the
London Stock Exchange in 1991, the club was purchased by
Malcolm Glazer in May 2005 in a deal valuing the club at almost £800 million.
[11] In August 2012, Manchester United made an
initial public offering on the
New York Stock Exchange.
[12]
History
Early years (1878–1945)
Manchester United was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Carriage and Wagon department of the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) depot at
Newton Heath.
[13]
The team initially played games against other departments and rail
companies, but on 20 November 1880, they competed in their first
recorded match; wearing the colours of the railway company – green and
gold – they were defeated 6–0 by
Bolton Wanderers' reserve team.
[14] By 1888, the club had become a founding member of
The Combination, a regional football league. Following the league's dissolution after only one season, Newton Heath joined the newly formed
Football Alliance,
which ran for three seasons before being merged with the Football
League. This resulted in the club starting the 1892–93 season in the
First Division, by which time it had become independent of the rail company and dropped the "LYR" from its name.
[13] After two seasons, the club was relegated to the
Second Division.
[13]
The Manchester United team at the start of the
1905–06 season, in which they were runners-up in the Second Division
In January 1902, with debts of £2,670 – equivalent to £210,000 as of 2013
[nb 1] – the club was served with a
winding-up order.
[15] Captain
Harry Stafford found four local businessmen, including
John Henry Davies
(who became club president), each willing to invest £500 in return for a
direct interest in running the club and who subsequently changed the
name;
[16] on 24 April 1902, Manchester United was officially born.
[17][nb 2] Under
Ernest Mangnall,
who assumed managerial duties in 1903, the team finished as Second
Division runners-up in 1906 and secured promotion to the First Division,
which they won in 1908 – the club's first league title. The following
season began with victory in the first ever
Charity Shield[18]
and ended with the club's first FA Cup title. Manchester United won the
First Division for the second time in 1911, but at the end of the
following season, Mangnall left the club to join
Manchester City.
[19]
In 1922, three years after the resumption of football following the
First World War, the club was relegated to the Second Division, where it
remained until regaining promotion in 1925. Relegated again in 1931,
Manchester United became a
yo-yo club,
achieving its all-time lowest position of 20th place in the Second
Division in 1934. Following the death of the club's principal
benefactor,
J. H. Davies, in October 1927,
the club's finances deteriorated to the extent that Manchester United
would likely have gone bankrupt had it not been for
James W. Gibson, who, in December 1931, invested £2,000 and assumed control of the club.
[20] In the
1938–39 season, the last year of football before the Second World War, the club finished 14th in the First Division.
[20]
Busby years (1945–1969)
The Busby Babes in Denmark in 1955
In October 1945, the impending resumption of football led to the
managerial appointment of Matt Busby, who demanded an unprecedented
level of control over team selection, player transfers and training
sessions.
[21] Busby led the team to second-place league finishes in 1947, 1948 and 1949, and to FA Cup victory in
1948. In 1952, the club won the First Division, its first league title for 41 years.
[22]
With an average age of 22, the media labelled the back-to-back title
winning side of 1956 "the Busby Babes", a testament to Busby's faith in
his youth players.
[23]
In 1957, Manchester United became the first English team to compete in
the European Cup, despite objections from The Football League, who had
denied
Chelsea the same opportunity the previous season.
[24] En route to the semi-final, which they lost to
Real Madrid, the team recorded a 10–0 victory over Belgian champions
Anderlecht, which remains the club's biggest victory on record.
[25]
A plaque at Old Trafford in memory of those who died in the Munich air disaster, including players' names
The following season, on the way home from a European Cup quarter-final victory against
Red Star Belgrade,
the aircraft carrying the Manchester United players, officials and
journalists crashed while attempting to take off after refuelling in
Munich, Germany. The
Munich air disaster of 6 February 1958 claimed 23 lives, including those of eight players –
Geoff Bent,
Roger Byrne,
Eddie Colman,
Duncan Edwards,
Mark Jones,
David Pegg,
Tommy Taylor and
Billy Whelan – and injured several more.
[26][27]
Reserve team manager
Jimmy Murphy took over as manager while Busby recovered from his injuries and the club's makeshift side reached the
FA Cup final, which they lost to
Bolton Wanderers. In recognition of the team's tragedy,
UEFA invited the club to compete in the
1958–59 European Cup alongside eventual League champions
Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Despite approval from the FA, the Football League determined that the
club should not enter the competition, since it had not qualified.
[28][29] Busby rebuilt the team through the 1960s by signing players such as
Denis Law and
Pat Crerand, who combined with the next generation of youth players – including
George Best – to win the FA Cup in
1963.
The following season, they finished second in the league, then won the
title in 1965 and 1967. In 1968, Manchester United became the first
English (and second British) club to win the European Cup, beating
Benfica 4–1 in the
final[30] with a team that contained three
European Footballers of the Year:
Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best.
[31] Matt Busby resigned as manager in 1969 and was replaced by the reserve team coach, former Manchester United player
Wilf McGuinness.
[32]
1969–1986
Bryan Robson was the captain of Manchester United for 12 years, longer than any other player.
[33]
Following an eighth-place finish in the
1969–70 season and a poor start to the
1970–71 season,
Busby was persuaded to temporarily resume managerial duties, and
McGuinness returned to his position as reserve team coach. In June 1971,
Frank O'Farrell was appointed as manager, but lasted less than 18 months before being replaced by
Tommy Docherty in December 1972.
[34]
Docherty saved Manchester United from relegation that season, only to
see them relegated in 1974; by that time the trio of Best, Law, and
Charlton had left the club.
[30] The team won promotion at the first attempt and reached the FA Cup final in
1976, but were beaten by
Southampton. They reached the final again in
1977, beating
Liverpool 2–1. Docherty was dismissed shortly afterwards, following the revelation of his affair with the club physiotherapist's wife.
[32][35]
Dave Sexton replaced Docherty as manager in the summer of 1977. Despite major signings, including
Joe Jordan,
Gordon McQueen,
Gary Bailey, and
Ray Wilkins, the team failed to achieve any significant results; they finished in the top two in 1979–80 and lost to
Arsenal in the
1979 FA Cup Final. Sexton was dismissed in 1981, even though the team won the last seven games under his direction.
[36] He was replaced by
Ron Atkinson, who immediately broke the British record transfer fee to sign
Bryan Robson from
West Bromwich Albion. Under Atkinson, Manchester United won the FA Cup twice in three years – in
1983 and
1985. In
1985–86,
after 13 wins and two draws in its first 15 matches, the club was
favourite to win the league, but finished in fourth place. The following
season, with the club in danger of relegation by November, Atkinson was
dismissed.
[37]
Ferguson years (1986–present)
Alex Ferguson has been manager of Manchester United since November 1986.
Alex Ferguson and his assistant
Archie Knox arrived from
Aberdeen on the day of Atkinson's dismissal,
[38] and guided the club to an 11th-place finish in the league.
[39] Despite a second-place finish in
1987–88, the club was back in 11th place the following season.
[40] Reportedly on the verge of being dismissed, victory over
Crystal Palace in the
1990 FA Cup Final replay (after a 3–3 draw) saved Ferguson's career.
[41][42] The following season, Manchester United claimed its first
Cup Winners' Cup title and competed in the
1991 UEFA Super Cup, beating
European Cup holders
Red Star Belgrade
1–0 in the final at Old Trafford. A second consecutive League Cup final
appearance followed in 1992, in which the team beat Nottingham Forest
1–0 at Wembley.
[37]
In 1993, the club won its first league title since 1967, and a year
later, for the first time since 1957, it won a second consecutive title –
alongside the FA Cup – to complete the first "
Double" in the club's history.
[37]
Ryan Giggs is the most decorated player in English football history.
[43]
In the
1998–99 season,
Manchester United became the first team to win the Premier League, FA
Cup and UEFA Champions League – "The Treble" – in the same season.
[44] Losing 1–0 going into
injury time in the
1999 UEFA Champions League Final,
Teddy Sheringham and
Ole Gunnar Solskjær scored late goals to claim a dramatic victory over
Bayern Munich, in what is considered one of the greatest comebacks of all time.
[45] The club also won the Intercontinental Cup after beating
Palmeiras 1–0 in Tokyo.
[46] Ferguson was subsequently knighted for his services to football.
[47]
Manchester United won the league again in the
1999–2000 and
2000–01 seasons. The team finished as runners-up in
2001–02, before regaining the title in
2002–03. They won the
2003–04 FA Cup, beating
Millwall 3–0 in the final at the
Millennium Stadium in
Cardiff.
[48] In the
2005–06 season,
Manchester United failed to qualify for the knockout phase of the UEFA
Champions League for the first time in over a decade, but recovered to
secure a second-place league finish and victory over
Wigan Athletic in the
2006 Football League Cup Final. The club regained the Premier League in the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons, and completed the
European double by beating Chelsea 6–5 on penalties in the
2008 UEFA Champions League Final in Moscow's
Luzhniki Stadium.
Ryan Giggs made a record 759th appearance for the club in this game, overtaking previous record holder Bobby Charlton.
[49] In December 2008, the club won the
2008 FIFA Club World Cup and followed this with the
2008–09 Football League Cup, and its third successive Premier League title.
[50][51] That summer,
Cristiano Ronaldo was sold to Real Madrid for a world record £80 million.
[52] In 2010, Manchester United defeated Aston Villa 2–1 at Wembley to retain the
League Cup, its first successful defence of a knockout cup competition.
[53]
After finishing as runner-up to Chelsea in the 2009–10 season, United
achieved a record 19th league title in 2010–11, securing the
championship with a 1–1 away draw against Blackburn Rovers on 14 May
2011.
[54]
Crest and colours
Manchester United badge in the 1960s
The club crest is derived from the
Manchester City Council coat of arms, although all that remains of it on the current crest is the ship in full sail.
[55]
The devil stems from the club's nickname "The Red Devils"; it was
included on club programmes and scarves in the 1960s, and incorporated
into the club crest in 1970, although the crest was not included on the
chest of the shirt until 1971 (unless the team was playing in a Cup
Final).
[55]
A photograph of the Newton Heath team, taken in 1892, is believed to
show the players wearing red-and-white quartered jerseys and blue
shorts.
[56] Between 1894–96, the players wore distinctive green and gold jerseys
[56] which were replaced in 1896 by white shirts, which were worn with blue shorts.
[56]
After its name change in 1902, the club colours were changed to red
shirts, white shorts, and black socks, which has become the standard
Manchester United home kit.
[56]
Very few changes were made to the kit until 1922 when the club adopted
white shirts bearing a deep red "V" around the neck, similar to the
shirt worn in the
1909 FA Cup Final. They remained part of their home kits until 1927.
[56]
In 1934, players sported cherry and white hooped shirts, but the
following season the red shirt was recalled after the club's lowest ever
league placing of 20th in the Second Division.
[56]
The black socks were changed to white from 1959 to 1965, where they
were replaced with red socks up until 1971, when the club reverted to
black. The current home kit is a red
gingham-pattern shirt with dark red
checks and a black v-neck collar, worn with white shorts and black socks.
[57]
The Manchester United away strip has often been a white shirt, black
shorts and white socks, but there have been several exceptions. These
include an all-black strip with blue and gold trimmings between 1993 and
1995, the navy blue shirt with silver horizontal pinstripes worn during
the 1999–2000 season,
[58]
and the 2011–12 away kit, which had a royal blue body and sleeves with
hoops made of small midnight navy blue and black stripes, with black
shorts and blue socks.
[59]
An all-grey away kit worn during the 1995–96 season was dropped after
just five games because players claimed to have trouble finding their
team-mates against the crowd.
[60]
In 2001, to celebrate 100 years as "Manchester United", a reversible
white/gold away kit was released, although the actual match day shirts
were not reversible.
[61]
The club's third kit is often all-blue. This was most recently the
case during the 2008–09 season, to celebrate 40 years since it was worn
for the club's first European Cup win in 1968.
[62]
Exceptions include a green-and-gold halved shirt worn between 1992 and
1994, a blue-and-white striped shirt worn during the 1994–95 and 1995–96
seasons and once in 1996–97, an all-black kit worn during the
Treble-winning 1998–99 season, and white shirts with black-and-red
horizontal pinstripes worn between 2003 and 2005.
[63] In recent seasons, the third kit has usually been the previous season's away kit.
Grounds
Newton Heath initially played on a field on
North Road,
close to the railway yard; the original capacity was about 12,000, but
club officials deemed the facilities inadequate for a club hoping to
join The Football League.
[64]
Some expansion took place in 1887, and in 1891 Newton Heath used its
minimal financial reserves to purchase two grandstands, each able to
hold 1,000 spectators.
[65]
Although attendances were not recorded for many of the earliest matches
at North Road, the highest documented attendance was approximately
15,000 for a First Division match against
Sunderland on 4 March 1893.
[66] A similar attendance was also recorded for a friendly match against Gorton Villa on 5 September 1889.
[67]
In June 1893, after the club was evicted from North Road by its
owners, Manchester Deans and Canons, who felt it was inappropriate for
the club to charge an entry fee to the ground, secretary
A. H. Albut procured the use of the
Bank Street ground in
Clayton.
[68] It initially had no stands, by the start of the
1893–94 season,
two had been built; one spanning the full length of the pitch on one
side and the other behind the goal at the "Bradford end". At the
opposite end, the "Clayton end", the ground had been "built up,
thousands thus being provided for".
[68] Newton Heath's first league match at Bank Street was played against
Burnley on 1 September 1893, when 10,000 people saw
Alf Farman score a
hat-trick, Newton Heath's only goals in a 3–2 win. The remaining stands were completed for the following league game against
Nottingham Forest three weeks later.
[68] In October 1895, before the visit of Manchester City, the club purchased a 2,000-capacity stand from the
Broughton Rangers rugby league
club, and put up another stand on the "reserved side" (as distinct from
the "popular side"). However, weather restricted the attendance for the
Manchester City match to just 12,000.
[69]
When the Bank Street ground was temporarily closed by bailiffs in
1902, club captain Harry Stafford raised enough money to pay for the
club's next away game at Bristol City and found a temporary ground at
Harpurhey for the next reserves game against Padiham.
[70]
Following financial investment, new club president J.H. Davies paid
£500 for the erection of a new 1,000-seat stand at Bank Street.
[71]
Within four years, the stadium had cover on all four sides, as well as
the ability to hold approximately 50,000 spectators, some of whom could
watch from the viewing gallery atop the Main Stand.
[71]
However, following Manchester United's first league title in 1908 and
the FA Cup a year later, it was decided that Bank Street was too
restrictive for Davies' ambition;
[71]
in February 1909, six weeks before the club's first FA Cup title, Old
Trafford was named as the home of Manchester United, following the
purchase of land for around £60,000. Architect
Archibald Leitch
was given a budget of £30,000 for construction; original plans called
for seating capacity of 100,000, though budget constraints forced a
revision to 77,000. The building was constructed by Messrs Brameld and
Smith of Manchester. The stadium's record attendance was registered on
25 March 1939, when an
FA Cup semi-final between
Wolverhampton Wanderers and
Grimsby Town drew 76,962 spectators.
[72]
Bombing in the Second World War destroyed much of the stadium; the
central tunnel in the South Stand was all that remained of that quarter.
After the war, the club received compensation from the
War Damage Commission in the amount of £22,278. While reconstruction took place, the team played its "home" games at Manchester City's
Maine Road ground; Manchester United was charged £5,000 per year, plus a nominal percentage of gate receipts.
[73]
Later improvements included the addition of roofs, first to the
Stretford End and then to the North and East Stands. The roofs were
supported by pillars that obstructed many fans' views, and they were
eventually replaced with a
cantilevered structure. The Stretford End was the last stand to receive a cantilevered roof, completed in time for the
1993–94 season.
[32]
First used on 25 March 1957 and costing £40,000, four 180-foot (55 m)
pylons were erected, each housing 54 individual floodlights. These were
dismantled in 1987 and replaced by a lighting system embedded in the
roof of each stand, which remains in use today.
[74]
The
Taylor Report's
requirement for an all-seater stadium lowered capacity at Old Trafford
to around 44,000 by 1993. In 1995, the North Stand was redeveloped into
three tiers, restoring capacity to approximately 55,000. At the end of
the 1998–99 season, second tiers were added to the East and West Stands,
raising capacity to around 67,000, and between July 2005 and May 2006,
8,000 more seats were added via second tiers in the north-west and
north-east quadrants. Part of the new seating was used for the first
time on 26 March 2006, when an attendance of 69,070 became a new Premier
League record.
[75]
The record was pushed steadily upwards before reaching its peak on 31
March 2007, when 76,098 spectators saw Manchester United beat
Blackburn Rovers 4–1, with just 114 seats (0.15 percent of the total capacity of 76,212) unoccupied.
[76] In 2009, reorganisation of the seating resulted in a reduction of capacity by 255 to 75,957.
[77][78] Manchester United has the third highest
average attendance of European football clubs only behind
Borussia Dortmund and
FC Barcelona.
Support
Manchester United is reputed to be the most popular football club in the world, with one of the
highest average home attendance in Europe.
[79]
The club states that its worldwide fan base includes more than 200
officially recognised branches of the Manchester United Supporters Club
(MUSC), in at least 24 countries.
[80] The club takes advantage of this support through its worldwide summer tours. Accountancy firm and sports industry consultants
Deloitte estimate that Manchester United has 75 million fans worldwide,
[7] while other estimates put this figure closer to 333 million.
[8]
Supporters are represented by two independent bodies; the
Independent Manchester United Supporters Association (IMUSA), which maintains close links to the club through the MUFC Fans Forum,
[81] and the
Manchester United Supporters' Trust (MUST). After the Glazer family's takeover in 2005, a group of fans formed a splinter club,
F.C. United of Manchester. The West Stand of Old Trafford – the "
Stretford End" – is the home end and the traditional source of the club's most vocal support.
[82]
Rivalries
Manchester United has rivalries with
Arsenal,
Leeds United,
Liverpool, and
Manchester City, against whom they contest the
Manchester derby.
[83][84]
The rivalry with Liverpool is rooted in competition between the cities during the
Industrial Revolution when Manchester was famous for its textile industry while
Liverpool was a major port.
[85]
The "Roses Rivalry" with Leeds stems from the
Wars of the Roses, fought between the
House of Lancaster and the
House of York, with Manchester United representing Lancashire and Leeds representing Yorkshire.
[86]
The rivalry with Arsenal amasses from the countless number of times the two teams as well as the two current managers (
Sir Alex Ferguson and
Arsène Wenger) have battled for the
Premier League
title. With 32 titles between them (19 for Manchester United, 13 for
Arsenal) this fixture has become known as one of the finest Premier
League match-ups in history.
[citation needed]
Global brand
Manchester United has been described as a global brand; a 2011 report by
Brand Finance,
valued the club's trademarks and associated intellectual property at
£412 million – an increase of £39 million on the previous year, valuing
it at £11 million more than the second best brand, Real Madrid – and
gave the brand a strength rating of AAA (Extremely Strong).
[87] In July 2012, Manchester United was ranked first by
Forbes magazine in its list of the ten most valuable sports team brands, valuing the Manchester United brand at $2.23 billion.
[88] The club is currently ranked third in the Deloitte Football Money League (behind Real Madrid and Barcelona).
[89]
In January 2013, the club became the first sports team in the world to
be valued at $3 billion. Forbes Magazine valued the club at $3.3 billion
– $1.2 billion higher than the next most valuable sports team.
[10]
The core strength of Manchester United's global brand is often
attributed to Matt Busby's rebuilding of the team and subsequent success
following the Munich air disaster, which drew worldwide acclaim.
[82]
The "iconic" team included Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles (members of
England's World Cup winning team), Denis Law and George Best. The
attacking style of play adopted by this team (in contrast to the
defensive-minded "
catenaccio" approach favoured by the leading Italian teams of the era) "captured the imagination of the English footballing public".
[90]
Busby's team also became associated with the liberalisation of Western
society during the 1960s; George Best, known as the "fifth
Beatle" for his iconic haircut, was the first footballer to significantly develop an off-the-field media profile.
[90]
As the second English football club to float on the London Stock
Exchange in 1991, the club raised significant capital, with which it
further developed its commercial strategy. The club's focus on
commercial and sporting success brought significant profits in an
industry often characterised by chronic losses.
[91]
The strength of the Manchester United brand was bolstered by intense
off-the-field media attention to individual players, most notably David
Beckham (who quickly developed his own global brand). This attention
often generates greater interest in on-the-field activities, and hence
generates sponsorship opportunities – the value of which is driven by
television exposure.
[92]
During his time with the club, Beckham's popularity across Asia was
integral to the club's commercial success in that part of the world.
[93]
Because higher league placement results in a greater share of
television rights, success on the field generates greater income for the
club. Since the inception of the Premier League, Manchester United has
received the largest share of the revenue generated from the
BSkyB broadcasting deal.
[94]
Manchester United has also consistently enjoyed the highest commercial
income of any English club; in 2005–06, the club's commercial arm
generated £51 million, compared to £42.5 million at Chelsea,
£39.3 million at Liverpool, £34 million at Arsenal and £27.9 million at
Newcastle United. A key sponsorship relationship is with sportswear
company
Nike, who manage the club's merchandising operation as part of a £303 million 13-year partnership established in 2002.
[95] Through
Manchester United Finance and the club's membership scheme,
One United,
those with an affinity for the club can purchase a range of branded
goods and services. Additionally, Manchester United-branded media
services – such as the club's dedicated television channel,
MUTV – have allowed the club to expand its fan base to those beyond the reach of its Old Trafford stadium.
[7]
In an initial five-year deal worth £500,000,
Sharp Electronics
became the club's first shirt sponsor at the beginning of the 1982–83
season, a relationship that lasted until the end of the 1999–2000
season, when
Vodafone agreed a four-year, £30 million deal.
Vodafone agreed to pay £36 million to extend the deal by four years,
but after two seasons triggered a break clause in order to concentrate
on its sponsorship of the Champions League.
To commence at the start of the 2006–07 season, American insurance corporation
AIG agreed a four-year £56.5 million deal which in September 2006 became the most valuable in the world.
[97][98] At the beginning of the 2010–11 season, American reinsurance company
Aon
became the club's principal sponsor in a four-year deal reputed to be
worth approximately £80 million, making it the most lucrative shirt
sponsorship deal in football history.
[99] Manchester United announced their first training kit sponsor in August 2011, agreeing a four-year deal with
DHL reported to be worth £40 million; it is believed to be the first instance of training kit sponsorship in English football.
[100][101]
The club's first kit manufacturer was
Umbro, until a five-year deal was agreed with
Admiral Sportswear in 1975.
[102] Adidas received the contract in 1980,
[103] before Umbro started a second spell in 1992.
[104] Umbro's sponsorship lasted for ten years, followed by
Nike's
record-breaking £302.9 million deal that will last until 2015;
3.8 million replica shirts were sold in the first 22 months with the
company.
[105][106] In addition to Nike and Aon, the club also has several lower-level "platinum" sponsors, including
Chevrolet and
Budweiser.
[107]
On 30 July 2012, United signed a seven-year deal with the American automotive corporation
General Motors, which will replace Aon as the shirt sponsor from the 2014–15 season. The new $80m
[108] a year shirt deal is worth $559m over seven years and will feature the logo of General Motors brand
Chevrolet.
[109]
Ownership and finances
Originally funded by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company,
the club became a limited company in 1892 and sold shares to local
supporters for £1 via an application form.
[16]
In 1902, majority ownership passed to the four local businessmen who
invested £500 to save the club from bankruptcy, including future club
president J.H Davies.
[16]
After his death in 1927, the club faced bankruptcy yet again, but was
saved in December 1931 by James W. Gibson, who assumed control of the
club after investing £2,000.
[20] Gibson promoted his son, Alan, to the board in 1948,
[110] but died three years later; the Gibson family retained ownership of the club,
[111] but the position of chairman passed to former player
Harold Hardman.
[112]
Promoted to the board a few days after the Munich air disaster, Louis
Edwards, a friend of Matt Busby, began acquiring shares in the club;
for an investment of approximately £40,000, he accumulated a 54 percent
shareholding and took control in January 1964.
[113]
When Lillian Gibson died in January 1971, her shares passed to Alan
Gibson who sold a percentage of his shares to Louis Edwards' son, Martin
in 1978;
Martin Edwards went on to become chairman upon his father's death in 1980.
[114] Media tycoon
Robert Maxwell attempted to buy the club in 1984, but did not meet Edwards' asking price.
[114] In 1989, chairman Martin Edwards attempted to sell the club to
Michael Knighton for £20 million, but the sale fell through and Knighton joined the Board of Directors instead.
[114]
Manchester United was floated on the stock market in June 1991 (raising £6.7 million),
[115] and received yet another takeover bid in 1998, this time from
Rupert Murdoch's
British Sky Broadcasting Corporation. This resulted in the formation of
Shareholders United Against Murdoch – now the
Manchester United Supporters' Trust – who encouraged supporters to buy shares in the club in an attempt to block any
hostile takeover. The Manchester United board accepted a £623 million offer,
[116] but the takeover was blocked by the
Monopolies and Mergers Commission at the final hurdle in April 1999.
[117] A few years later, a power struggle emerged between the club's manager, Alex Ferguson, and his horse-racing partners,
John Magnier and
J. P. McManus, who had gradually become the majority shareholders. In a dispute that stemmed from contested ownership of the horse
Rock of Gibraltar,
Magnier and McManus attempted to have Ferguson removed from his
position as manager, and the board responded by approaching investors to
attempt to reduce the Irishmen's majority.
[118]
In May 2005,
Malcolm Glazer
purchased the 28.7 percent stake held by McManus and Magnier, thus
acquiring a controlling interest through his investment vehicle Red
Football Ltd in a highly leveraged takeover valuing the club at
approximately £800 million (then approx. $1.5 billion).
[119][120]
In July 2006, the club announced a £660 million debt refinancing
package, resulting in a 30 percent reduction in annual interest payments
to £62 million a year.
[121][122] In January 2010, with debts of £716.5 million ($1.17 billion),
[123]
Manchester United further refinanced through a bond issue worth
£504 million, enabling them to pay off most of the £509 million owed to
international banks.
[124] The annual interest payable on the bonds – which mature on 1 February 2017 – is approximately £45 million per annum.
[125] Despite restructuring, the club's debt prompted protests from fans on 23 January 2010, at Old Trafford and the club's
Trafford Training Centre.
[126][127]
Supporter groups encouraged match-going fans to wear green and gold,
the colours of Newton Heath. On 30 January, reports emerged that the
Manchester United Supporters' Trust had held meetings with a group of
wealthy fans, dubbed the "Red Knights", with plans to buying out the
Glazers' controlling interest.
[128]
In August 2011, the Glazers were believed to have approached
Credit Suisse in preparation for a $1 billion (approx. £600 million)
initial public offering (IPO) on the
Singapore stock exchange that would value the club at more than £2 billion.
[129] However, in July 2012, the club announced plans to list its IPO on the
New York Stock Exchange instead.
[130]
Shares were originally set to go on sale for between $16 and $20 each,
but the price was cut to $14 by the launch of the IPO on 10 August,
following negative comments from Wall Street analysts and
Facebook's
disappointing stock market debut in May. Even after the cut, Manchester
United was valued at $2.3 billion, making it the most valuable football
club in the world.
[12]
Players
First-team squad
- As of 24 January 2013.[131]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
On loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Reserves and academy