| Brief
History: |
In
1878, a group of railway workers from the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway
Company decided to form a football team. They called themselves Newton
Heath Football Club. They joined the Football Alliance in 1889 and 3 years
later, achieved Football League status. They nearly went bankrupt in 1902,
but were rescued by a local brewer and was re-named Manchester United Football
Club. Within 6 years, the Red Devils had claimed their first League Championship,
and under the leadership of Welshman Billy Meredith, would secure the FA
Cup in 1909 and a second title in 1911. However, for the next 40 years,
Old Trafford remained trophy-free as their arch rivals, Manchester City,
scooped all the honours.
After
World War II, a man named Matt Busby arrived at Man United to be the new
coach. He totally changed the future of the club. He assembled a great
team, full of youthful players, yet mixed with the experienced players.
They became known as the Busby Babes. Sadly, no one would know their full
potential. In February 1958, while returning home from a European Cup tie
with Bayern Munich, the airplane carrying the United team, crashed while
taking off in a blizzard at Munich. Only 8 members survived, of those Sir
Matt Busby. The last rites were performed for him, but against all odds,
he survived. Ten years later, another team of Busby Babes won the European
Cup, the first English team to do so.
Today,
United is still filled with Sir Matt's vision. Their youth system is arguably
the best in Great Britain, maybe even Europe. The fact that United's average
first team age is 23, pays tribute to the successful youth programme. In
the last 6 years of the new Premiership, United have won 4 times, in 1993,
1994, 1996 & 1997. Blackburn Rovers took the 1995 Championship and
Arsenal took last year's.
I certainly
look forward to another century of Manchester United leading the way! |
