Manchester United FC History, Nickname, Crest, Events, Rivals, Statistics

Manchester United FC is a professional English football club based on Greater Manchester, England. The club currently play in the Premier League and its home ground is called Old Trafford which opened in 1910 and hold 75,643 people.

History:

The club began in 1878 when workers from the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway company formed a soccer club called Newton Heath Lyr. Newton Heath was a reference to the neighborhood in the city of Manchester and Lyr was a reference to their company.

In 1892, the club was admitted to the Football League and changed its name to simply Newton Heath. The club almost then went bankrupt in 1902 before a local brewery owner John Henry Davies saved the club. With his investment, he became chairman of the board and immediately instituted changes to the governing structure of the club.

Along with these changes he felt a name change was necessary to appeal to the Greater Manchester population after being inspired by Manchester City's name change only eight years earlier. The names of Manchester central and Manchester Celtic were considered before the club settled on their existing name of Manchester United in the spring of 1902. 

Club's Nickname:

The club has three nicknames United, the Reds and the Red Devils. United comes from the club's name. There are many other clubs with United in their official name but Manchester United are the most successful and famous English club in the world. The Reds nickname comes from the club playing in red shirts and white shorts as their main colors since the early part of the 20th century.

The nickname of Red Devils is slightly more evolved. In the 1950s, a local rugby club called Salford City Reds also wore red and were a dominant squad. The rugby club went on a tour of France and impressed the French journalists so much that it earned the nickname of les diabolos Rouge which translates to the Red Devils in French apologies for the pronunciation there.

The club returned to Manchester area with that nickname. By the late 1960s Manchester United's manager Sir Matt Busby thought it would be more intimidating for opponents if the club used Red Devils as a nickname over the nickname of Busby's babes which journalists preferred at that time. United have been using the nickname of Red Devils ever since.

Crest:

The current crest shares many similarities to the crest first use in the 1960s with the main similarity being the crest shape. The current crest has been used since 1998. The words Manchester and United at the top and bottom of the crest come from the club's name.

The ship is a reference to the city of Manchester's famous shipping canal and comes from the city's coat of arms. The Red Devil was added in the 1970s after the club adopted the nickname at the insistence of Sir Matt Busby and the two historic soccer balls on either side of the crest are referenced to the sport that the club plays.

Important Events:

• On February 6 1958, Manchester United was flying back from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade. The plane stopped in Munich to refuel and after two aborted attempts to takeoff the plane crashed on its third attempt. Eight players, three staff members, eight journalists and four others died in the crash. it is the darkest day in the club's history. Amazingly the club's manager Sir Matt Busby survived the crash and rebuilt his team over the coming years.
• On May 29th 1968, Manchester United played Benfica in the European Cup final now called the Champions League at Wembley in London. Benfica had already won the competition twice and had one of the greatest players in history Youssou Bo on their roster. After regulation ended 1-1, United was able to score three goals in extra time to win the match. Only ten years after the club had been decimated by the Munich air disaster and still with Matt Busby as their manager, the Red Devils became the first English club to win the European Cup.
• on May 29 1999, Manchester United completed the first and so far only treble in English soccer history. The club had already won the Premier League and FA Cup that season and on May 29th, the club was playing Bayern Munich in the Champions League final. United were trailing one nil heading into stoppage time. Bayern basically had one hand on the trophy but Teddy Sheringham scored in the 91st minute before Ola a gunner soul shyer scored in the 93rd to dramatically win the title for United. It was one of the most dramatic and thrilling conclusions to a Champions League final in history.
• On May 14 2011, Manchester United drew Blackburn Rovers 1-1 to win its 19th ever first division or Premier League title this is special in United's history because it meant the club surpassed their arch rivals Liverpool FC for most top division titles in English soccer history. In 1990 Liverpool held an 18 to 7 margin in this department but in only the space of about 20 years, United won 12 titles to pass their nemesis. Though the match wasn't the greatest, the date lives in United folklore as the date the club surpassed Liverpool.

Supporters:

Manchester United supporters are famous for saying the song glory glory Man United. The song was recorded as a motivational tactic to bring players and fans together for the 1983 FA Cup final between United and Brighton & Hove Albion.

The song was recorded by Frank Renshaw and was based on the song the Battle Hymn of Republic which was popular during the American Civil War. It is a full anthem with lyrics specific to Manchester United in the club's history. It's become one of the most popular club anthems in the world sung by United fans all over.

Players:

United has had too many great players in their history to get into details on their accomplishments in this section like George best, bobby charlton, Eric Cantona, Peter Schmeichel, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholz, Roy Keane, cristiano ronaldo, wayne rooney and many more. 

Managers:

The club has had two legendary managers Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson. During Sir Matt's playing career, he never played for United but he did play for United's now two biggest rivals of Man City and Liverpool. He greatly expanded the club's scouting system and made a serious commitment to developing young players that earned his team the nickname of Busby's babes due to the first teams average age.

He led the club to five first division titles two FA Cups and one European Cup. He survived the plane crash in Munich and rebuilt the club within five years of that tragic event to be competing at the highest levels again. He retired at the 1968-69 season as United's greatest manager up to that point in their history and is immortalized outside of Old Trafford with a bronze statue.

About 20 years later Sir Alex first and took over as Manchester United manager in 1986. Over the next 27 years, he led the club to over 30 domestic and international trophies including 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, two Champions League titles and the first ever treble in English soccer history in the 1998-99 season. sir alex is United's most successful manager of all time.

Rivalry:

With united being the most successful Club in England, the club has many rivals. Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea are the four rivals of Manchester United.

• The Liverpool rivalry comes from a natural rivalry between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool. The rivalry dates back to the building of the Manchester Ship Canal in the 19th century. from a soccer perspective, Liverpool became the dominant English team in the 1970s and 1980s. When Manchester United hired Sir Alex Ferguson and he started to build a squad that repeatedly won trophies, Liverpool was the natural target considering they had the most major trophies of any English club. The combination between the two cities and the two most successful clubs from those cities that made this into the fiercest rivalry in all of England.
  

• Manchester City is Manchester United's second biggest rival. The two clubs play in the same city and the rivalry became violent in the hooligan days of the 1980s. The 80s also coincided with United's rise to domestic dominance while city really struggled. The rivalry has settled down a bit from a violence perspective but the two clubs and fans definitely are still rivals. It's been helped that when city got new owners in 2008, they turned into overnight title contenders. The rivalry has taken on a new angle as both clubs compete for the best players and trophies. City's dramatic 2012 Premier League title at the expense of Manchester United has helped make this a big rivalry.
  

• Manchester United and Arsenal each have a glorious history in English soccer but it was always one or the other doing well. Arsene wenger joined Arsenal as manager in 1996 and built the club in two title challengers. Manchester United were the dominant squad at the time and the clubs had some epic battles. Manchester United's combative centre midfielder and Patrick Vieira Arsenal's own combative centre midfielder were the leaders in these battles. In the late 90s and early 2000s, this was the fiercest rivalry in all of the Premier League. Nowadays Manchester United manager josie marino and arsenal manager who's still arsene wenger seem have their own rivalry that helps keep this going even as united has some more intense rivals with Liverpool and Man City.
  

• Chelsea is considered a rival for much of the same reason as Manchester City has become more of a rival in recent years. Chelsea got a new owner in 2003 and he's built them in two title contenders who are now legitimate competitors with United. The rivalry has been helped by incredible managers on both sides over the last two decades or so.
  

Statistics:

• United have spent ninety three seasons in the top flight in their history.
• The club has 44 major trophies including 21st division or Premier League titles, twelve FA Cups, five League Cups, three Champions leagues or European Cups, one Europa League, One Cup Winners Cup, one Club World Cup and one Intercontinental World Cup which was the predecessor to the Club World Cup.
• The club's record first team appearance holder is Ryan Giggs with 963 appearances.
• The club's record goal scorer is Wayne Rooney with 253 goals.
• United's clean-sheet record holder is Peter Schmeichel with 180 clean sheets.
• The Red Devils record transfer purchase was Paul Pogba from Juventus in Italy on August 8th 2016 for about 89 million pounds.
• The club's record transfer sale was Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid on July 1st 2009 for about 80 million pounds.