subject: FOOTBALL AND ITS HISTORY [print this page] FOOTBALL AND ITS HISTORY FOOTBALL AND ITS HISTORY
Football
the word "football" (or "foot ball") references the action of the foot kicking a ball, there is a historical explanation, which is that football originally referred to a variety of games in medievalEurope, which were playedon foot.These games were usually played by peasants, as opposed to the horse ridingsports (such as polo) often played by aristocrats. There is no conclusive evidence for either explanation, and the word football has always implied a variety of games played on foot, not just those that involved kicking a ball. In some cases, the word football has even been applied to games which have specifically outlawed kicking the ball.
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club is an English professionalfootball club based inStretford,Greater Manchester. The club currently plays in thePremier League, of which it was a founding member in 1992, and has competed in theUEFA Champions Leagueevery year since the 199697 season.Alex Ferguson has been manager since 6 November 1986; he is the most successful manager in the club's history, having won 26 major honours.
Founded asNewton Heath LYR in 1878, the club changed its name after coming close to bankruptcy in 1902, ten years after joiningThe Football League and six years before its first league title. In 1909, the club moved to its current home,Old Trafford, a UEFAfive-star rated stadium, the third-largest football ground in the United Kingdom.[4]
In 1968, under the management of Matt Busby, Manchester United was the first English football club to win theEuropean Cup, just 10 years after theMunich air disaster that claimed the lives of eight players. The club is unique in having won the Premier League, theFA Cup and theChampions League in a single season, a feat known asThe Treble, in 199899, the most successful season in the history of English football. Manchester United won a third Champions League title in 2008.
Having won a joint-record 18league titles, fourLeague Cups and a record 11FA Cups,[5]Manchester United is one of themost successful clubs in the history ofEnglish footballand one of the wealthiest and most widely supported football teams in the world.[6] After being floated on theLondon Stock Exchange in 1991, the club was purchased by theGlazer family in May 2005 in a deal valuing the club at almost 800 million.[7]
HISTORY
Early years (18781945)
Main article:History of Manchester United F.C. (18781945) The Manchester United team at the start of the190506 season, in which they were runners-up in the Second Division
Manchester United was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Carriage and Wagon department of theLancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot atNewton Heath.The team initially played games against other departments and rail companies, but by 1888 the club had become a founding member ofThe Combination, a regional football league. However, following the league's dissolution after just one season, Newton Heath joined the newly formedFootball Alliance, which ran for three seasons before being merged with the Football League. This resulted in the club starting the 189293 season in theFirst Division, by which time it had become independent of the rail company and dropped the "LYR" from its name.
Ferguson years (1986present)
Main articles:History of Manchester United F.C. (19861998),199899 Manchester United F.C. season, andHistory of Manchester United F.C. (1999present) Alex Ferguson has been manager of Manchester United since November 1986.
Alex Ferguson and his assistantArchie Knox arrived fromAberdeen on the day of Atkinson's dismissal,[31]and guided the club to an 11th-place finish in the league.[32] Despite a second-place finish in198788, the club was back in 11th place the following season.[33] Reportedly on the verge of being dismissed, victory overCrystal Palace in the1990 FA Cup Finalreplay (after a 33 draw) saved Ferguson's career.[34][35] The following season, the team claimed their firstCup Winners' Cup title and competed in the1991 UEFA Super Cup, beatingEuropean Cup holdersRed Star Belgrade 10 in the final at Old Trafford. A second consecutive League Cup final appearance followed in 1992, in which the team beat Nottingham Forest 10 at Wembley.[30] In 1993, the team won their first league title since 1967, and a year later, for the first time since 1957, they won a second consecutive title alongside the FA Cup to complete the first "Double" in the club's history.[30]
Ryan Giggs is the most decorated player in English football history.[36]
Manchester United's199899 season was the most successful in English club football history as they became the first team to win the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League "The Treble" in the same season.[37] Losing 10 going intoinjury timein the1999 UEFA Champions League Final,Teddy Sheringham andOle Gunnar Solskjr scored late goals to claim a dramatic victory overBayern Munich, in what is considered one of the greatest comebacks of all time.[38] The club also won the Intercontinental Cup after beatingPalmeiras10 in Tokyo.[39] Ferguson was subsequently knighted for his services to football.[40]
In 2000, Manchester United competed in theinaugural FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil,[41] and won the league again in the19992000 and200001seasons. The team finished as runners-up in200102, before regaining the title in200203. They won the200304 FA Cup, beatingMillwall 30 in the final at theMillennium Stadium inCardiff.[42] In the200506 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 overWigan Athletic in the2006 Football League Cup Final. The club regained the Premier League in the 200607 and 200708 seasons, and completed theEuropean double by beating Chelsea 65 on penalties in the2008 UEFA Champions League Final in Moscow'sLuzhniki Stadium. Ryan Giggs made a record 759th appearance for the club in this game, overtaking previous record holder Bobby Charlton.[43] In December 2008, the club won the2008 FIFA Club World Cup and followed this with the200809 Football League Cup, and its third successive Premier League title.[44][45] That summer, Cristiano Ronaldo was sold to Real Madrid for a world record 80 million.[46] In 2010, Manchester United defeated Aston Villa 21 at Wembley to retain theLeague Cup, its first successful defence of a knockout cup competition.[47]
