Man United are the most successful club in English football, having won a record 20 league titles, a record 11 FA Cups and four League Cups. The Red Devils have also won three European Cups and twice been club world champions.
The origins of the club can be traced to the working mans team of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway at the Newton Heath Depot, which was founded in 1878. They changed their name to Manchester United in 1902 and have never looked back.
It was post war that the club really rose to international prominence, with the appointment of Matt Busby in 1945. Busby moulded a team of talented young players that became known as the "Busby Babes" and they looked set to dominate the English game when tragedy struck. While attempting to take off in Germany in heavy snow on 6 February 1958, the aeroplane carrying the team crashed. The Munich air disaster claimed 23 lives, including those of eight players and injured several others.
Busby rebuilt the team with players such as Denis Law and Paddy Crerard, and in 1963 they lifted the FA Cup. With the uniquely gifted George Best emerging from the youth set-up United went on to win the league in 1965 and 1967. But it was in 1968 that Busby's side had their finest hour, becoming the first English club to win the European Cup when they thrashed Benfica 4-1 at Wembley.
The club continued to enjoy success of varying levels through the Seventies and Eighties with FA Cup wins under Tommy Docherty and Ron Atkinson, but it was the appointment of Alex Ferguson in 1986 which took the club to an even higher level.
Ferguson created the most successful club of modern times, overseeing a staggering 13 league titles and two Champions League wins.
Sir Alex built a number of title-winning sides; first with Eric Cantona, Peter Schmeichel and Steve Bruce, then with the youngsters of David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, up to more recent stars such as Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand. A permanent fixture in those sides was always serial winner Ryan Giggs, who has become the most decorated player in British football.
