redirect here . for other uses see mufc disambiguation . manchester united full name manchester united football club nickname s the red devils 1 short name mufc founded 1878 ; 138 years ago 1878 as newton heath lyr f.c. 1902 ; 114 years ago 1902 as manchester united f.c. ground old trafford ground capacity 75 643 2 owner manchester united plc nyse manu co chairmen joel and avram glazer manager jos mourinho league premier league 2015 16 premier league 5th website club home page home colours away colours third colours current season manchester united football club is a professional football club based in old trafford greater manchester england that competes in the premier league the top flight of english football . nicknamed the red devils the club was founded as newton heath lyr football club in 1878 changed its name to manchester united in 1902 and moved to its current stadium old trafford in 1910 . manchester united have won a record 20 league titles a joint record 12 fa cups four league cups and a record 21 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 became the first in the history of english football to achieve the treble of the premier league the fa cup and the uefa champions league . 3 the 1958 munich air disaster claimed the lives of eight players . in 1968 under the management of matt busby manchester united became the first english football club to win the european cup . alex ferguson won 38 trophies including 13 premier league titles 5 fa cups and 2 uefa champions leagues between 1986 and 2013 4 5 6 when he announced his retirement . jos mourinho is the club s current manager having been appointed on 27 may 2016 . manchester united was the second highest earning football club in the world for 2013 14 with an annual revenue of 518 million 7 8 and the world s third most valuable football club in 2015 valued at 1.98 billion . 9 as of june 2015 it is the world s most valuable football brand estimated to be worth 1.2 billion . 10 11 it is one of the most widely supported football teams in the world . 12 13 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 after which the company was taken private again . in august 2012 manchester united made an initial public offering on the new york stock exchange . the club holds several rivalries most notably with liverpool manchester city and leeds united and more recently with arsenal . contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1878 1945 1.2 busby years 1945 1969 1.3 1969 1986 1.4 ferguson years 1986 2013 1.5 2013 present 2 crest and colours 2.1 kit evolution 3 grounds 4 support 4.1 rivalries 5 global brand 5.1 sponsorship 6 ownership and finances 7 players 7.1 first team squad 7.1.1 on loan 7.2 reserves and academy 7.3 former players 7.4 club captains 7.5 player records 7.6 sir matt busby player of the year 8 club officials 8.1 managerial history 9 honours 9.1 domestic 9.1.1 league 9.1.2 cups 9.2 european 9.3 worldwide 9.4 doubles and trebles 10 see also 11 footnotes 12 references 13 further reading 14 external links history early years 1878 1945 main article history of manchester united f.c. 1878 1945 a chart showing the progress of manchester united through the english football league system from joining as newton heath in 1892 93 to the present 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 . 14 the team initially played games against other departments and railway 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 . 15 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 railway company and dropped the lyr from its name . 14 after two seasons the club was relegated to the second division . 14 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 260 000 in 2016 nb 1 the club was served with a winding up order . 16 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 ; 17 on 24 april 1902 manchester united was officially born . 18 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 19 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 . 20 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 principal benefactor john henry 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 . 21 in the 1938 39 season the last year of football before the second world war the club finished 14th in the first division . 21 busby years 1945 1969 main article history of manchester united f.c. 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 . 22 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 . 23 with an average age of 22 the back to back title winning side of 1956 were labelled the busby babes by the media a testament to busby s faith in his youth players . 24 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 . 25 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 . 26 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 . 27 28 manchester united 1963 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 . 29 30 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 31 with a team that contained three european footballers of the year bobby charlton denis law and george best . 32 matt busby resigned as manager in 1969 and was replaced by the reserve team coach former manchester united player wilf mcguinness . 33 1969 1986 main article history of manchester united f.c. 1969 1986 bryan robson was the captain of manchester united for 12 years longer than any other player . 34 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 . 35 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 . 31 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 . 33 36 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 . 37 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 . 38 ferguson years 1986 2013 main article history of manchester united f.c. 1986 2013 alex ferguson managed the team between 1986 and 2013 . alex ferguson and his assistant archie knox arrived from aberdeen on the