Manchester United Football Club - My favourite!!!

OVERVIEW Manchester United are the most successful Premier League club having won the title 12 times. It all began in 1993 when manager Sir Alex Ferguson ended a 26-year wait to lift the Premier League crown. The signing of Eric Cantona for £1.2m from Leeds United proved a masterstroke as the Frenchman was instrumental in the title victory, along with the likes of Gary Pallister, Denis Irwin, Ryan Giggs and Paul Ince. United retained the trophy in the following campaign and romped to further titles in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003. More silverware was added to the Red Devils' burgeoning trophy cabinet with FA Cup success in 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2004, plus League Cup victories in 1992 and 2006. Perhaps the most memorable time in the club's history was the treble-winning season of 1999 when they added the European Champions League trophy to the league title and FA Cup. Chelsea briefly broke their league dominance with title wins in 2005 and 2006. But in the 2006/07 season, the Red Devils roared back to regain the Barclays Premiership. They went one better in 2007/08, enjoying their most successful campaign since winning the treble. They saw off the challenge of Chelsea and Arsenal to win an exciting Barclays Premier League title race and defeated the Blues on penalties in the Champions League final after a 1-1 draw between the two sides in Moscow. In 2008/09, United made it a hat-trick of titles, also winning the Carling Cup but narrowly missing out to Barcelona in the Champions League final. They retained the Carling Cup in 2010 but finished a point behind Chelsea in the Barclays Premier League after a tense race which went to the final day of the campaign. However they recovered to reclaim the Barclays Premier League title in 2011, finishing nine points clear of Chelsea and Manchester City. They also reached the Champions League final, taking on Barcelona at Wembley but losing 3-1. CLUB HERITAGE Formed as Newton Heath L&YR F.C in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902. Six years later they clinched the Division One title, then the FA Cup in 1909, and another title triumph in 1911. Matt Busby became manager in 1945 and steered United to championship victories in 1952, 1956 and 1957. They became the first English club to compete in the European Cup and reached the semi-final, before going out to Real Madrid. Tragedy struck in 1958 when the plane carrying the team home from a European match crashed, killing eight players. Busby survived and led his rebuilt team to an FA Cup win in 1963, then league titles in 1965 and 1967. United won the European Cup in 1968 with victory over Benfica in the final - the first English club to do so. When Busby resigned in 1969, his successors failed to continue his glorious triumphs and United were relegated five years later. They managed to regain their top-flight status at the first attempt and later won the FA Cup in 1977. More FA Cup success followed in 1983 and 1985. But it was United's 1990 FA Cup replay win over Crystal Palace that proved to be the springboard to becoming the force they are today. It saved under-pressure manager Alex Ferguson from losing his job and he went on to win the European Cup Winners' Cup the season after and began their Premier League dominance with the 1993 title. PREMIER LEAGUE HISTORY 1992/93 - Inaugural members of the Premier League  1992/93 - Eric Cantona signs from Leeds United for £1.2m 1992/93 - Win FA Carling Premiership 1993/94 - Win FA Carling Premiership and FA Cup 1995/96 - Win FA Carling Premiership and FA Cup  1996/97 - Win FA Carling Premiership  1998/99 - Win FA Carling Premiership, European Cup,  and FA Cup  1999/00 - Win FA Carling Premiership  2000/01 - Win FA Carling Premiership  2001/02 - Juan Sebastian Veron breaks the British transfer record with a £28m move from Lazio 2002/03 - Win Barclaycard Premiership   2003/04 - Win FA Cup  2005/06 - American Malcolm Glazer takes control of club  2005/06 - Win League Cup  2006/07 - Win Barclays Premiership  2007/08 - Win Barclays Premier League, win European Cup  2008/09 - Buy Dimitar Berbatov for club record £30.75m. Win Barclays Premier League, Carling Cup, World Club Championship.  2009/10 - Sell Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £80m. Win Carling Cup. 2010/11 - Win Barclays Premier League title, reach Champions League final. Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alex Ferguson has won more trophies than any other manager in English football and is considered one of the best in history. Starting out as an apprentice tool-worker, Ferguson moved into to part-time football when he was 23. He turned professional and joined Dunfermline in 1964 where he played as a centre forward. But after an unsuccessful spell at Glasgow Rangers and further moves to Falkirk and Ayr United, he gave up playing ten years later to become a manager. He cut his teeth with East Stirling and St Mirren before moving to Aberdeen in 1978. Managing to break the old firm monopoly, Ferguson won the title in 1979/80, 1983/84 and 1984/85. His feat of winning the Cup Winners Cup against Real Madrid in 1983 will also go down as one of his proudest managerial achievements. Manchester United came calling in 1986 and after a slow start, he won his first trophy with the Red Devils, the 1990 FA Cup against Crystal Palace in the final. His next mission was to end the club's 26-year title draught. He achieved just that, but not before winning another Cup Winners Cup in 1991. His first title arrived in the inaugural 1992/93 Premier League season, and he backed that up with the first of his doubles the next campaign. SENSATIONAL TREBLE Ferguson has won the Premier League ten times in all, and never been afraid to shake his squad up with key signings and departures which have generally proved to the club's benefit. In the summer of 1995 key men Mark Hughes, Paul Ince and Andrei Kanchelskis all left the club but Ferguson had faith in youngsters David Beckham, the Neville brothers, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, and they duly helped the club to the league title and FA Cup as Ferguson secured the second of the three domestic doubles he has won since moving to Old Trafford. From a trophy perspective, Ferguson's stand-out seasons have so far proved to be the 1998/99 and 2007/08 campaigns. The Scot won a sensational treble of FA Carling Premiership, FA Cup and European Cup in 1999, with his side scoring twice in the dying seconds of the latter final to snatch the trophy from Bayern Munich's grasp when all looked lost and fans were starting to leave the Nou Camp stadium. In 2008, the 66-year-old won that trophy for the first time since 1999 as his side saw off Chelsea on penalties in Moscow after an exciting 1-1 draw. The Blues were the main challengers for the Barclays Premier League, but United finished as champions on the final day after defeating Wigan Athletic. It was their second league title in a row, having previously gone three years without winning it. The following season saw United retain their Barclays Premier League title and Ferguson also took them to Carling Cup success, beating Tottenham Hotspur on penalites at Wembley. However they missed out on the Champions League losing 2-0 to Barcelona in the final in Rome. United retained the Carling Cup in 2010 but lost out on the Barclays Premier League title to Chelsea by just one point and they slipped up against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, losing their quarter-final on away goals. However Ferguson steered United to their 12th Premier League title in 2010/11 as they finished nine points clear of Chelsea and Manchester City, also reaching the Champions League final against Barcelona at Wembley where they lost 3-1. 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