red 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.
Manchester United have won many trophies in English football, including a record 20 League titles, a record 11 FA Cups,[3] four League Cups and a record 20 FA Community Shields. In 1998–99, the club won a Treble of the Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, an unprecedented feat for an English club. The 1958 Munich air disaster claimed the lives of eight players. In 1968, under
the management of Matt Busby, Manchester United was the first English football club to win the European Cup. Sir Alex Ferguson won 25 major honours, and 38 in total, from November 1986 to May 2013,[4][5] when he announced his retirement after 26 years at the club.[6] Fellow Scot David Moyes was appointed as his replacement on 9 May 2013.[7]
Manchester United is one of the wealthiest and most widely supported football teams in the world.[8][9][10][11] 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.[12] In August 2012, Manchester United made an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.[13] In January 2013, Manchester United became the first sports team in the world to be valued at $3 billion. Forbes Magazine valued the club at $3.3 billion – $1.2 billion higher than the next most valuable sports team.[14]
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.[15] The team initially played games against other departments and rail 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.[16] 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 rail company and dropped the "LYR" from its name.[15] After two seasons, the club was relegated to the Second Division.[15]
Alex Ferguson and his assistant Archie Knox arrived from Aberdeen on the day of Atkinson's dismissal,[40] and guided the club to an 11th-place finish in the league.[41] Despite a second-place finish in 1987–88, the club was back in 11th place the following season.[42] Reportedly on the verge of being dismissed, victory over Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup Final replay (after a 3–3 draw) saved Ferguson's career.[43][44] The following season, Manchester United claimed its first Cup Winners' Cup title and competed in the 1991 UEFA Super Cup, beating European Cup holders Red Star Belgrade 1–0 in the final at Old Trafford. A second consecutive League Cup final appearance followed in 1992, in which the team beat Nottingham Forest 1–0 at Wembley.[39] In 1993, the club won its first league title since 1967, and a year later, for the first time since 1957, it won a second consecutive title – alongside the FA Cup – to complete the first "Double" in the club's history.[39]
