曼联的历史

曼彻斯特联队是英国足坛的一支老牌劲旅，成立于1878年，当时是由英格兰开夏和约克夏铁路公司工人组成的一支业余球队，取名为牛顿赫斯队。1885年转为职业队，1892年加入英国足球联盟，1902年改名为曼彻斯特联队。曼彻斯特联队成立一个多世纪以来，经历了无数的胜利和失败，也经历了一场令世人震惊的灾难。曼联队的第一顶盛时期出现在20世纪初期，在1908年到1911年四年期间，曼联队在主教练查普曼的带领下夺得两次联赛冠军和1次足总杯冠军。成为当时英国足坛最受人们欢迎的一支球队，因球队队服为红色，球迷们给曼联队取了一个绰号，称之为"英国足坛的红魔"。但在接下来的日子里，曼联队表现越来越差，最终竟然降组到了乙级队的行列，跌入了低谷。50年代中期，曼联队在教练巴斯比的调教下，迎来了第二次高峰期。当时欧洲各国职业足球不断发展，大量资金涌入足球比赛中，使各国球队越来越看重联赛中的获胜。曼联队也不例外，他们花重金买进或留住了沃勒特、泰勒、维兰、查尔顿等一批优秀的球星，并且在1956年和1957年两度在联赛中夺冠。在1956-57赛季和1957-58赛季两届欧洲冠军杯比赛中进入半决赛，第一次输给了皇家马德里队。当他们第二次冲击欧洲冠军杯时，一场史无前例的空难，使曼联队再度与冠军失之交臂，那是1958年2月6日，一架满载曼联队员的飞机，在慕尼黑机场失势坠毁，机上曼联队的8名运动员、3名官员及8名记者身亡，教练巴斯比也身受重伤，曼联队的空难引起了世界足坛的震惊，社会各界，从英格兰银行到球迷纷纷解囊相助，在短时期内重建了一支曼彻斯特联队，幸存者和新加盟球员组成的曼联队，在半决赛中主场2-1击败前来挑战的意大利AC米兰队，但在客场以0-4失利，最终曼联队再次与冠军无缘。60年代中期，曼联队迎来了它迄今为止最为辉煌的时期。这时的曼联队拥有博比-查尔顿、乔治-贝斯特和丹尼斯-劳三位世界级球星，在主力阵容中有6名球员身价超过30万英镑。在巴斯比的指挥下，球队终于在1968年5月29日，在伦敦以4-1战胜葡萄牙本菲卡队，为英国首次赢得了欧洲冠军杯，查尔顿也终于实现了他在不幸遇难的队友们的墓前所发的誓言。70年代的曼联虽然拥有基德、罗布森、哈罗斯等名将，但由于整个俱乐部疏于管理，政策方针十分混乱，一直没能再获佳绩。1986年11月5日，阿里克斯-弗格森来到英格兰执教曼联队，他给曼联队带来了又一个春天。弗格森面临巨大的压力，毫不退缩，他调整了队伍的战术打法，给他的队伍溶入了更多的技术成份，而不再一味地踢传统的英式足球，在他的苦心经营下，曼联队在1990年获得了足总杯冠军，1991年获得了欧洲优胜者杯和欧洲超级杯冠军，结束了英国球队长达23年与欧洲三大杯冠军无缘的历史。1992年曼联队力夺联赛杯冠军和联赛亚军，1993-94赛季曼联队夺得联赛和杯赛两项冠军，成为英国足坛上第6支在一个赛季夺得两项大赛冠军的球队，弗格森也被英国《足球世界》评为当年的"最佳教练"，这也是英国教练员首次获得这一殊荣。被足球行家们喻为是90年代普拉蒂尼的法国人坎通纳，是曼联队中唯一一个连续四个赛季都获得联赛冠军的队员（1990-91赛季代表马赛获法国联赛冠军，1991-92赛季代表利兹联队获英格兰联赛冠军，1992-93赛季，1993-94赛季代表曼联队获英格兰联赛冠军），1994年，他还被评为"英格兰足球先生"，这是第一位外籍球员在英格兰获此殊荣。他已成为曼联队的象征，只要有他上场的比赛场面绝对精彩，球迷也非常踊跃。1995-96赛季和1996-97赛季，在他的带领下，曼联队连续两次问鼎联赛冠军。1996-97赛季结束后，他宣布退役，这对曼联来说是一重大损失。自1992-93赛季联赛改革以来，曼联队一直在延续着她的辉煌历史，除了布莱克本和阿森纳在其间各夺得过一次冠军外，曼联包揽了所有的联赛冠军。1999年，曼联更是创造了三冠王（联赛、足总杯、欧洲冠军联赛）的奇迹。步入了新的世纪，曼联继续着他的辉煌，1999-00赛季和2000-01赛季以领先第二名10分以上的绝对优势，连续两年获得联赛的桂冠。
自1990年以来，曼联2002年第3次颗粒无收。弗格森放弃了退休打算，卷土重来。里奥-费迪南德以创纪录的价格加盟，缓解了后防危机。2002-03赛季，曼联在联赛落后阿森纳8分的情况下夺冠。 2003年7月2日，曼联巨星贝克汉姆完成体检，正式加盟西甲巨人皇家马德里。8月5日，曼联北美巡回赛凯旋，缺了贝克汉姆依然横扫凯尔特人、尤文图斯和巴塞罗那。8月10日，曼联点球决胜击败阿森纳，夺得"社区盾"。2004年，曼联被葡萄牙的波尔图队挡在冠军杯八强门外，这是八年以来曼联首次与冠军联赛八强无缘。

历史纪录

历史上最大联赛胜利: 9-0 伊普斯维奇城队（1995.03.04.英超联赛）
历史上最大杯赛胜利: 10-0 安德莱赫特队（1956.09.26.欧洲冠军杯）
历史上最大的失利: 0-7 布莱克本流浪者队（1926.04.10.英甲联赛）
0-7 阿斯顿维拉队（1930.12.27.英甲联赛）
0-7 沃尔夫汉普顿队（1931.12.26.英乙联赛）
单季联赛最高积分（2分制）: 64分（1956-57英甲联赛）
单季联赛最高积分（3分制）: 92分（1993-94英超联赛）
单季联赛最多进球: 103球（1956-57英甲联赛、1958-59英甲联赛）
单季联赛进球最多球员: 32球,丹尼斯-维奥雷特（1959-60英甲联赛）
历史上进球最多的球员: 199球,鲍比-查尔顿（1956-73）
历史上出场最多的球员: 606场，鲍比-查尔顿（1956-73）

22道伤痕历历在目
1987.05.04: 热刺4-0曼联；
1989.09.23: 曼城5-1曼联；
1989.10.25: 曼联0-3热刺（联赛杯）
1989.12.26: 维拉3-0曼联
1990.05.02: 诺丁汉森林4-0曼联
1990.09.16: 利物浦4-0曼联
1991.05.11: 水晶宫3-0曼联
1991.10.23: 马德里竞技3-0曼联（联盟杯）
1992.01.01: 曼联1-4皇家园林巡游者
1992.08.19: 曼联0-3埃弗顿
1994.11.02: 巴塞罗那4-0曼联（冠军杯）
1995.09.20: 曼联0-3约克城（联赛杯）
1996.01.01: 热刺4-1曼联
1996.10.20: 纽卡斯尔5-0曼联
1996.10.26: 南安普敦6-3曼联
1998.09.20: 阿森纳3-0曼联
1999.10.03: 切尔西5-0曼联
2000.02.12: 纽卡斯尔3-0曼联
2001.11.05: 阿森纳4-0曼联（联赛杯）
2001.12.01: 曼联0-3切尔西
2002.10.29: 马卡比海法3-0曼联（冠军杯）
2004.03.14: 曼城4-1曼联

主要荣誉

英甲联赛冠军: 7次（1907-08, 1910-11, 1951-52, 1955-56, 1956-57, 1964-65, 1966-67）
英超联赛冠军: 8次（1992-93, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01,2002-03）
英甲联赛亚军: 10次（1946-47, 1947-48, 1948-49, 1950-51, 1958-59, 1963-64, 1967-68, 1979-80, 1987-88, 1991-92）
英乙联赛冠军: 2次（1935-36, 1974-75）
英乙联赛亚军: 4次（1896-97, 1905-06, 1924-25, 1937-38）
英格兰足总杯冠军: 10次（1909, 1948, 1963, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1990, 1994, 1996,1999）
英格兰足总杯亚军: 5次（1957, 1958, 1976, 1979, 1995）
英格兰联赛杯冠军: 1次（1992）
英格兰联赛杯亚军: 3次（1983, 1991, 1994）
欧洲冠军杯冠军: 2次（1967-68, 1998-99）
欧洲优胜者杯冠军: 1次（1990-91）
欧洲超级杯冠军: 1次（1991）
丰田杯冠军: 1次（1999）

曼彻斯特联足球俱乐部位于英国英格兰西北区曼彻斯特郡曼彻斯特市，英文名Manchester United Football Club，简称ManUtd或MUFC，中文简称曼联，其前身“牛顿·希斯”于1878年由兰开夏郡和约克郡铁路公司的工人在牛顿希斯工地上成立。1902年球队改组并改名曼联，现为英格兰足球超级联赛俱乐部，曼联的球队主场为“梦剧场”老特拉福德球场，1910年启用至今。

曼联是英格兰足球史上最为成功的俱乐部之一，也是欧洲乃至世界最具有影响力最成功的的球队之一，共获得20次英格兰顶级联赛冠军，11次英格兰足总杯冠军，4次英格兰联赛杯冠军（除英格兰联赛杯外均为最高纪录）。在欧洲赛场上，曼联共获得3次欧洲冠军联赛冠军，1次欧洲优胜者杯和1次欧洲超级杯冠军。

红魔曼联资料库
球队全称: 曼彻斯特联队（manutdcn）

成立时间: 1878年
所在城市: 曼彻斯特（Manchester）
主席: 凯尼恩
教练: 阿历克斯-弗格森
首席执行官: 大卫-吉尔
主场: 老特拉福德体育场（Old Trafford）
主场席位数: 68174
主队服: 红色上衣、白色短裤、黑色球袜
昵称: 红魔
电话: 0161-868-8000
传真: 0161-876-5502
联系地址: Sir Matt Busby Way, Old Trafford, GB- MANCHESTER M16 0RA
官方网址: www.manutd.com
中国官方网站:www.manunited.com.cn

球队简介

曼彻斯特联队是英国足坛的一支老牌劲旅，成立于1878年，当时是由英格兰开夏和约克夏铁路公司工人组成的一支业余球队，取名为牛顿赫斯队。1885年转为职业队，1892年加入英国足球联盟，1902年改名为曼彻斯特联队。曼彻斯特联队成立一个多世纪以来，经历了无数的胜利和失败，也经历了一场令世人震惊的灾难。曼联队的第一顶盛时期出现在20世纪初期，在1908年到1911年四年期间，曼联队在主教练查普曼的带领下夺得两次联赛冠军和1次足总杯冠军。成为当时英国足坛最受人们欢迎的一支球队，因球队队服为红色，球迷们给曼联队取了一个绰号，称之为"英国足坛的红魔"。但在接下来的日子里，曼联队表现越来越差，最终竟然降组到了乙级队的行列，跌入了低谷。50年代中期，曼联队在教练巴斯比的调教下，迎来了第二次高峰期。当时欧洲各国职业足球不断发展，大量资金涌入足球比赛中，使各国球队越来越看重联赛中的获胜。曼联队也不例外，他们花重金买进或留住了沃勒特、泰勒、维兰、查尔顿等一批优秀的球星，并且在1956年和1957年两度在联赛中夺冠。在1956-57赛季和1957-58赛季两届欧洲冠军杯比赛中进入半决赛，第一次输给了皇家马德里队。当他们第二次冲击欧洲冠军杯时，一场史无前例的空难，使曼联队再度与冠军失之交臂，那是1958年2月6日，一架满载曼联队员的飞机，在慕尼黑机场失势坠毁，机上曼联队的8名运动员、3名官员及8名记者身亡，教练巴斯比也身受重伤，曼联队的空难引起了世界足坛的震惊，社会各界，从英格兰银行到球迷纷纷解囊相助，在短时期内重建了一支曼彻斯特联队，幸存者和新加盟球员组成的曼联队，在半决赛中主场2-1击败前来挑战的意大利AC米兰队，但在客场以0-4失利，最终曼联队再次与冠军无缘。60年代中期，曼联队迎来了它迄今为止最为辉煌的时期。这时的曼联队拥有博比-查尔顿、乔治-贝斯特和丹尼斯-劳三位世界级球星，在主力阵容中有6名球员身价超过30万英镑。在巴斯比的指挥下，球队终于在1968年5月29日，在伦敦以4-1战胜葡萄牙本菲卡队，为英国首次赢得了欧洲冠军杯，查尔顿也终于实现了他在不幸遇难的队友们的墓前所发的誓言。70年代的曼联虽然拥有基德、罗布森、哈罗斯等名将，但由于整个俱乐部疏于管理，政策方针十分混乱，一直没能再获佳绩。1986年11月5日，阿里克斯-弗格森来到英格兰执教曼联队，他给曼联队带来了又一个春天。弗格森面临巨大的压力，毫不退缩，他调整了队伍的战术打法，给他的队伍溶入了更多的技术成份，而不再一味地踢传统的英式足球，在他的苦心经营下，曼联队在1990年获得了足总杯冠军，1991年获得了欧洲优胜者杯和欧洲超级杯冠军，结束了英国球队长达23年与欧洲三大杯冠军无缘的历史。1992年曼联队力夺联赛杯冠军和联赛亚军，1993-94赛季曼联队夺得联赛和杯赛两项冠军，成为英国足坛上第6支在一个赛季夺得两项大赛冠军的球队，弗格森也被英国《足球世界》评为当年的"最佳教练"，这也是英国教练员首次获得这一殊荣。被足球行家们喻为是90年代普拉蒂尼的法国人坎通纳，是曼联队中唯一一个连续四个赛季都获得联赛冠军的队员（1990-91赛季代表马赛获法国联赛冠军，1991-92赛季代表利兹联队获英格兰联赛冠军，1992-93赛季，1993-94赛季代表曼联队获英格兰联赛冠军），1994年，他还被评为"英格兰足球先生"，这是第一位外籍球员在英格兰获此殊荣。他已成为曼联队的象征，只要有他上场的比赛场面绝对精彩，球迷也非常踊跃。1995-96赛季和1996-97赛季，在他的带领下，曼联队连续两次问鼎联赛冠军。1996-97赛季结束后，他宣布退役，这对曼联来说是一重大损失。自1992-93赛季联赛改革以来，曼联队一直在延续着她的辉煌历史，除了布莱克本和阿森纳在其间各夺得过一次冠军外，曼联包揽了所有的联赛冠军。1999年，曼联更是创造了三冠王（联赛、足总杯、欧洲冠军联赛）的奇迹。步入了新的世纪，曼联继续着他的辉煌，1999-00赛季和2000-01赛季以领先第二名10分以上的绝对优势，连续两年获得联赛的桂冠。
自1990年以来，曼联2002年第3次颗粒无收。弗格森放弃了退休打算，卷土重来。里奥-费迪南德以创纪录的价格加盟，缓解了后防危机。2002-03赛季，曼联在联赛落后阿森纳8分的情况下夺冠。 2003年7月2日，曼联巨星贝克汉姆完成体检，正式加盟西甲巨人皇家马德里。8月5日，曼联北美巡回赛凯旋，缺了贝克汉姆依然横扫凯尔特人、尤文图斯和巴塞罗那。8月10日，曼联点球决胜击败阿森纳，夺得"社区盾"。2004年，曼联被葡萄牙的波尔图队挡在冠军杯八强门外，这是八年以来曼联首次与冠军联赛八强无缘。

历史纪录

历史上最大联赛胜利: 9-0 伊普斯维奇城队（1995.03.04.英超联赛）
历史上最大杯赛胜利: 10-0 安德莱赫特队（1956.09.26.欧洲冠军杯）
历史上最大的失利: 0-7 布莱克本流浪者队（1926.04.10.英甲联赛）
0-7 阿斯顿维拉队（1930.12.27.英甲联赛）
0-7 沃尔夫汉普顿队（1931.12.26.英乙联赛）
单季联赛最高积分（2分制）: 64分（1956-57英甲联赛）
单季联赛最高积分（3分制）: 92分（1993-94英超联赛）
单季联赛最多进球: 103球（1956-57英甲联赛、1958-59英甲联赛）
单季联赛进球最多球员: 32球,丹尼斯-维奥雷特（1959-60英甲联赛）
历史上进球最多的球员: 199球,鲍比-查尔顿（1956-73）
历史上出场最多的球员: 606场，鲍比-查尔顿（1956-73）

22道伤痕历历在目
1987.05.04: 热刺4-0曼联；
1989.09.23: 曼城5-1曼联；
1989.10.25: 曼联0-3热刺（联赛杯）
1989.12.26: 维拉3-0曼联
1990.05.02: 诺丁汉森林4-0曼联
1990.09.16: 利物浦4-0曼联
1991.05.11: 水晶宫3-0曼联
1991.10.23: 马德里竞技3-0曼联（联盟杯）
1992.01.01: 曼联1-4皇家园林巡游者
1992.08.19: 曼联0-3埃弗顿
1994.11.02: 巴塞罗那4-0曼联（冠军杯）
1995.09.20: 曼联0-3约克城（联赛杯）
1996.01.01: 热刺4-1曼联
1996.10.20: 纽卡斯尔5-0曼联
1996.10.26: 南安普敦6-3曼联
1998.09.20: 阿森纳3-0曼联
1999.10.03: 切尔西5-0曼联
2000.02.12: 纽卡斯尔3-0曼联
2001.11.05: 阿森纳4-0曼联（联赛杯）
2001.12.01: 曼联0-3切尔西
2002.10.29: 马卡比海法3-0曼联（冠军杯）
2004.03.14: 曼城4-1曼联

主要荣誉

英甲联赛冠军: 7次（1907-08, 1910-11, 1951-52, 1955-56, 1956-57, 1964-65, 1966-67）
英超联赛冠军: 8次（1992-93, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01,2002-03）
英甲联赛亚军: 10次（1946-47, 1947-48, 1948-49, 1950-51, 1958-59, 1963-64, 1967-68, 1979-80, 1987-88, 1991-92）
英乙联赛冠军: 2次（1935-36, 1974-75）
英乙联赛亚军: 4次（1896-97, 1905-06, 1924-25, 1937-38）
英格兰足总杯冠军: 10次（1909, 1948, 1963, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1990, 1994, 1996,1999）
英格兰足总杯亚军: 5次（1957, 1958, 1976, 1979, 1995）
英格兰联赛杯冠军: 1次（1992）
英格兰联赛杯亚军: 3次（1983, 1991, 1994）
欧洲冠军杯冠军: 2次（1967-68, 1998-99）
欧洲优胜者杯冠军: 1次（1990-91）
欧洲超级杯冠军: 1次（1991）
丰田杯冠军: 1次（1999）

注: 英格兰顶级联赛从1992-93赛季开始更名为英格兰超级联赛,在此之前为英格兰甲级联赛.

http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/4285320.html
汉语的看上面的介绍，下面是英语的

Manchester United F.C. is a world-famous English football club. It is based at Old Trafford Football Ground, Trafford, Greater Manchester. Manchester United is one of the most successful football clubs in English football history, having won the FA Premier League/Football League 15 times, FA Cup 11 times, the League Cup twice, the European Cup twice, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup once, the Intercontinental Cup once, and the European Super Cup once. The club has had the highest average attendance in English football for the past 34 seasons, with the exception of 1987-1989 during redevelopment at Old Trafford. [1]. The 'Red Devils' are considered to be the best supported football club in the world.

The club was formed as Newton Heath F.C. in 1878 as the works team of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath. After nearing bankruptcy in 1902, the club was taken over by J. H. Davies who changed its name to Manchester United. The Old Trafford Football Ground was bombed during the Second World War, leading the club to seek charity from their then-illustrious neighbours Manchester City, who allowed them to play their games at Maine Road for a period. United appointed Sir Matt Busby as manager after the Second World War, and his then-unheard-of policy of producing most of the players through the club's youth team brought great success, with the club winning the Football League in 1956 and 1957. This success was halted by the Munich air disaster of 1958, in which eight of the club's players died. It was thought that the club might fold, but instead went on to win the football league in 1965 and 1967, and the European Cup in 1968.

The club did not see success again until the 1990s and early 2000s when Sir Alex Ferguson guided it to eight league championships in eleven years, most recently in the 2002-03 season. In 1999, Manchester United became the only team to win the UEFA Champions League, FA Premier League and the FA Cup in the same season. The club had been run as a Public Limited Company since 1991, and an attempted takeover by Rupert Murdoch had been blocked by the British Government in 1998, but in 2005 Malcolm Glazer completed a hostile takeover of the club which plunged the club into massive debt as his bid was heavily funded by borrowing on the assets owned already by Manchester United.

History

Early years (1878-1945)

Main article: Manchester United pre-1945

The Busby years (1945-1969)
Main article: Manchester United 1945-1969
Matt Busby was appointed manager in 1942 and took a then-unheard of approach to his job, joining the players for training as well as performing administrative tasks. He was immediately successful, with the club finishing second in the league in 1947 and winning the FA Cup in 1948.

He adopted a policy of bringing in players from the youth team whenever possible, and the team won the league in 1956 with an average age of only 22. This youth policy has now become instrumental in the club's success. The following season, they won the league again and reached the FA Cup final, losing to Aston Villa. They also became the first English team to compete in the European Cup, and reached the semi-final.

Tragedy struck the following season, when the plane carrying the team home from a European Cup match crashed on take-off at a refueling stop in Munich. The Munich air disaster of 6 February 1958 claimed the lives of eight players and another fifteen passengers. There was talk of the club folding but, with Jimmy Murphy taking over as manager while Matt Busby recovered from his injuries, the club continued playing with a makeshift side. Despite this, they reached the FA Cup final again, where they lost to Bolton.

Busby rebuilt the team throughout the early 1960s, signing players such as Denis Law and Pat Crerand. The team won the FA Cup in 1963, then won the league in 1965 and 1967 and the European Cup in 1968, the first English Club to do so. This team was notable for containing three European Footballers of the Year: Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best. Busby resigned as manager in 1969 and was replaced by the reserve-team coach and former United player Wilf McGuinness.

1969-1986
Main article: Manchester United 1969-1986

Manchester United F.C badge in the 1970s.United struggled to replace Busby, and the team struggled under Wilf McGuinness and Frank O'Farrell before Tommy Docherty became manager at the end of 1972. Docherty, or 'the Doc', saved United from relegation that season but United were relegated in 1974. 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. In spite of this success, and his popularity with the supporters, Docherty was sacked soon after the final when he was found to have had an affair with the physiotherapist's wife.

Dave Sexton replaced Docherty as manager in the summer of 1977, and made the team play in a more defensive formation. This style was unpopular with supporters, who were used to the attacking football preferred by Docherty and Busby, and after failing to win a trophy Sexton was sacked in 1981, despite winning his last seven games in charge.

He was replaced by the flamboyant Ron Atkinson who immediately broke the British record transfer fee to sign Bryan Robson from West Brom. Atkinson's team featured new signings such as Jesper Olsen and Gordon Strachan playing alongside the former youth-team players Norman Whiteside and Mark Hughes. United won the FA Cup in 1983 and 1985 and were overwhelming favourites to win the league in the 1985-86 season after winning their first ten league games, opening a ten-point gap over their rivals as early as October. The team's form collapsed, however, and United finished the season in fourth place. The poor form continued into the following season, and with United on the edge of the First Division's relegation zone, Atkinson was sacked.

Alex Ferguson era, pre-treble (1986-1998)
Main article: Manchester United 1986-1998
Alex Ferguson arrived from Aberdeen FC to replace Atkinson and guided the club to an 11th place finish. The following season (1987-88), United finished second, with Brian McClair becoming the first United player since George Best to score twenty league goals in a season.

However, United struggled badly throughout 1989 and were nearly relegated, with many of Ferguson's signings not reaching the expectations of the fans. There was hope that Ferguson would be sacked at the beginning of 1990 but a win in the third round of the FA Cup over Nottingham Forest kept the season alive and United went on to win the competition, beating Crystal Palace on a replay in the final.

United won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1990/91, beating that season's Spanish champions Barcelona in the final, but the following season was a disappointment for United as a late season slump saw them miss out on the league to rivals Leeds United. Meanwhile in 1991 the club had floated on the London Stock Exchange with a valuation of £18 million, thus bringing its finances into the public eye as never before.

The arrival of Eric Cantona in November 1992 provided the crucial spark for United, and blending with the best of trusted talent in Gary Pallister, Denis Irwin and Paul Ince, as well as budding stars like Ryan Giggs, they finished the 1992/93 season as Champions for the first time since 1967. They won the double (the league and the FA Cup) for the first time the following season, aided by the capture of Roy Keane, a determined midfielder from Nottingham Forest. In the same year however, the club was plunged into mourning following the death of legendary manager and club president Matt Busby, who died on 20 January 1994.

In 1994/95, Cantona received an eight month suspension for jumping into the crowd and assaulting Crystal Palace supporter Matthew Simmons, in United's game at Selhurst Park. Drawing their last league match and losing to Everton in the FA Cup final left United as runners-up in both the league and FA Cup. Ferguson then outraged the supporters by selling key players and replacing them with players from the club's youth team, including David Beckham, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes. The new players, several of whom quickly became regular internationals for England, did surprisingly well and United won the double again in 1995-96. This was the first time any English club had won the double twice.

United's European unbeaten home record was broken by Fenerbahçe when they won 1-0 on October 30, 1996 with a deflected Elvir Bolić goal.

They won the league in 1997, and Eric Cantona announced his retirement from football at the age of 30. They started the following season (1997/98) well, but they finished the season in second place, behind the double-winning champions Arsenal.

The treble (1998-99)
Main article: Manchester United 1998-1999
1998-99 was when Manchester United had the most successful season in English club football history as they became the first and only English team to win The Treble - winning the Premiership, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in the same season. After a very tense Premier League season, Manchester United won the title on the final day beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1, whilst Arsenal won 1-0 with Aston Villa. Winning the Premiership was the first part of the Treble in place, the one part that manager Alex Ferguson described as the hardest. In the FA Cup Final United faced Newcastle United and won 2-0 with goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes. In the final match of that season, the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final they defeated Bayern Munich in what was then considered the greatest comeback ever witnessed. After going down to an early goal from a Mario Basler free kick, United chased the game for 85 minutes. After 90 minutes they forced a corner which was converted home by late substitute Teddy Sheringham. Not giving up, Man Utd went for a second and it came again from a corner, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, another late substitute, poked it into the roof of the net. Ferguson was subsequently knighted for his services to football.

After the treble (1999-present)
Main article: Manchester United 1999-present
United won the league in 2000 and 2001 but the press saw these seasons as failures as they failed to regain the European Cup. Ferguson adopted more defensive tactics to make United harder to beat in Europe but it was not a success and United finished the season in third place in 2002. They regained the league the following season (2002-03) and started the following season well, but their form dropped significantly when Rio Ferdinand received an eight month suspension for missing a drugs test. They did win the 2004 F.A. Cup, however, knocking out Arsenal (that season's eventual champions) on their way to the final in which they beat Millwall.

The 2004-05 season was characterised by a failure to score goals, mainly due to the injury of striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and United finished the season trophyless and in third place in the league. This time, even the "consolation prize" of the F.A. Cup eluded them as Arsenal beat United on penalties after a goalless match. Off the pitch, the main story was the possibility of the club being taken over and at the end of the season, Tampa businessman Malcolm Glazer, (who also owns the American Football team Tampa Bay Buccaneers), acquired a controlling interest in the club. United made a poor start to the 2005-06 season, with midfielder Roy Keane leaving the club to join his boyhood heroes Celtic after publicly criticising several of his teammates, and the club failed to qualify for the knock-out phase of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in over a decade after losing to Portuguese team SL Benfica. Their season was also dealt cruel blows with injuries to key players such as Gabriel Heinze, Alan Smith and Paul Scholes. However, they were prevented from being left empty handed in successive seasons - a disappointment not endured in the last 17 years - by winning the 2006 League Cup beating newly promoted Wigan in the final 4-0. United also ensured a second-place finish and automatic Champions League qualification on the final day of the season by defeating Charlton Athletic 4-0.

The Malcolm Glazer takeover
Main article: Malcolm Glazer takeover of Manchester United
On May 13 2005, businessman Malcolm Glazer acquired a controlling interest in the club through his investment vehicle Red Football Ltd. in a takeover valuing it at approximately £800 million ($1.47 billion). On May 16, he increased his share to the 75% necessary to delist the club from the Stock Exchange, making it private again, and announced his intention to do so within 20 days. On 7 June he appointed his sons Joel, Avram, and Bryan to the P.L.C. board of Manchester United as a non-executive directors. It was for a while expected that Joel would be installed as the new Chairman, however that never happened. At the same time Sir Roy Gardner resigned his position as Chairman of the P.L.C. board, along with non-executive directors Jim O'Neill and Ian Much. Malcolm Glazer also re-appointed Andy Anson as Commercial Director after voting him off the Board at the previous AGM. He also retained Chief Executive David Gill and Finance Director Nick Humby in their current positions in spite of their pre-takeover descriptions of the Glazer's business plan as being "aggressive and unworkable".

In July 2006 the club announced a refinancing package. Previously the debt taken on by the Glazers to financing the club was split between the club and the family, but now it will all be in the club. The total amount will be £660 million, on which interest payments will be £62 million a year. This is a 30% reduction in interest charges. The club stated, "The value of Manchester United has increased in the last year, which is why lenders want to invest in the club.... 'This move represents good housekeeping and it ensures that Sir Alex Ferguson will be provided with sufficient funds to compete in the transfer market." The Manchester United Supporters' Trust responded, "'The amount of money needed to be repaid overall is huge.... 'The interest payment is one thing but what about the actual £660million? It is difficult to see how these sums can be reached without significant increases in ticket prices, which, as we always suspected, means the fans will effectively be paying for someone to borrow money to own their club."[2]

Sponsorship
On 23 November 2005, Vodafone ended their £36 million, four year shirt sponsorship deal with Manchester United. On 6 April 2006, chief executive David Gill announced American International Group (AIG) as the new shirt[3] sponsors of Manchester United in a British record shirt sponsorship deal of £56.5 million to be paid over four years (£14.1 million a year). Manchester United will have the largest sponsorship in the world ahead of Italian side Juventus, who have a £12.8 million a year sponsorship with Tamoil [4]. The four-year agreement has been heralded as largest sponsorship deal in British history, eclipsing Chelsea's deal with Samsung, but may amount to little more than a loan reduction in view of AIG's interest in the hedge funds that lent the Glazers part of the $1 billion they borrowed to buy the club.[citation needed]

Support
Before the Second World War, few English football supporters travelled to away games because of the time and cost. As City and United played home matches on alternate Saturdays, many Mancunians would watch United one week and City the next. After the war, a stronger rivalry developed and it became more common for a supporter to choose one team to follow exclusively.

When United won the league in 1956, they had the highest average home attendance in the league, a record that had been held by Newcastle for the previous few years. Following the Munich air disaster in 1958, more people began to support United and many started to go to matches. This swelled United’s support and is one reason why United have had the highest league attendances in English football for almost every season since then, even as a second division side in 1974-75.

A 2002 report, Do You Come From Manchester? showed that Manchester City had the higher proportion of season ticket holders living in the Manchester postal districts, whilst United had the higher absolute number of season ticket holders living in the same area.

In the late 1990s and early part of the 2000s, an increasing source of concern for many United supporters was the possibility of the club being taken over. The supporters’ group IMUSA (Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association) were extremely active in opposing a proposed takeover by Rupert Murdoch in 1999. Another pressure group, Shareholders United Against Murdoch (which became Shareholders United and is now the Manchester United Supporters' Trust) was formed at around this time to encourage supporters to buy shares in the club, partly to enable supporters to have a greater say in the issues that concern them, such as ticket prices and allocation, and partly to reduce the risk of an unwanted party buying enough shares to take over the club. However, this scheme failed to prevent Malcolm Glazer from becoming the majority share holder. Many supporters were outraged, and some formed a new club called F.C. United of Manchester.