Manchester United is one of the biggest and most well-known football clubs in the world. We all recognise the iconic red and yellow logo with the little red devil taking centre stage. The football team has a legendary status which surpasses the city itself and some of Manchester United’s players have gone on to become bigger celebrities in their own right outside of football such as David Beckham. Manchester United has become more than a football club and has morphed into a business empire with Manchester United have their own TV channel dedicated to the football club with various news about the club and updates on the players as well as merchandise and other business ventures it is also one of the most profitable clubs in the world.
So let’s go through some fun facts to do with Manchester United FC starting with its origin:
Original Name
Like we mentioned, Manchester United’s iconic logo is, well, iconic and its name is also widely recognised but the famous Manchester United didn’t always have the powerful name it has today. In fact, its name was originally much timider. Starting in 1878 the club was originally calling themselves the ‘Newton Heath LYR Football Club’. The name doesn’t exactly have the same dramatic effect of ‘MANCHESTER UNITED’ but it was named this because it was by the Carraige and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) depot situated at Newton Heath hence the name. For, all things considered, we’re quite happy with the modern epic name Manchester United has adopted.
Early Accomplishments
If you weren’t already aware of Manchester’s incredible reputation of consistent wins then you should know the club is legendary for dominating leagues and always coming out on top and it seems like Manchester has been doing this since the beginning. In 1886 eight years after it’s conception, the club then named ‘Newton Heath’ won the ‘Manchester Cup’ solidifying them early as champion contenders in the sport. Manchester United was also the first club to win the European Cup in 1968 adding to the growing legacy of the club and as of 2017 is the only football club to win the 2008 World Cup further solidifying their reputation as the best.
Liverpool Rivalry
Manchester has had a long and complicated relationship with Liverpool when it comes to football and both cities respect each other’s legacy as well as wanting to both be the victors every time. Often it can feel like the grudge between Manchester and Liverpool is on a somewhat personal level with both sides supporting there teams so vigorously and it seems like it’s been that way since the beginning. The two legendary red-kit wearing teams have apparently been sparring in football since the beginning as Manchester United’s very first game at Old Trafford was against Liverpool and it seems like the friendly competition to be the best, has continued ever since.
The Treble
If you haven’t figured out by now Manchester is pretty good at winning and pride themselves on this. As we mentioned there status and reputation for winning is legendary and what also contributed to this was the 1998-99 football season in which Manchester pulled off an incredible three league win emerging as victors in ‘The Premier League’, ‘The FA Cup’ and the ‘UEFA Champions League’ and this incredible victory was later dubbed ‘ The Treble’.
Legacy
As we mentioned previously in the intro Manchester United is more than just a football club as it’s turned it’s accomplishments into a business empire when in 2015-16 alone the club grossed an annual revenue of £689 million and as of 2017 the club is estimated to be valued at a whopping 2.86 billion making it the most valuable football brand in the world.