Manchester United. A giant recognised the world over for its illustrious history, legendary players and famous home. But how was such a behemoth built? And how has it managed to enjoy so much success despite various setbacks, the emergence of new challengers and one of the worst tragedies ever to befall a football club? Uncover the answers to all these questions and more inside The Story of Man Utd, a comprehensive look at the clubs roots in Newton Heath, the many players to have pulled on its red jersey and where the club might be heading as it continues to battle through the post-Fergie era.
GLORY GLORY MAN UTD!
FourFourTwoPresents: The Story of Man Utd
FROM THE HEATH TO THE THEATRE OF DREAMS • Starting life as a railway side playing on a mud patch in Newton Heath, the world’s biggest football club took a few years to become Manchester United
THE SEEDS OF SUCCESS • Ernest Mangnall was the first great United manager, both in terms of the way his team played and the trophies they won
THE BUSBY BABES • The arrival of Matt Busby and his ‘Babes’ heralded a golden age for United and introduced a youth policy and playing style that survive to this day
ARSENAL OUTGUNNED • In their last league match before their fateful trip, we saw all that was brightest and best of United in a nine-goal thriller
MUNICH • 6 February 1958 was the day a team died, as the Busby Babes were wiped out in one of the greatest tragedies in football
CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE AT LAST • Ten years after the Munich air disaster, Sir Matt Busby guided his side to victory in the European Cup final on an emotional night at Wembley
A DRAMATIC NIGHT IN MADRID • Manchester United reached their first-ever European Cup final by coming from behind to draw against the mighty Real Madrid
UNITED THEY FALL • Manchester United went from European champions to relegation to the Second Division in the space of just six years
“AND THE BEST THING BOYS… WE STOPPED LIVERPOOL DOING THE TREBLE” • All-conquering Liverpool went into the 1977 FA Cup finaleyeing a then-unprecedented treble, and only one teamcould stop them making history: Manchester United
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT • Ron Atkinson brought the fun and the flair back to Manchester United, and a couple of FA Cups too, but he just fell short in the league
THE MAN FROM ABERDEEN • When Manchester United decided in 1986 to find a new man to fill the dugout, their was only one manager they had in mind: a fiery young Scot named Alex Ferguson. But would he survive long enough to make an impact?
FERGUSON’S TURNING POINT • A crucial FA Cup win over Nottingham Forest saved Ferguson’s job and helped him win his first trophy as United manager
THE CLASS OF ’92 • It isn’t often a youth team has a documentary dedicated to it, but then it isn’t often that youth team football produces the sort of players United did in the early 1990s
50 GREATEST RED DEVILS OF ALL TIME • Here we salute the best 50 players ever to play for Manchester United. Go on, tell us who we’ve left out
OOH, AHH, CANTONA • They didn’t make them like Eric then, and they still don’t now. Unapologetically enigmatic, the Frenchman spent his career thrilling and befuddling in equal measure – no one in football history carries an aura like the King. Cantona wowed, warred and often wounded, but thank God he came here 30 years ago
THE OTHER CANTONA • A year after Eric’s arrival in England, his younger brother turned up too.
“MY DAD HAD DENIS LAW, BUT CANTONA WAS OURS” • Stephen Howson, from the Stretford Paddock YouTube channel, explains what Eric means to his generation
LIFE’S A BEACH • After leaving Manchester United, Cantona dipped his toes into a host of activities…
THE PALACE FAN: WHAT HAPPENED...