The club which is today known as Manchester United can trace its roots back to 1878 when a group of workers from the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway startted a team based in North Road.  Newton Heath LYR was born.  The club became an immediate success in local competitions.  In the first nine months of 1883, they were unbeaten at home.  Two years later, Newton Heath made an application to the Football League.  The bid was not a success and so, along with other clubs who had been rejected, the Football Alliance was created.  Another two years passed and three further bids were rejected.  The club finally earned its place in the Football League in the summer of 1892.  In their first seven games, they suffered six defeats and only managed one draw.  They finished bottom that season but kept their place in the First Division by winning a play-off against Small Heath (the presnt Birmingham City), champions of the Second Division.  In 1893, they moved to a new ground in Bank Street, but this brought no success either.  They finished bottom again and lost the play-off; they were relegated to the Second Division.  The ground did bring Newton Heath one notable win.  In 1895, they beat Walsall Twon swifts 14-0 in controversial circumstances in which the Swifts manager was shocked by the appalling condition of the pitch.  An official complaint was made and the match was declared void.  The defeats came thick and fast, and when three of the teams forwards were transfer listed for their poor discipline, things didn't look good.  The club plunged into debts of £3,000 (a lot of money in those days) and, finally, was declared bankrupt, in 1902.  However, later that year, the funds raised by two men named Harry Stafford and John Henry Davies brought Newton Heath back into business.  It was decided that the club should have a new name.  Manchester United was born.

A new manager arrived in 1903.  Ernest Mangnall took over and was able to look at bringing in new players to the club.  By 1904, he had secured the signatures of Harry Moger, Charlie Sagar, John Picken, Dick Duckworth, Alex Bell and Charlie Roberts.  In his first two seasons, Mangnall took his team to third in the Second Division, both times.  The 1905/06 season saw a remarkable run in the F.A. Cup.  This included victories over Staple Hill, Norwich City and Aston Villa.  It ended in the qurter-finals woth a defeat to Woolwich Arsenal.  In the same season, United finally gained to promotion, after 12 years in the Second Division, finishing second.  Mangnall had to strengthen his squad before the new season, but the transfers which took place were far from ordinary.  An investigation into illegal bonuses at Manchester City resulted in 17 of their players being banned from ever playing for the club again.  An auction was held and Mangnall bought Billy Meredith, Sandy Turnbull, Jimmy Bannister and Herbert Burgess.  As all 4 were suspended, they had to wait until the first day in 1907 to make their debuts.  Sandy Turnbull scored the only goal in a victory over Aston Villa.  The team was going from strength to strength and, in 1908, they won the First Division championship.  The following season they won their first F.A. Cup, beating Brighton, Everton, Blackburn Rovers, Burnley, Newcastle United and Bristol City, in the final.  The referee in the quarter-final against Burnley was one Herbert Bamlett, later to become Uniteds manager, in 1927.  Late in 1909, United moved to the now world famous Old Trafford.  After finishing 5th in 1910, they won the title again in 1911.  After that, they dropped to 13th and Ernest Mangnall resigned.  He joined Uniteds hated rivals Manchester City.

Between 1913 and 1914, many of the clubs successful players of the previous 10 years retired from the game and the crowds went with them.  Football was put on hold for the war and the clubs funds began to dry up.  In 1921, Billy Meredith saddened United fans by following Ernest Mangnall back to his old club, Manchester City.  That season was a disaster, with only 8 victories, the club returned to the Second Division.  They stayed there until 1925.  The following year, manager John Chapman was suspended by the Football Association for what was only described as 'inproper conduct'.  Chapman never returned, and Clarence Hilditch took over.  He was in the job for just one season, keeping United in the First Division before being replaced by Herbert Bamlett.  His career at the club was not half as successful as his refereeing career.  The club president J.H.Davies died in 1927 and, once again, the clubs finances went into steady decline.  The supporters were angry and told the board that they must appoint a new manager, sign new players and raise money through shares.  After the board chose to ignore them, the supporters organised a boycott of the next match, against Arsenal.  Still, 23 000 turned up for the match, which United lost.  Attendances dropped and so did league positions.  Bamlett was sacked in April 1931, to be replaced by Walter Crickmer.  The finances did not improve and it looked inevitable that the club was near its end.  It was then that James Gibson put £2000 towards saving the club.  Crickmer was in charge for just one season, 1931/32, in which United finished 12th.  He was then replaced by Scott Duncan who took the club to 6th in the Second Division, in his first season in charge.  The next season was not one of great success, they finished 20th.  A great improvement took place in the 1934/35 season, with a 5th place finish followed by a championship winning season in 1936.  They didn't stay at the top for long, winning just 10 games in 1936/37 and finishing 21st, they were relegated back to the Second Division.  Walter Crickmer returned for a second spell and United were promoted again after finishing 2nd.  The next season would be the last before the war.  United stayed up by finishing 14th.  Various War Lagues and scaled down versions of the Football League took place between 1939 and 1946, but none too significant.  Nineteen-fortyfive saw the arrival of a manager who would become one of the greatest in the clubs history.  Matt Busby had accepted a 5-year contract.  The players slowly returned from the war and 7 of the were tranfer listed before the 1946/47 season.  Also, many players changed positions, and forward Jimmy Delaney arrived from Celtic.  The changes had immediate effects and United finished a respectable 2nd that season.  The following season saw a 4-2 win over Blackpool to win the F.A. Cup, and another 2nd place finish.  Players began complaining about wages at the start of the 1948/49 season but this didn't effect the performances.  For the third season in a row, United were runners-up.  The departures of Johnny Morris and Charlie Mitten were followed by stories of promising youngsters in the youth team.  Roger Bryne was the first to emerge, scoring 7 goals in his 6-game spell at the end of the title winning 1951/52 season.

The youth team had been making great progress since the arrival of Busby, and now they were starting to appear in the first team.  A 16 year-old Duncan Edwards made his debut in April 1953, against Cardiff City.  He was not the first though, Mark Jones, David Pegg and Jackie Blanchflower had already emerged.  The team won the F.A. Youth Cup that year and attendances at their games grew.  Great things were expected of the 'Busby Babes'.  They began to take over the first team, and won the championship in the 1955/56 season.  Their success at home meant that they could show off their skills in Europe.  In their first European Cup, the Babes reached the semi-final, only to be beaten by Real Madrid.  They won the league again that year, but lost the F.A. Cup to Aston Villa, in the final.  The folllowing season, they were once again on the verge of another European Cup semi-final, after a 5-4 aggregate win over Red Star Belgrade in the quarter-final.  Their progress and European dream ended their in tragic circumstances.

The 6th February, 1958 was a dark day for Manchester United and 8 of their players and 3 other staff.  Flight 609 was on its third attempt to take-off from Munich in appalling weather conditions.  The Elizabethan-class aircraft sped along the snow-covered runway.  It skidded and crashed through a fence and over a road, leaving 21 people dead.  Geoff Bent, Roger Bryne, Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor, Liam Whelan, Walter Crickmer, Tom Curry and Bert Whalley - the names of the unlucky 11 players and staff who lost their lives on that tragic evening in Munich.  Matt Busby, altough left in a critical condition, was one of the survivors.  The job of scarping together a team for the next match against Sheffield Wedesday was left to Jimmy Murphy.  The match programme showed blank spaces where the names of those who died should have been.  Murphy had to make do with reserve players, but United came out 3-0 winners.  The team reached the F.A. Cup final only to lose 2-0 to Bolon Wanderers.  The first new signing made by Busby after the disaster was left-back Noel Cantwell.  The squad was gradually being rebuilt.  Dennis Law was signed in July 1962, followed by Pat Crerand in February 1963.  In May of that year, United beat Leicester City 3-1 to win the F.A. Cup - their first trophy since the disaster.  In September, George Best made his debut in a match against West Bromwich Albion.  The 1964/65 season brought the league title back to Old Trafford.  It returned again in 1967 with 24 wins.  In May 1968, United beat Benfica 4-1 at Wembley to lift the European Cup for the first time.  Bobby Charlton scored 2 of the goals with Best and Kidd getting the others.  The following month, Matt Busby became Sir Matt Busby, knighted for his services to the game.  After a poor 1968/69 season, Busby resigned.  He was replaced by Wilf McGuinness.  McGuinness only lasted 6 months in the job, being sacked in December 1970.  Busby took over again for a short period until united appointed their first Irish manager, Frank O'Farrell.  He only lasted 7 months.  The form at the start of the 1972/73 season was poor and O'Farrell was sacked after United were beaten 5-0 by Crystal Palace in December 1972.  George Best was suspended for his poor behaviour.  Tommy Docherty managed to turn things round and United won the title that year.  However the success was short lived.  Despite the return of Best, United were relegated the following year.  They bounced straight back up, and finished 3rd in the 1975/76 season, aswell as winning the F.A. Cup.  There were to be no further trophies in the 1970s.