Newton Heath LYR Football Club is formed by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at
Newton Heath, Manchester (later known as
Manchester United F.C.)
1880s
1880
St Mark's (West Gorton) football club is formed in Manchester
5 May – Manchester City defeat
Birmingham City F.C. 3–1 in the
1956 FA Cup Final.
German goalkeeper
Bert Trautmann plays through the match despite suffering what an X-ray later confirms as a broken neck, and was able to continue his career
Manchester United win the league championship, becoming England's first representatives in the
European Cup, in the competition's second season, as the previous league champions Chelsea were blocked from entering the inaugural tournament by
the Football Association
6 February – In an incident known as the
Munich air disaster, eight
Manchester United players die and two more have their careers ended by injury after a plane crash at
Munich-Riem Airport. Manager
Matt Busby is badly injured and spends two months in hospital recovering from multiple injuries
3 May – Bolton Wanderers defeat Manchester United 2–0 in the
1958 FA Cup Final
Oldham Athletic, league runners-up 45 years earlier, finish second from bottom in the Fourth Division but retain their league status after the Football League's members vote for
Gateshead to go down and
Midland League champions
Peterborough United to go up for the 1960–61 season
1961
Manchester City sell 21-year-old Scottish striker
Denis Law to Torino of Italy in the first £100,000 deal involving a British club
Manchester United win the league championship – their fifth under
Matt Busby and their seventh of all time, and last for the next 26 years, until the formation of the
Premier League
GoalkeeperHarry Gregg leaves
Manchester United after 10 years during which he established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the English game, but with no medals to show for it: he had missed the 1963
FA Cup final due to injury and had not played enough games to qualify for a medal when United won the league in 1965 and 1967
Manchester United are relegated to the Second Division for the first time since the 1930s. Their fate is ironically sealed when former player
Denis Law scores the winning goal for
Manchester City at
Old Trafford with his final touch in league football, but
Birmingham City's victory would have condemned them to relegation regardless of the outcome of United's game
1975
Manchester United are promoted back to the First Division one season after losing their top-flight status
Manchester United chairman
Louis Edwards, 65, dies of a heart attack weeks after being accused of financial irregularities by
ITV. Control of the club passes to his son
Martin
26 May – Manchester United defeat Brighton and Hove Albion 4–0 in the
1983 FA Cup Final replay, to win their first major trophy under the management of
Ron Atkinson
November -
Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson is sacked after a poor start to the season, and is replaced by the successful
Aberdeen manager
Alex Ferguson
1987
Alex Ferguson begins to rebuild Manchester United by signing Arsenal defender
Viv Anderson, Celtic striker
Brian McClair and Norwich City defender
Steve Bruce
1988
Mark Hughes returns to Manchester United after two years away for a fee of £1.8 million
Alex Ferguson makes a host of big-money signings for Manchester United in his latest attempt to win them their first league title since 1967, paying a total of more than £7 million for
Mike Phelan,
Neil Webb,
Paul Ince,
Gary Pallister and
Danny Wallace
17 May – Manchester United defeat Crystal Palace 1–0 in the
1990 FA Cup Final replay, winning their first major trophy under the management of Alex Ferguson
Manchester United and
Arsenal were respectively deducted 1 and 2 points, for a 21-man brawl involving their players on the pitch. The first and, so far, the only instances in English league history where a team were docked points for player misconduct
After a slow start to the new Premier League campaign puts their league title hopes under serious doubt, Manchester United pay Leeds United £1.2million for French striker
Eric Cantona in hope of winning a title race
14 May – Manchester United defeat
Chelsea F.C. 4–0 in the
1994 FA Cup Final to become only the fourth club in the 20th century to win the league championship and
FA Cupdouble. They achieve this just four months after the death of former manager
Sir Matt Busby at the age of 84. They are denied an unprecedented 'treble' by
Aston Villa, who defeat them in the final of the
League Cup
20 May –
Everton defeat Manchester United 1–0 in the
1995 FA Cup Final, to leave Manchester United without a major trophy for the first time since 1989
After captaining
Manchester United to their fourth
Premiership title in five seasons and 11th English League Championship overall,
Eric Cantona announces his retirement as a player
Manchester United become only the fourth English club to win three successive league championships
Les Sealey, who kept goal for Manchester United in their FA Cup triumph of 1990 and the European Cup Winners' Cup triumph of 1991, dies of a heart attack aged 43
EvertonstrikerWayne Rooney, still only 18, becomes the world's most expensive teenager when he signs for
Manchester United in a transfer deal which could eventually rise to £25million from an initial £20million
George Best, widely regarded one of the greatest footballers in the history of
Manchester United and the footballing world, dies aged 59 after a short illness
In their first season as a top division club and only their 28th in the professional leagues, Wigan Athletic finish tenth and are League Cup runners-up to Manchester United
2007
19 May –
Chelsea F.C. defeat Manchester United 1–0 in the
2007 FA Cup Final to secure a cup double, in the first final at the new
Wembley Stadium.
Ryan Giggs set a new record for the player to appear in the most finals.
Manchester United win the Premiership for the ninth time under Alex Ferguson.
Manchester United win the Premier League for the 10th time and overall 17th English League Championship. It is also the tenth title for manager Alex Ferguson (now the longest serving manager in English football with 22 years of unbroken service at the club) and
Ryan Giggs, the only player to have collected title medals with all 10 of their championship winning sides since 1993
Manchester City wins the
Premier League title ahead of rivals
Manchester United on goal difference, their 3rd overall English league win, and becomes the first team relegated from the Premier League to win the title. This was also their first English league title success since 1968
2013
11 May –
Wigan Athletic F.C. defeat Manchester City 1–0 in the
2013 FA Cup Final, to win the
FA Cup for the first time, but are relegated from the Premier League, becoming the first FA Cup winners to be relegated in the same season as their Cup win
Louis van Gaal is confirmed as manager of Manchester United. Former interim manager
Ryan Giggs is named as his assistant, and confirms his retirement as a player at the age of 40 after nearly a quarter of a century during which he played 963 games and won an English record of 22 major trophies.[5]
Manchester City win their 2nd Premier League title
Manchester United sack manager Louis van Gaal despite winning the
FA Cup, after a poor league season. Former Chelsea manager
Jose Mourinho is appointed in his place
18 May – Manchester City defeat Watford 6–0 in the
2019 FA Cup Final, becoming the first English team to win a domestic treble (FA Cup, EFL Cup and Premier League)