List of Manchester United F.C. seasons
![A black-and-white photo of a football team. The players are on three levels, with four on the bottom row, four on the middle row and three on the top row. The player sitting second from the left on the bottom row has a ball at his feet, and the player in the middle of the top row is wearing a flat cap.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/ManUnited1905-1906.jpg/220px-ManUnited1905-1906.jpg)
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. The club was formed in Newton Heath in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR F.C., and played their first competitive match in October 1886, when they entered the First Round of the 1886–87 FA Cup. The club was renamed Manchester United F.C. in 1902, and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.
The club has won a total of 68 major trophies: the League Championship a record twenty times (seven times in the Football League era and a record thirteen times in the Premier League era), the FA Cup thirteen times, the League Cup six times, the Community Shield a record 21 times (including four shared titles), the European Cup three times, the UEFA Europa League once, the European Cup Winners' Cup once, the European Super Cup once, the Intercontinental Cup once and the FIFA Club World Cup once.[1] The club has also never been out of the top two divisions of English football since entering the Football League. As of the end of the 2023–24 season, the club has played a total of 5,941 competitive matches, and has competed in the top flight for 99 of their 125 seasons.[2]
This list details the club's achievements in major competitions, and the top scorers for each season. Top scorers in bold were also the top scorers in the English league that season. Records of competitions such as the Lancashire Cup and the Manchester and District Challenge Cup are not included due to them being considered of less importance than the FA Cup and the League Cup.
History
[edit]The club formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR F.C.[3] At this time organised League football did not exist; "first class matches" were arranged on a largely ad-hoc basis and supplemented by cup competitions. Official records from these matches are sketchy at best, and are often extrapolated from newspaper reports at the time. In 1886, the club entered the FA Cup for the first time, but were knocked out in the first round. They entered The Combination in 1888, but the league was wound up before the season could be completed.[4] The club then joined the Football Alliance in 1889, and in 1892 were elected to the newly formed Football League First Division. Upon joining the Football League, the club dropped the "LYR" from their name, before financial troubles forced the club to restructure in 1902, including a change of name to Manchester United F.C.[5]
In 1956–57, Manchester United became the first English club to enter European competition, entering the European Cup, following the Football Association's refusal to allow Chelsea to enter the previous year. Eleven years later, in 1968, they became the first English club to win the European Cup, and only the second British side after Celtic had won it the year before. Meanwhile, in 1960–61, Manchester United entered the inaugural Football League Cup, only to decline to enter for the next five years. In 1992–93, they became founder members and inaugural champions of the Premier League, and, in 1998–99, they won an unprecedented Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. This was followed by two more Premier League titles in 1999–2000 and 2000–01, making Manchester United only the fourth club to win three consecutive English league titles. The club picked up their 10th Premier League title in the 2007–08 season, and followed it with a third Champions League title 10 days later. The following season, Manchester United became the first British club to win the FIFA Club World Cup, before becoming the first English club to claim three consecutive league titles twice. In 2010–11, Manchester United won their 19th top division title, passing Liverpool's previous record of 18, before winning a 20th title in 2012–13. In 2016–17, Manchester United won their first UEFA Europa League trophy, making them only the fifth club to win the three main European club competitions.[6]
Key
[edit]
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Winners | Runners-up | Promoted | Relegated |
Seasons
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ Goals in all competitions (Football League or Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, European and FA Community Shield) are counted.
- ^ The club did not start playing league football until 1888.
- ^ The EFL Cup, historically more known as the League Cup, was first created for the 1960–61 season.
- ^ The first UEFA club competition, the European Cup, currently known as the UEFA Champions League, was created for the 1955–56 season.
- ^ The 1888–89 season was cut short for Newton Heath, as the Combination was wound up in April 1889, and so the team was unable to complete its programme of 16 matches. However, records show that the club had the best record of all the teams in the league at that point.
- ^ In 1892, the Football Alliance and the Football League decided to merge. Due to their second place finish in the 1891–92 Football Alliance, Newton Heath were elected to the Football League First Division for the following season.
- ^ Formal promotion and relegation had not yet been established, and so the bottom team in the Football League First Division would play a so-called "Test match" against the top team in the Second Division, Small Heath. Newton Heath drew the original Test match 1–1, then won the replay 5–2, and retained their place in the First Division.
- ^ Formal promotion and relegation had still not been introduced, and so another Test match was played between Newton Heath and Liverpool, the winners of the Second Division. Newton Heath lost, and were relegated.
- ^ As a reward for finishing in 3rd place, Newton Heath played yet another Test match against the team that finished third from bottom in the First Division, Stoke City. They lost, and remained in the Second Division.
- ^ For finishing in 2nd place, Newton Heath had to play Test matches against Burnley and Sunderland in order to gain promotion to Division One. They beat Burnley over two legs, but lost to Sunderland and remained in Division Two.
- ^ No competitive football was played between 1915 and 1919 due to the First World War.
- ^ Lowest League finish
- ^ The 1939–40 season was abandoned in early September and all results annulled, after only three matches had been played; Manchester United were tenth in the table at the time.
- ^ No competitive football was played between 1939 and 1946 due to the Second World War.
- ^ The FA Cup was contested in 1945–46 but the Football League did not resume until the following season.
- ^ 32 goals in the First Division
- ^ a b c d e f g Despite entering the first League Cup in 1960–61, like many other major clubs, Manchester United declined to take part again until the 1966–67 season. They then missed two consecutive seasons in 1967–68 and 1968–69.
- ^ a b c d From 1939 to 1993, in the event of a draw, the Charity Shield would be shared between the two competing teams, with each team having possession of the trophy for six months.
- ^ Joint top scorer with Ron Davies of Southampton
- ^ 28 goals in the First Division
- ^ The 1981–82 season saw the introduction of three points for a win.
- ^ Manchester United were deducted one point after a brawl in a game with Arsenal on 20 October 1990.
- ^ The 22 top English clubs broke away from the Football League to form the FA Premier League as the new top tier of the English football pyramid.
- ^ Joint top scorer with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink of Leeds United and Michael Owen of Liverpool
- ^ 18 goals in the Premier League
- ^ Manchester United did not enter the 1999–2000 FA Cup due to their commitment to the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil.
- ^ 25 goals in the Premier League
- ^ 31 goals in the Premier League
- ^ Joint top scorer with Carlos Tevez of Manchester City
- ^ 20 goals in the Premier League
- ^ 26 goals in the Premier League
References
[edit]General
- Murphy, Alex (2006). The Official Illustrated History of Manchester United. London: Orion Books. ISBN 0-7528-7603-1.
- Shury, Alan; Landamore, Brian (2005) [2002]. The Definitive Newton Heath F.C. 'Definitive' Club Histories (2nd ed.). Nottingham: SoccerData. ISBN 1-899468-16-1.
- "StretfordEnd.co.uk". Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
- Rundle, Richard. "Manchester United". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
Specific
- ^ "Trophy Room". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 2007. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2007.
- ^ "Won, Drawn, Lost". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Barn End Media. Archived from the original on 23 March 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2020. Excludes matches from the abandoned 1939–40 season
- ^ Murphy, Alex (2006). "1878-1915: From Newton Heath to Old Trafford". The Official Illustrated History of Manchester United. London: Orion Books. p. 11. ISBN 0-7528-7603-1.
- ^ Shury, Alan; Landamore, Brian (2005) [2002]. "History of Newton Heath F.C.". The Definitive Newton Heath F.C. 'Definitive' Club Histories (Second ed.). Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 11. ISBN 1-899468-16-1.
...the Combination was wound up in April 1889. From Newton Heath's viewpoint, that was a pity. They had almost completed their programme of 16 games and had the best record of the 20 clubs.
- ^ Murphy, Alex (2006). "1878-1915: From Newton Heath to Old Trafford". The Official Illustrated History of Manchester United. London: Orion Books. p. 15. ISBN 0-7528-7603-1.
- ^ "Manchester United achieve European clean sweep". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 May 2017. Archived from the original on 12 May 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.