Manchester United is rated as one of the top three football teams in the world, along with Real Madrid and Barcelona. But the team known worldwide as the 'Red Devils' and one of the most successful and wealthiest clubs in the history of English football, as well as the most widely supported football team in the world, comes from a very humble origin.
Man United began life in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club, set up by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway at its depot at Newton Heath in north-east Manchester. Originally an amateur team that played other railway departments, in 1892 it formed the First Division of the Football League - but was relegated to Second Division after only two seasons. The team now known and loved worldwide almost never happened, because in January 1902, with debts of 2,670 - equivalent to 210,000 in 2010 (but nothing compared with its current debt of 520million) - it was served with a winding-up order.
Fortunately for future fans, four local businessmen paid 500 each to buy the club, and then changed its name. On 26 April 1902, Manchester United officially came into existance, and following their first league title in 1908 and the FA Cup a year later, Old Trafford was named as the team's future home. When United played their first match on 19 February, 1910, it was against arch-rivals, Liverpool United, who beat them 4-3.
The first plans produced gave the new stadium a seating capacity of 100,000, though it was eventually lowered to 77,000. On 25 March 1939 76,962 spectators filled the stadium -- a record attendance. Sadly not for a home team match, but for an FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town, which ended in a draw. Old Trafford picked up its nickname when football legend Sir Bobby Charlton, one of Manchester United's most famous players, called it 'The Theatre of Dreams'.
Visitors to the Manchester United Museum and Tour may never get to play on the 'Hallowed Ground' - in fact, they aren't even allowed to touch it - but it is a magnet for fans worldwide. It's the WOW factor they get as they step out into the stadium and see it live for the first time. Most of them will have seen it many, many times on television, but to just to be in one of the stands, or sit in the Manager's box, where they've see Alex Furguson sit during a match, is magical to them."
The tour guides know everything and everything about the team and its home ground, but one of the biggest thrills for many visitors is one of the least expected - a visit to the home team's changing rooms, where shirts with each player's name hang from hooks in the wall, above a plain wooden bench. Everyone wants to sit where their idol sits and have a photograph taken alongside his shirt. Sadly, what most of them don't realise is that it really isn't his shirt, it's a copy from the Museum shop, but at least they're allowed to dream...
Throughout the tour there are memories of that fateful day in February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on take off from Munich. On board were the 'Busby Babes', a nickname given to Manchester United because of their manager, Matt Busby, and a number of supporters and journalists. Of forty-four passengers on board, twenty died, with another three dying later in hospital as a result of their injuries.
But the solemn mood changes when visitors enter the 'tunnel', prepared to follow in their favourite's footsteps onto the sacred pitch they've only ever seen on television. As the crowds roar and music blares, they run out - and turn very quickly to the right. No-one, unless you are part of the team or ground maintenance, ever gets to set foot on this Hallowed Ground.
I am a freelance journalist living in Valencia City, Spain, although my work takes me throughout the country. My work is pretty wide ranging, both in subject and geography, but my heart lies in Spain, which is where most of writing concentrates on. I've written two successful guide books to the Valencian region, on Spain's eastern coast, Inland Trips from the Costa Blanca and Small Hotels and Inns of Eastern Spain, as well as many articles for national and international press. While most of my work features the idiosyncratic side of Spain, I've also written extensively on wine, gastronomy and hotels.
To discover more about Spain, visit http://www.derekworkman-journalist.com and http://derekworkman.wordpress.com.
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