Manchester United Football Club is an English
football club, based at
Old Trafford in
Trafford,
Greater Manchester, and is one of the most popular football clubs in the world. The club was a founding member of the
Premier League in 1992, and has played in the top division of English football since 1938, with the exception of the 1974–75 season. Average attendances at the club have been higher than any other team in
English football for all but six seasons since
1964–65.
[3]Manchester United are the reigning English champions and Club World Cup holders, having won the 2008–09 Premier League and the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup. The club is one of the most successful in the history of English football and has won 22 major honours since Alex Ferguson became manager in November 1986. In 1968, they became the first English club to win the European Cup, beating Benfica 4–1. They won a second European Cup as part of a Treble in 1999, before winning their third in 2008. The club holds the joint record for the most English league titles with 18 and also holds the record for the most FA Cup wins with 11.[4]
Since the late 1990s, the club has been one of the richest in the world with the highest revenue of any football club,[5] and is currently ranked as the richest and most valuable club in any sport, with an estimated value of £897&_160;million (€1.333&_160;billion / $1.8&_160;billion) as of September 2008.[6] Manchester United was a founding member of the now defunct G-14 group of Europe's leading football clubs,[7] and its replacement, the European Club Association.[8]
Alex Ferguson has been manager of the club since 6 November 1986, joining from Aberdeen after the departure of Ron Atkinson.[9] The current club captain is Gary Neville, who succeeded Roy Keane in November 2005.[10]
