United bandwagon rolls on

Over the next few weeks uefa.com will be charting the history of all clubs through to next season's UEFA Champions League from the third qualifying round onwards. Here we look at Premiership champions Manchester United FC.

Rags to riches
Manchester United FC were formed in 1878 as Newton Heath, a railway works side which joined the English Football League in 1892. That team went bankrupt in 1902, but bounced back to become one of the richest and most famous clubs in the world.

First title
By 1906 Manchester United had claimed a place in the First Division, and in 1907/08 they brought home their first championship before an inaugural FA Cup win in 1909. The next year United moved to Old Trafford and reclaimed the league trophy in their first season at the ground, 1910/11. That success proved short-lived, though, and the next decades saw United flit between England's top two divisions.

Triumph and tragedy
After the Second World War, however, the club was revitalised by Matt Busby's appointment as manager. First, the Scot developed a team of youngsters who were English champions three times in the 1950s. Yet the Busby Babes era ended prematurely, with the Munich air disaster of 6 February 1958, which claimed the lives of many players including the legendary Duncan Edwards.

European glory
Busby himself had to recover from serious injuries before rebuilding the squad. The FA Cup was recaptured in 1963 after a 15-year gap, then the league championship in 1964/65 and 1966/67. However, Busby's crowning glory came when Bobby Charlton, George Best, Denis Law and company became the first English side to lift the European Champion Clubs' Cup, beating SL Benfica in the 1968 Wembley final.

Relegation woe
Busby finally stood down in 1971 - and proved a hard act to follow. United were relegated in 1974, and while they made an immediate return, the next generation of fans saw expensive sides flatter to deceive. They did, however, win the FA Cup in 1977, 83 and 85.

Ferguson's first trophy
Alex Ferguson's arrival as manager in 1986 changed all that, even if the Scot had to survive calls for his head before landing his first trophy with the 1990 FA Cup. The next season, United followed up with the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, won against FC Barcelona in Rotterdam.

Cantona inspiration
Then, following the signing of Eric Cantona, Ferguson's team ended a 26-year wait by claiming the club's eighth league title in what was the inaugural season of the Premiership. The new competition suited the Mancunians, who went on to dominate the domestic game.

Treble winners
United have been English champions on seven occasions since - including in 1994, 96 and 99 when they also lifted the FA Cup to take their total of wins in that tournament to ten. The 96 double was achieved by a group of homegrown players, including Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Paul Scholes, and three years later that team would go one trophy better by winning the UEFA Champions League as well. United scored twice in added time to defeat FC Bayern München in Barcelona and complete an historic treble.

Another league crown
Although a repeat success has eluded United, their domestic powers have endured, and Ferguson's men won the club's 15th league crown in 2002/03.