Manchester United: England’s Glorious Red Devils

Athletic Club will face Manchester United at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, on August 6 at 17:00 CEST in what will be our final friendly of the 2023/24 pre-season.

Currently managed by Dutch coach Erik ten Hag, the Red Devils finished third in the Premier League in 2022/23, behind only Arsenal and Manchester City, while they also won the Carabao Cup and finished runners-up to their cross-city rivals in the FA Cup.

Man Utd’s top goalscorer in the league last season was Marcus Rashford, who scored 17 times in 35 appearances. In addition to the England player, the Red Devils’ squad contains a wealth of international stars, such as: Casemiro (Brazil), Rafael Varane (France) Lisandro Martínez (Argentina), Christian Eriksen (Denmark) and Bruno Fernandes (Portugal), while they have also brought in Andre Onana (Cameroon) and Mason Mount (England) this summer.

Previous Meetings

The Lions and Red Devils have already locked horns on five occasions. The most recent meeting was an epic Europa League tie in 2011/12, with Los Rojiblancos winning 2-3 at Old Trafford and 2-1 in the return leg at The Cathedral.

The first ever clash was also one for the ages. The legendary Busby Babes visited an unusually snowy Bilbao for a European Cup quarter-final in January 1957 and the San Mames faithful were treated to a 5-3 spectacle.

Due to Old Trafford not having floodlights at the time, the second leg took place at Man City’s Maine Road. The Lions struggled with the muddy pitch and Man Utd’s direct tactics, falling to a 3-0 loss. Exactly one year later, several of the players and staff from that Man Utd side tragically passed away in the Munich Air Disaster.

In 1984, Norman Whiteside scored the winning goal as United and Athletic met for a pre-season friendly at the Riazor Stadium, La Coruña.

Newton Heath LYR Football Club

The Mancunian club was originally founded by local railway workers as Newton Heath LYR (Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway) Football Club in 1878.

However, in 1902, with the outfit close to going bankrupt, local businessman John Henry Davies saved the club and changed its named to Manchester United – Manchester Central and Manchester Celtic were also considered.

In a four-year period from 1907 to 1911, United won their first two top-flights titles (1907/08, 1910/11), a first FA Cup (1908/09) and moved into Old Trafford (Built in 1909, inaugural match in February 1910).

The United Way

Since October 1937, every single one of the Reds’ matchday squads has featured at least one academy graduate – that’s over 4,000 matches.

So, perhaps, it is no surprise that both of Man Utd’s major golden eras have coincided with managers that made serious commitments to youth and attacking football.

The first such period began in 1945 with Scottish coach Matt Busby. Together with his assistant manager, Jimmy Murphy, Busby built a dynasty, turning the Reds into European champions and laying the foundations for the modern-day Man Utd.

It was during this time that the Reds also had to deal with the darkest moment in their history. On February 6, 1958, 11 members of the party that travelled to Belgrade for a European Cup match in Belgrade died as their plane failed to take off after refuelling in Munich.

Eight of the deceased were Man Utd footballers, while two others never played again due to severe injuries. At the same time, Matt Busby was hospitalised for two months, being read his Last Rites on two occasions.

The Scot survived and rebuilt Man Utd around the likes of Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law.

During his 24 years in charge, the Red Devils won six First Division titles (51/52, 55/56, 56/57, 64/65, 66/67), two FA Cups (47/48, 62/63) and a European Cup (67/68).

After Busby’s retirement, it would be 26 years before Man Utd lifted the English top-flight title again.

Despite a shaky start to life as Man Utd boss, Sir Alex Ferguson took the Red Devils back to the top of English and European football.

In a decision that was much derided at the time, Ferguson completely overhauled his title-winning squad in the early 90s to bring through the famed “Class of ’92”, a talented generation of mostly Manchester-born footballers who dominated English football during the 90s.

Under the Glasgow-born tactician, the Reds won 13 Premier Division titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, the European Cup Winners’ Cup, the European Super Cup and two Champions Leagues.

As it stands, Man Utd have won a total of 67 trophies: 20 First Division/Premier League titles, two second division titles, 12 FA Cups, six League Cups, 21 Charity Shields, one Europa League, one UEFA Super Cup, one European Cup Winners’ Cup, one FIFA Club World Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and three European Cups/UEFA Champions Leagues.