History of Manchester United F.C. (1878–1945)

[1] The team initially played games against other departments and rail companies at their home ground at North Road, but by 1888 the club had become a founding member of The Combination, a regional football league.

This resulted in the club starting the 1892–93 season in the First Division, by which time it had become independent of the rail company, dropped the "LYR" from its name and moved to a new ground at Bank Street.

[8] In 1922, three years after the resumption of football following the First World War, the club was relegated to the Second Division, where it remained until regaining promotion in 1925.

[10] In 1878 the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company granted permission for the employees of its Carriage and Wagon department to start a football team, which was subsequently named Newton Heath LYR, with Frederick Attock appointed as this new club's president.

LYR stood for "Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway" and was used to distinguish the team from their colleagues from the Motive Power Division, who were known as Newton Heath Loco.

It is said that the players were "tough, diligent men who formed a powerful side";[1] they initially played games against other teams of railway workers, very few of which were recorded.

[12] In 1884, Newton Heath LYR applied for the Manchester and District Challenge Cup and reached the final, which they lost 3–0 to Hurst at Whalley Range.

A subsequent unsuccessful protest to the Football Association[14] led to Newton Heath LYR entering a self-imposed exile from the FA Cup, which lasted until 1889.

On 9 March 1895, the manager of visiting Walsall Town Swifts registered an official complaint against the state of the pitch; "drab expanses of wet sand, tufted sparsely with grass".

The game went ahead and Newton Heath beat Walsall Town 14–0, the largest unofficial margin of victory in the club's history, but the result was declared null and void.

They managed only 10th place in the 1901 season, losing more games than they won and with ticket sales flagging and debts mounting, the club decided to hold a four-day bazaar to raise money at St James Hall, Manchester.

According to legend, one of the attractions was club captain Harry Stafford's St. Bernard dog, Major, who escaped with a collection tin on one of the nights after the bazaar had closed.

Major then found his way to local brewer John Henry Davies, whose daughter became so smitten with it that he enquired about the origin of the tin, and in doing so saved the club.

[17] On Monday, 13 January 1902, the Manchester Guardian reported: Attention was directed to the Second League by the unusual experience of Newton Heath.

A winding up order to meet a debt of £242 precipitated matters last week and no arrangements could be made for playing the game fixed for Saturday.

One hears that a new club will be formed out of the ashes of the old one, but this has not been decided definitely.Newton Heath were revived in time to play their next fixture on Saturday 18 January 1902.

[18] It was the escape and recapturing of the dog which led to the meeting between team captain Harry Stafford and Davies, heading a group of three other investors.

The former was considered because a significant number of the individuals who established Newton Heath were Irish immigrants who had relocated to Manchester to obtain employment in the railway industry.

After a bad start to the season, the club took another important step in 1903 in hiring their first real team manager, Ernest Mangnall, a charismatic publicist who knew how to work the media.

The following season, Manchester United set a record when they went 18 games undefeated after losing to Bolton 2–0 in September 1904 up until they lost to Lincoln City 3–0 in February 1905.

They finished second overall and reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, beating holders Aston Villa (one of the most successful English teams of that era) 5–1 in the fifth round.

Ernest Mangnall managed to sign star defender Herbert Burgess, Alec "Sandy" Turnbull, and Jimmy Bannister after a scandal hit Manchester City and forced them to sell off most of their team.

In 1908, John Henry Davies once again gave financial aid by lending £60,000, a huge sum at the time, to finalise the team's move to a new stadium at Old Trafford.

Secretary Walter Crickmer was given control of the team for the next season, and was aided by chief scout Louis Rocca, largely because the club couldn't afford a new manager.

Although now £70,000 in debt, United picked themselves up and finished runners-up in 1938, returning to the First Division, with future stars such as Johnny Carey, Jack Rowley and Stan Pearson.