Manchester United

One of the most widely supported teams in the world, Manchester United has never played outside the top two divisions of the Football League. The club achieved early success with two League Championships (1908 and 1911) and an FA Cup victory (1909). Apart from a Second Division (old format) Championship in 1936, however, the club's supporters then had to wait until the end of the 1940s for further success. This arrived with the appointment of Matt Busby as manager in 1945. After three years of rebuilding, the team won a second FA Cup and, in 1952, another League Championship. However, it was the team he built after these initial successes that captured most of the headlines. This young team—dubbed the “Busby Babes” by the media—included exceptionally gifted players such as Bobby Charlton and Duncan Edwards. After two further League Championships (1956 and 1957), the side's phenomenal successes were abruptly ended in February 1958, when a plane carrying them from a European tie against Red Star Belgrade crashed at an airport in Munich, Germany, killing eight of the team, including Edwards.

Busby survived the disaster and set about building another great team, which included an imposing forward line of Charlton, Denis Law, and George Best. An FA Cup triumph in 1963 was swiftly followed by two League Championship wins (1965 and 1967) and a European Cup final victory over Benfica in 1968—United became the first English club to win the coveted trophy. After Busby's retirement, a Second Division (old format) title (1975) and three further FA Cups (1977, 1983, 1985) were added to the club's growing list of trophies. However, it was not until the arrival as manager of Alex Ferguson in 1986 that the club began to emulate the glory years. Despite a slow start, his teams, including players of the quality of Bryan Robson, Paul Ince, Peter Schmeichel, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham, dominated English football in the 1990s. After winning four Premiership titles (1993, 1994, 1996, 1997), three FA Cups (1990, 1994, 1996), a European Cup Winners' Cup (1991), and a League Cup (1992), Manchester United became the first team to achieve two League and FA Cup “doubles”.