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[energetic rock music]
- Manchester United, number one in England.
- [Narrator] Manchester United,
arguably one of the biggest and best clubs
the football world has ever seen.
With such a rich history,
United have changed the way of English football.
- One thing has been coming to the top of another.
It has been wonderful.
[crowd chanting]
- Is anyone bigger than Sir Alex?
I think what he's achieved is basically,
in my opinion, he's created the Premiership.
- Opportunities like thisdon't come around all the time.
And I said I didn't wanna be sitting
in the end of my career thinking I could've
done this and I could've done that.
This was definitely a step in the right direction for me.
- Once I went to United, it was perfect.
It's everything that you wish for as a kid.
- [Narrator] With 20 league titles, 12 FA Cups,
five League Cups and 21 FA Community Shields,
Manchester United have done the unthinkable
and hold the record for the most league titles
in the English sport.
- I think I've achieved,
I'd probably say out-achieved as a young manager.
Coming to Manchester, I did it Aberdeen
and things like that,
so I wasn't gonna let it affect my life.
But even with all that, there is a fulfillment in doing it.
- [Narrator] Witness the story of Manchester United
as we take an in-depth look at the good moments.
- I thought that '99 could not be beaten,
but you have beaten it today.
- [Narrator] The bad.
- Goodbye.
- Respect.
Respect, man.
Respect, respect me.
- [Narrator] And how they became the most iconic team
in the world of football.
This is Manchester United and their Campaign for the Glory.
[mellow guitar music]
In 1878, Manchester was a thriving industrial city
in the heart of England,
the birthplace of railway manufacturing,
which not only employed thousands of workers,
but helped power the city,
and also allowed them to become an economic powerhouse
within the UK.
It was in the railways where Manchester United
were first formed.
[machine humming]
Originally named Newton Heath
due to their factory's location,
their first ever game was against the engineering
and maintenance workers in what was classed
as the very first Manchester Derby.
But at the very beginning, Newton Heath did not play
in their trademark red kits.
Instead, they wore a green and yellow striped shirt
with black lace ties as pictured here
in one of their first ever team photos.
Newton Heath eventually changed their name
to Manchester United in 1902,
after joining the Football Alliance in 1888,
and moved to their newstadium, Old Trafford, in 1910.
United went on to win LeagueOne for the first time in 1908.
And again won it in 1911 under the management
of Ernest Mangnall.
By the end of World War I,
the football industry was the biggest it had ever been.
Thousands of fans attended matches every week
with teams like Manchester City and Newcastle
selling out seats at Wembley Stadium
for the final of the FA Cup.
Manchester Unitedunfortunately failed to achieve
any success post-World War I
and were labeled as the yo-yo team
because of their constant rise and fall
throughout the football leagues.
In 1939, Britain was at war with Germany once again.
Football was still held as a morale booster,
but due to the ongoing war effort,
teams all over Britain were not competing
at the same high standard as before.
In 1941, German bombers destroyed Old Trafford
as they aimed to take out the factories within the city.
Because of this, football stopped at Old Trafford
for another eight years as the focused turned
to the war effort and rebuilding the city.
After the Second World War has ended,
Manchester United were appointed with a new manager.
This manager was a previous player
who had achieved a lot of success
during his career playing for Liverpool,
the Scottish national side, and United's rivals,
Manchester City, but this manager would go on
to be the best United had ever had.
That manager was Matt Busby.
- He was the most famous manager for many years.
Possibly the most important manager in their history.
He was the one who took them from a decent club
to being the best in the country.
He could well have been theLiverpool manager at one stage.
He was a Liverpool player.
There was a few Liverpool fans out there and I think,
that would have made a big difference, wouldn't it?
You know, he was the person who drove a lot
of what Manchester United became.
So, for example, in particular with European competitions,
he was the one who said I want our team to play in Europe.
When, at that time, that wasn't a good thing.
The FA, I think the Football League as well,
at the same time, didn't reallywant English clubs to play
in the competition and he was the one who
forced that through, and look at the legacy of it now.
The Champions League and obviously English clubs
doing well in it as well.
So that's just one legacy,
and then you got the playing side of it as well,
where, obviously, he had a situation whereby
he wanted to bring the best young players,
and he wanted them to play football, the right way.
And that's continued ever since.
- [Narrator] Going into the 1950s,
Matt Busby introduced a new team lineup
filled with new youth players.
This team would go on to be a huge success once again,
and the team were labeled as The Busby Babes.
- Busby, when he came in, he had a philosophy of
he liked young players.
He liked them to go out there and play with no fear
so that they were exciting, they attacked more,
and that was the way that Manchester United,
he liked them to play, he wanted them to play.
It wasn't necessarily too different
from other teams at the time,
but it was with the younger players coming through.
And then he had that great, the Busby Babes,
which he had a group,
a lot of them coming through at the same time,
and that's where he kind ofdeveloped a reputation worldwide
because I remember when I was growing up.
My dad wasn't a Manchester United fan, but he said to me
I watch Manchester United play and I watch the Busby Babes.
So even someone who wasn't a Manchester United fan
and not necessarily a football fan,
he was proud of the fact that he had seen that team play,
which says everything about what was being created.
The fact that it wasn't just for football fans,
just for Manchester United fans.
It's for all people out there that enjoyed what he brought.
- [Narrator] Manchester United became England's
first representatives in the European Cup.
Busby was delighted by this,
despite being hit with controversies by the FA.
Busby ignored the criticisms
and was determined to bring the European Cup home
and to make them champions of Europe.
United lost out, losing to Real Madrid in the semifinal
of the European Cup in 1957,
which devastated the United squad,
but a year later, things looked to be going
in United's favor when it came to winning the title.
- Well, they became league champions.
So to have a team when you have so many young players who
were representing your club, being successful at club,
and also being international as well,
that says how good a side they were.
A good analogy is if you think about The Beatles.
It was a case of I saw The Beatles at The Cavern.
I saw Matt Busby's babes in that time.
It was an I was there moment.
Unfortunately, it didn't last too long
for a very sad reason.
[serious music]
- [Narrator] Whilst in Yugoslavia, United went on
to beat Red Star Belgrade 5-4 in aggregate,
allowing them to reach the semifinals
for the second year in succession.
Their title hopes were looking promising.
But on their way from Yugoslavia,
whilst refueling at Munich,
the United squad would face a tragedy
that devastated English football and the world.
[gentle music]
- This is Old Trafford and, today,
it's the heart of a mourning city.
Everybody in Manchester, everybody in Britain nearly,
is looking to this ground
and inside the staff are busy answering inquiries,
keeping relatives informed of the lengthy process
of the people who were injured in the crash.
And the one question that's in everybody's mind is
how is Matt Busby getting along?
This is the first thing that the taxi driver asked me
when I got out of the train at the station just now.
- Manchester United were playing in the European Cup
and it was frowned upon by the authorities.
They didn't really want English clubs playing there
so Matt Busby and the club said no we want to play in it.
We want to go out there and we want to represent England,
and we want to do well out there.
And they were playing in this match
and there was a lot of pressure on them to get back
'cause there was a fixture at the weekend,
and they had to get back in time,
and flights are not the same as they are now.
You can't have two, three, five, six, seven a day.
At that time, it was you get the one a day.
They played the match and they had to get the flight home.
Now, the conditions were awful, dreadful.
Now, I don't know whether pressure was put on the pilot
to say let's get this flight off the ground,
but it probably, in hindsight,
which very few people have us have,
in hindsight, obviously, it couldn't have taken off.
But if it hadn't have taken offand they'd have stayed there
they would have been in massive trouble
with the authorities that they wouldn't have been able
to fulfill their fixture.
And that might have been the end
of European football for English clubs
because there might have been clubs
might have said that's it.
We probably don't wanna do this then
if we're gonna get into troublefor these types of things.
It took off.
Unfortunately, it crashed.
It was a horrific moment for the club, the players.
There was a lotta young players who died.
There was staff who died.
My uncle, he was a Manchester United fan,
and I remember my dad telling me that
he didn't talk for two or three days.
And that's the kind of impact it had in that
you had such an exciting, such a young team, denied.
Denied the opportunity to go on even just that season.
Denied the opportunity to go on
and possibly win the European Cup.
Denied the opportunity to play for five, 10 years.
And it was devastating.
- [Narrator] Football plans all over England
were shocked by the news and sent their thoughts
to all the relatives of the ones who had passed away
in the disaster.
- [Journalist] How do you feel about this tragedy?
- [Man] Well, too poor for words, really.
I feel like that we lost a great sportsman
and terribly upset.
- The fact that you're not a Manchester Man
makes no difference? - Makes no difference.
They're a fine team and I'm very sorry.
- What's your main thought at the moment?
- Well, I hope they all soon get better and I hope.
Well, I just hope that.
No words I can express that.
I just hope they pull together
and try and forget all of that.
- We must, of course, send a message to the bereaved
to say how upset we are and distressed for them,
and send our best wishes to the survivors
and hope that they get along
and come back to us in Manchester very soon.
- [Narrator] Matt Busby spent months recovering in hospital.
Doctors initially said his chances of survival
were no better than 50-50.
But the whole of England was behind his recovery.
And after two months, Busby was back home.
- They were his...
They weren't called babes for the wrong reason.
They were his kids almost.
He developed them and they were like a family to him.
So for him to lose that and then have to come back
to, let's be honest, it's just football,
must have been tough.
- [Narrator] In 2006, Sir Bobby Charlton,
who survived the disaster, spoke out on his experience
during and after the crash in an interview
that was extremely personal and rare.
- Well, I just put my head down.
I think I put my head down and the next thing I remembered
was waking up away from the airplane,
and I was sitting strapped into a seat.
I woke up the following morningand a German read them out.
So I'd been asleep for,
I don't know how long they knocked me out for.
And that's how I found out who was alive and who was dead.
I never come to grips with it.
I see quite a few of the relatives from time to time
and I do feel a little bit guilty.
It's our national game.
It's our national game and we were not only
representing Manchester when we went,
we were representing the country.
And I think that it's worth remembering all.
I wouldn't say remembering too much,
but never forgetting, that's true.
[solemn music]
[upbeat rock music]
- [Narrator] The early '60s was tough for United
as they didn't seem to get any form of success
despite bringing in some big names, such as Dennis Law.
The Busby Babes name was also dropped
as it was seen as inappropriate for the time.
The nickname for the team was changed
to the Red Devils as that name was seen
as intimidating when going against other teams.
Despite coming 19th in the 1962-1963 season,
United did manage to come back to beat Leicester City 3-1
to win the FA Cup the same year.
That following season, United brought in a new player
to the starting 11.
This player was only 17 when he made his first team debut
and would go on to be one of United's star players.
This player was George Best,
and together with Bobby Charlton and Dennis Law,
became one of the best attacking forces
United had ever seen.
Things only got better for United
as they went on to beat Benfica
in the European Cup final, 4-1,
helping United to become the first English team
to win the European Cup.
- The team which Matt Busby built
had three of the best players in the world up front.
If you had one of them, you were lucky.
He had a Northern Ireland international.
He had an England international.
He had a Scottish international.
And all three of those teams were blessed
with the fact that they had George Best,
Dennis Law, and Bobby Charlton.
But to have all three of those on the same team
meant that they had a team, which was capable of
beating the best in the world
and they showed it on that night when they beat Benfica
in extra time in the European Cup final.
All of them came to the fore.
All of them played well, got important goals.
And that was just a fantastic strike force
and a fantastic team.
- [Announcer] Bobby Charlton made it 4-1.
Manchester United had well and truly done it.
They were supreme soccer champions of Europe.
At last, Matt Busby, the maestro of Manchester United,
had groomed a team great enough to beat Europe's best.
- [Journalist] It's been a wonderful climax
to a wonderful season for you.
- It certainly has.
It seems as though one thing has been going
to the top of another.
It has been wonderful.
- [Journalist] What was your reaction
when you heard this news?
- There was a feeling of,
naturally, I was delighted and very proud.
I felt that this has been brought about
by people, both by a lot of people around me
who are probably due more credit than I am.
There's my wife and family, my mother.
All the football people, the teams, and the players.
And really they've contributed to the position
more than probably I have done.
- As your career has reached each new pinnacle,
the rumors have come that you're going to retire.
Will you retire this time?
- Yeah, well, I keep hearing this.
I don't feel as though I'm ready for that just yet.
When my directors and the club itself
have had enough of me, I'd probably start considering it.
- [Narrator] After the 1968-69 season,
Busby did go on to retire.
It was the end of an era for the United squad,
and fans praised Busby for the work he had done with United,
achieving five First Division trophies, two FA Cups,
five FA Charity shields, and one European Cup,
making 13 incredible career trophies.
However, after a miserable season in 1970-71,
McGuinness, who had taken over the managerial role,
quit due to the fans' and board's
lack of faith in his system.
Busby was convinced to come back
and put the team back in order.
Unfortunately, at this period of time
United's relationship withtheir star player, George Best,
was getting extremely heated,
and it looked like Best's interest was on other things
away from United.
- [Journalist] Earlier, Sir Matt had watched the United
players train at their practice ground.
Best should have been among them,
but once again he failed to turn up or send a message.
Sir Matt returned to his office at Old Trafford,
found his directors, and called a press conference.
- [Journalist] Sir Matt, there's some talk
about George being ill and this having a bearing
on the present squad.
Have you heard anything to this effect?
- My dear fellow, I haven't heard a thing since Friday.
Since Thursday.
Friday morning, haven't heard a thing.
Saturday, Sunday, and this morning.
- [Journalist] In fact, you have no idea
where he is, Sir Matt?
- I couldn't tell you whether he's in Manchester,
or whether he's in England or London.
I couldn't tell you.
I have no contact, he's made no contact.
Now as I said to you, all you lads this morning,
he knows where to find me.
The door is there waiting for him.
I am not going looking for George Best.
- George Best was probably a first
for the football industry, certainly this country,
in the sense of he wasn't just a footballer.
He was a superstar, on and off the pitch.
And unfortunately the trappings of being a superstar
caught up with him.
- [Man] This morning United's manager, Frank O'Farrell,
in his confrontation with George Best
had to decide both how much punishment
to hand out to his star player
and how indispensable Best was to the team.
United's shock was an indication of the way the fans
regard Best, the biggest crowd puller in British football.
He has the lion's share of the souvenir market.
- You look at the highlight's reel that,
the goals that he scores, the chicks that he has,
and the pitches that they played
in those days as well, you can imagine him
playing on the pitches these days.
He'd be a Lionel Messi.
And he'd have the same kind of things
that Lionel Messi has now to protect him.
Some of the things that,
he didn't have quite so much protection in those days.
So George Best, the best playerin the world at that time,
but just probably the wrong era.
- [Man] The club says that his problems are not new
and don't involve either his girlfriends or his wages.
It's thought he decided to play truant
after a loss of form and depressing inability to regain it.
Club officials feel his football concentration
and therefore his chances of getting back into top gear
are diverted by hisconsiderable business interests,
leadership of Manchester's discotheque world
and life continually in the public eye.
The club feel an accumulation of these problems
caused their most famous playerto give into the pressures
and the strain.
- [Narrator] After some lackluster performances
from Best at the start of the 1970s,
and the lack of any real respect for training sessions,
Best eventually left the squad in 1974
along with Bobby Charlton, who left just a year before.
After Busby's short return,
United went through a rollercoaster of seasons,
finding themselves going through manager after manager.
Tommy Docherty took over after Busby
and saw United get relegatedfor the first time in 36 years.
Dave Sexton quickly took over from Docherty,
but again, failed to achieve any form of success.
- Whenever the top person leavesany kind of an organization
perhaps certainly within a football club,
there's always that periodwhereby it's gonna be different
and when you have someone who is so, so successful,
it's very rare that the next person who comes in
can match that success.
In recent years, you might have had that
at Barcelona or Real Madrid, Bayern Munich,
Manchester City possibly as well.
But in those days it was very rare.
Liverpool, they did it.
But other clubs didn't at the time.
So replacing Matt Busby, it was the job you didn't want.
You kind of like wanted to be the person after the person.
But unfortunately they, from their point of view,
they never quite got it back.
Well, not for many years did they get it back.
And went through a huge slump
where they actually dropped out of the top division,
which, for a club the size of Manchester United, is,
should have been unheard of.
- [Narrator] United finally settled on Ron Atkinson
in 1981, who had proven himselfwith West Bromwich Albion
the past couple of seasons.
Atkinson brought life back to the United team.
They were playing attractive football again,
and their new signings such as Bryan Robson,
who went on to become thelongest serving United captain,
became club legends.
In Atkinson's second season with the club,
United went on to win the FA Cup,
the first trophy the club had won in six years.
He then went on to win it the next season,
allowing Atkinson to win the respect of the United fans.
But this was sadly short-lived as Atkinson
found himself sacked in 1986
after almost getting United relegated
due to an appalling couple of seasons.
After Atkinson's dismissal, United were looking
for an experienced manager to help United
get back to the top of the league.
It didn't take long for them to turn their attention
to the extremely successfulScottish manager, Alex Ferguson.
- Alex Ferguson, when he came to Manchester United,
was a winner.
In Scotland, since 1960s, only two clubs had ever
won the Premier Division in Scotland
apart from Celtic and Rangers.
Dundee United did it once,
Aberdeen did it three times, all under Ferguson.
They won the cup their four times.
They won a European Cup Winners' Cup.
So to have a manager who'd come into a club,
which wasn't one of the big two, and dominate,
for a good few years, six, seven, eight years,
to dominate that division, that's a winner.
But it was also successful in Europe as well,
which for Scottish teams, Celtic did it, Rangers did it,
but for Aberdeen to go intothe European Cup Winners' final
and beat Real Madrid, Aberdeen.
That says that's a guy who can do it on a domestic stage
and on a world stage,
and that's what Manchester United needed.
- [Narrator] Despite Alex Ferguson's legacy with United,
his first couple of seasons were not positive
in the slightest.
Ferguson stated after he almost lost his job in 1989,
that it was the darkest day in his life,
but with the backing of the board going into the 1990s,
Ferguson was to change the team completely.
And in the season of 1992-93,
went on to win the first ever Premier League title.
The first league trophy in over 26 years.
- The happiest day of my life, happiest day of my life.
- I've been waiting 26 years to watch United win the title.
To be able to celebrate it at home, it's fantastic.
Feel absolutely superb.
- It's going to be one hell of a party!
[crowd chanting]
- There were lots of momentswere things could have changed,
it could have been different, and some of those moments,
one of them occurred in the last season
before the Premier League where Manchester United
were going for the league with Leeds,
and probably could and should have won it.
They were the better team throughout that season,
but Leeds just about held them off.
There was a game against Liverpool,
which Man United fans will remember,
where they lost 2-0 and Liverpool fans
were singing You Will Never Win The League.
I think they regretted that.
- [Narrator] United amazingly followed this up
by winning the league again.
The first time they had won a second consecutive title
since 1957.
They also went on to win the FA Cup that same year,
making it the club's first ever double
in the club's history.
Ferguson was branded as a club legend
just five years after he had been branded as a failure.
But fans were also attributing this win
to one of their most recent bargain signings
from league winners, Leeds United.
That player would be known by fans as King Eric Cantona.
- At the start of the first season of the Premier League,
Leeds United were the championswith Harold Wilkinson,
and he rang up Ferguson,
was interested in signing Denis Irwin,
fullback for Manchester United,
and during that conversation, Ferguson said,
"What about Eric Cantona, is he available?"
And that was the first contact between the two clubs
and eventually he signed and a bargain price.
Got him, I think it was less than 1 million pounds.
But it wasn't Manchester United who initiated that.
It was actually the Leeds manager
who was the one who made the first phone call.
So pivotal moments.
What would have happened if Wilkinson hadn't have
rang them up?
Could have been a completely different story.
- [Narrator] Sadly, in 1995, Cantona got into a vast array
of league troubles after he
assaulted a Crystal Palace supporter
after getting sent off during their game.
- [Announcer] Oh, what's going on here?
Cantona is getting involved with some supporters.
Ah, this is outrageous.
- He's been doubted by Manchester United.
He's lost money, he's lost the captaincy of the French team,
and he suffered a fine which is double the maximum amount,
which he could face in the court case.
- Cantona was a massiveinfluence on that dressing room.
In particular, through those first four or five years
where they had not won it.
They had a person who had won it with Leeds,
so you had a winner already in his squad.
I think towards the end of his career,
it got to the stage whereby you had players
in that dressing room who were winners now.
So his influence wasn't quite so important,
so therefore it wasn't quite so much of a loss
that he left.
If he'd have left earlier on,
then I think it would have been a massive lost,
but because you had the Bruces, the Pallisters,
those types of characters, whereby, you know, winners.
They wouldn't let it happen to their football club,
the fact that just one player left.
And, of course, you had Ferguson who was a winner
in Scotland and now a winner in England.
And the way that he dealt with all players,
all scenarios, he made sure that he was the one in charge.
- [Narrator] Despite the setback,
United went on to win the league once again,
even with their top scorer out of the squad.
By the mid 90s, a lot of United fans were noticing
that with their recent incredible seasons,
Ferguson was matching the style of Matt Busby
by bringing in some iconic youth players.
These youth players would go on to form one
of the strongest squads the football world has ever seen.
- One of the most important things
for Manchester United over the years
has been developing young players.
They did it with the Busby babes.
They did it to a lesser degree in the '70s.
In the 1980s, they had Norman Whiteside
who came through at the age of 17.
He played in two World Cups by the age of 22.
So you had players who were always coming through,
and something which Ferguson was well wanting to do.
He was fortunate in the sense
that he got all of them at the same time.
He had Beckham, Butt, Scholes, Giggs, the Neville brothers.
It may never happen again that you have
that many top quality players, top quality young players,
coming through at the same time.
But they needed to be looked after
because it could have gone wrong.
Giggs was the first one.
Giggs was the first one
and Ferguson was very, very clever with him.
He'd seen what had happened with George Best
and he wanted to make sure, we're gonna look after you,
and became arguably one of their greatest ever players.
The other ones that you had.
You had Paul Scholes who was the complete opposite
of David Beckham in the sense
of didn't want any media spotlight whatsoever,
but loved playing football.
Was incredibly feisty.
Tack at midfielder but quality as well on the ball,
and he used him very cleverly.
Sometimes he could play upfront,
sometimes he could play at midfield.
Sometimes he could be the enforcer.
Then you had the Neville brothers.
Gary Neville after about 20 oddgames with Manchester United
was in the England team.
So that's how good not only did Manchester United
think he was, but also the England team.
And actually his brother, pretty quickly,
a lot of people thought he would be better than Gary.
It didn't quite work out like that,
but he had a fantastic career as well with Manchester,
and to a lesser degree with Everton.
And Nicky Butt as well
who was probably the lesser one of all of them,
probably because he had Roy Keane ahead of him.
But Nicky Butt was vital
in that European Champions League final
because neither Scholes or Keane were available
so Butt had to be in there,
and he had to be the one who did that midfield,
he sought it out midfield.
So he played a huge role in their success.
- [Narrator] After returningfrom Preston North End in 1996,
David Beckham went on to be one of the best youth players
as well as becoming a club
and all-around footballing legend.
But with his incredible skill came the endless media
attention and fame that once plagued George Best
back in the late 1960s.
[hip music]
- David Beckham, as a player for Manchester United,
was probably the best crosser of the ball
in European football, possibly in world, football,
and he was vital to that Man United team.
He worked hard, he scored goals, he set up goals.
He had a great relationship with Gary Neville
down at the right hand side,
both for United and also for England.
So you had one of the bestplayers in Europe in that team.
And you've got the likes of Scholes.
You've got upfront Cole, York,
and he would provide the goals for them.
It's no coincidence that when it all went
pear-shaped a little bit with Manchester United
and then he left, the team thatbought him was Real Madrid.
Now Real Madrid might well have bought him half
for his media personality and what he could bring
as far as selling shirts.
But when he actually got in that team,
who took the free kicks?
David Beckham took the free kicks.
When you have a team which has got Roberto Carlos,
Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham is still
taking the free kicks.
Even Real Madrid knew he was a pretty good player.
- [Narrator] United continued to win titles during the '90s.
In 1996, they became the first English club
to win the double for the second time.
By 1997, they had also won the league four times
under the management of Ferguson.
[players cheering]
But going into the 1998-99 season,
United's youthful squad were hungry for more,
and it was clear to see after the first few games
that this was going to be a season to remember for United.
- There was one crucial moment in that whole season,
which might well be overlooked
just on the basis of what's happened since,
but Ferguson brought in a coach
roundabout Christmas, New Year period
by the name of Steve McLaren, and, you know, decent coach.
He came from Derby.
From that moment on, ManchesterUnited didn't lose a game
for the rest of the season.
So it's no coincidence.
Ferguson liked doing the coaching,
but he also liked to freshen things up
and getting different people coming in.
Get different ideas and that worked that season.
He got someone in, fresh ideas,
and momentum built from then.
Through the FA Cup, early rounds,
staying in the Premier League title.
It was them and Arsenal for the Premier League,
all the way through.
And it was touch and go, it was very, very tight.
Same with them in the FA Cup.
Arsenal was still in the FA Cup.
Champions League...
Same top quality size they're going in that as well.
So there was a three-pronged attack,
trying to win three trophies,
which no one had ever done it previously.
Liverpool had done it with the League Cup,
but not with the FA Cup so you had something,
which had never been done before.
And there were some matcheswithin that were turning points.
One, the FA Cup semifinal.
Two minutes to go, the scores 1-1.
FA Cup semifinal replay, 1-1, a few minutes to go.
Already down to 10 men.
Manchester United with Keane sent off.
Penalty, almost likely, goal goes in, end of match.
Arsenal through to the FA Cup final,
probably win the FA cup,
and that might well have affected what happened
with Manchester United in the league.
Schmeichel saves the penalty, into extra time,
and Giggs scores the goal of the century.
And shows off his hairy chest.
- [Announcer] Comes back at him.
It's a wonderful run for Giggs!
Sensational goal for Ryan Giggs
in the second period of extra time.
He's cut Arsenal to ribbons and the team with 10 men
go back in front 2-1.
- That night, Manchester United knew, right,
realistically we're probably going to win that one.
Let's concentrate on the other two.
But they had to keep on itbecause it was Saturday-Tuesday,
Saturday-Tuesday, Saturday-Wednesday, like that,
throughout the entire, pretty much from Christmas onwards.
So they needed a squad and suspensions came in,
for all the competitions.
So players' injuries, were missing from matches,
somehow they did it.
- [Narrator] United won the league once again,
and also went on to win the FA Cup against Newcastle United.
But Ferguson didn't want to stop there
as the only achievement he hadn't got yet
was winning the Champions League.
With this title, Ferguson wouldhave matched Busby's record
and would go on to become United's most successful manager.
But in the 1999 final, they had to face up
against the almost undefeated Bayern Munich
in what would be the clash of the titans.
- The Champions League final against Bayern Munich.
The first time Manchester United
had been in the European final for many, many years.
And young squad.
Missing two important players in Scholes and Keane.
One who downed very early on.
Schmeichel had been a fantastic player
throughout the entire season,
possible error there, free quick.
Went one way, the ball went where he was stood.
And then, as the game went on,
Bayern Munich were absolutely fantastic.
Hit the post, hit the bar, created chances.
And as it's going on you're just thinking
was it still only 1-0?
And they must have thought that as well,
"Is it still only 1-0?"
So if we can get that goal it's into extra time.
And they did with one minute to go.
- [Announcer] They've got that one away, have they, as well.
Giggs plans it back in and Sheringham
has a cause for Manchester United!
Can you believe this?
- 50 seconds later, it's not 1-1, it's 2-1,
and Manchester United suddenly have
won the Champions League trophy.
The Champions League trophy they picked up
had Bayern Munich's ribbons on it
because they didn't have enough time
to take the ribbons off to put Manchester United's on there.
That's how crazy it was.
- [Narrator] Despite United having an extremely young
and inexperienced side, thanks to a last minute goal
by Ole Gunnar Solskjfr,
Manchester United had made history
and became the first club in English history
to win the Premier League, the FA Cup,
and the Champions League all in a single season.
- [Announcer] Beckham to swing this one in again.
Sheringham wings it, Solskjfr with the goal
for Manchester United!
[crowd cheering]
- Ferguson's United had done the unthinkable.
He had also become the mostsuccessful manager in the sport.
- [Journalist] Well, Alex, many congratulations.
Has it sunk in yet?
- It has now.
I was fine after the game 'causeI just couldn't believe it
and when I got back to the town, saw my family,
and I was able to enjoy it.
- [Journalist] Now what does this success
mean to you personally?
- I think I've achieved.
I mean, I'd probably say I did achieve as a young manager,
coming to Manchester.
I did Aberdeen and things like that.
So I wasn't gonna let that affect my life.
But he would have saw that there
is a fulfillment in doing it.
[crowd cheering]
[hip hop music]
- [Narrator] Moving into the 2000s,
United were on top of the world
thanks to the motivation of winning the first ever
triple in English football.
They went on to win the Premier League
in 2000, 2001, and 2003.
But, unfortunately, around this time,
the relationship between Beckham and United
was breaking down, and on the first of July, 2003,
Beckham was sold to Real Madrid
for a fee of 33.7 million pounds.
- I have joined a club that is a massive club.
If I was gonna leave Manchester United
at any time in my career,
then to join a massive club like Real Madrid is a dream.
I think that I'll miss the fans
and the players that I've grown up with
because I've regarded the players
at Manchester United as my family,
and I've got a lot of very special friends there,
lots of special people.
Everyone's been very kind to me in Manchester
and looked after me for 13 years.
Obviously I'm sad to leave them,
but I'm joining Real Madrid and that, for me,
is as exciting as it gets to be honest.
- [Narrator] With Beckham's departure,
Ferguson was in need of a new number seven.
In a preseason friendly betweenUnited and Sporting Lisbon,
his prayers were answered as he went on to sign
what would be one of football'sgreatest players ever,
Cristiano Ronaldo.
- The story goes that at halftime
the Manchester United players had been
given the run around about by this kid
that they know almost nothing about,
so much so that they are walking in the dressing room
at halftime and saying to the Manchester United manager,
Alex Ferguson, you have to sign this boy.
John O'Shea, experienced Manchester United defender,
was twisted inside out in the first 45 minutes by Ronaldo,
an extraordinary performance.
And the story goes that Alex Ferguson
got on to the United kit man, told him to find Peter Kenyon,
the chief executive of the club,
and to immediately been negotiations with Sporting
during the second half to make sure that Manchester United
can sign this kid before anybody else did.
Actually, Ronaldo had already touted himself a little bit
towards Liverpool.
He'd said what a thrill, what an honor it would be
to be involved in such a club with such tradition.
Arsenal had met with his agent.
But Alex Ferguson, on the say so of his players,
made sure that in the second 45 minutes
of this exhibition match that they pretty much had Ronaldo
by the time the final whistle went.
- So Alex Ferguson said,
"Cristiano, I want that you come to Manchester United.
"You're gonna play 50% of the games."
Make me feel comfortable and I said wow.
18 years old to play 50% of the games.
For me, it's unbelievable.
This is why I, you know.
I take that decision because of course George help me
to take that decision.
And, of course, the last word of Sir Alex Ferguson
was the key to sign for Manchester United.
- [Narrator] Ronaldo quicklydeveloped in his time at United
and became the top scorer season after season.
2005 saw United under a lot of backlash
as the club were to be bought out
by US tycoon and NFL owner, Malcolm Glazer.
This deal meant that Glazer owned 75% of the club,
taking away all of the fans say in the club's management.
This deal sparked a vast array of outrage
by fans who wanted Glazer out immediately.
[fans chanting]
- Not for sale!
- [Together] We're not for sale!
We're not for sale, we're not for sale!
- There was a change in ownership at Manchester United
and change in philosophy because it was deemed
that the club then, any money that was being made,
was just gonna go to shareholders
as opposed to going back into the club.
There was a lot of backlash against Manchester United,
and it's never stopped, to be fair.
But the irony on it was it actually
made Ferguson's life a little easier
'cause he didn't have to deal with quite so many people.
He literally would just deal with a couple of the family.
And they carried on winning the leagues.
The first three years after the takeover,
they won the league one, two, three years on the trot.
So it was very, very difficult for United fans
to have a real good go, I mean it did,
when your team's beingsuccessful on the field of play.
And Ferguson was still there.
If Ferguson had left, that would have
been a different matter because then they could have
blamed the Glazers for Ferguson leaving.
But, he didn't, he stayed and they carried on doing
what Manchester United do,
and that's winning trophies and being,
not only that, the best team in Europe as well.
- [Narrator] Despite the ongoing protests
regarding the ownership of the club,
United continued to sign some pretty big names,
and in 2006, went on to sign the young striker
and Everton wonder boy, Wayne Rooney.
[hip music]
- Wayne Rooney's strengths were he could score goals,
he was skillful, he was hard.
He could do a tackle or two.
Very strong, particularly for his age.
He picked up a few injuries, but generally speaking
he was injury-free for a lot of that time.
You feel for him from an England point of view
because all the burden was put on him
to try and save which was a pretty ordinary England time
post-Gerrard and Lampard,
he was the one who was supposed to take England on.
But for Manchester United, he fitted in perfectly
because he wasn't the be-all, end-all to Manchester United.
There were lots of good players around him.
But he was the kind of, him and Ronaldo were...
If you'd put two men on Ronaldo, Rooney would score
and vice versa, so he was perfect,
the pair of them together.
- [Narrator] United went on to win the league once again
in both 2007 and 2008.
But Ferguson didn't want tostop there and wanted the glory
of winning the Champions League once again.
But to achieve this, they had to beat their English rivals
and biggest competitors, Avram Grant's Chelsea.
- At that time, Manchester United were
overhauling Liverpool's record of domestic titles
in the Premier League,
and of course then the great rivalry between the two clubs
demanded that they win the European Cup
and try and close the gap between Manchester United
and Liverpool in terms of European Cup
and Champions League victories.
So this becomes a real focus for Alex Ferguson.
They hadn't won the Champions League since 1999.
And, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo is very, very aware
that you are never going to be seen
as being one of the world's great players
if you don't have a Champions League win.
So the game itself, two sides who know each other so well.
Ronaldo perhaps inevitably breaks the deadlock,
puts Manchester United in front,
but Chelsea is strong and Frank Lampard equalizes,
and there's really almost nothing to choose
between the two sides.
And it goes deep into the night into a penalty shootout
where Manchester United finally come out on top.
Ronaldo can celebrate being a Champions League winner,
but Ronaldo is the only Manchester United player
to miss from the penalty spot in the final,
which probably dampens his evening to a certain extent.
- [Announcer] He saved it!
Some things are just meant to be.
The man who has been unable to stop scoring all season
stopped half way through his run up
and Petr Cech kicked him out.
- But he finally has thatChampions League Winners' medal
and Manchester United have the trophy
for the first time in almost a decade.
- In my opinion, I play good in the game
and I scored a goal, and I missed a penalty.
I feel, well, the bad day of my life.
The worst day of my life. - The worst day of your life.
- Oh my God.
But the lads did a proper job.
- [Journalist] Is this your best team?
- I think it's gonna be their best team, yeah.
I mean, it's the achievement, fantastic achievement.
A great team, great team.
- And what about another European Cup for Manchester United?
- Fantastic, oh, we deserve it.
- [Narrator] United had done it again
and won their fifth double under Ferguson.
Unfortunately, once again, Ronaldo was one
of the biggest talking points regarding Manchester United.
Ferguson was showing his irritation within
press conferences because of this constant media talk.
- Can someone bring us in a violin case over please?
- Huh? - I'm not discussing that.
Okay, the matter's closed now.
He's a Manchester United player, it's finished.
- [Man] So then would you like to
say anything about the-- - It's finished.
- The situation of Cristian. - Yeah, it's finished.
He's here.
He's gonna be a player here next season, believe me.
- [Narrator] But on the first of July, 2009,
Cristiano Ronaldo followed in David Beckham's footsteps
and joined Real Madrid for a fee of 84.6 million pounds,
becoming the most expensive player in the sport.
This recent loss of Ronaldo didn't stop United
from achieving success.
- Thanks to their loyal players,
such as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville,
and Rio Ferdinand, they went on to
win the league again in 2011,
helping them to surpassLiverpool's domestic title wins
record and becoming the top team in England
with 19 Premier League trophies.
Ferguson also became the most decorated manager
in their history with 12 Premier League titles,
two Champions League wins, and four FA Cups.
It was the height of their success,
and it felt like nothing could go wrong for United.
- The rivalry betweenManchester United and Liverpool
has been there for many years.
When I was growing up, it was called the Clash of the Titans
or the Clash of the Giants and that was when Liverpool
were by far the best side,
and Manchester United for long periods
weren't even the second best side,
but that was always the game that you wanted to watch.
It was the one which meant the most, even above the Derbies.
You know, Manchester against Man City
or Liverpool against Everton.
Still that Manchester United-Liverpool game
was still the big one.
Then there was comments made by Kenny Dalglish
and other people to Fergusonand when they were saying those
Man United had 10, 12 less titles.
So you could get away with saying it.
That's all right, they'll never catch it up.
Well, they did, pretty quickly.
Yeah, it meant a lot to match them
then go one more than them,
and say we've won more league titles than you.
Liverpool will turn around and say
we've won more European Cups and more trophies altogether,
but ask any Liverpool player what's most important.
Winning the domestic league.
Same with a Manchester United player,
and same with the managers.
- [Narrator] In the season of 2012-2013,
United went on to win their 20th title
thanks to a wave of new signings,
such as Robin van Persie, who helped boost their success.
By the end of the season,
United fans and press were shocked
with the announcement made by Ferguson.
[smooth music]
- Ferguson had announced previously that he was gonna retire
and he'd done it halfway through a season,
and said at the end of next season I will retire.
And when they'd got into that season,
he felt he'd lost his players
because why play for this manager
because he's gonna be gone at the end of the season,
and they did pretty poorly that year.
But he relented, decided, no, I'm gonna stay on.
So second time around, he's gonna make sure, right,
I'm not gonna announce anythinguntil we've won the league.
Now at that time, Manchester City had arrived.
Suddenly they weren't just the noisy neighbors.
They were the team to beat.
Ferguson wanted to make sure that he didn't end
on a season whereby they weren't champions.
So during what turned out to be his last season,
no one really knew at that time, but that was the case,
he made sure that his team won the league that season.
And as soon as it was mathematically certain
then he announced that he would be
leaving at the end of the season.
Was it a bombshell?
Probably not too much of a bombshell
just on the basis that he'd done it previously.
And on the back of winning the league,
it seemed like the perfect time.
But it was a bombshell in the sense
of now we do have to find a replacement.
And that proved very difficult.
- [Narrator] Alex Ferguson had retired from the club.
It was the end of a glorious era
as they said goodbye to their longest serving manager
who had led them to becoming the best team in the world.
Off the back of this departure,
United were looking for their new manager.
Rumors were speculating some big names.
And the media turned the searchinto a big guessing game.
With Pep Guardiola and Mourinho out of the question,
one manager would remain.
That manager would be the former Everton manager,
David Moyes.
- Alex Ferguson didn't make many, if any, mistakes
during his time at Manchester United,
but he made one crucial one right at the end.
And that was not necessarily backing David Moyes
as in backing him with the board,
but in public he didn't back him
when he did his speech for his last match at home.
He stood on the field and he said,
"Just remember, when things weren't going well for me
"on the field of play, we were backed, I was backed.
"You are going to back your new manager."
And that sends out a mentality,message to the fans is that
your new manager is gonna be rubbish.
You're gonna have to back him.
- When bad times here, the club stood by me
all my staff stood by me, the players stood by me.
Your job now is to stand by your new manager.
[cheering]
- I just cannot imagine him doing that if had been Pep.
If it had been Klopp, if it had been Ancelotti,
if it had been Mourinho.
He'd never ever would have said that kind of message
in public, and that's the message we got through.
It's almost a case of giving David Moyes the,
there's my ship, and then just as you send it off
in the distance you just send a quick message
to everyone onboard, by the way, it's gonna sink.
And guess what happens?
Everyone onboard panics.
- [Narrator] Moyes did win an FA Community Shield
in his first official game with United,
beating Wiggan Athletic 2-0.
But within his single season at the club
only managed to get them to seventh in the league.
After 10 months in charge, Moyes was dismissed.
He was the shortest serving manager in United's history
with ex-players like Dennis Law and David Beckham
stating he deserved more time.
- Frustrating season, I think, for everyone.
You know, you win together and you lose togethr.
Like I say, these four remaining games
I want to bring some positivity back.
I want to put smiles on the faces.
We've got three home games at Old Trafford
where our form hasn't been great.
I wanna see goals, I wanna see tackles.
I wanna see players taking players on.
I want to get the crowd up
and I want the passion that should come
with being a Manchester United player.
- [Narrator] Ryan Giggs became the caretaker manager
for the last four games of the season,
but failed to impress the board.
Going into the 2014-15 season,
United looked to sign a highly experienced manager
who could take the club forward in a new direction.
That new manager was Louis van Gaal
who had a great track record of success
with other European clubs.
- [Journalist] I think we expect
to hear that van Gaal's gonna be appointed.
Is he the right man for Old Trafford?
- I mean, you hope so, again, only time will tell.
I thought David Moyes was a good choice.
You felt he should have maybe got a bit more time.
But van Gaal, obviously, vastly experienced manager.
Off the big clubs, Bayern and Barcelona.
He's been involved in national teams before.
Yeah, I think he's class, he'd come and do the business.
- [Journalist] They say that he's quite a disciplinarian.
Is that what the club needs at the moment do you think?
- Possibly so, but different managers
will have different styles and different character traits.
Yeah, I've heard that before.
He's pretty strict in terms of timekeeping
and stuff like that, but listen.
If you can't be on time for work
there's something drastically wrong.
So fingers crossed he'd come in
and United give him all the backing support that he needs.
And hopefully he'll get a lot more time
than David Moyes was given.
- Unfortunately, once again,
this role was unsuccessful and short-lived.
By the end of Van Gaal's career at United,
press conferences were getting heated
as the pressure was weighing up on his job,
leading to Van Gaal walking out on a few of them.
- Has anybody in this room
not a feeling to apologize to me?
Nobody has that feeling?
I wish you a Merry Christmas
and maybe also a Happy New Year when I see you,
and enjoy the wine and immense fire, goodbye.
- [Man] Louis, you are nottaking questions from the media?
- No.
- [Narrator] Van Gaal was givenmore time than David Moyce,
but in May 2016, Van Gaal announced his retirement
from football, two days after winning the FA cup.
Once again, United were having to look for a new manager.
Luckily, after the firing of Jose Mourinho
at Chelsea that same season,
United had an open target and approached him for the role.
Despite United and Chelsea's long rivalry,
facing against him multiple times in the Ferguson years,
Mourinho joined United on the 27nd of May, 2016.
- I think with Jose Mourinho, everything's exciting with him
whether it's good or bad, there's always a story,
there's always excitement.
United fans will love that.
- [Narrator] Under Mourinho, things looked to be improving
with United getting to the top of the league.
Mourinho also helped United to go on
to win the Europa League
and the English Football League Cup that same year,
earning United another double to add to their collection.
After a phenomenal first season,
Mourinho's United started to slip up once again.
In the season of 2017-2018, they finished second,
18 points behind their closest rivals Manchester City.
They also failed to gain any silverware
in any of the other competitions they were in.
- I'm really, really happy with the players
that I had on the pitch.
With their attitude, with theireffort, I'm more than happy.
I'm more than happy, and because I'm more than happy,
I assume the responsibilities of the defeat,
and I want them to be eating behind me.
They gave absolutely everything.
- [Narrator] That following season,
pressure was mounting on Mourinho once again.
Inconsistency was weighing on the club once again,
and the media was focusing on why Mourinho
was failing as a manager.
In a constant tussle with the press,
Mourinho finally lashed out at a journalist
in a post-match conference after losing 3-0
to Tottenham at Old Trafford.
- No, just to finish, do you know what was the result?
3-0.
3-0, do you know what this means?
3-0, but also mean 3 premierships
and I won more premierships alone
than the other 19 managers together.
Three for me and two for them.
- Just one second. - Respect.
Respect.
Respect, man, respect, respect.
Respect, man.
- [Narrator] A few months later,
Mourinho was fired from United,
and it was back to the drawing board once again.
By the start of the 2018-2019 season,
United was struggling to find anyone
for the management role.
In an act to boost morale for the players and the fans,
the board appointed the ex-player and club legend,
Ole Gunnar Solskjfr, in the caretaker management role.
But with his appointment, United's results flourished
as they went on to win game after game.
Within a few months,
the United board hired Ole as their new manager.
- I didn't even see the announcement of Ole coming.
It was a really big surprise that they picked him.
I thought they'd go somewhere else.
Some of the former players whose had bigger clubs,
who've been at the club from other parts of Europe.
It was kind of a clever move
because Ole's worked with Pogba,
he's worked with Lingard when they were in the reserves,
and they have huge respect for Ole.
Everyone has huge respect for Ole.
The potential as a coach was very, very early on.
It was very clear that he would be a really good coach.
- Hindsight's a wonderful thing, isn't it?
We'd all love to have it.
We kind of forget that when Ole came in,
Ole Gunnar Solskjfr came in initially
as a temporary manager, the results went [blowing]
straightaway, for a good period of time.
Wasn't one or two games, it was over a 15-game period.
They won 12 or something like that of the 15 games.
He'd have been a brave boy to have gone,
no, we're not gonna go that, we're gonna go somewhere else
because he would have got crucified.
Because they would have gone, well, what on Earth?
What more can he do?
But as soon as he was given the job, then it went
[blowing softly],
now why is that the case?
That's gotta be a bit of mentality down to the players.
I don't image for one second
that Solskjfr would have changed.
He still would have been doing the same things he
did during those first 15 games.
But the mentality of I'm playing for temporary manager,
all right, let's get, yes.
I'll work for you, work for you, work for you,
and then suddenly you're put full-time
it's, well right, okay, well,
I don't know whether it won't work for you
for two, three years.
And the personnel has changed a little bit,
and he'll have to change it a lot
because the policy of bringing in new players as well is.
That's dangerous because that's.
We talk about the Busby Babes.
You talk about the Class of '92.
These were quality, quality players.
Really, really good, young players.
But they also had some senior players around them.
I don't see too many senior players
around the Manchester United players
in this Ole Gunnar Solskjfr squad
with the exception of Pogba,
Mata, towards the end of his career.
And some of the other ones are the ones
who are getting slabbed more than any.
Phil Jones, Lukaku's left.
So there's no balance there and that's, is that his fault?
- [Narrator] To this date, Ole is still at the wheel
and continues to build a new, young United side.
With the same mentality as Ferguson and Busby,
Ole looks to be trying to encourage young players
to see their real potential.
And although they aren't what they used to be
in their glory days, maybe in the near future
United could bloom into the legendary team
like they did in the early 1990s.
- You've got to be patient.
You have to know that to build a team
and rebuild a squad it will take time to.
I'm not gonna ask for too much time
because as a manager you're always under pressure
to get results right away.
Or maybe not results, but maybe the way we wanna
play football so I hope with the way we
approach the games now, thefans will see what we're trying
to do and the results will come.
- The results have still been inconsistent
but the performances have been getting better
so we can see where we're heading
and obviously there's a lot of young players in the squad
and in the starting 11 so we're sort of learning
as we go along, but you know hopefully we can.
It's the first time we've had back-to-back wins
in the league so hopefully that can start something off
for us and we can get used to getting results
and performing.
[upbeat music]
- [Narrator] United have had a long
and rich history behind them.
They're still to this date the Premier League's
top winning team.
They have also become one of the biggest brands
in the industry, selling millions in merchandise
all over the world.
With over 650 million fans worldwide,
it's not hard to see why Manchester United
is a recognizable image known everywhere.
- They'll always be there or thereabouts and the size.
You can't pick a number and say
throw the statistics out there.
Richest club in the world this year is Real Madrid
and last year it was Manchester United.
Go into somewhere in Thailand and whatever
and walk up to someone and say
which football team do you know,and they'll pretty quickly,
Man United will be one of the first ones they say.
- [Narrator] With the statues of Matt Busby,
Alex Ferguson, as well as the Munich Air Disaster
Memorial Clock, United's historywill always be remembered
no matter what happens to them
on the pitch over the seasons.
Everyone will always know the team name, Manchester United,
and will always know of their hard-fought campaigns
and how they achieved their glory.