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| Nicky Butt ManUtd Cross Stitch made in 1997 |
November 2012, a special month for ManUtd supporters. Two major rvents will take place. First, ManUtd will be unveiling statue of Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford on the 23rd Nov ( Friday ). The nine-foot high structure is made out of bronze and sculpted by Philip Jackson. Second, the two upcoming matches against QPR (24th November) & West Ham (28th November) games have been designated as Cantona day, to mark the 20th year King Eric had signed for United.
As for me, its 20 years since i started supporting Manchester United. Can still recall the 'Road to Wembly' and its theme music. I first came to know about United through my Uncle ( Namasivayam ), who once was telling me about the Busby Babes. I was in primary school than. He was explaining on how the plane crashed and almost the whole team players had died. During this period of time where two legends were to start their first team appearance. In 1991 season Ryan Giggs had made his debut and played only twice. Peter Schmeichel & Andrei Kanchelskis were also bought in 1992. In 1992 Ryang Giggs & Lee Sharp were the young lads to make way into the first team. Ferguson had signed Cantona from Leeds in November 1992 where United was in the 10th position of the 22 team league . The League Championship in 1992/1993 was won by United with players like Bruce, Hughes, Robson, Parker, Giggs, Sharp, Kanchelskis, Dublin and Cantona.
Information & News of United
Back than it was difficult to get hold of current news and updates of United. Every Saturday night for an hour the goals will be shown on TV. Other updates can be read on Newspaper. There were official ManUtd magazine which cost around RM 6.50 in 1993 where it comes with 2 side large poster. To buy the magazine, had to travel from Supreme Garden to Butterworth Jetty ( Emporium / Parkson - locals will know ). From there had to cross over to Island by ferry. There is a mamak book store on the left just as you walk down the Penang jetty. Thats where you can get the ManUtd magazine. There were also two other magazine that carries out news on the English Primier League and it also comes with posters. It was the 'Match' and 'Shoot' magazine. This two cost RM 3+. With all these magazine, updates and news on United and the Premier League teams are on your fingertips.
In late 1990's i had planned to publish a own ManUtd book locally. I had manage to gain various information on the club. Back than Internet was not widely used and it was not an easy task to gain information. I had planned a book on United's history, Old Trafford, Museum, Busby Babes, Munich Air Disaster and many more information. Part of the information i will place below this post. I had compiled almost everything but could not proceed it to pronting due to certain reasons. I still have the files of the magazine.
Matches & Goals
Early 1990's there was not any cable TV. To watch a live game was difficult. Middle and late 1990's there were Mega TV which showed live of football games through ESPN Channel. But after a while the company shut down and ASTRO was already on the market. But to fix one at home was far expensive. Games could be watched at coffee shops. Chai Leng Park Coffee Shop ( behind old Fajar ) was one of the favorite spot for EPL games. As for Champions League games which takes place early morning, we usually watch from a coffee shop at Bagan Ajam. There are many memories and it was a great time. After every season ends i use to travel to Komtar where there was SPEEDY Video center to purchase VCR tapes of the entire season goals. I have various collection of VCR tapes ( 1992/1993, 1994/1995, 1995/1996, 1996/1997, 1998/1999 Cantona Special & Cantona Goals ). Few VCD's of 2000 era was borrowed and not return. Cant recall who had borrowed last from me.
The best season for me will be the 1995 where Cantona made his return after the 8 month suspension for the kung fu kick on a fan. The other will be the 1999 treble season. The best season with awesome matches. Champions league group stage with Barcelona, Home and Away with both ending 3-3. Than the Juventus Home game where Giggsy late equaliser followed by the away game where United won 3-2. A fren of mine ( Sambath ) who is a staunch supporter of Zidane and Juventus was yelling towards me through out the game.
We were watching it together at a shop in Raja Uda. 1st header by Keano to make it 2-1 i remained quiet. Second in by Yorke and with the 3rd in by Cole, wow that moment still fresh in mind. HA HA HA. The following week was Arsenal vs ManUtd. Again i was the target of my frens. But with Keano getting the red card, a penalty save by Schmeichel and a superb goal from Giggsy - what else can u ask for. I had watched the 1999 Champions league final together with my friends Raman & Varathan, outside a pub ( Zeferbay ) in Megamall. When the 1st goal went in, we were overjoyed and accidently kicked a table full of beer of a Chinese guy in front of us. But evan he couldn't be bothered of his beers and were celebrating the first goal. A moment later, the commentator famous quote remains part of history 'AND SOLSKJAER HAS WON IT. . . MANCHESTER UNITED HAVE REACHED THE PROMISED LAND!!! United won the treble.1999 Champions League Final at Nou Camp
1999 FA Cup Semi Final at Villa Park
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| Part of my '1 Side ' wall. |
As years pass, the passion to support the team u fancied during your teenage years remains. But those days were the best. One of my room were 99.9% full of united posters. I only have the partial of the 1 side wall of my room. All the 4 walls were full of posters since the year 1992. When i moved out from that house, i left all behind on the wall. Now the old posters are being sold in Ebay for a very good price. Much more expensive from the magazines i use to buy. Recently i was able to buy the France / Cantona flag. So its the 20th year of Eric Cantona and fans have also begun the annul '5 CANTONA' chanting to mark the arrival of Christmas ( a tradition in Old Trafford ). The flag is flying now in my room, at least till Christmas. Below is some of the history of ManUtd which i had collected back than. Now a click on Google, we can have them. A special post on the club where had given me so much of joy, heart break and it was surely a time well spent and worthy..
Brief History of ManUtd
A local Manchester team had started playing football in 1878. A group of railway workers making up the first team named Newton Heath. They played at a small ground in North Road on Monsall Road Newton Heath. The first season sounded success and soon picked up the nickname "The Heathens". In 1885 they turned professional and in 1888 they were admitted to the Football Alliance after their efforts to join the Football League failed. They played for three years in the Football Alliance. On 9th January 1902 William Healey, President of Newton Heath took the club to court to claim the money which the club owed him (£ 225.00- a lot of Money that time).
Unfortunately the club was declared bankrupt. Harry Stafford, the Heathens' full back and captain, became the club's most vigorous fund raiser. He pulled together enough money to cover travel expenses to the next game away to Bristol and found a ground for the club at Har Purhey. Stafford's fund-raising campaign was a success. Later, a fund raising bazaar was organized. According to legend, it was indirectly one of the most important events in the history of Manchester United.
It is said that Stafford had a St. Bernard dog, which was on show at the bazaar. One night it escaped. A businessman, John Davies saw it and liked it. Stafford asked him for a contribution to the funds in exchange when John Davies asked Stafford if he could have the dog. This meeting led to the saving of Newton Heath and the formation of Manchester United. John Henry Davies, and three other Manchester businessmen each invested £500 in return for a direct interest in the running of the club when Stafford asked them for help. By mid 1902, Davies was the as president of Newton Heath. He later paid £60,000 to build a new stadium, Old Trafford.
Newton Heath was saved but it was decided that in a spirit of renewal, the club should change its name. The players were no longer railway men and the ground was no longer at Newton Heath. It was Louis Rocca, who was later to play in Matt Busby's first super scout team, suggested the new name. Newton Heath became Manchester United. The club appointed its first paid secretary (manager) in 1892, Mr. A.H.Albut. A Scot named Robert Donaldson became the first player to score a league goal for the team.
In 1968, under the management of Matt Busby, Manchester United was the first English football club to win the European Cup, ten years after the Munich air disaster that claimed the lives of eight players. The current manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is the most successful manager in English football history, having won 27 major honours since he took over in November 1986.
Manchester United's first trophy was the Manchester Cup, which it won as Newton Heath in 1886.In 1908, the club won its first league title, and won the FA Cup for the first time the following year. In terms of the number of trophies won, Manchester United's most successful decade was the 1990s; the club won five league titles, four FA Cups, one League Cup, five Charity Shields (one shared), one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, one UEFA Super Cup and one Intercontinental Cup.
Old Trafford Theatre of Dreams
Newton Heath's first ground was at North Road, Monsall when the Heathens joined the Football league in 1892.Their playing surface was one of the worst in the competition. The changing rooms were half a mile away at the Three Crowns public house. In 1893, the club moved to Bank Street, Clayton. The pitch was little better than the one at North Road. In 1909, J.H Davies donated a huge sum of £60,000 for the purchase and development of a site at Trafford Park. Architect Archibald Leitch was given a budget of £30,000 for construction. The building was constructed by Messrs Brameld and Smith of Manchester. The new ground, was to be called Old Trafford. It was ready for use in 1910. Their first game at the new stadium was nearly a month later where a seven goal thriller game which was won by Liverpool. Old Trafford then had only one stand, situated where the Main Stand is today. The stadium's record attendance was registered on 25 March 1939, when an FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town drew 76,962 spectators.
During World War Two,on the night of 11 March 1941,German bombs landed on the ground, destroying the Main Stand, part of the terracing and the pitch. United were awarded £22,278 by the War Damage Commission to rebuild the ground. While reconstruction took place, the team played its "home" games at Manchester City's Maine Road ground; Manchester United was charged £5,000 per year, plus a nominal percentage of gate receipts. Later improvements included the addition of roofs, first to the Stretford End and then to the North and East Stands. The roofs were supported by pillars that obstructed many fans' views, and they were eventually replaced with a cantilevered structure. As United moved into the golden era of the 1960s, Old Trafford saw its greatest phase of improvement. The Stretford End was covered in 1959. The Stretford End was the last stand to receive a cantilevered roof, completed in time for the 1993–94 season. Four 180-foot (55 m) pylons were erected, each housing 54 individual floodlights was first used on 25 March 1957 and cost £40,000. These were dismantled in 1987 and replaced by a lighting system embedded in the roof of each stand, which remains in use today. In the days before all-seater stadia the Stretford End was a heaving mass of 15-20,000 standing United fans who were amongst the loudest in Britain. It was once measured that the roar from the crowd was louder than a Jumbo Jet taking off. The North Stand was demolished at the end of the 1994-95 season and was rebuilt as a three tier Stand making.Old Trafford once again became the biggest club stadium in England.
Location Sir Matt Busby Way, Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England
Broke ground 1909
Opened 19 February 1910
Owner Manchester United
Operator Manchester United
Construction £90,000 (1909)
Architect Archibald Leitch (1909)
Capacity 75,957 seated
1910 Opening of Old Trafford. Stand on railway side, terracing elsewhere.
1918 Corner sections beside Main Stand covered.
1941 Stadium damaged due to German bombs.
1949 Return to Old Trafford following exile at Maine Road.
1954 Main Stand returned to full use.
1957 Floodlights installed.
1959 Stretford End covered.
1965 Cantilever Stand on United Road side opened.
1972 K Stand opened.
1986 New floodlights installed on stand roof.
1990 United Road Paddock converted to seating.
1991 Paddocks in front of main Stand converted to seating.
1992 Stretford End demolished.
Dressing rooms and entrance tunnel moved. New Stand built.
1995 United Road Stand demolished and new three-tier North Stand built.
1999 Building of second tier on East Stand commences.
2000 Second tier at the Stretford End built.
Managerial History
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| Sir Matt Busby's team, also known as the Busby Babes |
List of Manchester United F.C. managers
1878–1892 Unknown
1892–1900 A. H. Albut
1900–1903 James West
1903–1912 Ernest Mangnall
1912–1914 John Bentley
1914–1922 Jack Robson
1922–1926 John Chapman
1926–1927 Lal Hilditch
1927–1931 Herbert Bamlett
1931–1932 Walter Crickmer
1932–1937 Scott Duncan
1937–1945 Walter Crickmer
1945–1969 Matt Busby
1969–1970 Wilf McGuinness
1970–1971 Matt Busby
1971–1972 Frank O'Farrell
1972–1977 Tommy Docherty
1977–1981 Dave Sexton
1981–1986 Ron Atkinson
1986 - Now Alex Ferguson
Munich Air Disaster
Munich, Thursday, 6th February 1958, 3.04pm
Matt Busby built the club's success from youth policy, set to dominate world football for many years. Nothing seemed to stop these young lads to achieve more success in world of football. The young Champions flew out of Manchester to face Red Star Belgrade. They held Red Star to a 3-3 draw and qualifies for the semi final. The aircraft carrying the united team back from Yugoslavia had stopped at the Munich airport for refueling.
After the refuel they all prepared for the take off to head back home. But Captain Kenneth Rayment cancelled it. By 2 pm it was ready once more for take off .The cause of the problem had been boost surging. It’s a very rich mixture of fuel causing the engines to over accelerate a fault which was quite common in the EIizabethan.At 2.34 pm permission for a second take off attempt was given by air traffic control and for a second time the plane came to a halt. Duncan Edwards had the chance to send back home a telegram to his landlady saying that the flight has been delayed.
It had begun to snow quite heavily. For the third time after the previous two take off were canceled due to technical problems. The Elizabethan left the runway, went through a fence and crossed a road before the port wing struck a house. The wing and part of the tail were torn off and the house caught fire. The cockpit struck a tree and the starboard side of the fuselage hit a wooden hut containing a truck loaded with fuel, tyres and the Babes were no more. Roger Byrne, Geoff Bent, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Liam Whelan, Eddie Colman and Tommy Taylor had been killed. Duncan Edwards and Johnny Berry were critically injured and fighting for their lives, Matt Busby had suffered extensive injuries and was the only club official to survive the crash.
“Manchester United aircraft crashed on take off. Heavy loss of life feared.” The BBC was the 1st to announce about the plane crash in Manchester. The whole of Britain was shocked with the news and was waiting for further details about it. Twenty-four hours later, as the whole of Europe reacted to the news of the tragedy, the Evening Chronicle listed the 21 dead on its front page with a headline: `Matt fights for life: A 50-50 chance now'. The confusion had been lifted. Munich disaster had claimed 21 lives, 15 were injured and Matt Busby were in a serious condition.
The Evening Chronicle also reported that its journalists Alf Clarke was talking to the reporters in Manchester about 2.30 pm when he said it was unlikely that the plane would be able to take off today. Nine players had survived, but two of them, Johnny Berry and Jackie Blanch never played again. Three weeks after the air crash, which had become known simply as `Munich', Duncan Edwards and Kenneth Rayment had lost their battle to live.
Bill Foulkes recalls what had happen before the tragedy:-
We had been playing cards for most of the time from Belgrade to Munich, and I remember when we left the aircraft wondering how cold it was. We had one attempt at taking off, but didn't leave the ground, so I suppose a few of those on board would start to worry a little bit, and when the second take-off failed we were pretty quiet when we went back into the lounge. Alf Clarke from the Evening Chronicle had put a call through to his office and we had to wait for him to catch up with us. We got back into our seats. I was sitting about half way down the aircraft next to a window. Ken Morgans was on my right, David Pegg and Albert Scanlon was facing us. Matt Busby and Bert Whalley were sitting behind us. Mark Jones, Tommy Taylor, Duncan Edwards and Eddie Colman were all at the back. David Pegg got up and moved to the back: `I don't like it here, it's not safe,' he said and went off to sit with the other players, Ray Wood, Jackie Blanchflower, Roger Byrne, Billy Whelan and Dennis Viollet. There was a lot of things flying past the windows and there was a terrible noise, like when a car leaves a smooth road and starts to run over rough ground”. The rest… all of us know now
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