The formal name of the club is Manchester United Football Club, or Manchester United FC.
They are also popularly known as the Red Devils. Founded in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR FC, the team train at their home base at Old Trafford, with a capacity of almost 76,000. Owned by the Glazier family, the team has Joel and Avram Glazer as co-chairmen and Sir Alex Fergusson as manager.
Manchester United have won the most league titles, 18, a record they share with Liverpool. Unlike Liverpool, however, who have yet to win a single Premier League, the Red Devils have won in 11 of the 17 Premiership seasons so far.
In the current season, United have won two of the three games played and currently sit third in the league table behind Chelsea and Arsenal.
Early Season Preview:
Manchester United would want to win the Premiership this season, for more than one reason. Apart from the obvious need to establish themselves as the best team in the race, the squad knows that this could be Sir Alex Fergusson’s last year in charge. And that the Premier League title could be the perfect parting gift.
In fact, this is Fergie’s 25th year, and even after a quarter century at the helm, her motivation is intact. The community crest, the traditional backdrop to the season, saw United lift the trophy by beating defending Premier League champions Chelsea. Was that a preview of bigger things to come?
This is the current lineup of the Red Devils: Van der Sar, Vidic, O’Shea, Evra, Jonathan Evans, Scholes, Nani, Giggs, Fletcher, Rooney, Berbatov, Kuszczak, Smalling, Owen, Hernandez, Carrick, Valencia and Rafael Da Silva.
Wayne Rooney has returned to the League after a forgettable World Cup, and he’ll want to put those memories behind him, the best way he knows how: by scoring goals. Rooney’s form, as always, will determine how the Old Trafford side present themselves in their Premiership campaign.
Sir Alex has had the legendary ability to spot little-known players who have performed brilliantly in top division football. Javier Hernández, signed this summer, belongs to this lineage. Hernandez did well in South Africa and has looked good in his short tenure with the Red Devils. As well as Javier, Fulham defender Chris Smalling is another promising signing for the summer. In departures from Old Trafford, United have sold Ben Foster.
The Premiership, in recent years, has become a two-horse race, between Chelsea and Manchester United. This year, I expect it to be a three-pronged affair, with Arsenal providing the third team for the triangular contest. From the evidence of the games played so far, I would support the Red Devils to mount a serious title challenge.