Manchester United Football club - the Red Devils - are a club with a long and rich history. They can trace their football league origins back over a century to the reign of Queen Victoria when on 3 September 1892, 8,000 people watched Newton Heath, in their first ever game, lose 4-3 to the mighty Blackburn Rovers on a wet and windy Ewood Park pitch. The fixture wasn't an easy one, away to a club that co-founded the Football League, won the F.A cup no less than five times and had seven internationals in their side. Although the odds were against them, the team showed a determination that has remained with them to this very day. And United would have their ultimate revenge 104 years later, regaining English footballs top prize the Premiership trophy on their way to an historic four Championships in five years. United had been founded as Newton Heath in 1878 by railway workers from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways. They had then been promoted to a 16-strong First Division after being runners up in the Football Alliance. But these early years for the club were a struggle, and their first ground at North Road, Newton Heath, was a far cry from the old Trafford of modern times. It had no changing facilities and a mudbath for a pitch: little wonder many visiting clubs complained about its state. Relegated to the second division, they battled debts and possible bankruptcy to stay alive. Under the ownership of John Henry Davies they changed their name to Manchester United in 1902: new funds were found and the first of Uniteds great players, Billy Meredith, was signed from Manchester City. Some commentators have dubbed Meredith, nicknamed the 'Welsh Wizard', the George Best of the Edwardian era. In his time at the club he certainly ushered in an era of his own, helping them and manager Ernest Mangnall win promotion to the First Division. The League Championship came in 1908 and 1911 while they also won their first FA Cup in 1909, and success allowed the club to make the bold move to purpose built stadium at Old Trafford. Holding 60,000 people, it was one of the finest sports grounds in the country and one fit for Champions. World War One soon interupted football, but when the league resumed, enthusiasm for the game had not been diminished.United benefited from this huge support, and in 1920, 70,504 people-a club record to this day-crammed into Old Trafford to see United play Aston Villa. But such support went unrewarded as United were relegated to the Second Division in 1922 and although they bounced back in 1925, they entered a very lean period in their history. Only 11,000 people watched Newcastle thrash United at Old Trafford in a 1930-31 season where they lost 27 games and won only seven. The rest of the 1930s were spent in relegation and pomotion between the divisions. A second World War again put an end to League football until 1946, and when peace resumed Old Trafford was a bombsite: the main stand had been destroyed and the pitch laid waste It would be three years before United would play again at home-but as fans were worrying about the future, United signed up former Company Sergeant Major Instructor Matt Busby to lick them into shape. The team the new manager created showed the promise that had been lacking in the 1920s and 1930s. The strike force of Jack Rowley and Stan Pearson shot them to the F.A Cup victory for the second time ever, beating Stanley Matthews Blackpool 4-2 and bringing the clubs first major honour for 37 years. The 1950s were a golden era for United. Matt Busby and his 'Babes' as the press called them, won three championships in a decade tinged with tradegy as well as triumph. The Munich air crash of 6 Febuary 1958 cruelly cut the lives of eight young United players and 13 other officials and pressmen travelling back from a European Cup Quarter-Final against Red Star Belgrade. Busby hovered between life and death as the country mourned the loss of such young talents as Tommy Taylor, Duncan Edwards and Roger Byrne. Each has now been elevated to football folklore. A makeshift United lost the F.A Cup Final to Bolton, but a fully recovered Busby knew he had to rebuild. In the early 1960s he signed Maurice Setters, David Herd and Dennis Law for a then British record 0f £115,000. Most importantly, Busby signed, in 1961, a young man from Northen Ireland called George Best whose talent would be at the centre of Uniteds 1960s glory years. This nucleus and what was left of the 'Babes' - and most notably Bobby Charlton brought United F.A Cup victory in 1963 and Championships in 1965 and 1967. But it was the historic 1968 European Cup victory against Benfica at Wembley that was Uniteds and Busbys crowning achievement. Ten years after Munich, the ambition was achieved and Busby retired in 1969 after 23 years in charge . United would struggle to fill the void and the trophy room for many years. The club went through a procession of managers through the early 1970s as dressing room tensions saw George Best leave the club and Charlton retired. The lowest point came in 1974 when United were relegated for the first time in 37 years. Tommy Docherty brought them back to the top flight but the team lost to second division Southampton in the 1976 F.A Cup Final. United returned to Wembley the following year and won the F.A Cup, beating the then all conquering Liverpool. The years immediately after F.A Cup triumph were, like the early 1970s as much prone to change as the Busby years had been rock solid. Docherty, Dave Sexton and Ron Atkinson failed to make a lasting mark, though Atkinson played the transfer market wisely and brought Bryan Robson to Old Trafford. Robson was expensive at £1.5 million a then British transfer record but he proved to be one of the greatest ever United players. Two Cup Finals were reached in 1983, and though the Red Devils lost to Liverpool in the League Cup Final they came back two months later to play Brighton winning 4 - 0 in a replay on the 74th birthday of Sir Matt Busby. The team reclaimed the F.A Cup in 1985 with a 1 - 0 win against Everton, but for all their character and talent Ron Atkinsons side had not won a championship. Enigmatic Scot Alex Ferguson, previouly manager of Aberdeen, entered the theatre of dreams in 1986. His first three seasons brought little, but since the Red Devils took off again with an F.A Cup win in 1990 they have dominated the English domestic game in the way Liverpool dominated the late 1970s and 1980s. Players like Hughes, Ince, Pallister and Giggs became household names with their international-class performances. As the decade continued, a team built around mercurial Frenchman Eric Cantona and increasingly featuring home grown youngsters like David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers, Gary and Phil, has personified the renaissance of English football. United recorded two league and Cup doubles, the only English club ever to achieve the feat, and took four of the first five Premierships, but have so far failed to deliver the European glory Ferguson desires so much. Up to now, the United side of the 1990s has been as successful as any team in the rich history of the club. But will the retirement of Beckham or Giggs bring an end to the glory days or wil Fergies Fledglings flourish as the next centurys equivalent of the Busby Babes? Only time will tell!