NEW JERSEY MANCHESTER UNITED 2013 - 2014

BUSBY YEARS (1945-1969)

In October 1945, the impending resumption of football led to the managerial appointment of Matt Busby, who demanded an unprecedented level of control over team selection, player transfers and training sessions. Busby led the team to second-place league finishes in 1947, 1948 and 1949, and to FA Cup victory in 1948. In 1952, the club won the First Division, its first league title for 41 years. With an average age of 22, the media labelled the back-to-back title winning side of 1956 "the Busby Babes", a testament to Busby's faith in his youth players. In 1957, Manchester United became the first English team to compete in the European Cup, despite objections from The Football League, who had denied Chelsea the same opportunity the previous season. En route to the semi-final, which they lost to Real Madrid, the team recorded a 10–0 victory over Belgian champions Anderlecht, which remains the club's biggest victory on record.

A plaque at Old Trafford in memory of those who died in the Munich air disaster, including players names

The following season, on the way home from a European Cup quarter-final victory against Red Star Belgrade, the aircraft carrying the Manchester United players, officials and journalists crashed while attempting to take off after refuelling in Munich, Germany. The Munich air disaster of 6 February 1958 claimed 23 lives, including those of eight players – Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor and Billy Whelan – and injured several more.
Reserve team manager Jimmy Murphy took over as manager while Busby recovered from his injuries and the club's makeshift side reached the FA Cup final, which they lost to Bolton Wanderers. In recognition of the team's tragedy, UEFA invited the club to compete in the 1958–59 European Cup alongside eventual League champions Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite approval from the FA, the Football League determined that the club should not enter the competition, since it had not qualified. Busby rebuilt the team through the 1960s by signing players such as Denis Law and Pat Crerand, who combined with the next generation of youth players – including George Best – to win the FA Cup in 1963. The following season, they finished second in the league, then won the title in 1965 and 1967. In 1968, Manchester United became the first English (and second British) club to win the European Cup, beating Benfica 4–1 in the final with a team that contained three European Footballers of the Year: Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best.^[ Matt Busby resigned as manager in 1969 and was replaced by the reserve team coach, former Manchester United player Wilf McGuinness.

Crest and colours

Manchester United badge in the 1960s

The club crest is derived from the Manchester City Council coat of arms, although all that remains of it on the current crest is the ship in full sail. The devil stems from the club's nickname "The Red Devils"; it was included on club programmes and scarves in the 1960s, and incorporated into the club crest in 1970, although the crest was not included on the chest of the shirt until 1971 (unless the team was playing in a Cup Final).

A photograph of the Newton Heath team, taken in 1892, is believed to show the players wearing red-and-white quartered jerseys and blue shorts.Between 1894–96, the players wore distinctive green and gold jerseys which were replaced in 1896 by white shirts, which were worn with blue shorts. After its name change in 1902, the club colours were changed to red shirts, white shorts, and black socks, which has become the standard Manchester United home kit. Very few changes were made to the kit until 1922 when the club adopted white shirts bearing a deep red "V" around the neck, similar to the shirt worn in the 1909 FA Cup Final. They remained part of their home kits until 1927. In 1934, players sported cherry and white hooped shirts, but the following season the red shirt was recalled after the club's lowest ever league placing of 20th in the Second Division. The black socks were changed to white from 1959 to 1965, where they were replaced with red socks up until 1971, when the club reverted to black. The current home kit is a red gingham-pattern shirt with dark red checks and a black v-neck collar, worn with white shorts and black socks.
The Manchester United away strip has often been a white shirt, black shorts and white socks, but there have been several exceptions. These include an all-black strip with blue and gold trimmings between 1993 and 1995, the navy blue shirt with silver horizontal pinstripes worn during the 1999–2000 season,^[and the 2011–12 away kit, which had a royal blue body and sleeves with hoops made of small midnight navy blue and black stripes, with black shorts and blue socks. An all-grey away kit worn during the 1995–96 season was dropped after just five games because players claimed to have trouble finding their team-mates against the crowd. In 2001, to celebrate 100 years as "Manchester United", a reversible white/gold away kit was released, although the actual match day shirts were not reversible.
The club's third kit is often all-blue. This was most recently the case during the 2008–09 season, to celebrate 40 years since it was worn for the club's first European Cup win in 1968.Exceptions include a green-and-gold halved shirt worn between 1992 and 1994, a blue-and-white striped shirt worn during the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons and once in 1996–97, an all-black kit worn during the Treble-winning 1998–99 season, and white shirts with black-and-red horizontal pinstripes worn between 2003 and 2005. In recent seasons, the third kit has usually been the previous season's away kit.

Heath initially played on a field on North Road, close to the railway yard; the original capacity was about 12,000, but club officials deemed the facilities inadequate for a club hoping to join The Football League. Some expansion took place in 1887, and in 1891 Newton Heath used its minimal financial reserves to purchase two grandstands, each able to hold 1,000 spectators. Although attendances were not recorded for many of the earliest matches at North Road, the highest documented attendance was approximately 15,000 for a First Division match against Sunderland on 4 March 1893. A similar attendance was also recorded for a friendly match against Gorton Villa on 5 September 1889.
In June 1893, after the club was evicted from North Road by its owners, Manchester Deans and Canons, who felt it was inappropriate for the club to charge an entry fee to the ground, secretary A. H. Albut procured the use of the Bank Street ground in Clayton. It initially had no stands, by the start of the 1893–94 season, two had been built; one spanning the full length of the pitch on one side and the other behind the goal at the "Bradford end". At the opposite end, the "Clayton end", the ground had been "built up, thousands thus being provided for". Newton Heath's first league match at Bank Street was played against Burnley on 1 September 1893, when 10,000 people saw Alf Farman score a hat-trick, Newton Heath's only goals in a 3–2 win. The remaining stands were completed for the following league game against Nottingham Forest three weeks later. In October 1895, before the visit of Manchester City, the club purchased a 2,000-capacity stand from the Broughton Rangers rugby league club, and put up another stand on the "reserved side" (as distinct from the "popular side"). However, weather restricted the attendance for the Manchester City match to just 12,000.
When the Bank Street ground was temporarily closed by bailiffs in 1902, club captain Harry Stafford raised enough money to pay for the club's next away game at Bristol City and found a temporary ground at Harpurhey for the next reserves game against Padiham. Following financial investment, new club president J.H. Davies paid £500 for the erection of a new 1,000-seat stand at Bank Street. Within four years, the stadium had cover on all four sides, as well as the ability to hold approximately 50,000 spectators, some of whom could watch from the viewing gallery atop the Main Stand.
However, following Manchester United's first league title in 1908 and the FA Cup a year later, it was decided that Bank Street was too restrictive for Davies' ambition; in February 1909, six weeks before the club's first FA Cup title, Old Trafford was named as the home of Manchester United, following the purchase of land for around £60,000. Architect Archibald Leitch was given a budget of £30,000 for construction; original plans called for seating capacity of 100,000, though budget constraints forced a revision to 77,000. The building was constructed by Messrs Brameld and Smith of Manchester. 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.
Bombing in the Second World War destroyed much of the stadium; the central tunnel in the South Stand was all that remained of that quarter. After the war, the club received compensation from the War Damage Commission in the amount of £22,278. 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. The Stretford End was the last stand to receive a cantilevered roof, completed in time for the 1993–94 season. First used on 25 March 1957 and costing £40,000, four 180-foot (55 m) pylons were erected, each housing 54 individual floodlights. These were dismantled in 1987 and replaced by a lighting system embedded in the roof of each stand, which remains in use today.
The Taylor Report's requirement for an all-seater stadium lowered capacity at Old Trafford to around 44,000 by 1993. In 1995, the North Stand was redeveloped into three tiers, restoring capacity to approximately 55,000. At the end of the 1998–99 season, second tiers were added to the East and West Stands, raising capacity to around 67,000, and between July 2005 and May 2006, 8,000 more seats were added via second tiers in the north-west and north-east quadrants. Part of the new seating was used for the first time on 26 March 2006, when an attendance of 69,070 became a new Premier League record. The record was pushed steadily upwards before reaching its peak on 31 March 2007, when 76,098 spectators saw Manchester United beat Blackburn Rovers 4–1, with just 114 seats (0.15 percent of the total capacity of 76,212) unoccupied. In 2009, reorganisation of the seating resulted in a reduction of capacity by 255 to 75,957. Manchester United has the third highest average attendance of European football clubs only behind Borussia Dortmund and FC Barcelona.

Man United v Chelsea
Meredam Frustrasi RooneyMANCHESTER, FAJAR -- Manchester United sedang berusaha move on. Setan Merah ingin segera melupakan kekalahan dari Real Madrid sebelum menjamu Chelsea pada perempat final Piala FA di Old Trafford selepas tengah malam nanti.
"Tak ada lagi yang bisa dilakukan (soal Liga Champions, red), sekarang kami punya urusan penting di perempat final. 

Pikiran sudah jernih dan kami menerima yang sudah terjadi," kata pelatih United, Sir Alex Ferguson kepada Sky Sports.
Pascalaga kontra Madrid, United memang melahirkan sejumlah kabar tak sedap. Selain tersingkir dari Liga Champions, striker Wayne Rooney santer dikabarkan akan pergi pada akhir musim nanti.

Spekulasi ini didasari keputusan Ferguson yang memasang Rooney sebagai pemain pengganti dalam partai kontra Madrid. Namun rumor itu langsung dibantah Ferguson dengan menyebutkan kalau Rooney akan tetap di Old Trafford pada musim depan.

"Tak ada masalah dengan pemain dan dia (Rooney, red) akan dilibatkan dalam laga hari Minggu," jelas Ferguson.
Ya, oleh Ferguson, Rooney disiapkan sebagai starter melawan si Biru. Frustrasi Rooney atas kekecewaan dari hasil laga sebelumnya bakal coba diredam tim di pertandingan ini dengan memainkannya sejak awal.

Rooney telah menjadi denyut nadi dan inspirasi utama United selama delapan tahun terakhir. Rooney telah mencetak 166 gol untuk klubnya, menyabet Liga Champions pada 2008 dan empat gelar Premier League Inggris.
Bermain bersama Ruud van Nistelrooy, Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo, dan Dimitar Berbatov, Rooney mencetak gol secara reguler melalui tembakan jarak jauhnya, tandukan kepala, serta penyelesaian jarak dekat.

Tentang Chelsea, ini adalah kali ketiga kedua klub bertemu musim ini. Sedangkan di Piala FA, United bertemu Chelsea untuk kali pertama sejak final 2007. Ketika itu, Chelsea sukses menaklukkan United 1-0 lewat gol Didier Drogba pada menit ke-116.

Terlepas itu, kedua tim baru saja menuai hasil buruk di pertandingan terakhirnya. Nyaris sama dengan United, Chelsea juga baru saja dikalahkan Steaua Bucharest di leg pertama perdelapan final Europa League. Makanya, kedua kubu ngotot tampil habis-habisan, terutama tuan rumah. "Ketika harus keluar dari ajang terbesar, kekecewaan pasti ada. Saya yakin, mereka (United, red) akan lebih termotivasi karena kegagalan itu," tutup bek Chelsea, Branislav Ivanovic.(dik)

Lawan MU, Madrid Pinjam Lapangan Manchester City

MADRID - Real Madrid akan menggelar latihan di lapangan milik Manchester City, Etihad Stadium, saat mereka melakoni leg kedua 16 besar Liga Champions melawan Manchester United di Stadion Old Trafford, 5 Maret nanti.

The Citizens secara resmi mengkonfirmasi bahwa mereka tidak keberatan lapangannya dipinjam sementara untuk latihan Real Madrid setelah adanya permintaan dari pelatih Madrid Jose Mourinho.

Manchester United hingga saat ini belum mengeluarkan statemen apapun terkait dengan keputusan tidak biasa yang dilakukan tim tamu. Biasanya setiap sebelum pertandingan Liga Champions dimulai, tim tamu selalu berlatih di lapangan milik tim tuan rumah.

Entah apa pertimbangan Mourinho memilih memakai lapangan milik City yang saat ini sedang terlibat pertempuran dahsyat dengan United untuk memperebutkan gelar Premier League. Bisa jadi Mou tak ingin strateginya bocor ketika menjajal lapangan Old Traffor.

Carrick Bersiap Perpanjang Kontrak MU

           Manchester United bersiap memberikan penghargaan kepada Michael Carrick atas penampilan ciamiknya musim ini. Caranya adalah dengan memperpanjang kontraknya pada akhir musim ini.

Gelandang Inggris itu memiliki kesepakatan bisnis dengan manajemen The Red Devils yang baru akan habis pada musim panas 2014. Kubu Sir Alex Ferguson ingin memperpanjang semusim lagi.

"Penampilannya luar biasa. Apa yang dilakukannya (musim ini) brilian. Ini musim terbaiknya dan ia menjadi pemimpin pada posisinya saat ini," sanjung Ferguson.

Menilik usianya yang sudah menginjak 31 tahun, MU akan mengaji penampilan Carrick tiap tahun. Situasi itu sama dengan yang yang dimiliki Paul Scholes dan Ryan Giggs.

Saat ini, Carrick menerima 80.000 pounds (sekitar Rp 1,2 miliar) per pekan dan tampaknya nilai itu tak akan berubah pada kontrak barunya yang akan diteken pada musim panas mendatang.

Sejak bergabung dari Tottenham Hotspur dengan banderol 18,6 juta pounds (sekitar Rp 280 miliar) pada 2006, Carrick hampir tampil dalam 300 pertandingan. Ia bermain lebih dari 40 laga setiap musim selama enam tahun membela MU.

Bersama Manchester Merah, Carrick telah memenangi empat trofi Premier League, Liga Champions, Piala Dunia Antarklub, dan Piala Liga Inggris.