United 'Firsts'

Hello and welcome to We All Follow United, a new site dedicated to the history of the world's greatest football club, Manchester United. 

In the summer of last year I created an online magazine with the same title and I recently planned to create another issue, unfortunately the laptop that I used for writing the publication gave up the ghost. Fortunately through the sourcing of a replacement I'm able to bring the We All Follow United name back in blog form. 

As this is the first post on the new site, let's take a look at some of the 'firsts' in United's history. 

First Match In A National Competition 

After spending their formative years playing friendly matches and in the Manchester and District Challenge Cup, Newton Heath took the step to enter the FA Cup for the first time in October 1886.

Their first game in the competition, which had been running since 1871, was an away tie with Fleetwood Rangers. Welsh international striker Jack Doughty scored both goals for The Heathens in the match which ended in a 2-2 draw. At the conclusion of the game, Newton Heath captain Jack Powell refused to play a period of extra time to determine a winner and thus the tie was awarded to Fleetwood. Newton Heath lodged an appeal to the FA in an attempt to get the match replayed, this appeal was unsuccessful and led to Newton Heath taking a period of self-imposed exile from the competition that lasted until 1889.

First Football League Fixture 

The club's first foray into an organised national league competition took place in 1888 when they took their place in The Combination, a competition formed by clubs from the north of England and The Midlands. Unfortunately, The Combination was governed by the clubs as opposed to a central organising committee and the organisational burden proved too much leading to the competition folding before the end of it's first season.

Out of the ashes of The Combination came The Football Alliance, Newton Heath spent three seasons plying their trade in the competition. Their first two Alliance seasons ended in 8th and 9th placed finishes before coming second just a point behind champions Nottingham Forest in 1892. This success was enough to see the club finally elected to the Football League for the 1892-93 season.

Newton Heath (who by now had dropped the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway suffix from their name) took to the field for the first time under the auspices of the Football League on September 3rd 1892 at Blackburn Rovers' Ewood Park. Despite goals from Jimmy Coupar, Bob Donaldson and Alf Farman The Heathens were beaten 4-3. The club eventually finished the season in last place in Division One but were spared from relegation after beating Second Division champions Small Heath (now known as Birmingham City) 5-3 in a play-off at Sheffield Wednesday's Olive Grove ground.

First Match Of The 20th Century 

Newton Heath's first match of the 20th century took place on January 6th 1900 in a Second Division fixture against Bolton Wanderers at Burnden Park. Striker Bob Parkinson was on the scoresheet but it wasn't enough to prevent the hosts running out 2-1 winners.

Parkinson was on the scoresheet again along with William Jackson to help United to their first win of the new century with a 2-0 away win over Loughborough on January 13th.

First Match as 'Manchester United' 

After Newton Heath had run into financial difficulties following a court judgement in favour of former club president William Healey regarding money owed to him by the club, a consortium of businessmen recruited by club captain Harry Stafford and headed up by local brewer John Henry Davies rescued the club from bankruptcy. The consortium's investment totalled £2000 and the decision was made to change the club's name to Manchester United. Contrary to popular belief, the club's colours didn't change from green and gold halves to red, instead Newton Heath's colours in their final season under the old name were in fact plain white jerseys with blue knickers.

Gainsborough Trinity's Northolme Ground hosted the club's first match under the new name of Manchester United. 

Their first game under the new moniker was played on September 6th 1902 against Gainsborough Trinity at their Northolme Ground. England international forward Charlie Richards was on the scoresheet as the new United won 1-0.

First League Championship 

No club has won more English league titles than Manchester United, the first of the club's 20 championships came at the end of the 1907-08 season.

Bolstered by the signings of star players such as Billy Meredith and top scorer Alexander 'Sandy' Turnbull, United won five of their opening six games starting with a 4-1 away win over Aston Villa on September 2nd 1908. Villa would end up as United's nearest challengers in the league but still finished the season some nine points adrift behind Ernest Mangnall's side. United won 23 of their 38 league fixtures thanks in no small part to Turnbull's 25 league goals (27 in all competitions).

Ernest Mangnall was the first man to manage Manchester United to a league title when he steered the club to the first of their 20 championships in 1908. 

First FA Cup Final Win 

Until Arsenal won the trophy in 2017 making them outright leaders, United held the record for the most FA Cup wins by team with their twelfth triumph coming in 2016. The club's first FA Cup win came at the end of the 1908-09 season.

The first winning cup run got underway on January 16th 1909 when United beat Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 at Bank Street in the first round. A home win over Everton in the second round by the same scoreline followed by a 6-1 thumping of Blackburn Rovers set them up for an away tie against Burnley. The tie was originally played on March 5th and was abandoned after 72 minutes owing to bad weather with the home side 1-0 ahead. The match was replayed five days later and thankfully ended in a 3-2 win for United which secured progression to the semi-finals.

Newcastle United were beaten 1-0 at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane which saw United through to their maiden FA Cup Final at Crystal Palace with Bristol City lying in wait.

The final was played in front of over 70,000 spectators and United lined up as follows.

Harry Moger (GK), George Stacey, Vince Hayes, Dick Duckworth, Charlie Roberts (captain), Alex Bell, Billy Meredith, Harold Halse, Jimmy Turnbull, Sandy Turnbull, Jimmy Wall.

It would be Sandy Turnbull who would write his name into the history books, netting the only goal of the afternoon when he rifled home the rebound after Harold Halse's original shot had cannoned off the crossbar in the 25th minute.

Captain Charlie Roberts, a £400 signing from Grimsby Town in 1904, lifted the trophy and became the last Englishman to captain a Manchester United side to an FA Cup win until Bryan Robson skippered the club to the Wembley triumph of 1983.

Charlie Roberts captained United to their first ever FA Cup final triumph in 1909. Roberts was a trailblazer as the first player to wear shorts above the knee as well as being instrumental in the formation of a trade union for footballers. 

First Match At Old Trafford

United have called three grounds 'home' over the course of their 141 year history. A field on North Road, close to the Newton Heath railway depot was the first and was the club's home ground until 1893 when they moved to Bank Street in Clayton. Newton Heath and later Manchester United played at the new ground for 17 years until the grounds fell into a state of disrepair which owner John Henry Davies didn't feel was fit for a side that had recently won the league title and FA Cup.

Davies negated to spend club money on repairing Bank Street and instead used the funds to build a ground in the Old Trafford area of Greater Manchester adjacent to the Bridgewater Canal.

Old Trafford opened just over 110 years ago and has gone on to host England international fixtures, matches during the 1966 World Cup and 1996 European Championships as well as world title boxing matches, rugby union test matches and the annual Super League Grand Final. 

The stadium was designed by leading architect Archibald Leitch and was complete late in 1909. The first match at the new ground was held on February 19th 1910 when Liverpool made the short trip down the East Lancs Road for a First Division fixture. Despite goals from Tom Homer, Sandy Turnbull and George Wall, it was the visitors who left with the points after a 4-3 win.

United recorded their first win at their new home on March 5th 1910 when Scotsman Jack Picken netted the winner against Sheffield United.

First Wembley Appearance 

Empire Stadium, or Wembley as it was better known in it's original incarnation, hosted it's first football match in 1923 when Bolton Wanderers beat West Ham United 2-0 in the famous 'White Horse' FA Cup final.

United made their first appearance under the famous twin towers on April 24th 1948 when they faced the famous Blackpool side of the time that featured star names such as Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen.

Manchester United captain Johnny Carey is chaired by his team-mates after collecting the trophy following United's 4-2 win over Blackpool in the 1948 FA Cup Final. 

Matt Busby's side upset the odds and recovered from a 2-1 deficit to grab three goals in twelve minutes to win 4-2 and secure the club's first post-war trophy. Jack Rowley (2), Stan Pearson and John Anderson scored the goals which enabled captain Johnny Carey to climb Wembley's famous 39 steps and collect the cup.

First Football League Cup Tie 

United took part in the first staging of the League Cup which took place in the 1960-61 season.

The club's first tie in the new competition was an away trip to Exeter City on October 19th 1960 which ended in a 1-1 draw with Scottish forward Alex Dawson netting United's goal. There was no extra time in the League Cup in those days so a replay was played on October 26th.

United had better luck in the replay and swept their visitors aside 4-1 at Old Trafford with Albert Quixall scoring twice in addition to goals from Johnny Giles and Mark Pearson.

First Foreign Player 

Italian midfielder Carlo Sartori was the first non British or Irish player to represent Manchester United.

Italian born Carlo Sartori grew up in Greater Manchester and became the first player not from either Britain or Ireland to play for Manchester United. 

A native of Caderzone, Sartori's family moved to the Collyhurst area of Manchester and the youngster made his way through the youth ranks at United before making his first team debut in October 1968 as a substitute in a 2-2 draw away at Tottenham Hotspur.

Yugoslav international Nikola Jovanovic was the first foreign player to transfer to United when Dave Sexton paid £300,000 to bring the defender to Old Trafford from Red Star Belgrade in 1980.

First £1,000,000 Transfer 

Shockwaves reverberated around the world of football in 1979 when Nottingham Forest became the first club to pay £1,000,000 for a player when they signed England international forward Trevor Francis from Birmingham City.

United's first transfer fee over a million was paid in October 1981 when recently appointed manager Ron Atkinson raided his former club West Bromwich Albion to bring Bryan Robson to Old Trafford in a £1.500,000 deal that smashed the British transfer record.

Bryan Robson was the first player to transfer to Manchester United for a fee of over £1,000,000 in 1981. At the press conference to announce his signing, manager Ron Atkinson described the transfer as 'not even a gamble, not a risk'. 

'Robbo' earned the moniker 'Captain Marvel' during his thirteen year spell at United, skippering the team to FA Cup wins in 1983, 1985 and 1990, the Cup Winners Cup in 1991, the League Cup in 1992 (see below) and playing a fundamental part in the Premier League title wins of 1993 and 1994.

First Football League Cup Final Win 

After being on the losing side in 1983 and 1991 (losing 2-1 to Liverpool and 1-0 to Sheffield Wednesday respectively), Alex Ferguson's side made it third time lucky in 1992.

The road to Wembley saw United beat Cambridge United 4-1 over two legs, Portsmouth 3-1 in the third round, Oldham Athletic 2-0 in the fourth round before a clash with trans-Penine rivals Leeds in the fifth round (drawn by none other than Donald Trump!!). Howard Wilkinson's side were brushed aside 3-1 at Elland Road to set up a semi-final with Middlesbrough. After a goalless draw in the first leg at Ayresome Park, United won through to the final which matched them with Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest.

Young midfielder Ryan Giggs drew the defenders away and supplied the pass for Brian McClair to fire the ball past Andy Marriott in the Forest goal and score what proved to be the winning goal after 14 minutes.

Winning goalscorer Brian McClair is all smiles after Manchester United won the Football League Cup for the first time after beating Nottingham Forest 1-0 in the 1992 final at Wembley. 

First Premier League Victory 

Despite history remembering Manchester United as the first ever Premier League champions but what is not often reported is how badly United started the season in the new league.

Alex Ferguson's side had just one point to show for their opening three matches after a 2-1 reverse away at Sheffield United (in which Brian Deane scored the first ever Premier League goal) followed by a 3-0 home loss to Everton. Denis Irwin smashed home an equaliser as Ipswich Town took a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.

Many years before he was helping people get on to the property ladder on daytime TV show 'Homes Under The Hammer', Dion Dublin notched the winning goal to help United to their maiden Premier League victory in August 1992. 

An 88th minute winner from summer signing Dion Dublin was enough for United to get their first three points of the season as they left the South Coast with a 1-0 win over Southampton on August 24th 1992.

First Match Of The 21st Century 

United took to the field in the unusual surroundings of the Maracana Stadium in Brazil for their first match of the new millennium as they lined up against Mexican side Necaxa in the controversial FIFA Club World Championship on January 6th 2000.

A late equaliser from Dwight Yorke was needed as United rescued a draw in their first game of the 21st century. The opening game of their 2000 FIFA Club World Championship campaign finished 1-1 with Mexican side Necaxa. 

Necaxa, who had won the North American equivalent of the Champions League in 1999, took a surprise lead when Cristian Montesinos scored in the 14th minute. United's task was made harder two minutes before half time when Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo (the same referee who would send Wayne Rooney off at the 2006 World Cup) gave David Beckham his marching orders for a high tackle. A late equaliser from Dwight Yorke was needed two minutes from time to spare United's blushes and rescue a point from their opening group fixture.

After losing their second game of the tournament 3-1 to Copa Libertadores champions Vasco Da Gama, United were out of the competition by the time they recorded their first win of the 21st century when two goals from South African Quinton Fortune delivered a 2-0 win over fellow eliminated team South Melbourne on January 11th 2000.

That brings our look at some of United's 'firsts' to an end, I hope you have enjoyed our trip through the annals of red history. If there is anything you would like to see featured on the site then why not get in touch on Twitter where I can be found @BarkerGray2. 

Until next time, take care.