ImagesGetty ImagesTHE SEEDS OF SUCCESS
Ernest Mangnall was the first great United manager, both in
terms of the way his team played and the trophies they won
Ernest Mangnall was the highly rated
secretary of Burnley and a man fully aware
of his own worth. He was also a man of
strong opinions, his main opinion being
that he was right – in everything. But he was
also a visionary. Mangnall saw United’s
glorious future, not only in this country but in
Europe; under his stewardship the club
embarked on its first continental tour, to
Prague, Vienna and Budapest.
Mangnall liked to portray himself as a
man ahead of his time and, as a
consequence, the only person able to
handle all aspects of the intricate task of
running a football club. To give him his due,
though, he revolutionised training,
emphasising the importance of fitness and
demanding their all from his players. He
foresaw the famous Brian Clough approach
to management of listening to opinions from
everybody – before deciding that he hadbeen right all along. He commanded respect
and demanded total control over every
aspect of the club.
It’s easy to forget now, but Mangnall was
initially a safety-first guiding hand, fielding a
rugged defence and imbuing the team with
a philosophy of conceding fewer goals than
they scored. But that all changed in 1906.
Neighbours Manchester City were punished
for financial irregularities by being forced to
sell all their players. Rivals turned up for the
much-anticipated auction at the Queen’s
Hotel in Manchester only to discover that
Mangnall had already persuaded Alex
Turnbull, Billy Meredith, Jimmy Bannister and
Herbert Burgess to sign with United. All the
transfers were free and constituted four of
the five City forwards who had been
terrorising the league the previous season.
Now United had a team capable of putting
others to the sword.businessman John Henry Davies, a wealthy brewery owner who was
also married to the Tate & Lyle Group heiress, was persuaded to
invest in the club. Davies was both rich and influential and he brought
with him three further investors, each of the men putting £500 in.
Davies moved the club to Bank Street, changed its name to
Manchester United (they no longer played near, nor had any
connections with, Newton Heath), and switched their green-and-gold
shirts to the famous red ones. The club we now know as United had
been properly born. Fans still occasionally pay homage to the club’s
original strip by sporting green-and-gold shirts, hats and scarves.
The move to Bank Street resulted in a huge increase in the number
of fans attending each match. The average crowd size more than
doubled, from around 4,500 who went to Newton Heath (estimates
are a little variable as there was no standard mechanism for counting
the numbers through the turnstiles in those days) to almost 10,000 in
the club’s first season as United. Even then, United fans were
demanding, though. They wanted to see their club do better than
amble around in the middle of the Second Division. A financial
scandal in which both secretary James West and captain Harry
Stafford were embroiled saw the former resign and the latter be
banned from the game for five years, but this actually had the
fortuitous result of bringing Ernest Mangnall to the club (see below).
The surprise acquisition of the Manchester City forward line was a
masterstroke by Mangnall. Billy Meredith, the Welsh winger, was the
sport’s first superstar, and his capture was a coup of the same order
as the signing of Eric Cantona following a casual enquiry 86 years
later. He was also the first in a long line of wingers at the club who
have captured the fans’ imaginations, from Gordon Hill and SteveCoppell to Jesper Olsen and Ryan Giggs, and the start of a style of
play which has been synonymous with United ever since.
Now United had a fearsome attacking line-up to bolt onto a solid
defence, and in the 1907-08 season they took the league by storm,
winning their first ten games and leading from gun to tape,
ultimately winning the league by nine points. Mangnall delivered
another league title three seasons later and a first FA Cup (arguably
the more sought-after trophy in those days) in 1909.
Buoyed by their growing success, Davies had invested £60,000 into
the club to build a new stadium at Old Trafford, a vast sum of money
at that time. Their first match at the new stadium took place on 19
February 1910; although the day was partially spoilt by visitors
Liverpool, of all teams, who won 4-3, it mattered little; the Theatre of
Dreams had arrived.
Like its owner and manager, Unite d’s stadium was years ahead of
its time. Featuring a huge stand on one side, rows of wooden benches
on another and terraces offering standing room for 80,000 fans, it
was the most impressive stadium of its era. It also boasted a pitch
with decent drainage, so instead of the mud bath that Newton Heath
used to play on there was a beautiful bit of turf which further
encouraged the players to play a passing game.
Although Mangnall and Davies fell out – over money, as is often
the case between owners and managers – and the former resigned in
a fit of pique, the pieces were in place for United to experience its first
‘golden age’.
Little did those associated with the club realise that it would be
over 40 years until their next league title and almost as long before
another FA Cup triumph.Above left
United fans still
pay homage to
the original
shirts worn by
Newton Heath
by sporting the
green-and-gold
colours
Above right
Old Trafford was
one of the finest
stadiums of its
time and was
packed when it
hosted the 1911
FA Cup Final
replay (Bradford
City beat
Newcastle
United 1-0)n EWTOn
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