Premier League

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Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the English football league. For other uses, see Premier League (disambiguation).

Barclays Premier League

Countries

England Wales

Confederation

UEFA (Europe)

Founded

20 February 1992

Number of teams

20

Levels on pyramid

Relegation to

Football League Championship

Domestic cup(s)

FA Cup

League cup(s)

League Cup

International cup(s)

UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League

Current champions

Manchester United (201011)

Most championships

Manchester United (12)

TV partners

Sky Sports ESPN BBC (Highlights only)

Website

premierleague.com

201112 Premier League

The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as shareholders. Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 38 matches each, totalling 380 matches in the season. Most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played during weekday evenings. It was known as the Premiership from 1993 to 2007. It is currently sponsored by Barclays Bank and therefore officially known as the Barclays Premier League. The competition formed as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992 following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to break away from The Football League, which was originally founded in 1888, and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. The Premier League has since become the world's most watched association football league.[1] It is the world's most lucrative football league in terms of revenue, with combined club revenues of over 2 billion in 200809.[2] It is ranked first in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years, ahead of Spain's La Liga and Germany's Bundesliga.[3] Since 1888, a total of 23 clubs have been crowned champions of the English football system. Of the 45 clubs to have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, four have won

the title: Manchester United (12 titles) Arsenal (3), Chelsea (3) and Blackburn Rovers (1). The current champions are Manchester United, who won the title in the 201011 season.

Contents

1 History o 1.1 Origins o 1.2 Foundation o 1.3 Development 2 Corporate structure 3 Competition format o 3.1 Competition 3.1.1 Qualification for European competitions 4 Trophy 5 Sponsorship 6 Finances 7 Media coverage o 7.1 United Kingdom and Ireland o 7.2 Worldwide 8 Criticisms o 8.1 "Big Four" dominance o 8.2 Widening gap with lower leagues 9 Clubs 10 Stadia 11 Managers 12 Players o 12.1 Appearances o 12.2 Foreign players and transfer regulations o 12.3 Wages and transfer records o 12.4 Top scorers 13 Player and manager awards o 13.1 10 Seasons Awards 14 See also 15 References 16 External links

History
Origins
Despite significant European success during the 1970s and early 1980s, the late '80s had marked a low point for English football. Stadia were crumbling, supporters endured poor facilities, hooliganism was rife, and English clubs were banned from European competition for five years following the events at Heysel in 1985.[4] The Football League First Division, which had been

the top level of English football since 1888, was well behind leagues such as Italy's Serie A and Spain's La Liga in attendances and revenues, and several top English players had moved abroad.[5] However, by the turn of the 1990s the downward trend was starting to reverse; England had been successful in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, reaching the semi-finals. UEFA, European football's governing body, lifted the five-year ban on English clubs playing in European competitions in 1990 (resulting in Manchester United lifting the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1991) and the Taylor Report on stadium safety standards, which proposed expensive upgrades to create all-seater stadia in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster, was published in January of that year.[6] Television money had also become much more important; the Football League received 6.3 million for a two-year agreement in 1986, but when that deal was renewed in 1988, the price rose to 44 million over four years.[7] The 1988 negotiations were the first signs of a breakaway league; ten clubs threatened to leave and form a "super league", but were eventually persuaded to stay.[8] As stadia improved and match attendance and revenues rose, the country's top teams again considered leaving the Football League in order to capitalise on the growing influx of money being pumped into the sport.[8]

Foundation
See also: Foundation of the Premier League
Premier League champions Season Champions 199293 Manchester United 199394 Manchester United 199495 Blackburn Rovers 199596 Manchester United 199697 Manchester United 199798 Arsenal 199899 Manchester United 19992000 Manchester United 200001 Manchester United 200102 Arsenal 200203 Manchester United 200304 Arsenal 200405 Chelsea 200506 Chelsea 200607 Manchester United 200708 Manchester United 200809 Manchester United 200910 Chelsea 201011 Manchester United Further information:

English football champions

At the close of the 1991 season, a proposal for the establishment of a new league was tabled that would bring more money into the game overall. The Founder Members Agreement, signed on 17 July 1991 by the game's top-flight clubs, established the basic principles for setting up the FA Premier League.[9] The newly formed top division would have commercial independence from the Football Association and the Football League, giving the FA Premier League license to negotiate its own broadcast and sponsorship agreements. The argument given at the time was that the extra income would allow English clubs to compete with teams across Europe.[10] In 1992 the First Division clubs resigned from the Football League en masse and on 27 May 1992 the FA Premier League was formed as a limited company working out of an office at the Football Association's then headquarters in Lancaster Gate.[5] This meant a break-up of the 104year-old Football League that had operated until then with four divisions; the Premier League would operate with a single division and the Football League with three. There was no change in competition format; the same number of teams competed in the top flight, and promotion and relegation between the Premier League and the new First Division remained the same as the old First and Second Divisions with three teams relegated from the league and three promoted.[8] The league held its first season in 199293 and was originally composed of 22 clubs. The first ever Premier League goal was scored by Brian Deane of Sheffield United in a 21 win against Manchester United.[11] The 22 inaugural members of the new Premier League were Arsenal, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest, Oldham Athletic, Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, and Wimbledon.[12] Luton Town, Notts County and West Ham United were the three teams relegated from the old first division at the end of the 199192 season, and did not take part in the inaugural Premier League season.

Development
See also: List of Premier League seasons As of the end of the 201011 season, there had been 19 completed seasons of the Premier League. Due to insistence by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the international governing body of football, that domestic leagues reduce the number of games clubs played, the number of clubs was reduced to 20 in 1995 when four teams were relegated from the league and only two teams promoted. On 8 June 2006, FIFA requested that all major European leagues, including Italy's Serie A and Spain's La Liga be reduced to 18 teams by the start of the 200708 season. The Premier League responded by announcing their intention to resist such a reduction.[13] Ultimately, the 200708 season kicked off again with 20 teams. The league changed its name from the FA Premier League to simply the Premier League in 2007.[14] The Welsh club Swansea City were promoted to the Premier League for the 201112 season. They were the first non-English team to compete in the Premier League. On 20 August 2011, the first Premier League match to be played outside England was between Swansea City and Wigan Athletic at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea, Wales.[15]

Corporate structure
The Premier League is operated as a corporation and is owned by the 20 member clubs. Each club is a shareholder, with one vote each on issues such as rule changes and contracts. The clubs elect a chairman, chief executive, and board of directors to oversee the daily operations of the league.[16] The current chairman is Sir Dave Richards, who was appointed in April 1999, and the chief executive is Richard Scudamore, appointed in November 1999.[17] The former chairman and chief executive, John Quinton and Peter Leaver, were forced to resign in March 1999 after awarding consultancy contracts to former Sky executives Sam Chisholm and David Chance.[18] The Football Association is not directly involved in the day-to-day operations of the Premier League, but has veto power as a special shareholder during the election of the chairman and chief executive and when new rules are adopted by the league.[19] The Premier League sends representatives to UEFA's European Club Association, the number of clubs and the clubs themselves chosen according to UEFA coefficients. For the 201011 season the Premier League had 10 representatives in the Association.[20] The European Club Association is responsible for electing three members to UEFA's Club Competitions Committee, which is involved in the operations of UEFA competitions such as the Champions League and UEFA Europa League.[21]

Competition format
Competition
There are 20 clubs in the Premier League. During the course of a season (from August to May) each club plays the others twice (a double round-robin system), once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 38 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference, and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned champion. If points are equal, the goal difference and then goals scored determine the winner. If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank.[22] The three lowest placed teams are relegated into the Football League Championship, and the top two teams from the Championship, together with the winner of play-offs involving the third to sixth placed Championship clubs, are promoted in their place.[23] Qualification for European competitions As of the 200910 season qualification for the UEFA Champions League changes, the top four teams in the Premier League qualify for the UEFA Champions League, with the top three teams directly entering the group stage. Previously only the top two teams qualified automatically. The fourth-placed team enters the Champions League at the play-off round for non-champions and must win a two-legged knockout tie in order to enter the group stage.[24] The team placed fifth in the Premier League automatically qualifies for the UEFA Europa League, and the sixth and

seventh-placed teams can also qualify, depending on the winners and runners-up of the two domestic cup competitions. If one of the cup winners qualifies for Europe through their league position, the sixth-placed team in the Premier League will qualify for the Europa League unless a runner-up qualifies instead. If both of the cup winners qualify for the Champions League through their league position, the sixth and seventh-placed teams in the Premier League will qualify for the Europa League if neither runner-up takes a spot. If either domestic cup competition is contested between teams outside the top four league positions, the winner will automatically qualify for the UEFA Europa League regardless of their final league position, and the runner-up will not qualify. A further place in the UEFA Europa League is also available via the Fair Play initiative. If the Premier League has one of the three highest Fair Play rankings in Europe, the highest ranked team in the Premier League Fair Play standings which has not already qualified for Europe will automatically qualify for the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round.[25] An exception to the usual European qualification system happened in 2005, after Liverpool won the Champions League the year before, but did not finish in a Champions League qualification place in the Premier League that season. UEFA gave special dispensation for Liverpool to enter the Champions League, giving England five qualifiers.[26] UEFA subsequently ruled that the defending champions qualify for the competition the following year regardless of their domestic league placing. However, for those leagues with four entrants in the Champions League, this means that if the Champions League winner falls outside of its domestic league's top four, it will qualify at the expense of the fourth-placed team in the league. No association can have more than four entrants in the Champions League.[27] In 2007, the Premier League became the highest ranking European League based on the performances of English teams in European competitions over a five-year period. This broke the eight-year dominance of the Spanish league, La Liga.[28] The top three leagues in Europe are currently allowed to enter four teams into the Champions League. Michel Platini, the UEFA president, had proposed taking one place from the top three leagues and allocating it to that nation's cup winners. This proposal was rejected in a vote at a UEFA Strategy Council meeting.[29] In the same meeting, however, it was agreed that the third-placed team in the top four leagues would receive automatic qualification for the group stage, rather than entry into the third qualifying round, while the fourth-placed team would enter the play-off round for nonchampions, guaranteeing an opponent from one of the top 15 leagues in Europe. This was part of Platini's plan to increase the number of teams qualifying directly into the group stage, while simultaneously increasing the number of teams from lower-ranked nations in the group stage.[30]

Trophy

Arsenal players display the Premier League trophy during an open-top bus parade in 2004. The current Premier League trophy was created by Royal Jewellers Asprey of London. It weighs 4 st (25 kg; 56 lb), and is 76 cm (30 in) tall, 43 cm (17 in) wide and 25 cm (9.8 in) deep.[31] Its main body is solid sterling silver and silver gilt, while its plinth is made of malachite, a semiprecious stone. The plinth has a silver band around its circumference, upon which the names of the title-winning clubs are listed. Malachite's green colour is also representative of the green field of play.[31] The design of the trophy is based on the heraldry of Three Lions that is associated with English football. Two of the lions are found above the handles on either side of the trophy the third is symbolised by the captain of the title winning team as he raises the trophy, and its gold crown, above his head at the end of the season.[32] In 2004, a special gold version of the trophy was commissioned to commemorate Arsenal winning the title without a single defeat.[33]

Sponsorship
The Premier League has been sponsored since 1993. The sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. There have been three sponsors since the league's formation.[34]

19932001: Carling (FA Carling Premiership)[5] 20012004: Barclaycard (Barclaycard Premiership)[5] 20042007: Barclays (Barclays Premiership)[5] 2007present: Barclays (Barclays Premier League)[35]

As well as sponsorship for the league itself, the Premier League has a number of official partners and suppliers.[36] The official ball supplier for the league is Nike who have had the contract since the 200001 season when they took over from Mitre.[37]

Finances
See also: List of Premier League football club owners The Premier League has the highest revenue of any football league in the world, with total club revenues of 2.479 billion in 200910,[38] and is the second most profitable after the German Bundesliga.[2] In 2010 the Premier League was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Premier League was recognised for its outstanding contribution to international trade and the value it brings to

English football and the United Kingdom's broadcasting industry.[39] The Premier League's gross revenue is regularly the fourth highest of any sports league worldwide, behind the annual revenues of the three most popular North American major sports leagues (the National Football League, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association), but ahead of the National Hockey League.[40] In terms of world football, the Premier League clubs are some of the richest in the world. Deloitte, who annually release figures on club revenues through its "Football Money League", listed seven Premier League clubs in the top 20 for the 200910 season.[41] No other league has more than four clubs in this table. Premier League teams have dominated the list for many years, and even topped the list for almost a decade until the 200405 season. After the Premier League's new TV deal went into effect, the league-wide increase in revenues is expected to increase the Premier League clubs' standing in the list, and there is a possibility that a Premier League club will be top of the list.[42][43]

Media coverage
See also: List of Premier League broadcasters

United Kingdom and Ireland

See also: English football on television

A 2010 match between Chelsea and Newcastle United Television has played a major role in the history of the Premier League. The money from television rights has been vital in helping to create excellence both on and off the field. The League's decision to assign broadcasting rights to BSkyB in 1992 was at the time a radical decision, but one that has paid off. At the time pay television was an almost untested proposition in the UK market, as was charging fans to watch live televised football. However, a combination of Sky's strategy, the quality of Premier League football and the public's appetite for the game has seen the value of the Premier League's TV rights soar.[7] The Premier League sells its television rights on a collective basis. This is in contrast to some other European Leagues, including La Liga, in which each club sells its rights individually, leading to a much higher share of the total income going to the top few clubs.[44] The money is divided into three parts:[45] half is divided equally between the clubs; one quarter is awarded on a merit basis based on final league position, the top club getting twenty times as much as the

bottom club, and equal steps all the way down the table; the final quarter is paid out as facilities fees for games that are shown on television, with the top clubs generally receiving the largest shares of this. The income from overseas rights is divided equally between the twenty clubs.[46] The first Sky television rights agreement was worth 304 million over five seasons.[47] The next contract, negotiated to start from the 199798 season, rose to 670 million over four seasons.[47] The third contract was a 1.024 billion deal with BSkyB for the three seasons from 200102 to 200304. The league brought in 320 million from the sale of its international rights for the three-year period from 200405 to 200607. It sold the rights itself on a territory-by-territory basis.[48] Sky's monopoly was broken from August 2006 when Setanta Sports was awarded rights to show two out of the six packages of matches available. This occurred following an insistence by the European Commission that exclusive rights should not be sold to one television company. Sky and Setanta paid a total of 1.7 billion, a two-thirds increase which took many commentators by surprise as it had been widely assumed that the value of the rights had levelled off following many years of rapid growth. Setanta also hold rights to a live 3 pm match solely for Irish viewers. The BBC has retained the rights to show highlights for the same three seasons (on Match of the Day) for 171.6 million, a 63 per cent increase on the 105 million it paid for the previous three-year period.[49] Raidi Teilifs ireann broadcast the highlights package in Ireland. Sky and BT have agreed to jointly pay 84.3 million for delayed television rights to 242 games (that is the right to broadcast them in full on television and over the internet) in most cases for a period of 50 hours after 10 pm on matchday.[50] Overseas television rights fetched 625 million, nearly double the previous contract.[51] The total raised from these deals is more than 2.7 billion, giving Premier League clubs an average media income from league games of around 40 million a year from 2007 to 2010.[52] The TV rights agreement between the Premier League and Sky has faced accusations of being a cartel, and a number of court cases have arisen as a result.[53] An investigation by the Office of Fair Trading in 2002 found BSkyB to be dominant within the pay TV sports market, but concluded that there were insufficient grounds for the claim that BSkyB had abused its dominant position.[54] In July 1999 the Premier League's method of selling rights collectively for all member clubs was investigated by the UK Restrictive Practices Court, who concluded that the agreement was not contrary to the public interest.[55] The BBC's highlights package on Saturday and Sunday nights, as well as other evenings when fixtures justify, will run until 2013.[56] Television rights alone for the period 2010 to 2013 have been purchased for 1.782 billion.[57] On 22 June 2009, due to troubles encountered by Setanta Sports after it failed to meet a final deadline over a 30 million payment to the Premier League, ESPN was awarded two packages of UK rights containing a total of 46 matches that were available for the 200910 season as well as a package of 23 matches per season from 201011 to 201213.[58]

Worldwide
Promoted as "The Greatest Show On Earth",[59] the Premier League is the world's most watched sporting league,[60] being broadcast to over 600 million people in over 200 countries worldwide,[61] often on networks owned and/or controlled by NewsCorp, which owns BSkyB and thus the primary UK and Ireland TV rights. In the United States, coverage is shared between Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Soccer Plus and ESPN; NewsCorp sometimes buys pitch-side

advertising boards with the Fox Soccer Channel logo replacing that of Sky.[62] In Canada, Rogers Sportsnet owns the Premier League rights for three years from the 201011 season.[63] In Australia, Fox Sports shows the games with a Viewers Choice option for up to five live games and up to nine games live on any given game-week.[64] The Premier League is particularly popular in Asia, where it is the most widely distributed sports programme.[65] In India, the matches are broadcast live on ESPN and Star Sports. In the People's Republic of China, data from 2003 suggested that matches were attracting television audiences between 100 million and 360 million, more than any other foreign sport.[66] However, when the Chinese rights to Premier League matches were sold to a subscription channel in 2007, the number of viewers proved to be in the tens of thousands.[67] Due to its popularity in Asia, the league has held four pre-season tournaments there, the only Premier League affiliated tournaments ever to have been held outside England.[68] The Premier League Asia Trophy has been played in Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and China and involves three Premier League clubs playing against a local team from the host nation, often the national side.[69] Figures from UK tourism body VisitBritain suggest that 750,000 visitors to Britain attended a Premier League match in 2010, spending a total 595 million and an average of 766. Visitors from Norway are most likely to come to watch Premier League football, with one in 13 Norwegian tourists travelling specifically to attend matches. Second on the list is the United Arab Emirates. For those visiting family and friends, the most likely to watch a football match are from Japan, China and Australia.[70]

Criticisms
"Big Four" dominance
"Big Four" since the start of the Premier League[71] Season A C L MU 199293 10 11 6 1 199394 4 14 8 1 199495 12 11 4 2 199596 5 11 3 1 199697 3 6 4 1 199798 1 4 3 2 199899 2 3 7 1 19992000 2 5 4 1 200001 2 6 3 1 200102 1 6 2 3 200203 2 4 5 1 200304 1 2 4 3 200405 2 1 5 3 200506 4 1 3 2

200607 200708 200809 200910 201011 Top four finishes

4 3 4 3 4 16 out of 19

2 2 3 1 2 11

3 4 2 7 6 12

1 1 1 2 1 19

A major criticism of the Premier League has been the emergence of the so-called "Big Four" clubs.[72][73] Since Blackburn Rovers lifted the trophy in 199495, only three clubs have won the Premier League title Manchester United (ten of the club's twelve titles), Arsenal and Chelsea (three times each). In addition, Manchester United have not finished outside the top three since the formation of the Premier League. From the 199697 season onwards, the "Top Four" (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United) have dominated the top four spots, and thus places in the UEFA Champions League (qualification was one club for the first four seasons, increased to two clubs in 1997, three in 1999 and four since 2002). The benefits of qualification, especially increased revenue, are believed to have widened the gap between the "Top Four" clubs and the rest of the Premier League.[73] As of the end of the 201011 season, Manchester United have finished in the top four the most often, having finished in the top four in all 19 Premier League seasons. Arsenal are second with 16 top four finishes, followed by Liverpool with 12 and Chelsea with 11. In May 2008, then Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan said the "Big Four"'s dominance threatened the division, saying, "This league is in danger of becoming one of the most boring but great leagues in the world."[74] Following Keegan's comments, Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore defended the league, saying, "There are a lot of different tussles that go on in the Premier League depending on whether you're at the top, in the middle or at the bottom that make it interesting."[75] The dominance of Chelsea and Manchester United has led some to believe that the "Big Four" has contracted to a "Big Two"; no club other than these two has won the Premier League since 2004 and, as of May 2011, 20 of the last 27 major domestic trophies have gone to either Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford.[71] The years following 2009 marked a shift in the structure of the "Big Four" with two new clubs, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, vying for top four places to secure Champions League football. In the 200910 season, Tottenham Hotspur pipped Manchester City to finish fourth becoming the first team to "break" the top four since Everton in 2005. In 201011, Manchester City finished third the first time a team has broken into the top three since Chelsea did so in the 200304 season.

Widening gap with lower leagues

See also: Premier LeagueFootball League gulf

One of the main criticisms levelled at the Premier League is the increasing gulf between the Premier League and the Football League. Since its split with the Football League, many established clubs in the Premier League have managed to distance themselves from their counterparts in lower leagues. Owing in large part to the disparity in revenue from television rights between the leagues,[76] many newly promoted teams have found it difficult to avoid relegation in their first season in the Premier League. In every season except 200102 (Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers and Fulham) at least one Premier League newcomer has been relegated back to the Football League. In 199798 all three promoted clubs were relegated at the end of the season.[77] The Premier League distributes a small portion of its television revenue to clubs that are relegated from the league in the form of "parachute payments". Starting with the 200607 season, these payments are in the amount of 6.5 million over the club's first two seasons in lower leagues, although this rose to 11.2 million per year for clubs relegated in 20072008.[76] Designed to help teams adjust to the loss of television revenues (the average Premier League team receives 45 million while the average Football League Championship club receives 1 million),[76] critics maintain that the payments actually widen the gap between teams that have reached the Premier League and those that have not,[78] leading to the common occurrence of teams "bouncing back" soon after their relegation. For some clubs, including Burnley, Leeds United, Charlton Athletic, Nottingham Forest, Oldham Athletic, Sheffield Wednesday, Bradford City, Leicester City, Queens Park Rangers, Southampton, and Wimbledon who have failed to win immediate promotion back to the Premier League, financial problems, including in some cases administration or even liquidation have followed. Further relegations down the footballing ladder have ensued for several clubs unable to cope with the gap.[79][80]

Clubs
Main article: List of Premier League clubs See also: List of English football champions and All-time FA Premier League table A total of 45 clubs have played in the Premier League from its inception in 1992 up to and including the 201112 season. Seven clubs have been members of the Premier League for every season since its inception. This group is composed of Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur.[81] The following 20 clubs are competing in the Premier League during the 201112 season. First First Number Number season season of of seasons of Top Last top in seasons in the current division division top in top Premier spell in titles title division division League top division 190405 95 20 191920 13 200304

Club

Position in 201011

Arsenala,b

4th

Aston Villaa,b,c Blackburn Roversa,c Bolton Wanderersc Chelseaa,b Evertona,b,c Fulhamb Liverpoola,b Manchester Citya Manchester Uniteda,b Newcastle United Norwich Citya Queens Park Rangersa Stoke Cityc Sunderland Swansea Cityb Tottenham Hotspura,b West Bromwich Albionc Wigan Athleticb Wolverhampton Wanderersc

9th 15th 14th 2nd 7th 8th 6th 3rd 1st 12th 2nd in the Championship 1st in the Championship 13th 10th 3rd in the Championship 5th 11th 16th 17th

188889 188889 188889 190708 188889 194950 189495 1899 1900 189293 189899 197273 196869 188889 189091 198182 190910 188889 200506 188889

101 72 73 77 109 23 97 83 87 81 22 22 56 81 3 71 73 7 63

20 18 13 20 20 11 20 15 20 18 5 5 4 11 1 20 6 7 4

198889 200102 200102 198990 195455 200102 196263 200203 197576 201011 201112 201112 200809 200708 201112 197879 201011 200506 200910

7 3 0 4 9 0 18 2 19 4 0 0 0 6 0 2 1 0 3

198081 199495 n/a 200910 198687 n/a 198990 196768 201011 192627 n/a n/a n/a 193536 n/a 196061 191920 n/a 195859

Birmingham City, Blackpool and West Ham United were relegated to the nPower Championship (old Div. 2) for the 201112 Season, whilst Queens Park Rangers, Norwich City and Swansea City were promoted to the 201112 Premier League. Swansea became the first Welsh side to ever gain promotion to the Premier League, after defeating Reading 42 in the 2011 Championship play-off final.

: Founding member of the Premier League : Never been relegated from Premier League c : One of the original 12 Football League teams
b

Stadia

Main article: List of Premier League stadia Premier League football has been played in 50 stadia since the formation of the Premier League in 1992. The Hillsborough Disaster in 1989 and the subsequent Taylor Report saw a recommendation that standing terraces should be abolished; as a result all stadia in the Premier League are all-seater.[82][83] Since the formation of the Premier League, football grounds in England have seen constant improvements to capacity and facilities, with some clubs moving to new-build stadia.[84] A total of nine stadia that have seen Premier League football have now been demolished. The stadia for the 201011 season show a large disparity in capacity: Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United has a capacity of 75,957[85] with Bloomfield Road, the home of Blackpool, having a capacity of 16,220.[86] The combined total capacity of the Premier League in the 201011 season is 770,477 with an average capacity of 38,523.[87] Stadium attendances are a significant source of regular income for Premier League clubs.[88] For the 200910 season, average attendances across the league clubs were 34,215 for Premier League matches with a total aggregate attendance figure of 13,001,616.[87] This represents an increase of 13,089 from the average attendance of 21,126 recorded in the league's first season (199293).[89] However, during the 199293 season the capacities of most stadia were reduced as clubs replaced terraces with seats in order to meet the Taylor Report's 199495 deadline for allseater stadia.[90][91] The Premier League's record average attendance of 36,144 was set during the 200708 season.[92]

Managers
See also: List of Premier League managers Managers in the Premier League are involved in the day to day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and player acquisition. Their influence varies from club-to-club and is related to the ownership of the club and the relationship of the manager with fans.[93] Managers are required to have a UEFA Pro License which is the final coaching qualification available, and follows the completion of the UEFA 'B' and 'A' Licences.[94] The UEFA Pro Licence is required by every person who wishes to manage a club in the Premier League on a permanent basis (i.e. more than 12 weeks the amount of time an unqualified caretaker manager is allowed to take control).[95] Caretaker appointments are managers that fill the gap between a managerial departure and a new appointment. Several caretaker managers have gone on to secure a permanent managerial post after performing well as a caretaker; examples include Paul Hart at Portsmouth and David Pleat at Tottenham Hotspur. Only one manager, Alex Ferguson, has remained in his position since the formation of the Premier League in 1992.[96] Arsne Wenger has been in charge of Arsenal in the Premier League since 1996, while David Moyes has been Everton's manager since 2002. The most recent appointment was Andr Villas-Boas of Chelsea. No English manager has won the Premier League; the five managers to have won the title comprise two Scots Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United, twelve wins) and Kenny Dalglish (Blackburn Rovers, one win), a Frenchman (Arsne Wenger, Arsenal, three wins), a Portuguese (Jos Mourinho, Chelsea, two

wins) and an Italian (Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea, one win).[97] Currently 15 of the managers are from the British Isles, with seven of them coming from Scotland and five from England. The current managers in the Premier League are:

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is the only manager who has remained in his job since the formation of the Premier League. Name Club Appointed Sir Alex Ferguson Manchester United 6 November 1986 Arsne Wenger Arsenal 1 October 1996 David Moyes Everton 15 March 2002 Tony Pulis Stoke City 15 June 2006 Mick McCarthy Wolverhampton Wanderers 5 August 2006 Harry Redknapp Tottenham Hotspur 26 October 2008 Steve Bruce Sunderland 5 June 2009 Roberto Martnez Wigan Athletic 15 June 2009 Paul Lambert Norwich City 18 August 2009 Roberto Mancini Manchester City 19 December 2009 Owen Coyle Bolton Wanderers 8 January 2010 Neil Warnock Queens Park Rangers 1 March 2010 Brendan Rogers Swansea City 16 July 2010 Alan Pardew Newcastle United 9 December 2010 Steve Kean Blackburn Rovers 13 December 2010 Kenny Dalglish Liverpool 8 January 2011 Roy Hodgson West Bromwich Albion 11 February 2011 Martin Jol Fulham 7 June 2011 Alex McLeish Aston Villa 17 June 2011 Andr Villas-Boas Chelsea 22 June 2011

Players
See also: List of football players with a Premier League winner's medal

Appearances
Ryan Giggs holds the record number of Premier League appearances with a total of 573. He is one of only two players (the other being Sol Campbell) to have played in all 19 Premier League seasons. He is also the only player to have scored during each campaign and holds the record number of Premier League Champions medals with a total of 12.[98]

Foreign players and transfer regulations

See also: List of foreign Premier League players All-time appearances (Premier League appearances only) Rank Player Appearances 1 574 Ryan Giggs 2 David James 572 3 Gary Speed 535 4 Sol Campbell 503 5 491 Frank Lampard 6 488 Emile Heskey 7 Paul Scholes 466 8 463 Jamie Carragher 9 460 Phil Neville 10 Alan Shearer 441
(Italics denotes players still playing professional football) Bold denotes players still playing in the Premier League).[99]

At the inception of the Premier League in 199293, just eleven players named in the starting line-ups for the first round of matches were 'foreign' (players hailing from outside of the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland).[100] By 200001, the number of foreign players participating in the Premier League was 36 percent of the total. In the 200405 season the figure had increased to 45 percent. On 26 December 1999, Chelsea became the first Premier League side to field an entirely foreign starting line-up,[101] and on 14 February 2005 Arsenal were the first to name a completely foreign 16-man squad for a match.[102] By 2009 the average Premier League team had an average of 13 foreign players in their side[103] with under 40% of the players in the Premier League being English.[104] The effect of foreign players on the England national football team has been the subject of a long-standing debate with some such as Jos Luis Astiazarn, president of Spain's La Liga, suggesting that the high number of young foreign players is the reason behind the national side's lack of success at international football tournaments.[104] Vicente Del Bosque,

the manager of the Spanish national team, disagrees stating that he "didn't think it's damaging for English football to have people from abroad."[105] In response to concerns that clubs were increasingly passing over young British players in favour of signing less-expensive foreign players, in 1999, the Home Office tightened its rules for granting work permits to players from countries outside of the European Union.[106] Currently a non-EU player applying for the permit must have played for his country in at least 75 percent of its competitive 'A' team matches for which he was available for selection during the previous two years, and his country must have averaged at least 70th place in the official FIFA world rankings over the previous two years. If a player does not meet those criteria, the club wishing to sign him may appeal if they believe that he is a special talent and "able to contribute significantly to the development of the game at the top level in the UK."[107] One area where the Premier League's player registration rules are more restrictive than those of some other football leagues, such as those of Belgium and Portugal, is that academy level non-EU players have little access to English football by law.[107] Players can only be transferred during transfer windows that are set by the Football Association. The two current transfer windows run from the last day of the season to 31 August and from 31 December to 31 January. Player registrations cannot be exchanged outside these windows except under specific licence from the FA, usually on an emergency basis.[108] As of the 201011 season, the Premier League introduced new rules mandating that each club must register a maximum 25-man squad of players aged over 21, with the squad list only allowed to be changed in transfer windows or in exceptional circumstances.[109][110] This was to enable the 'home grown' rule to be enacted, whereby the League would also from 2010 require at least 8 of the named 25 man squad to be made up of 'home-grown players', defined as a player who: irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to The Football Association or the Welsh Football Association for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21)[109]

Wages and transfer records

There is no team or individual salary cap in the Premier League. As a result of the increasingly lucrative television deals, player wages rose sharply following the formation of the Premier League. In the first Premier League season the average player wage was 75,000 per year,[111] but subsequently rose by an average 20 per cent per year for a decade,[112] 409,000 in 200001, 676,000 in 200304 season[113] rising to 1.1 million for the 200809 season.[114] The record transfer fee for a Premier League has been broken several times over the lifetime of the competition. Prior to the start of the first Premier League season Alan Shearer became the first British player to command a transfer fee of more than 3 million.[115] The record rose steadily in the Premier League's first few seasons, until Alan Shearer made a world record breaking 15 million move to Newcastle United in 1996.[115] This stood as a British record for four years until it was eclipsed by the 18 million Leeds paid West Ham for Rio Ferdinand.[115] Manchester United subsequently broke the record three times by signing Ruud van Nistelrooy,

Juan Sebastin Vern and Rio Ferdinand.[116] Chelsea broke the record in May 2006, when they signed Andriy Shevchenko, from AC Milan. The exact figure of the transfer fee was not disclosed, but was reported as being around 30 million.[117] This was surpassed by Manchester City's transfer of Robinho from Real Madrid on 1 September 2008 for 32.5 million.[118] This fee was then surpassed twice on deadline day of the January 2011 window, first by Andy Carroll's 35 million move from Newcastle United to Liverpool.[119] This was then beaten when Fernando Torres moved from Liverpool to Chelsea for 50 million.[120] The Torres deal remains the British transfer record paid for a player. The record transfer in the sport's history had a Premier League club on the selling end, with Manchester United accepting an 80 million bid from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.[121]

Top scorers
See also: Premier League Golden Boot and List of Premier League hat-tricks All-time top scorers in the Premier League (Premier League goals only) Rank Player Goals 1 Alan Shearer 260 2 Andrew Cole 187 3 174 Thierry Henry 4 Robbie Fowler 162 Les Ferdinand 149 5 149 Michael Owen 7 Teddy Sheringham 147 8 140 Frank Lampard 9 129 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Dwight Yorke 123 10 Robbie Keane 123 123 Nicolas Anelka
(Italics denotes players still playing professional football, Bold denotes players still playing in the Premier League).[99]

Players in the Premier League compete for the Premier League Golden Boot, awarded to the top scorer at the end of each season, as well as for Golden Boot awards for the first person to score 10, 20 or 30 goals in a season. They can also compete for the informal competitions of Goal of the Month and Goal of the Season. Former Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer holds the record for most Premier League goals with 260. Shearer finished among the top ten goal scorers in 10 out of his 14 seasons in the Premier League and won the top scorer title three times. During the 199596 season he became the first player to score 100 Premier League goals. Since then, 18 other players have reached the 100-goal mark.[122] Since the first Premier League season in 199293, 14 different players from 10 different clubs have won or shared the top scorers title.[123] Thierry Henry won his third consecutive and fourth

overall scoring title by scoring 27 goals in the 200506 season. This surpassed Shearer's mark of three titles which he won consecutively from 199495 through 199697. Other multiple winners include Michael Owen, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Didier Drogba who have won two titles each. Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer hold the record for most goals in a season (34) for Newcastle and Blackburn respectively. Cole's record came in the 199394 season, while Shearer's came in 199495, both of which were 42-game seasons.[124] Shearer's mark of 31 goals from a 38-game season in 199596 was equalled in the 200708 season by Cristiano Ronaldo.[125] Five goals is the record individual scoring total for a player in a single Premier League game held by four players; Andy Cole, Alan Shearer, Jermain Defoe and Dimitar Berbatov.[126] Only Ryan Giggs of Manchester United has scored in all 19 Premier League seasons.[127] Manchester United became the first team to have scored 1,000 goals in the league after Cristiano Ronaldo scored in a 41 defeat by Middlesbrough in the 200506 season.[128] Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are the only other teams to have reached the 1,000-goal mark, with Tottenham being the latest team to do so after a Jermain Defoe goal on 23 April 2011.[129][130] The highest-scoring match to date in the Premier League occurred on 29 September 2007 when Portsmouth beat Reading 74..[131]

Premier League club accounts: how in debt are they?

The Premier League clubs collectively lost close to half a billion pounds in 2009-10 but how in debt are they? Find their income and expenditure by club Get the data
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Manchester United's Wayne Rooney celebrates his penalty against Blackburn Rovers in the match that won them their 19th League title on Saturday. Photograph: Nigel Roddis/Reuters The Premier League season has drawn to a close for the season, with Manchester United winning a historic, 19th League title but how are the clubs operating financially? Despite a record income, the 20 top-flight clubs collectively lost nearly half a billion pounds. Rises in revenue saw a 2.1bn total revenue for the Premier League clubs in 2009-10 but large debts and interest rates have stopped the income from soaring as 16 out of the 20 clubs recorded losses. David Conn has written:

Across Manchester, United made 286m turnover, more than any other club if Arsenal's property income is discounted yet the costs and interest on the debts the owners, the Glazer family, have

loaded on to the club, pushed United into a losing 79m. Double-winners in 2009-10 Chelsea, whose owner, the Russian oil oligarch Roman Abramovich, is always cited as a supporter of Uefa's break-even "financial fair play" principles, made the next biggest loss, 78m. Tottenham's successful push for Champions League qualification was achieved with a 7m loss and 15m investment from the owners, principally Bahamas-based currency speculator, Joe Lewis. See the full page at Many Eyes The table below shows turnover plus income from things such as gate/matchday and TV and broadcasting as well as net debt for each club and wages as a percentage of turnover. The spreadsheet to download includes additional accounts details such as losses, profits and which money put in by the owners. There's a pdf of the accounts too. What can you do with the data?

Data summary Finances of the Premier League from latest accounts

Click heading to sort - Download this data Wages as Turn - Gate and TV and Comm Net Prop - ortion Team over, Matc - hday Broad ercial, Debt, of Turn m income, m casting, m m m over (%) Arsenal 382 94 85 31 29 136 Aston Villa 91 24 52 14 88 110 Birmingham City 56 7.4 42 7 68 16 Blackburn Rovers 58 6 43 9 81 21 Blackpool 9 144 Bolton Wanderers 62 9 38 4 74 93 Chelsea 213 5 82 734 Everton 79 19 50 10 69 45 Fulham 77 11 43 9 63 190 Liverpool 185 43 80 62 65 123 Manchester City 125 18 54 53 106 41 Manchester 286 100 104 81 46 590 United Newcastle United 52 21 16 15 90 150 Stoke City 59 76 8 Sunderland 65 13 39 5 83 66 Tottenham 119 27 52 8 56 65 Hotspur West Bromwich 28 6 17 3 82 10 Interest pay - able, m 19 5 1 0.7 0.06 5 0.8 4 2 18 4 107 2 0.06 2 6 0.09

Finances of the Premier League from latest accounts

Click heading to sort - Download this data Wages as Turn - Gate and TV and Comm Net Interest Prop - ortion over, Matc - hday Broad ercial, Debt, pay - able, of Turn m income, m casting, m m m m over (%) 17 10 38 39 13 6 75 91 49 34 73 0 4 0.9 0.02

Team

Albion West Ham United 72 Wigan Athletic 43 Wolverhampton 61 Wanderers

Manchester United F.C.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search "MUFC" redirects here. For other uses, see MUFC (disambiguation).

Manchester United

Full name

Manchester United Football Club The Red Devils[1]

Nickname(s)

Founded

1878, as Newton Heath LYR F.C.

Ground

Old Trafford (Capacity: 75,957[2])

Owner

Glazer family

Co-chairmen

Joel & Avram Glazer

Manager

Alex Ferguson

League

Premier League

201011

Premier League, 1st

Website

Club home page

Home colours

Away colours

Current season

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910. In 1968, under the management of Matt Busby, Manchester United was the first English football club to win the European Cup, ten years after the Munich air disaster that claimed the lives of

eight players. The current manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is the most successful manager in English football history, having won 37 major honours since he took over in November 1986.[3][4] Manchester United is the most successful club in English football, having won 53 domestic trophies, comprising a record 19 league titles, a record 11 FA Cups[5], four League Cups and 19 FA Charity/Community Shields. The club has also been successful globally, winning seven international titles: three European Cups, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. In 199899, the club won a "Treble" of the Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, an unprecedented feat for an English club. Manchester United is one of the wealthiest and most widely supported football teams in the world.[6][7][8][9] The club is said to be worth 1.13 billion, making it the world's most valuable football club.[10] After being floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1991, the club was purchased by Malcolm Glazer in May 2005 in a deal valuing the club at almost 800 million.[11]

Contents
[hide]

1 History o 1.1 Early years (18781945) o 1.2 Busby years (19451969) o 1.3 19691986 o 1.4 Ferguson years (1986present) 2 Crest and colours 3 Grounds 4 Support o 4.1 Rivalries 5 Global brand o 5.1 Sponsorship 6 Ownership and finances 7 Players o 7.1 First-team squad 7.1.1 On loan o 7.2 Reserves and academy o 7.3 Former players o 7.4 Club captains o 7.5 Player records 8 Club officials o 8.1 Managerial history 9 Honours o 9.1 Domestic 9.1.1 League 9.1.2 Cups

9.2 European 9.3 Worldwide 9.4 Doubles and Trebles 10 Footnotes 11 References 12 External links o 12.1 Independent sites

o o o

History
Early years (18781945)
Main article: History of Manchester United F.C. (18781945)

A chart showing the progress of Manchester United F.C. through the English football league system from joining as Newton Heath in 189293 to 200708

Manchester United was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath.[12] The team initially played games against other departments and rail companies, but on 20 November 1880, they competed in their first recorded match; wearing the colours of the railway company green and gold they were defeated 60 by Bolton Wanderers' reserve team.[13] By 1888, the club had become a founding member of The Combination, a regional football league. However, following the league's dissolution after just one season, Newton Heath joined the newly formed Football Alliance, which ran for three seasons before being merged with the Football League. This resulted in the club starting the 189293 season in the First Division, by which time it had become independent of the rail company and dropped the "LYR" from its name.[12] After just two seasons, the club was relegated to the Second Division.[12]

The Manchester United team at the start of the 190506 season, in which they were runners-up in the Second Division

In January 1902, with debts of 2,670 equivalent to 210,000 as of 2011[nb 1] the club was served with a winding-up order.[14] Captain Harry Stafford found four local businessmen, including John Henry Davies (who became club president), each willing to invest 500 in return for a direct interest in running the club and who subsequently changed the name;[15] on 24 April 1902, Manchester United was officially born.[16][nb 2] Under Ernest Mangnall, who assumed managerial duties in 1903, the team finished as Second Division runners-up in 1906 and secured promotion to the First Division, which they won in 1908 the club's first league title. The following season began with victory in the first ever Charity Shield[17] and ended with the club's first FA Cup title. Manchester United won the First Division for the second time in 1911, but at the end of the following season, Mangnall left the club to join Manchester City.[18] In 1922, three years after the resumption of football following the First World War, the club was relegated to the Second Division, where it remained until regaining promotion in 1925. Relegated again in 1931, Manchester United became a yo-yo club, achieving its all-time lowest position of 20th place in the Second Division in 1934. Following the death of the club's principal benefactor, J. H. Davies, in October 1927, the club's finances deteriorated to the extent that Manchester United would likely have gone bankrupt had it not been for James W. Gibson, who, in December 1931, invested 2,000 and assumed control of the club.[19] In the 193839 season, the last year of football before the Second World War, the club finished 14th in the First Division.[19]

Busby years (19451969)

Main article: History of Manchester United F.C. (19451969)

The Busby Babes in Denmark in 1955

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.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22] 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.[23] En route to the semi-final, which they lost to Real Madrid, the team recorded a 100 victory over Belgian champions Anderlecht, which remains the club's biggest victory on record.[24]

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.[25][26] 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.[27][28] 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 41 in the final[29] with a team that contained three European Footballers of the Year: Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best.[30] Matt Busby resigned as manager in 1969 and was replaced by the reserve team coach, former Manchester United player Wilf McGuinness.[31]

19691986
Main article: History of Manchester United F.C. (19691986)

Bryan Robson was the captain of Manchester United for 12 years, longer than any other player.[32]

Following an eighth-place finish in the 196970 season and a poor start to the 197071 season, Busby was persuaded to temporarily resume managerial duties, and McGuinness returned to his position as reserve team coach. In June 1971, Frank O'Farrell was appointed as manager, but lasted less than 18 months before being replaced by Tommy Docherty in December 1972.[33] Docherty saved Manchester United from relegation that season, only to see them relegated in 1974; by that time the trio of Best, Law, and Charlton had left the club.[29] The team won promotion at the first attempt and reached the FA Cup final in 1976, but were beaten by Southampton. They reached the final again in 1977, beating Liverpool 21. Docherty was dismissed shortly afterwards, following the revelation of his affair with the club physiotherapist's wife.[31][34] Dave Sexton replaced Docherty as manager in the summer of 1977. Despite major signings, including Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen, Gary Bailey, and Ray Wilkins, the team failed to achieve any significant results; they finished in the top two in 197980 and lost to Arsenal in the 1979 FA Cup Final. Sexton was dismissed in 1981, even though the team won the last seven games under his direction.[35] He was replaced by Ron Atkinson, who immediately broke the

British record transfer fee to sign Bryan Robson from West Bromwich Albion. Under Atkinson, Manchester United won the FA Cup twice in three years in 1983 and 1985. In 198586, after 13 wins and two draws in its first 15 matches, the club was favourite to win the league, but finished in fourth place. The following season, with the club in danger of relegation by November, Atkinson was dismissed.[36]

Ferguson years (1986present)

Main article: History of Manchester United F.C. (1986present)

Alex Ferguson has been manager of Manchester United since November 1986.

Alex Ferguson and his assistant Archie Knox arrived from Aberdeen on the day of Atkinson's dismissal,[37] and guided the club to an 11th-place finish in the league.[38] Despite a second-place finish in 198788, the club was back in 11th place the following season.[39] Reportedly on the verge of being dismissed, victory over Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup Final replay (after a 3 3 draw) saved Ferguson's career.[40][41] The following season, Manchester United claimed its first Cup Winners' Cup title and competed in the 1991 UEFA Super Cup, beating European Cup holders Red Star Belgrade 10 in the final at Old Trafford. A second consecutive League Cup final appearance followed in 1992, in which the team beat Nottingham Forest 10 at Wembley.[36] In 1993, the club won its first league title since 1967, and a year later, for the first time since 1957, it won a second consecutive title alongside the FA Cup to complete the first "Double" in the club's history.[36]

Ryan Giggs is the most decorated player in English football history.[42]

Manchester United's 199899 season was the most successful in English club football history as they became the first team to win the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League "The Treble" in the same season.[43] Losing 10 going into injury time in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjr scored late goals to claim a dramatic victory over Bayern Munich, in what is considered one of the greatest comebacks of all time.[44] The club also won the Intercontinental Cup after beating Palmeiras 10 in Tokyo.[45] Ferguson was subsequently knighted for his services to football.[46] In 2000, Manchester United competed in the inaugural FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil,[47] and won the league again in the 19992000 and 200001 seasons. The team finished as runners-up in 200102, before regaining the title in 200203. They won the 200304 FA Cup, beating Millwall 30 in the final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.[48] In the 200506 season, Manchester United failed to qualify for the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in over a decade, but recovered to secure a second-place league finish and victory over Wigan Athletic in the 2006 Football League Cup Final. The club regained the Premier League in the 200607 and 200708 seasons, and completed the European double by beating Chelsea 65 on penalties in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. Ryan Giggs made a record 759th appearance for the club in this game, overtaking previous record holder Bobby Charlton.[49] In December 2008, the club won the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup and followed this with the 200809 Football League Cup, and its third successive Premier League title.[50][51] That summer, Cristiano Ronaldo was sold to Real Madrid for a world record 80 million.[52] In 2010, Manchester United defeated Aston Villa 21 at Wembley to retain the League Cup, its first successful defence of a knockout cup competition.[53] After finishing as runner-up to Chelsea in the 200910 season, United achieved a record 19th league title in 201011, securing the championship with a 11 away draw against Blackburn Rovers on 14 May 2011.[54] In start of the following season, United as champions faced FA Cup winners Manchester City in the 2011 Community Shield, United end up winning the match 32 to secure thier 19th Shield.[55]

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.[56] 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).[56] A photograph of the Newton Heath team, taken in 1892, is believed to show the players wearing a red-and-white quartered jerseys and blue shorts.[57] Between 189496, the players wore distinctive green and gold jerseys[57] which were replaced in 1896 by white shirts, which were worn with blue shorts.[57] 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.[57] 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 would remain part of their home kits until 1927.[57] 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.[57] 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 shirt with a white collar, worn with white shorts and black socks.[58] The Manchester United away strip has more often than not been a white shirt, black shorts and white socks, but there have been several exceptions. These include the navy blue shirt with silver horizontal pinstripes worn during the 19992000 season,[59] and the current away kit, which has a royal blue body and sleeves with hoops made of small midnight navy blue and black stripes, with black shorts and socks.[60] An all-grey away kit worn during the 199596 season was dropped after just two games because players claimed to have trouble finding their team-mates against the crowd.[61] 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.[62]

The club's third kit is often all-blue, this was most recently the case during the 200809 season, to celebrate 40 years since it was worn for the club's first European Cup win in 1968.[63] Exceptions include blue-and-white striped shirts worn during the 199496 season, an all black kit worn during the Treble winning season, and white shirts with black-and-red horizontal pinstripes worn between 200305.[64]

Grounds
Main articles: North Road, Bank Street, and Old Trafford

Old Trafford
Theatre of Dreams

Sir Matt Busby Way, Location Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England

Broke ground

1909

Opened

19 February 1910

Owner

Manchester United

Operator

Manchester United

Construction cost

90,000 (1909)

Architect

Archibald Leitch (1909) 75,957 seated[2]

Capacity

Tenants

Manchester United (1910present)

Newton 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.[65] 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.[66] 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.[67] A similar attendance was also recorded for a friendly match against Gorton Villa on 5 September 1889.[68] 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.[69] It initially had no stands, by the start of the 189394 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".[69] 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 32 win. The remaining stands were completed for the following league game against Nottingham Forest three weeks later.[69] 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.[70] 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.[71] Following financial investment, new club president J.H. Davies paid 500 for the erection of a new 1,000seat stand at Bank Street.[72] 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.[72]

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;[72] 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.[73] 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.[74] 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 199394 season.[31] 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.[75] 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 199899 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.[76] The record was pushed steadily upwards before reaching its peak on 31 March 2007, when 76,098 spectators saw Manchester United beat Blackburn Rovers 41, with just 114 seats (0.15 percent of the total capacity of 76,212) unoccupied.[77] In 2009, reorganisation of the seating resulted in a reduction of capacity by 255 to 75,957.[2][78]

Support
Manchester United is reputed to be the most popular football club in the world, with the highest average home attendance in Europe.[79] The club's worldwide fan base includes more than 200 officially recognised branches of the Manchester United Supporters Club (MUSC), in at least 24 countries.[80] The club takes advantage of this support through its worldwide summer tours. Accountancy firm and sports industry consultants Deloitte estimate that Manchester United has 75 million fans worldwide,[7] while other estimates put this figure closer to 333 million.[8] Supporters are represented by two independent bodies; the Independent Manchester United Supporters Association (IMUSA), which maintains close links to the club through the MUFC

Fans Forum,[81] and the Manchester United Supporters' Trust (MUST). After the Glazer family's takeover in 2005, a group of fans formed a splinter club, F.C. United of Manchester. The West Stand of Old Trafford the "Stretford End" is the home end and the traditional source of the club's most vocal support.[82]

Rivalries
Main articles: Manchester derby, Liverpool F.C. and Manchester United F.C. rivalry, and Leeds United A.F.C. and Manchester United F.C. rivalry

Manchester United has rivalries with three clubs: Leeds United, Liverpool, and Manchester City, against whom they contest the Manchester derby.[83][84] The rivalry with Liverpool is rooted in competition between the cities during the Industrial Revolution when Manchester was famous for its textile industry while Liverpool was a major port.[85] The "Roses Rivalry" with Leeds stems from the Wars of the Roses, fought between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, with Manchester United representing Lancashire and Leeds representing Yorkshire.[86]

Global brand
Manchester United has been described as a global brand; a 2010 report valued the club's trademarks and associated intellectual property at 373 million an increase of 44 million on the previous year, but 13 million less than brand leaders Real Madrid and gave the brand a strength rating of AAA (Extremely Strong).[87] In 2010, Forbes magazine ranked Manchester United second only to the New York Yankees in its list of the ten most valuable sports team brands, valuing the Manchester United brand at $285 million (16 percent of the club's $1.835 billion value).[9] The club is currently ranked third in the Deloitte Football Money League (behind Real Madrid and Barcelona).[88] The core strength of Manchester United's global brand is often attributed to Matt Busby's rebuilding of the team and subsequent success following the Munich air disaster, which drew worldwide acclaim.[82] The "iconic" team included Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles (members of England's World Cup winning team), Denis Law and George Best. The attacking style of play adopted by this team (in contrast to the defensive-minded "catenaccio" approach favoured by the leading Italian teams of the era) "captured the imagination of the English footballing public".[89] Busby's team also became associated with the liberalisation of Western society during the 1960s; George Best, known as the "fifth Beatle" for his iconic haircut, was the first footballer to significantly develop an off-the-field media profile.[89] As the first English football club to float on the London Stock Exchange in 1991, the club raised significant capital, with which it further developed its commercial strategy. The club's focus on commercial and sporting success brought significant profits in an industry often characterised by

chronic losses.[90] The strength of the Manchester United brand was bolstered by intense off-thefield media attention to individual players, most notably David Beckham (who quickly developed his own global brand). This attention often generates greater interest in on-the-field activities, and hence generates sponsorship opportunities the value of which is driven by television exposure.[91] During his time with the club, Beckham's popularity across Asia was integral to the club's commercial success in that part of the world.[92] Because higher league placement results in a greater share of television rights, success on the field generates greater income for the club. Since the inception of the Premier League, Manchester United has received the largest share of the revenue generated from the BSkyB broadcasting deal.[93] Manchester United has also consistently enjoyed the highest commercial income of any English club; in 200506, the club's commercial arm generated 51 million, compared to 42.5 million at Chelsea, 39.3 million at Liverpool, 34 million at Arsenal and 27.9 million at Newcastle United. A key sponsorship relationship is with sportswear company Nike, who manage the club's merchandising operation as part of a 303 million 13-year partnership established in 2002.[94] Through Manchester United Finance and the club's membership scheme, One United, those with an affinity for the club can purchase a range of branded goods and services. Additionally, Manchester United-branded media services such as the club's dedicated television channel, MUTV have allowed the club to expand its fan base to those beyond the reach of its Old Trafford stadium.[7]

Sponsorship
Period 19451975 19751980 19801982 Adidas 19821992 Sharp Electronics 19922000 Umbro 20002002 Vodafone 20022006 20062010 20100000 Nike AIG Aon Kit manufacturer Umbro Admiral
none

Shirt sponsor

In an initial five-year deal worth 500,000, Sharp Electronics became the club's first shirt sponsor at the beginning of the 198283 season, a relationship that lasted until the end of the

19992000 season, when Vodafone agreed a four-year, 30 million deal.[95] Vodafone agreed to pay 36 million to extend the deal by four years, but after two seasons triggered a break clause in order to concentrate on its sponsorship of the Champions League.[95] To commence at the start of the 200607 season, American insurance corporation AIG agreed a four-year 56.5 million deal which in September 2006 became the most valuable in the world.[96][97] At the beginning of the 201011 season, American reinsurance company Aon became the club's principal sponsor in a four-year deal reputed to be worth approximately 80 million, making it the most lucrative shirt sponsorship deal in football history.[98] Manchester United announced their first training kit sponsor in August 2011, agreeing a fouryear deal with DHL reported to be worth 40 million; it is believed to be the first instance of training kit sponsorship in English football.[99][100] The club's first kit manufacturer was Umbro, until a five-year deal was agreed with Admiral Sportswear in 1975.[101] Adidas received the contract in 1980,[102] before Umbro started a second spell in 1992.[103] Umbro's sponsorship lasted for ten years, followed by Nike's record-breaking 302.9 million deal that will last until 2015; 3.8 million replica shirts were sold in the first 22 months with the company.[104][105] In addition to Nike and Aon, the club also has several lowerlevel "platinum" sponsors, including Audi and Budweiser.[106]

Ownership and finances

See also: Glazer ownership of Manchester United

Originally funded by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, the club became a limited company in 1892 and sold shares to local supporters for 1 via an application form.[15] In 1902, majority ownership passed to the four local businessmen who invested 500 to save the club from bankruptcy, including future club president J.H Davies.[15] After his death in 1927, the club faced bankruptcy yet again, but was saved in December 1931 by James W. Gibson, who assumed control of the club after investing 2,000.[19] Gibson promoted his son, Alan, to the board in 1948,[107] but died three years later; the Gibson family retained ownership of the club,[108] but the position of chairman passed to former player Harold Hardman.[109] Promoted to the board a few days after the Munich air disaster, Louis Edwards, a friend of Matt Busby, began acquiring shares in the club; for an investment of approximately 40,000, he accumulated a 54 percent shareholding and took control in January 1964.[110] When Lillian Gibson died in January 1971, her shares passed to Alan Gibson who sold a percentage of his shares to Louis Edwards' son, Martin in 1978; Martin Edwards went on to become chairman upon his father's death in 1980.[111] Media tycoon Robert Maxwell attempted to buy the club in 1984, but did not meet Edwards' asking price.[111] In 1989, chairman Martin Edwards attempted to sell the club to Michael Knighton for 20 million, but the sale fell through and Knighton joined the Board of Directors instead.[111] Manchester United was floated on the stock market in June 1991 (raising 6.7 million),[112] and received yet another takeover bid in 1998, this time from Rupert Murdoch's British Sky Broadcasting Corporation. This resulted in the formation of Shareholders United Against

Murdoch now the Manchester United Supporters' Trust who encouraged supporters to buy shares in the club in an attempt to block any hostile takeover. The Manchester United board accepted a 623 million offer,[113] but the takeover was blocked by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission at the final hurdle in April 1999.[114] A few years later, a power struggle emerged between the club's manager, Alex Ferguson, and his horse-racing partners, John Magnier and J. P. McManus, who had gradually become the majority shareholders. In a dispute that stemmed from contested ownership of the horse Rock of Gibraltar, Magnier and McManus attempted to have Ferguson removed from his position as manager, and the board responded by approaching investors to attempt to reduce the Irishmen's majority.[115] In May 2005, Malcolm Glazer purchased the 28.7 percent stake held by McManus and Magnier, thus acquiring a controlling interest through his investment vehicle Red Football Ltd in a highly leveraged takeover valuing the club at approximately 800 million (then approx. $1.5 billion).[116][117] In July 2006, the club announced a 660 million debt refinancing package, resulting in a 30 percent reduction in annual interest payments to 62 million a year.[118][119] In January 2010, with debts of 716.5 million ($1.17 billion),[120] Manchester United further refinanced through a bond issue worth 504 million, enabling them to pay off most of the 509 million owed to international banks.[121] The annual interest payable on the bonds which mature on 1 February 2017 is approximately 45 million per annum.[122] Despite restructuring, the club's debt prompted protests from fans on 23 January 2010, at Old Trafford and the club's Trafford Training Centre.[123][124] Supporter groups encouraged match-going fans to wear green and gold, the colours of Newton Heath. On 30 January, reports emerged that the Manchester United Supporters' Trust had held meetings with a group of wealthy fans, dubbed the "Red Knights", with plans to buying out the Glazers' controlling interest.[125] In August 2011, the Glazers were believed to have approached Credit Suisse in preparation for a $1 billion (approx. 600 million) initial public offering (IPO) on the Singapore stock exchange that would value the club at more than 2 billion.[126]

Players
First-team squad
As of 12 August 2011.[127]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. 1 3

Position GK DF

Player David de Gea Patrice Evra

No. 18 19

Position MF FW

Player Ashley Young Danny Welbeck

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

DF DF DF FW MF FW FW MF DF MF FW DF MF MF

Phil Jones Rio Ferdinand Jonny Evans Michael Owen Anderson Dimitar Berbatov Wayne Rooney Ryan Giggs Chris Smalling Park Ji-Sung Javier Hernndez Nemanja Vidid (captain) Michael Carrick Nani

20 21 23 24 25 27 28 29 32 34 40 42 49 50

DF DF MF MF MF FW MF GK FW GK GK MF MF GK

Fbio Rafael Tom Cleverley Darren Fletcher Antonio Valencia Federico Macheda Darron Gibson Tomasz Kuszczak Mame Biram Diouf Anders Lindegaard Ben Amos Paul Pogba Ravel Morrison Sam Johnstone

On loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. 30

Position DF

Player Ritchie De Laet (at Norwich City until 30 June 2012)[128] Bb (at Beikta until 30 June 2012)[129]

No.

Position

Player Joshua King (at Borussia Mnchengladbach until 30 June 2012)[131] Ryan Tunnicliffe (at Peterborough United until 31 December 2011)[132]

41

FW

33

FW

46 37 MF Robbie Brady (at Hull City until 31 December 2011)[130]

MF

47

MF

Oliver Norwood (at Scunthorpe United until 1 January 2012)[133]

Reserves and academy

For the reserve and academy squads, see Manchester United F.C. Reserves and Academy.

Former players
For details of former players, see List of Manchester United F.C. players and Category:Manchester United F.C. players.

Club captains
For a list of club captains, see List of Manchester United F.C. players#Club captains.

Player records
For player records, including player awards, see List of Manchester United F.C. records and statistics.

Club officials

Owner: Glazer family via Red Football Shareholder Limited[134] Honorary president: Martin Edwards[135]

Manchester United Limited

Co-chairmen: Joel Glazer & Avram Glazer[136] Chief executive: David Gill[136] Chief operating officer: Michael Bolingbroke[136] Commercial director: Richard Arnold[137] Chief of Staff: Ed Woodward[138] Non-executive directors: Bryan Glazer, Kevin Glazer, Edward Glazer & Darcie Glazer[136]

Manchester United Football Club

Directors: David Gill, Michael Edelson, Sir Bobby Charlton, Maurice Watkins[138] Club secretary: John Alexander[139] Global ambassador: Bryan Robson[140]

Coaching and medical staff

Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson[141] Assistant manager: Mike Phelan[142] First team coach: Ren Meulensteen[143] Goalkeeping coach: Eric Steele[144] Fitness coach: Tony Strudwick[145] Reserve team manager: Warren Joyce[146]

Managerial history
Main article: List of Manchester United F.C. managers Dates[147] 18781892 18921900 19001903 19031912 19121914 19141922 19221926 19261927 19271931 Name Unknown A. H. Albut James West Ernest Mangnall John Bentley Jack Robson John Chapman First manager from outside England Lal Hilditch Herbert Bamlett Walter Crickmer Scott Duncan Walter Crickmer Matt Busby Wilf Notes

19311932 19321937 19371945 19451969 19691970

McGuinness 19701971 19711972 19721977 19771981 19811986 1986 present Matt Busby Frank O'Farrell First manager from outside the United Kingdom Tommy Docherty Dave Sexton Ron Atkinson Alex Ferguson Both most honours won and longest serving in Manchester United's history[141]

Honours
Manchester United's first trophy was the Manchester Cup, which it won as Newton Heath in 1886.[148] In 1908, the club won its first league title, and won the FA Cup for the first time the following year. In terms of the number of trophies won, Manchester United's most successful decade was the 1990s; the club won five league titles, four FA Cups, one League Cup, five Charity Shields (one shared), one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, one UEFA Super Cup and one Intercontinental Cup. The club currently holds the record for most top-division titles (19), the most FA Cups (11), and the most FA Cup Final appearances (18).[149] Manchester United holds the record for the most Premier League titles (12), and was the first English team to win the European Cup in 1968. The club's most recent trophy came in August 2011 with the 2011 FA Community Shield title. The only major honour that Manchester United has never won is the UEFA Europa League,[150] although the team reached the quarter-finals in 198485 and the semi-finals of the competition's precursor tournament, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, in 196465.[151][152]

Domestic
League
First Division[nb 3] (until 1992) and Premier League:[nb 3] 19 o 190708, 191011, 195152, 195556, 195657, 196465, 196667, 199293, 199394, 199596, 199697, 199899, 19992000, 200001, 200203, 200607, 200708, 200809, 201011 [nb 3] Second Division: 2

193536, 197475

Cups

FA Cup: 11 o 190809, 194748, 196263, 197677, 198283, 198485, 198990, 199394, 199596, 199899, 200304 League Cup: 4 o 199192, 200506, 200809, 200910 FA Charity/Community Shield: 19 (15 outright, 4 shared) o 1908, 1911, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1965*, 1967*, 1977*, 1983, 1990*, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 (* shared)

European

European Cup/UEFA Champions League: 3 o 196768, 199899, 200708 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1 o 199091 UEFA Super Cup: 1 o 1991

Worldwide

Intercontinental Cup: 1 o 1999 FIFA Club World Cup: 1 o 2008

Doubles and Trebles

Doubles: o League and FA Cup: 3 199394, 199596, 199899 (as part of the Treble) o League and League Cup: 1 200809 o European Double (League and European Cup): 2 199899 (as part of the Treble), 200708 "The Treble" (League, FA Cup and European Cup): 1 o 199899

Especially short competitions such as the Charity/Community Shield, Intercontinental Cup (now defunct), FIFA Club World Cup or Super Cup are not generally considered to contribute towards a Double or Treble.[153]

Footnotes

1. ^ UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Lawrence H. Officer (2010) "What Were the UK Earnings and Prices Then?" MeasuringWorth. 2. ^ Sources are divided on the exact date of the meeting and subsequent name change. Whilst official club sources claim that it occurred on 26 April, the meeting was reported by the Manchester Evening Chronicle in its 25 April edition, suggesting it was indeed on 24 April. 3. ^ a b c Upon its formation in 1992, the Premier League became the top tier of English football; the First and Second Divisions then became the second and third tiers, respectively. The First Division is now known as the Football League Championship and the Second Division is now known as Football League One.

Arsenal F.C.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Arsenal Football Club) Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Arsenal (disambiguation).

Arsenal

Full name

Arsenal Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Gunners

Founded

1886 as Dial Square

Ground

Emirates Stadium (Capacity: 60,355[1])

Owner

Arsenal Holdings plc

Chairman

Peter Hill-Wood

Manager

Arsne Wenger

League

Premier League

201011

Premier League, 4th

Website

Club home page

Home colours Away colours Third colours

Current season

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and

Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups. Arsenal holds the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the English top flight and is the only side to have completed a Premier League season unbeaten. Arsenal was founded in 1886 in Woolwich and in 1893 became the first club from the south of England to join the Football League. In 1913, it moved north across the city to Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. In the 1930s the club won five League Championship titles and two FA Cups. After a lean period in the post-war years it won the League and FA Cup Double, in the 197071 season, and in the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century won two more Doubles and reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. Arsenal has a long-standing rivalry with neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, with whom it regularly contests the North London derby. Arsenal is also the third most valuable Association football club in the world as of 2010, valued at $1.2 billion.[2]

Contents
[hide]

1 History 2 Crest 3 Colours 4 Stadiums 5 Supporters 6 Ownership and finances 7 Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors o 7.1 Kit manufacturers o 7.2 Shirt sponsors 8 In popular culture 9 Arsenal Ladies 10 In the community 11 Statistics and records 12 Players o 12.1 First-team squad o 12.2 Reserve squad o 12.3 Out on loan 13 Notable players 14 Current technical staff 15 Managers 16 Honours o 16.1 Domestic o 16.2 European 17 Footnotes 18 Further reading 19 External links o 19.1 Official websites

o o

19.2 News sites 19.3 Other

History
For more details on this topic, see History of Arsenal F.C. (18861966) and History of Arsenal F.C. (1966 present).

Woolwich Arsenal (in dark shirts) playing Newcastle United (in striped shirts) in an FA Cup semi-final the club's first ever at the Victoria Ground, Stoke.

Arsenal Football Club started out as Dial Square in 1886 by workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, south-east London, and was renamed Royal Arsenal shortly afterwards.[3] The club was renamed again to Woolwich Arsenal after becoming a limited company in 1893.[4] The club became the first southern member of the Football League in 1893, starting out in the Second Division, and won promotion to the First Division in 1904. The club's relative geographic isolation resulted in lower attendances than those of other clubs, which led to the club becoming mired in financial problems and effectively bankrupt by 1910, when they were taken over by businessmen Henry Norris and William Hall.[5] Norris sought to move the club elsewhere, and in 1913, soon after relegation back to the Second Division, Arsenal moved to the new Arsenal Stadium in Highbury, North London; they dropped "Woolwich" from their name the following year.[6] Arsenal only finished in fifth place in 1919, but were nevertheless elected to rejoin the First Division at the expense of local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, by reportedly dubious means.[7] Arsenal appointed Herbert Chapman as manager in 1925. Having already won the league twice with Huddersfield Town in 192324 and 192425 (see Seasons in English football), Chapman brought Arsenal their first period of major success. His revolutionary tactics and training, along with the signings of star players such as Alex James and Cliff Bastin, laid the foundations of the club's domination of English football in the 1930s.[8] Under his guidance Arsenal won their first major trophies victory in the 1930 FA Cup Final preceded two League Championships, in 193031 and 193233. In addition, Chapman was behind the 1932 renaming of the local London Underground station from "Gillespie Road" to "Arsenal", making it the only Tube station to be named specifically after a football club.[9]

Chapman died suddenly of pneumonia in early 1934, leaving Joe Shaw and George Allison to carry on his successful work. Under their guidance, Arsenal won three more titles, in 193334, 193435 and 193738, and the 1936 FA Cup. As key players retired, Arsenal had started to fade by the decade's end, and then the intervention of the Second World War meant competitive professional football in England was suspended.[10][11][12] After the war, Arsenal enjoyed a second period of success under Allison's successor Tom Whittaker, winning the league in 194748 and 195253, and the FA Cup in 1950. Their fortunes waned thereafter; unable to attract players of the same calibre as they had in the 1930s, the club spent most of the 1950s and 1960s in trophyless mediocrity. Even former England captain Billy Wright could not bring the club any success as manager, in a stint between 1962 and 1966.[12][13][14] Arsenal began winning silverware again with the surprise appointment of club physiotherapist Bertie Mee as manager in 1966. After losing two League Cup finals, they won their first European trophy, the 196970 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. This was followed by an even greater triumph: their first League and FA Cup double in 197071.[15] This marked a premature high point of the decade; the Double-winning side was soon broken up and the following decade was characterised by a series of near misses. Arsenal finished as First Division runners-up in 1972 73, lost three FA Cup finals, in 1972, 1978 and 1980, and lost the 1980 Cup Winners' Cup final on penalties. The club's only success during this time was a last-minute 32 victory over Manchester United in the 1979 FA Cup Final, widely regarded as a classic.[12][16] The return of former player George Graham as manager in 1986 brought a third period of glory. Arsenal won the League Cup in 198687, Graham's first season in charge. This was followed by a League title win in 198889, won with a last-minute goal in the final game of the season against fellow title challengers Liverpool. Graham's Arsenal won another title in 199091, losing only one match, won the FA Cup and League Cup double in 1993, and a second European trophy, the Cup Winners' Cup, in 1994.[12][17] Graham's reputation was tarnished when he was found to have taken kickbacks from agent Rune Hauge for signing certain players,[18] and he was dismissed in 1995. His replacement, Bruce Rioch, lasted for only one season, leaving the club after a dispute with the board of directors.[19]

Arsenal's players and fans celebrate their 2004 League title win with an open-top bus parade.

The club's success in the late 1990s and first decade of the 21st century owed a great deal to the 1996 appointment of Arsne Wenger as manager. Wenger brought new tactics, a new training regime and several foreign players who complemented the existing English talent. Arsenal won a second League and Cup double in 199798 and a third in 200102. In addition, the club reached the final of the 19992000 UEFA Cup (losing on penalties to Galatasaray), were victorious in the 2003 and 2005 FA Cups, and won the Premier League in 200304 without losing a single match, an achievement which earned the side the nickname "The Invincibles".[20] The club went 49 league matches unbeaten in that season, a national record.[21] Arsenal finished in either first or second place in the league in eight of Wenger's first eleven seasons at the club, although on no occasion were they able to retain the title.[12] As of March 2011, they were one of only four teams, the others being Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea, to have won the Premier League since its formation in 1992.[22] Arsenal had never progressed beyond the quarter-finals of the Champions League until 200506; in that season they became the first club from London in the competition's fifty-year history to reach the final, in which they were beaten 21 by Barcelona.[23] In July 2006, they moved into the Emirates Stadium, after 93 years at Highbury.[24]

Crest
Main article: Arsenal F.C. strip#Shirt badge

Unveiled in 1888, Royal Arsenal's first crest featured three cannons viewed from above, pointing northwards, similar to the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich. These can sometimes be mistaken for chimneys, but the presence of a carved lion's head and a cascabel on each are clear indicators that they are cannon.[25] This was dropped after the move to Highbury in 1913, only to be reinstated in 1922, when the club adopted a crest featuring a single cannon, pointing eastwards, with the club's nickname, The Gunners, inscribed alongside it; this crest only lasted until 1925, when the cannon was reversed to point westward and its barrel slimmed down.[25] In 1949, the club unveiled a modernised crest featuring the same style of cannon below the club's name, set in blackletter, and above the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Islington and a scroll inscribed with the club's newly-adopted Latin motto, Victoria Concordia Crescit "victory comes from harmony", coined by the club's programme editor Harry Homer.[25] For the first time, the crest was rendered in colour, which varied slightly over the crest's lifespan, finally becoming red, gold and green. Because of the numerous revisions of the crest, Arsenal were unable to copyright it. Although the club had managed to register the crest as a trademark, and had fought (and eventually won) a long legal battle with a local street trader who sold "unofficial" Arsenal merchandise,[26] Arsenal eventually sought a more comprehensive legal protection. Therefore, in 2002 they introduced a new crest featuring more modern curved lines and a simplified style, which was copyrightable.[27] The cannon once again faces east and the club's name is written in a sans-serif typeface above the cannon. Green was replaced by dark blue. The new crest was criticised by some supporters; the Arsenal Independent Supporters' Association claimed that the club had ignored much of Arsenal's history and tradition with such a radical modern design, and that fans had not been properly consulted on the issue.[28]

Until the 1960s, a badge was worn on the playing shirt only for high-profile matches such as FA Cup finals, usually in the form of a monogram of the club's initials in red on a white background.[29] The monogram theme was developed into an Art Deco-style badge on which the letters A and C framed a football rather than the letter F, the whole set within a hexagonal border. This early example of a corporate logo, introduced as part of Herbert Chapman's rebranding of the club in the 1930s, was used not only on Cup Final shirts but as a design feature throughout Highbury Stadium, including above the main entrance and inlaid in the floors.[30] From 1967, a white cannon was regularly worn on the shirts, until replaced by the club crest, sometimes with the addition of the nickname "The Gunners", in the 1990s.[29] In the 20112012 season, Arsenal will celebrate their 125th year anniversary. The celebrations will include a modified version of the current crest worn on their jerseys for the season. The crest is all white, surrounded by 15 oak leaves to the right and 15 laurel leaves to the left. The oak leaves represent the 15 founding members of the club who met at the Royal Oak pub. The 15 laurel leaves represent the design detail on the six pence pieces paid by the founding fathers to establish the club. The laurel leaves also represent strength.To complete the crest, 1886 and 2011 are shown on either sides of the motto "Forward" at the bottom of the crest.[31]

Arsenal's first crest from 1888

The 'mongram' badge as used in the 1930 FA Cup Final

The 'Art Deco' badge as used in the 1952 FA Cup Final

A version of the Arsenal crest used from 1949 to 2002

Colours
For more details on this topic, see Arsenal F.C. strip.

Arsenal's original home colours. The team wore a similar kit (but with redcurrant socks) during the 200506 season.

For much of Arsenal's history, their home colours have been bright red shirts with white sleeves and white shorts, though this has not always been the case. The choice of red is in recognition of a charitable donation from Nottingham Forest, soon after Arsenal's foundation in 1886. Two of

Dial Square's founding members, Fred Beardsley and Morris Bates, were former Forest players who had moved to Woolwich for work. As they put together the first team in the area, no kit could be found, so Beardsley and Bates wrote home for help and received a set of kit and a ball.[3] The shirt was redcurrant, a dark shade of red, and was worn with white shorts and blue socks.[32] In 1933, Herbert Chapman, wanting his players to be more distinctly dressed, updated the kit, adding white sleeves and changing the shade to a brighter pillar box red. Two possibilities have been suggested for the origin of the white sleeves. One story reports that Chapman noticed a supporter in the stands wearing a red sleeveless sweater over a white shirt; another was that he was inspired by a similar outfit worn by the cartoonist Tom Webster, with whom Chapman played golf.[33] Regardless of which story is true, the red and white shirts have come to define Arsenal and the team have worn the combination ever since, aside from two seasons. The first was 196667, when Arsenal wore all-red shirts;[32] this proved unpopular and the white sleeves returned the following season. The second was 200506, the last season that Arsenal played at Highbury, when the team wore commemorative redcurrant shirts similar to those worn in 1913, their first season in the stadium; the club reverted to their normal colours at the start of the next season.[33] In the 200809 season, Arsenal replaced the traditional all-white sleeves with red sleeves with a broad white stripe.[32] Arsenal's home colours have been the inspiration for at least three other clubs. In 1909, Sparta Prague adopted a dark red kit like the one Arsenal wore at the time;[33] in 1938, Hibernian adopted the design of the Arsenal shirt sleeves in their own green and white strip.[34] In 1920, Sporting Clube de Braga's manager returned from a game at Highbury and changed his team's green kit to a duplicate of Arsenal's red with white sleeves and shorts, giving rise to the team's nickname of Os Arsenalistas.[35] These teams still wear these designs to this day. For many years Arsenal's away colours were white shirts and either black or white shorts. Since the 196970 season, they have worn yellow and blue, but there have been exceptions. They wore a green and navy away kit in 198283, and since the early 1990s and the advent of the lucrative replica kit market, the away colours have been changed regularly. During this period the designs have been either two-tone blue designs, or variations on the traditional yellow and blue, such as the metallic gold and navy strip used in the 200102 season, and the yellow and dark grey used from 2005 to 2007.[36] As of 2009, the away kit is changed every season, and the outgoing away kit becomes the third-choice kit if a new home kit is being introduced in the same year.[37] Arsenal's shirts have been made by manufacturers including Bukta (from the 1930s until the early 1970s), Umbro (from the 1970s until 1986), Adidas (19861994), and Nike (since 1994). Like those of most other major football clubs, Arsenal's shirts have featured sponsors' logos since the 1980s; sponsors include JVC (19821999), Sega (19992002), O2 (20022006), and Emirates (from 2006).[32][33]

Stadiums

The North Bank Stand, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury

For most of their time in south-east London, Arsenal played at the Manor Ground in Plumstead, apart from a three-year period at the nearby Invicta Ground between 1890 and 1893. The Manor Ground was initially just a field, until the club installed stands and terracing for their first Football League match in September 1893. They played their home games there for the next twenty years (with two exceptions in the 189495 season), until the move to north London in 1913.[38][39] Widely referred to as Highbury, Arsenal Stadium was the club's home from September 1913 until May 2006. The original stadium was designed by the renowned football architect Archibald Leitch, and had a design common to many football grounds in the UK at the time, with a single covered stand and three open-air banks of terracing.[40] The entire stadium was given a massive overhaul in the 1930s: new Art Deco West and East stands were constructed, opening in 1932 and 1936 respectively, and a roof was added to the North Bank terrace, which was bombed during the Second World War and not restored until 1954.[40] Highbury could hold over 60,000 spectators at its peak, and had a capacity of 57,000 until the early 1990s. The Taylor Report and Premier League regulations obliged Arsenal to convert Highbury to an all-seater stadium in time for the 199394 season, thus reducing the capacity to 38,419 seated spectators.[41] This capacity had to be reduced further during Champions League matches to accommodate additional advertising boards, so much so that for two seasons, from 1998 to 2000, Arsenal played Champions League home matches at Wembley, which could house more than 70,000 spectators.[42]

The Emirates Stadium filling up on the day of Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial

Expansion of Highbury was restricted because the East Stand had been designated as a Grade II listed building and the other three stands were close to residential properties.[40] These limitations prevented the club from maximising matchday revenue during the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century, putting them in danger of being left behind in the football boom of that time.[43] After considering various options, in 2000 Arsenal proposed building a new 60,355-capacity stadium at Ashburton Grove, since renamed the Emirates Stadium, about 500 metres south-west of Highbury.[44] The project was initially delayed by red tape and rising costs,[45] and construction was completed in July 2006, in time for the start of the 200607 season.[46] The stadium was named after its sponsors, the airline company Emirates, with whom the club signed the largest sponsorship deal in English football history, worth around 100 million;[47] some fans referred to the ground as Ashburton Grove, or the Grove, as they did not agree with corporate sponsorship of stadium names.[48] The stadium will be officially known as Emirates Stadium until at least 2012, and the airline will be the club's shirt sponsor until the end of the 201314 season.[47] From the start of the 201011 season on, the stands of the stadium have been officially known as North Bank, East Stand, West Stand and Clock end.[49] Arsenal's players train at the Shenley Training Centre in Hertfordshire, a purpose-built facility which opened in 1999.[50] Before that the club used facilities on a nearby site owned by the University College of London Students' Union. Until 1961 they had trained at Highbury.[51] Arsenal's Academy under-18 teams play their home matches at Shenley, while the reserves play their games at Underhill, home of Barnet FC.[52]

Supporters
For more details on this topic, see Arsenal F.C. supporters.

Arsenal against rivals Tottenham, known as the North London derby, in November 2010.

Arsenal fans often refer to themselves as "Gooners", the name derived from the team's nickname, "The Gunners". The fanbase is large and generally loyal, and virtually all home matches sell out; in 200708 Arsenal had the second-highest average League attendance for an English club

(60,070, which was 99.5% of available capacity),[53] and as of 2006, the fourth-highest all-time average attendance.[54] The club's location, adjoining wealthy areas such as Canonbury and Barnsbury, mixed areas such as Islington, Holloway, Highbury, and the adjacent London Borough of Camden, and largely working-class areas such as Finsbury Park and Stoke Newington, has meant that Arsenal's supporters have come from across the usual class divides. In addition, Arsenal have the highest proportion (7.7%) of non-white attending supporters of any club in English football, according to a 2002 report.[55] Like all major English football clubs, Arsenal have a number of domestic supporters' clubs, including the Arsenal Football Supporters Club, which works closely with the club, and the Arsenal Independent Supporters' Association, which maintains a more independent line. The Arsenal Supporters' Trust promotes greater participation in ownership of the club by fans. The club's supporters also publish fanzines such as The Gooner, Highbury High, Gunflash and the less cerebral Up The Arse!. In addition to the usual English football chants, supporters sing "One-Nil to the Arsenal" (to the tune of "Go West") and "Boring, Boring Arsenal", which used to be a common taunt from opposition fans but is now sung ironically by Arsenal supporters when the team is playing well.[56] There have always been Arsenal supporters outside of London, and since the advent of satellite television, a supporter's attachment to a football club has become less dependent on geography. Consequently, Arsenal have a significant number of fans from beyond London and all over the world; in 2007, 24 UK, 37 Irish and 49 other overseas supporters clubs were affiliated with the club.[57] A 2005 report by Granada Ventures, which at the time owned a 9.9% stake in the club, estimated Arsenal's global fanbase at 27 million.[58] Arsenal's longest-running and deepest rivalry is with their nearest major neighbours, Tottenham Hotspur; matches between the two are referred to as North London derbies.[59] Other rivalries within London include those with Chelsea, Fulham and West Ham United. In addition, Arsenal and Manchester United developed a strong on-pitch rivalry in the late 1980s, which intensified in recent years when both clubs were competing for the Premier League title[60] so much so that a 2003 online poll by the Football Fans Census listed Manchester United as Arsenal's biggest rivals, followed by Tottenham and Chelsea.[61] A 2008 poll listed the Tottenham rivalry as more important.[62]

Ownership and finances

For more details on this topic, see Ownership of Arsenal F.C..

Arsenal's parent company, Arsenal Holdings plc, operates as a non-quoted public limited company, whose ownership is considerably different from that of other football clubs. Only 62,217 shares in Arsenal have been issued,[1][63] and they are not traded on a public exchange such as the FTSE or AIM; instead, they are traded relatively infrequently on PLUS (AFC), a specialist market. At 31 August 2010, a single share in Arsenal had a mid price of 10,250, which set the club's market capitalisation value at approximately 637.74m.[64] The club made a pre-tax operating profit (excluding player transfers) of 62.7m in the year ending 31 May 2009, from a turnover of 313.3m.[65]

In April 2010, business magazine Forbes ranked Arsenal as the third most valuable football team in the world, after Manchester United and Real Madrid, valuing the club at $1.181bn (768m), excluding debt.[2] In total, Arsenal F.C.'s board of directors currently hold 45.2% of the club's shares; the largest shareholder on the board is American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke, who launched a bid for the club in 2007,[66] and in November 2009 increased his holding to 18,594 shares (29.9%).[67] Other directors with significant holdings are diamond dealer Danny Fiszman, who holds 10,025 shares (16.1%), and club chairman Peter Hill-Wood, who owns 400 (0.64%); the other directors each hold nominal amounts.[68] Former director Lady Bracewell-Smith (wife of the grandson of former chairman Sir Bracewell Smith) holds 9,893 shares (15.9%).[68] A rival bid to Kroenke's came from Red & White Securities, which is co-owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov and London-based financier Farhad Moshiri.[69] Red & White launched its bid in August 2007, buying the stake held by former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein, and as at February 2009 owned 15,555 shares (25.0%) in the club.[70] This led to press speculation of a bidding war between Kroenke and Usmanov.[69] However, Kroenke agreed not to purchase more than 29.9% of the club until at least September 2009,[71] while the rest of the board have first option on each others' shares until October 2012.[72] In April 2011, Stan Kroenke was rumoured to be in "advanced talks" with Arsenal over a possible takeover.[73]

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Kit manufacturers

1930s1970: Bukta 19711986: Umbro 19861994: Adidas 1994present: Nike

Shirt sponsors

19811999: JVC 19992002: Dreamcast (1st and 3rd shirts) & Sega (2nd shirt) 20022006: O2 2006 present: Fly Emirates

In popular culture
Arsenal have appeared in a number of media "firsts". On 22 January 1927, their match at Highbury against Sheffield United was the first English League match to be broadcast live on radio.[74];[75] A decade later, on 16 September 1937, an exhibition match between Arsenal's first team and the reserves was the first football match in the world to be televised live.[76][77]Arsenal

also featured in the first edition of the BBC's Match of the Day, which screened highlights of their match against Liverpool at Anfield on 22 August 1964.[78][79] BSkyB's coverage of Arsenal's January 2010 match against Manchester United was the first live public broadcast of a sports event on 3D television.[80][81] As one of the most successful teams in the country, Arsenal have often featured when football is depicted in the arts in Britain. They formed the backdrop to one of the earliest football-related films, The Arsenal Stadium Mystery (1939).[82] The film centres on a friendly match between Arsenal and an amateur side, one of whose players is poisoned while playing. Many Arsenal players appeared as themselves and manager George Allison was given a speaking part.[83] More recently, the book Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby was an autobiographical account of Hornby's life and relationship with football and Arsenal in particular. Published in 1992, it formed part of the revival and rehabilitation of football in British society during the 1990s.[84] The book was twice adapted for the cinema the 1997 British film focuses on Arsenal's 198889 title win,[85] and a 2005 American version features a fan of baseball's Boston Red Sox.[86] Arsenal have often been stereotyped as a defensive and "boring" side, especially during the 1970s and 1980s;[56][87] many comedians, such as Eric Morecambe, made jokes about this at the team's expense. The theme was repeated in the 1997 film The Full Monty, in a scene where the lead actors move in a line and raise their hands, deliberately mimicking the Arsenal defence's offside trap, in an attempt to co-ordinate their striptease routine.[83] Another film reference to the club's defence comes in the film Plunkett & Macleane, in which two characters are named Dixon and Winterburn after Arsenal's long-serving full backs the right-sided Lee Dixon and the leftsided Nigel Winterburn.[83] The 1991 television comedy sketch show Harry Enfield & Chums featured a sketch from the characters Mr Cholmondly-Warner and Grayson where the Arsenal team of 1933, featuring exaggerated parodies of fictitious amateur players take on the Liverpool team of 1991.[88]

Arsenal Ladies
For more details on this topic, see Arsenal L.F.C..

Arsenal Ladies is the women's football club affiliated to Arsenal. Founded in 1987, they turned semi-professional in 2002 and are managed by Laura Harvey.[89] Arsenal Ladies are the most successful team in English women's football. In the 200809 season, they won all three major English trophies the FA Women's Premier League, FA Women's Cup and FA Women's Premier League Cup,[90] and, as of 2009, were the only English side to have won the UEFA Women's Cup, having done so in the 200607 season as part of a unique quadruple.[91] The men's and women's clubs are formally separate entities but have quite close ties; Arsenal Ladies are entitled to play once a season at the Emirates Stadium, though they usually play their home matches at Boreham Wood.[92]

In the community

In 1985, Arsenal founded a community scheme, "Arsenal in the Community", which offered sporting, social inclusion, educational and charitable projects. The club support a number of charitable causes directly and in 1992 established The Arsenal Charitable Trust, which by 2006 had raised more than 2 million for local causes.[93] An ex-professional and celebrity football team associated with the club also raised money by playing charity matches.[94] In the 2009/10 season Arsenal announced that they had raised a record breaking 818,897 for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. The original target was 500,000 but thanks to the overwhelming support from fans, players, directors and staff. They were able to smash the target.[95]

Statistics and records

For more details on this topic, see List of Arsenal F.C. records and statistics.

David O'Leary holds the record for Arsenal appearances, having played 722 first-team matches between 1975 and 1993. Fellow centre half and former captain Tony Adams comes second, having played 669 times. The record for a goalkeeper is held by David Seaman, with 564 appearances.[96] Thierry Henry is the club's top goalscorer with 226 goals in all competitions between 1999 and 2007,[97] having surpassed Ian Wright's total of 185 in October 2005.[98] Wright's record had stood since September 1997, when he overtook the longstanding total of 178 goals set by winger Cliff Bastin in 1939.[99] Henry also holds the club record for goals scored in the League, with 174,[97] a record that had been held by Bastin until February 2006.[100] Arsenal's record home attendance is 73,707, for a UEFA Champions League match against RC Lens on 25 November 1998 at Wembley Stadium, where the club formerly played home European matches because of the limits on Highbury's capacity. The record attendance for an Arsenal match at Highbury is 73,295, for a 00 draw against Sunderland on 9 March 1935,[96] while that at Emirates Stadium is 60,161, for a 22 draw with Manchester United on 3 November 2007.[101] Arsenal have also set records in English football, including the most consecutive seasons spent in the top flight (84 as of 201011) and the longest run of unbeaten League matches (49 between May 2003 and October 2004).[21] This included all 38 matches of their title-winning 200304 season, when Arsenal became only the second club to finish a top-flight campaign unbeaten, after Preston North End (who played only 22 matches) in 188889.[20] Arsenal also set a Champions League record during the 200506 season by going ten matches without conceding a goal, beating the previous best of seven set by A.C. Milan. They went a record total stretch of 995 minutes without letting an opponent score; the streak ended in the final, when Samuel Eto'o scored a 76th-minute equaliser for Barcelona.[23]

Players

First-team squad
As of 24 August 2011.[102]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. 1 2 3 5 6 7 9 10 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Position GK MF DF DF DF MF FW FW GK FW FW MF MF DF MF

Player Manuel Almunia Abou Diaby Bacary Sagna Thomas Vermaelen (vicecaptain) Laurent Koscielny

No. 20 21 23 24 25 26

Position DF GK MF GK DF MF FW DF FW FW MF MF MF FW FW

Player Johan Djourou ukasz Fabiaoski Andrei Arshavin Vito Mannone Carl Jenkinson Emmanuel Frimpong Gervinho Kieran Gibbs Marouane Chamakh Ryo Miyaichi Francis Coquelin Craig Eastmond Henri Lansbury Nicklas Bendtner Joel Campbell

Tom Rosick 27 Park Chu-Young 28 Robin van Persie (captain) 29 Wojciech Szczsny 31 Theo Walcott 39 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 40 Aaron Ramsey 46 Alex Song 52 Sbastien Squillaci Jack Wilshere

For recent transfers, see 201112 Arsenal F.C. season.

Reserve squad

See Arsenal F.C. Reserves and Arsenal F.C. Academy As of 9 August 2011.[103][104]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. 33 34 35 37 38 41 43 44 45

Position FW MF FW DF DF FW DF MF DF

Player Benik Afobe Chuks Aneke Zak Ansah Daniel Boateng George Brislen-Hall Luke Freeman Sead Hajrovid Conor Henderson Gavin Hoyte

No. 47 48 49 50 51 53 54 55 56

Position GK MF DF FW FW MF FW MF DF

Player Sean McDermott Jernade Meade Ignasi Miquel Rhys Murphy Nigel Neita Ouzhan zyakup Gilles Sunu Sanchez Watt Nicholas Yennaris

Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. 11

Position FW DF MF

Player Carlos Vela (at Real Sociedad until the end of the 201112 season)[105] Kyle Bartley (at Rangers until the end of the 201112 season)[106] Denlson (at So Paulo until the end of the 201112 season)[107]

Notable players
For a list of every Arsenal player with 100 or more appearances, see List of Arsenal F.C. players

For record appearance and goalscorer statistics, see Arsenal F.C. records#Player records

Current technical staff

Arsne Wenger, who has been managing Arsenal since 1996. As of 23 October 2009.[108][109][110] Position Manager Assistant manager First team coach Reserve team coach Youth team coach Goalkeeping coach Fitness coach Physiotherapist Name Arsne Wenger Pat Rice Boro Primorac Neil Banfield Steve Bould Gerry Peyton Tony Colbert Colin Lewin

Club doctor Kit manager Chief scout

Gary O'Driscoll Vic Akers Steve Rowley

Head of youth development Liam Brady

Managers
Main article: List of Arsenal F.C. managers

There have been eighteen permanent and five caretaker managers of Arsenal since the appointment of the club's first professional manager, Thomas Mitchell in 1897.[111] The club's longest-serving manager as of 2009, in terms of both length of tenure and number of games overseen, is Arsne Wenger, who was appointed in 1996.[112][113] Wenger is also Arsenal's only manager from outside the United Kingdom.[113] Two Arsenal managers have died in the job Herbert Chapman and Tom Whittaker.[114]

Honours
For more details on this topic, see Arsenal F.C. seasons. See also: Arsenal F.C. Reserves#Honours and Arsenal F.C. Academy#Honours

Domestic

First Division (until 1992) and Premier League[12][115]

Winners (13): 193031, 193233, 193334, 193435, 193738, 194748, 195253, 197071, 198889, 199091, 199798, 200102, 200304 Runners-up (8): 192526, 193132, 197273, 199899, 19992000, 200001, 200203, 200405

Second Division[12][115]

Runners-up (1): 190304

FA Cup[12]

Winners (10): 1930, 1936, 1950, 1971, 1979, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005 Runners-up (7): 1927, 1932, 1952, 1972, 1978, 1980, 2001

League Cup[12]

Winners (2): 1987, 1993 Runners-up (5): 1968, 1969, 1988, 2007, 2011

FA Community Shield (FA Charity Shield before 2002)[116]

Winners (12): 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1991 (shared), 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004 Runners-up (7): 1935, 1936, 1979, 1989, 1993, 2003, 2005

European

UEFA Champions League[12]

Runners-up (1): 2006

European Cup Winners' Cup[12]

Winners (1): 1994 Runners-up (2): 1980, 1995

UEFA Cup[12]

Runners-up (1): 2000

UEFA Super Cup[12]

Runners-up (1): 1994

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup[12]

Winners (1): 1970

Arsenal's tally of thirteen League Championships is the third highest in English football, after Liverpool and Manchester United,[117] while the total of ten FA Cups is the second highest, after Manchester United.[118] Arsenal have achieved three League and FA Cup "Doubles"

(in 1971, 1998 and 2002), a record shared with Manchester United,[12][119] and in 1993 were the first side in English football to complete the FA Cup and League Cup double.[120] They were also the first London club to reach the final of the UEFA Champions League, in 2006.[121] Arsenal have one of the best top-flight records in history, having finished below fourteenth only seven times. Arsenal also have the highest average league finishing position for the period 1900 1999, with an average league placing of 8.5.[122] In addition, they are one of only six clubs to have won the FA Cup twice in succession, in 2002 and 2003.[12

Aston Villa F.C.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search "Aston Villa" redirects here. For the French musical group, see Astonvilla. Not to be confused with Ashton Villa.

Aston Villa

Full name

Aston Villa Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Villa, The Villans, The Lions March 1874; 137 years ago[1]

Founded

Villa Park Trinity Road Ground Birmingham B6 6HE England[2] (Capacity: 42,788[3][4])

Owner

Randy Lerner

Manager

Alex McLeish

League

Premier League

201011

Premier League, 9th

Website

Club home page

Home colours

Away colours

Current season

Aston Villa Football Club ( /stn vl/; also known as Villa, The Villa, The Villans and The Lions)[5] is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder members of the Premier League in 1992, and have remained there ever since.[6] The club was floated by the previous owner and chairman Doug Ellis, but in 2006 full control of the club was acquired by Randy Lerner. They are one of the oldest and most successful football clubs in England, having won the First Division Championship seven times and the FA Cup seven times.[7] Villa also won the 198182 European Cup, one of only four English clubs to win what is now the UEFA Champions League.[8] Aston Villa has the fourth highest total of major honours won by an English club.[9] They have a fierce local rivalry with Birmingham City. The Second City derby between Aston Villa and Birmingham City has been played since 1879.[10] The club's traditional kit colours are claret shirts with sky blue sleeves, white shorts and sky blue socks. Their traditional crest is of a rampant gold lion on a light blue background with the club's motto "Prepared" underneath; a modified version of this was adopted in 2007.[11]

Contents
[hide]

1 History 2 Colours and crest 3 Stadium 4 Ownership 5 Social responsibility 6 Supporters and rivalries 7 Statistics o 7.1 Club honours 7.1.1 European 7.1.2 Domestic 8 Players o 8.1 Current squad o 8.2 Out on loan o 8.3 Notable players 9 Management o 9.1 Current backroom staff o 9.2 Notable managers 10 In popular culture

11 Footnotes 12 References 13 External links

History
For more details on this topic, see History of Aston Villa F.C. (18741961) and History of Aston Villa F.C. (1961present)

Harry Hampton scores one of his two goals in the 1905 FA Cup Final

Aston Villa Football Club were formed in March 1874, by members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel in Handsworth which is now part of Birmingham. The four founders of Aston Villa were Jack Hughes, Frederick Matthews, Walter Price and William Scattergood.[12] Aston Villa's first match was against the local Aston Brook St Mary's Rugby team. As a condition of the match, the Villa side had to agree to play the first half under rugby rules and the second half under football rules.[13] Villa soon established themselves as one of the best teams in the Midlands, winning their first honour, the Birmingham Senior Cup in 1880, under the captaincy of Scotsman George Ramsay.[14]

The Aston Villa team of the 1890s.

The club won its first FA Cup in 1887 with captain Archie Hunter becoming one of the game's first household names. Aston Villa were one of the dozen teams that competed in the inaugural Football League in 1888 with one of the club's directors, William McGregor being the league's founder. Aston Villa emerged as the most successful English club of the Victorian era, winning no fewer than five League titles and three FA Cups by the end of Queen Victoria's reign.[15] In 1897, the year Villa won The Double, they moved into their present home, the Aston Lower Grounds.[16] Supporters coined the name "Villa Park"; no official declaration listed the ground as Villa Park.[17] Aston Villa won their sixth FA Cup in 1920, soon after though the club began a slow decline that led to Villa, at the time one of the most famous and successful clubs in world football, being relegated in 1936 for the first time to the Second Division. This was largely the result of a dismal defensive record: they conceded 110 goals in 42 games, 7 of them coming from Arsenal's Ted Drake in an infamous 17 defeat at Villa Park.[18] Like all English clubs, Villa lost seven seasons to the Second World War, and that conflict brought several careers to a premature end.[19] The team was rebuilt under the guidance of former player Alex Massie for the remainder of the 1940s. Aston Villa's first trophy for 37 years came in the 195657 season when another former Villa player, Eric Houghton led the club to a then record seventh FA Cup Final win, defeating the 'Busby Babes' of Manchester United in the final.[20] The team struggled in the league though and were relegated two seasons later, due in large part to complacency. However, under the stewardship of manager Joe Mercer Villa returned to the top-flight in 1960 as Second Division Champions. The following season Aston Villa became the first team to win the Football League Cup.[21] Mercer's forced retirement from the club in 1964 signalled a period of deep turmoil. The most successful club in England was struggling to keep pace with changes in the modern game, with Villa being relegated for the third time, under manager Dick Taylor in 1967. The following season the fans called for the board to resign as Villa finished 16th in the Second Division. With mounting debts and Villa lying at the bottom of Division Two, the board sacked Cummings (the manager brought in to replace Taylor), and within weeks the entire board resigned under overwhelming pressure from fans.[22] After much speculation, control of the club was bought by London financier Pat Matthews, who also brought in Doug Ellis as chairman.[22] However, new ownership could not prevent Villa being relegated to the Third Division for the first time at the end of the 196970 season. However, Villa gradually began to recover under the management of former club captain Vic Crowe. In the 197172 season they returned to the Second Division as Champions with a record 70 points.[23] In 1974 Ron Saunders was appointed manager. His brand of no-nonsense man-management proved effective, with the club winning the League Cup the following season and, at the end of season 197475, he had taken them back into the First Division and into Europe.[24]

The 1982 European Cup winning squad celebrate the 25th anniversary of their win.

Villa were back among the elite as Saunders continued to mould a winning team. This culminated in a seventh top-flight league title in 198081. To the surprise of commentators and fans, Saunders quit halfway through the 198182 season, after falling out with the chairman, with Villa in the quarter final of the European Cup. He was replaced by his softly-spoken assistant manager Tony Barton who guided the club to a 10 victory over Bayern Munich in the European Cup final in Rotterdam courtesy of a Peter Withe goal. The following season Villa were crowned European Super Cup winners, beating Barcelona in the final. This marked a pinnacle though and Villa's fortunes declined sharply for most of the 1980s, culminating in relegation in 1987.[25] This was followed by promotion the following year under Graham Taylor and a runners-up position in the First Division in the 198990 season.[26] Villa were one of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992, and finished runners-up to Manchester United in the inaugural season. For the rest of the Nineties however Villa went through three different managers and their league positions were inconsistent, although they did win two League Cups and regularly achieved UEFA Cup qualification. Villa reached the FA Cup final in 2000 but lost 10 to Chelsea in the last game to be played at the old Wembley Stadium.[7][27] Again Villa's league position continued to fluctuate under several different managers and things came to a head in the summer of 2006 when David O'Leary left in acrimony.[28] After 23 years as chairman and single biggest shareholder (approximately 38%), Ellis finally decided to sell his stake in Aston Villa due to ill-health. After much speculation it was announced the club was to be bought by American businessman Randy Lerner, owner of NFL franchise the Cleveland Browns.[29] The arrival of a new owner and manager Martin O'Neill marked the start of a new period of optimism at Villa Park and sweeping changes occurred throughout the club including a new crest, a new kit sponsor and team changes in the summer of 2007.[11][30] The first Cup final of the Lerner era came in 2010 when Villa were beaten 21 in the League Cup Final.[31] Villa made a second trip to Wembley in that season losing 30 to Chelsea in the FA Cup Semi Final. Just five days before the opening day of the 201011 season, O'Neill resigned as manager with immediate effect.[32] Reserve team manager Kevin MacDonald took over as caretaker manager,[33] before the club appointed Grard Houllier as permanent manager in September 2010.[34] Grard Houllier stepped down as manager of Aston Villa on 1 June 2011[35] Houllier was replaced by the former Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish on 17 June 2011, despite numerous protests from fans against his appointment. McLeish's appoinment marked the first time in history that a manager had moved directly from Birmingham to Villa.[36]

Colours and crest

Villa's proposed kit of 1886.[37]

The club colours are claret shirt with sky blue sleeves, white shorts with claret and blue trim, and sky blue socks with claret and white trim. They were the original wearers of the claret and blue. Villa's colours at the outset generally comprised plain shirts (white, grey or a shade of blue), with either white or black shorts. For a few years after that (187779) the team wore several different kits from all white, blue and black, red and blue to plain green. By 1880, black jerseys with a red lion embroidered on the chest were introduced by William McGregor. This remained the first choice strip for six years. On Monday, 8 November 1886, an entry in the club's official minute book states:

(i) Proposed and seconded that the colours be chocolate and sky blue shirts and that we order two dozen.

(ii) Proposed and seconded that Mr McGregor be requested to supply them at the lowest quotation.

Old crest (20002007).

The chocolate colour later became claret.[37] Nobody is quite sure why claret and blue became the club's adopted colours.[37] A new crest was revealed on 2 May 2007, for the 200708 season and beyond. The new crest includes a star to represent the European Cup win in 1982, and has a light blue background behind Villa's 'lion rampant'. The traditional motto "Prepared" remains in the crest, and the name Aston Villa has been shortened to AVFC, FC having been omitted from the previous crest. The lion is now unified as opposed to fragmented lions of the past. Randy Lerner petitioned fans to help with the design of the new crest.[11] The three kits that carry the new crest were unveiled on 17 July 2007, in The Mailbox, Birmingham.[38] On 2 June 2008 it was announced that Aston Villa would forgo commercial kit sponsorship for the 200809 season; instead they would advertise the charity Acorns Children's Hospice, the first deal of its kind in Premiership history.[39] The partnership continued in the 20092010 before ending in 2010 when a commercial sponsor replaced Acorns, with the hospice becoming the club's Official Charity Partner.[40]

Stadium
Main article: Villa Park

Aston Villa's current home venue is Villa Park, which is a UEFA 5-star rated stadium, having previously played at Aston Park (18741876) and Perry Barr (18761897). Villa Park is the largest football stadium in the English Midlands, and the eighth largest stadium in England. It has hosted 16 England internationals at senior level, the first in 1899, and the most recent in 2005. Thus, it was the first English ground to stage international football in three different centuries.[41]

Villa Park is the most used stadium in FA Cup semi-final history, having hosted 55 semi-finals. The Club have planning permission to extend the North Stand; This will involve the 'filling in' of the corners to either side of the North Stand. If completed, the capacity of Villa Park will be increased to approximately 51,000. The current training ground is located at Bodymoor Heath in north Warwickshire, the site for which was purchased by former Villa Chairman Doug Ellis in the early 1970s from a local farmer. Although Bodymoor Heath was state-of-the-art in the 1970s, by the late 1990s the facilities had started to look dated. In November 2005, Ellis and Aston Villa plc announced a state of the art GB13 million redevelopment of Bodymoor in 2 phases. However, work on Bodymoor was suspended by Ellis due to financial problems, and was left in an unfinished state until new owner Randy Lerner made it one of his priorities to make the site one of the best in world football. The new training ground was officially unveiled on 6 May 2007, by manager Martin O'Neill, then team captain Gareth Barry and 1982 European Cup winning team captain Dennis Mortimer, with the Aston Villa squad moving in for the 200708 season.[42]

A panorama of Villa Park from the Trinity Road Stand, showing from left to right the North Stand, the Doug Ellis Stand and the Holte End

Ownership

Randy Lerner, the club owner of Aston Villa.

The first shares in the club were issued towards the end of the 19th century as a result of legislation that was intended to codify the growing numbers of professional teams and players in the Association Football leagues. FA teams were required to distribute shares to investors as a way of facilitating trading among the teams without implicating the FA itself. This trading continued for much of the 20th century until Ellis started buying up many of the shares in the 1960s. He was chairman and substantial shareholder of "Aston Villa F.C." from 19681975 and the majority shareholder from 19822006. The club was floated on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in 1996, and the share price fluctuated in the ten years after the flotation.[43] In 2006 it was announced that several consortia and individuals were considering bids for Aston Villa.[44] On 14 August 2006, it was confirmed that Randy Lerner, owner of the National Football League's Cleveland Browns, had reached an agreement of GB62.6 million with Aston Villa for a takeover of the club. A statement released on 25 August to the LSE announced that Lerner had secured 59.69% of Villa shares, making him the majority shareholder. He also appointed himself Chairman of the club.[45] In Ellis's last year in charge Villa lost GB8.2m before tax, compared with a GB3m profit the previous year, and income had fallen from GB51.6m to GB49m.[44] Lerner took full control on 18 September, as he had 89.69% of the shares. On 19 September 2006, Ellis and his board resigned to be replaced with a new board headed by Lerner.[44] Lerner installed Charles Krulak as a Non-Executive Director and Ellis was awarded the honorary position of Chairman Emeritus.

Social responsibility
Aston Villa has a unique relationship with the Acorns Children's Hospice charity that is groundbreaking in English football.[46] In a first for the Premier League, Aston Villa donated the front of the shirt on their kit, usually reserved for high paying sponsorships, to Acorns Hospice so that the charity would gain significant additional visibility and greater fund raising capabilities.[47] Outside of the shirt sponsorship the club have paid for almost 300 national days of hospice care for the charity as well as regularly providing player visits to hospice locations.[48] In September 2010, Aston Villa launched an initiative at Villa Park called Villa Midlands Food (VMF) where the club will spend two years training students with Aston Villa Hospitality and Events in association with Birmingham City Council. The club will open a restaurant in the Trinity Road Stand staffed with 12 students recruited from within a ten-mile (16 km) radius of Villa Park with the majority of the food served in the restaurant sourced locally.[49]

Supporters and rivalries

See also: Second City derby

Aston Villa have a large fanbase and draw support from all over the Midlands and beyond, with supporters clubs all across the world. Former Villa chief executive Richard Fitzgerald has stated that the ethnicity of the supporters is currently 98% white. When Randy Lerner's regime took

over at Villa Park, they aimed to improve their support from ethnic minorities. A number of organisations have been set up to support the local community including Aston Pride.[50] A Villa in the community programme has also been set up to encourage support among young people in the region.[51] The new owners have also initiated several surveys aimed at gaining the opinions of Villa fans and to involve them in the decision making process. Meetings also occur every three months where supporters are invited by ballot and are invited to ask questions to the Board.[52] In March 2011, the club supported a supporter-based initiative for an official anthem in order to boost the atmosphere at Villa Park. The song "the Bell's Are Ringing" is to be played before and after games. Like many English football clubs Aston Villa has had several hooligan firms associated with it: Villa Youth, Steamers, Villa Hardcore and the C-Crew, the last mentioned being very active during the 1970s and 1980s. As can be seen across the whole of English football, the hooligan groups have now been marginalised.[53] In 2004 several Villa firms were involved in a fight with QPR fans outside Villa Park in which a steward died.[54] The main groupings of supporters can now be found in a number of domestic and international supporters' clubs. This includes the Official Aston Villa Supporters Club which also has many smaller regional and international sections.[55] There were several independent supporters clubs during the reign of Doug Ellis but most of these disbanded after his retirement.[56] The club's supporters also publish fanzines such as Heroes and Villains (football fanzine) and The Holy Trinity. Aston Villa's arch-rivals are Birmingham City, with games between the two clubs known as the 'Second City Derby'.[10] Historically though, West Bromwich Albion have arguably been Villa's greatest rivals, a view highlighted in a fan survey, conducted in 2003.[57] The two teams contested three FA Cup finals in the late 19th century. Villa also enjoy less heated local rivalries with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Coventry City. Through the relegation of West Brom and Birmingham to The Championship in the 200506 season in the 200607 Premiership season Villa were the only Midlands club in that League. The nearest opposing team Villa faced during that season was Sheffield United, who played 62 miles (100 km) away in South Yorkshire.[58] For the 201011 season, West Bromwich Albion were promoted and joined Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Birmingham City in the Premier League. This marked the first time that the "West Midlands' Big Four" clubs have been in the Premier League at the same time, and the first time together in the top flight since the 198384 season.

Statistics
Main article: List of Aston Villa F.C. records and statistics

Chart showing the progress of Aston Villa F.C. through the English football league system from the inaugural season in 188889 to 200708 when Aston Villa came sixth in the Premier League.

To date Aston Villa have spent 100 seasons in the top-flight, the only club to have spent longer in the top-flight is Everton with 107 seasons.[59] As a result, Aston Villa versus Everton is the most played fixture in English top-flight football. Aston Villa are one of an elite group of seven clubs that has played in every Premiership season, with the other six being: Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. They are fifth in the All-time FA Premier League table and have the fourth highest total of major honours won by an English club with 20 wins.[9] Aston Villa currently hold the record number of league goals scored by any team in the English top-flight; 128 goals were scored in the 193031 season.[60] Villa legend Archie Hunter became the first player to score in every round of the FA Cup in Villa's victorious 1887 campaign. Villa's longest unbeaten home run in the FA Cup spanned 13 years and 19 games, from 1888 to 1901.[61] Aston Villa are one of four English teams that have won the European Cup. They did so on 26 May 1982 in Rotterdam, beating Bayern Munich 10 thanks to Peter Withe's goal.[62]

Club honours
For more information, see Aston Villa club honours

The Aston Villa team of 189697 with the First Division Championship and the FA Cup.

Aston Villa have won European and domestic league honours. The club's last major honour was in 1996 when they won the League Cup. European

European Cup 1: o 1982 European Super Cup 1: o 198283 Intertoto Cup 1:

2001[63]

Domestic
League titles First Division Champions 7:[A] o 189394, 189596, 189697, 189899, 18991900, 190910, 198081 [A] Second Division Champions 2: o 193738, 195960 [A] Third Division Champions 1: o 197172

Cups

FA Cup 7: o 1887, 1895, 1897, 1905, 1913, 1920, 1957 League Cup 5: o 1961, 1975, 1977, 1994, 1996 FA Charity Shield/FA Community Shield 1: o 1981 (shared) Football League War Cup 1: o 1944 (shared) Other sports

English Baseball Championship [64] o 1890

Players
Current squad
As of 1 September 2011.[65][66]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. 1 2

Position GK DF

Player Shay Given Alan Hutton

No. 19 21

Position MF DF

Player Stiliyan Petrov (captain) Ciaran Clark

3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 16 18

DF DF DF MF MF FW MF FW MF FW MF FW

Stephen Warnock Richard Dunne (vicecaptain) James Collins

22 23 24 25

GK DF DF MF DF DF DF GK DF MF MF GK

Brad Guzan Habib Beye Carlos Cullar Barry Bannan Eric Lichaj Chris Herd Nathan Baker Andy Marshall Shane Lowry Daniel Johnson Gary Gardner Elliot Parish

Stephen Ireland 30 Jermaine Jenas (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) Darren Bent Charles N'Zogbia Gabriel Agbonlahor Marc Albrighton Nathan Delfouneso Fabian Delph Emile Heskey 31 32 33 34 35 38 43

For recent transfers, see 201112 Aston Villa F.C. season.

Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. 17 26

Position MF FW DF

Player Jean Makoun (at Olympiacos until June 2012) Andreas Weimann (at Watford until January 2012) Enda Stevens (at Shamrock Rovers F.C. until January 2012)

Notable players

Main article: List of Aston Villa F.C. players

There have been many players who can be called notable throughout Aston Villa's history. These can be classified and recorded in several forms. The Halls of Fame and PFA Players of the Year are noted below. As of February 2011, Aston Villa had provided more England internationals than any other club, with 71.[67] Aston Villa have had several players who were one-club men. In 1998, to celebrate the 100th season of League football, The Football League released a list entitled the Football League 100 Legends that consisted of "100 legendary football players." There were seven players included on the list who had played for Villa at some point: Danny Blanchflower, Trevor Ford, Archie Hunter, Sam Hardy, Paul McGrath, Peter Schmeichel and Clem Stephenson.[68] Three Aston Villa players have won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award. At the end of every English football season, the members of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) vote on which of its members has played the best football in the previous year. In 1977 Andy Gray won the award. In 1990 it was awarded to David Platt, whilst Paul McGrath won it in 1993. The PFA Young Player of the Year, which is awarded to players under the age of 23, has been awarded to four players from Aston Villa: Andy Gray in 1977; Gary Shaw in 1981; Ashley Young in 2009 and James Milner in 2010. The National Football Museum in Preston, England administers the English Football Hall of Fame which currently contains two Villa teams, two Villa players and one manager. The 1890s team and 1982 team were inducted into the Hall of Fame in July 2009. Joe Mercer was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the same time for his career as a manager including his time at Aston Villa.[69] The only two Villa players in the Hall of Fame are Danny Blanchflower and Peter Schmeichel. In 2006, Aston Villa announced the creation of an "Aston Villa Hall of Fame." This was voted for by fans and to this date there has been one induction of 12 players in 2006.[14]

Gordon Cowans Eric Houghton Brian Little Dennis Mortimer

Ron Saunders[B] Peter Withe Paul McGrath Peter McParland

Charlie Aitken William McGregor George Ramsay Trevor Ford

Management
Current backroom staff
updated 25 July 2011.[70][71][72]

Alex McLeish, the current manager of Aston Villa. Name Alex McLeish Peter Grant Gordon Cowans Adrian Lamb Rafa Gonzlez Glen Roeder Arthur Numan Dr Ian McGuinness Alan Smith Kevin MacDonald Bryan Jones Steve Burns Tony McAndrew Nationality Scotland Manager Scotland Assistant Manager England First Team Coach England Fitness Coach Spain Goalkeeping Coach Role

England Chief Scout Holland Scout England Chief Medical Doctor England Head Physiotherapist Scotland Reserve Team Manager England Academy Director England Assistant Academy Director Scotland Youth Team Manager

Notable managers
For more details on this topic, see List of Aston Villa F.C. managers.

The following managers have all won at least one trophy when in charge or have been notable for Villa in the context of the League, for example Jozef Venglo who holds a League record.
Period Name Nationality From To 6 FA Cups, 6 Division One championships. 1,327 658 414 255 49.59 Also in 2006 was inducted into the Aston Villa Hall of Fame. Division Two Champions Played Win Draw Lose Win%[C] Honours

George Ramsay

Scotland

1 August 1884

31 May 1926

Jimmy Hogan

England

1 1 November September 124 1936 1939

57

26

41

45.97

Eric Houghton England

1 30 September November 1953 1958

250

88

65

97

FA Cup winner. Also in 2006 was 35.20 inducted into the Aston Villa Hall of Fame. Division Two Champions, League Cup winner 42.55 Inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame 2 League Cups, Division One champions. Also 44.48 in 2006 was inducted into the Aston Villa Hall of Fame.

Joe Mercer

England

1 31 July December 1964 1958

282 120 63

99

Ron Saunders England

4 June 1974

9 February 1982

353 157 98

98

Tony Barton

England

9 February 18 June 1982 1984

130

58

24

48

European Cup, 44.62 European Super Cup First manager not from Britain or Ireland to 32.65 take charge of a top-flight club in England.[73] League Cup winner

Jozef Venglo

Slovakia

22 July 1990

28 May 1991

49

16

15

18

Ron Atkinson

England

10 7 July 1991 November 1994

178

77

45

56

43.26

Brian Little

England

25 24 November February 1994 1998

164

68

45

51

League Cup winner. Also in 2006 was 41.46 inducted into the Aston Villa Hall of Fame. Intertoto Cup winner

John Gregory

England

25 February 1998

24 January 2002

190

82

52

56

43.16

In popular culture
A number of television programmes have included references to Aston Villa over the past few decades. In the sitcom Porridge, the character Lennie Godber is a Villa supporter.[74] In the first episode of Yes Minister Jim Hacker MP says he needs to get off early to watch Aston Villa play. However, in a later episode, he launches a campaign to save his local team, the fictional "Aston Wanderers". When filming began on Dad's Army, Villa fan, Ian Lavender was allowed to choose Frank Pike's scarf from an array in the BBC wardrobe, he chose a claret and blue oneAston Villa's colours.[75] The character, Nessa in the BBC sitcom Gavin and Stacey was revealed as an Aston Villa fan in the episode screened on 10 December 2009. Aston Villa have also featured on several occasions in prose. Joseph Gallivan's book "Oi, Ref" is about a referee who is a Villa fan who conspires to turn an FA Cup Semi-Final in his team's favour.[76] Stanley Woolley, a character in Derek Robinson's Booker shortlisted novel Goshawk Squadron is an Aston Villa fan and names a pre-war starting eleven Villa side. Together with The Oval, Villa Park is referenced by the poet Philip

Larkin in his poem about the First World War, MCMXIV.[77] Aston Villa are also mentioned in Harold Pinter's play 'The Dumb Waiter'.

Footnotes
A. ^ Up until 1992, the top division of English football was the Football League First Division. The Premier League took over from the First Division as the top tier of the English football league system upon its formation in 1992. The First Division then became the second tier of English football, the Second Division became the third tier, and so on. The First Division is now known as the Football League Championship, while the Second Division is now known as Football League One. B ^ Saunders was never a player for Aston Villa; he was the manager from 1974 to 1982. C ^ Win% is rounded to two decimal places

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General

Brown, Danny; Milo Brittle (2006). Villains: The Inside Story of Aston Villa's Hooligan Gangs. Milo Books. ISBN 978-1-903854-59-4. Goodyear, David; Matthews, Tony (1988). Aston VillaA Complete Record 18741988. Breedon Books. ISBN 0-907969-37-2. Hayes, Dean. The Villa Park Encyclopedia: A-Z of Aston Villa. Mainstream Publishing (2 October 1997). ISBN 978-1-85158-959-3. Ward, Adam; Griffin, Jeremy. The essential history of Aston Villa. Headline book publishing (2002). ISBN 0-7553-1140-X.

External links
Book: Aston Villa F.C.
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Official website Official Facebook Official Twitter Aston Villa News Sky Sports Aston Villa F.C. on BBC Sport: Club News Recent results Upcoming fixtures Club stats Aston Villa F.C. companies grouped at OpenCorporates Aston Villa statistics [show]v d eAston Villa Football Club

[show]v d eAston Villa F.C. seasons

[show]v d e201112 UEFA Europa League

[show]v d ePremier League

[show]v d eOriginal Premier League clubs, 199293

[show]v d eOriginal Football League clubs, 188889

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Villa_F.C." Categories: Aston Villa F.C. | English football clubs | Sport in Birmingham, West Midlands | Association football clubs established in 1874 | Football League founder members | Premier League clubs | Former Football League clubs | FA Cup winners | Football League Cup winners | 1874 establishments in England Hidden categories: Use British English from August 2011 | Featured articles | Wikipedia semi-protected pages | Use dmy dates from August 2011 | Football kits with incorrect pattern | Spoken articles | Articles with hAudio microformats | OpenCorporates groupings