Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English football club, based at Old Trafford in Trafford, Greater Manchester, and is one of the most popular football clubs in the world. The club was a founding member of the Premier League in 1992, and has played in the top division of English football since 1938, with the exception of the 1974–75 season. Average attendances at the club have been higher than any other team in English football for all but six seasons since 1964–65.

Manchester United are the reigning English champions and European and Club World Cup holders, having won the 2007–08 Premier League, the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League, and the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup. The club is one of the most successful in the history of English football and has won 21 major honours since Alex Ferguson became manager in November 1986. In 1968, they became the first English club to win the European Cup, beating Benfica 4–1. They won a second European Cup as part of a Treble in 1999, before winning their third in 2008. The club also holds the record for the most FA Cup titles with 11.

Since the late 1990s, the club has been one of the richest in the world with the highest revenue of any football club, and is currently ranked as the richest and most valuable club in any sport, with an estimated value of £897 million (€1.333 billion / $1.8 billion) as of September 2008. Manchester United was a founding member of the now defunct G-14 group of Europe's leading football clubs, and its replacement, the European Club Association.

Alex Ferguson has been manager of the club since 6 November 1986, joining from Aberdeen after the sacking of Ron Atkinson. The current club captain is Gary Neville, who succeeded Roy Keane in November 2005.

AWARD WINNERS

Ballon d'Or

The following players have won the Ballon d'Or whilst playing for Manchester United:

* Denis Law – 1964
* Bobby Charlton – 1966
* George Best – 1968
* Cristiano Ronaldo – 2008

European Golden Shoe

The following players have won the European Golden Shoe whilst playing for Manchester United:

* Cristiano Ronaldo (31 goals) – 2008

UEFA Club Footballer of the Year

The following players have won the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award whilst playing for Manchester United:

* David Beckham – 1999
* Cristiano Ronaldo – 2008

FIFA World Player of the Year

The following players have won the FIFA World Player of the Year award whilst playing for Manchester United:

* Cristiano Ronaldo – 2008



Sponsorship

AIG are the main sponsors of Manchester United, and as part of the sponsorship deal, their logo is displayed on the front of the club's shirts and a plethora of other merchandise. The AIG deal was announced by Manchester United chief executive David Gill on 6 April 2006, and is worth a British record £56.5 million, to be paid over four years (£14.1 million a year).[69] The deal became the most valuable sponsorship deal in the world in September 2006 after the renegotiation of the £15 million-a-year deal Juventus had with oil firm Tamoil. On 21 January 2009, it was announced that AIG would not be renewing their sponsorship of the club at the end of the deal in May 2010. It is not clear, however, whether or not AIG's agreement to run MU Finance will continue.

Companies that Manchester United currently have sponsorship deals with include:

* AIG – Principal Sponsor
* Nike – Official Sportswear Partner
* Budweiser – Official Beer
* Betfred – Official Betting Partner
* Hublot – Official Timekeeper
* Key 103 – Official Radio Station

The club has only ever had three main shirt sponsors. The first and longest-running was Sharp Electronics, who sponsored the club from 1982 to 2000, which was one of the lengthiest and most lucrative sponsorship deals in English football. Sharp's logo was on the front of United's shirts during these 17 years, during which the team won seven Premier League titles, five FA Cups, one Football League Cup, one European Cup Winners' Cup and one European Cup. Vodafone took over in an initial four-year £30 million deal on 11 February 2000, with the sponsorship to begin at the start of the 2000–01 season. In December 2003, the sponsorship was extended by four years with Vodafone agreeing to pay £36 million over the four years from 2004 to 2008. However, on 23 November 2005, Vodafone announced that they would be ending the deal in May 2006 in order to concentrate on their sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League.

Similarly, the club has only had four independent kit manufacturers, the first being local sportswear company Umbro. Admiral took over in 1975, and became the first company to place their logo on a Manchester United shirt in 1976. Adidas followed in 1980, before Umbro started a second spell as the club's kit manufacturers in 1992. Umbro's sponsorship lasted for a further ten years, before the club struck a record-breaking £302.9 million deal with Nike. The agreement with Nike will last an initial 13 years, running until at least 2015

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Robbo tips Ronaldo to stay

Former United captain Bryan Robson is convinced that Cristiano Ronaldo will remain at Old Trafford, despite Real Madrid's ongoing interest in the player.

Robson, now a club ambassador at Old Trafford, recalls a time in his own Reds career when he caught the eye of high-profile foreign clubs, and he expects Ronaldo to snub such overtures, just as he did.

"In 1983 I was wanted by three Italian clubs - AC Milan, Sampdoria and Juventus," Robson told the Daily Star. "Transfer fees weren't as high then but it would have been a world-record fee - only for United to price me out of a move.

"It was a similar situation to the one Cristiano is in now, in that United wouldn't let me go for what would have been a world-record fee.

"I was happy to stay and I think Ronaldo is happy at the club too. He might have small doubts but I think all the media hype and what has been coming out of Spain has really blown the situation out of proportion.

"And I see Ronaldo, once he is over his ankle operation, being part of the team."

United have continually insisted that Ronaldo will not be leaving Old Trafford, despite a summer of speculation over his future.

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Ronaldo: I'll miss 12 weeks

Cristiano Ronaldo expects to miss three months of action after undergoing ankle surgery.

The Portuguese winger insists the early stages of his rehabilitation are going well, but claims it will still be early October before he is back playing.

"It's confirmed I'll be out of action for up to 12 weeks but recovery is going well," Ronaldo told reporters in Portugal. "I must focus on my recovery. I'll be training with a ball in two months."

Ronaldo's timescale has not been verified by club medical staff. As per last week's statement, his progress will be reviewed by a specialist after one month, and a return date will be estimated then.

Whatever that date is, it seems almost certain that the winger will miss United's early-season games - including tricky trips to Liverpool and Chelsea.

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Ronaldo drops no hints

Cristiano Ronaldo faced the world’s media in Basel today, but gave no clues on where he’ll be playing his football in 2008/09.

Fronting the cameras ahead of Portugal’s quarter-final clash with Germany on Thursday, the United winger refused to be drawn on speculation surrounding his future.

“I’ve already made it clear that I don’t want to talk about my situation until after the European Championships,” Ronaldo said. “Right now I want to concentrate on the Germany game.

“I will talk about my future, but not until after this tournament.”

Spanish champions Real Madrid have made no secret of their desire to lure Ronaldo to the Bernabeau. In fact, their vigorous pursuit of a player who scored 42 times for United last season has upset Reds officials, who reported the Spanish club to FIFA on 9 June.

Football’s governing body have since announced, however, that no breach of contract appears to have occurred.

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