Club History
Full name: Manchester United Football Club
Nickname(s): The Red Devils
Short name: Man United/Utd, United, Man U
Founded: 1878; 143 years ago, as Newton Heath LYR F.C. 1902; 119 years ago, as Manchester United F.C.
Ground: Old Trafford
Capacity: 74,140
Owner: Manchester United Fans Ltd.
CEO: Edwin van der Sar
Director of Football: Paul Mitchell
Manager: Ryan Giggs
League: EFL Championship
2018-19: Premier League, 18th of 20
In the 2018-19 Premier League season, things completely spiraled out of control for Manchester United. A disgruntled Jose Mourinho believed he was not backed in the transfer market following a 2nd place finish in 2017-18 and began lashing out uncontrollably. The squad was in disarray and the tactical gameplan was poor and the losses began to mount for United. Top four became a distant shout by December, and by the turn of the new year, United was firmly embroiled in the bottom quarter of the table. The Glazers and Ed Woodward left it until there were only 10 games left in the season to sack Jose Mourinho, with the club only three points above the relegation zone.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from Molde FC was brought in as the caretaker manager, but even he was not able to turn around the club's fortunes. The team won just two of the last 10 matches, and finished the season in 18th, relegated to the English Second Division for the first time since 1974. This ultimate failure of the biggest club in football captivated the news media for weeks as the fallout of their relegation was speculated on and heavily discussed across the world. The ramifications were clear and extremely severe. With revenue set to be cut significantly, even with parachute payments, and several top players disinterested in the playing in the Championship; United were forced to make several sales at cut rate prices. The following players were moved on to new clubs:
David De Gea - Real Madrid
Paul Pogba - PSG
Bruno Fernandes - FC Barcelona
Anthony Martial - Bayern
Harry Maguire - Manchester City
Aaron Wan-Bissaka - Spurs
Victor Lindelof - Dortmund
Eric Bailly - Villareal CF
Juan Mata - Valencia
Sergio Romero - Racing Club
Nemanja Matic - Inter Milan
Fred - Atalanta
Luke Shaw - Chelsea
Odion Ighalo - Shanghai Shenhua
Phil Jones - Newcastle
Dan James - Leeds United
Diogo Dalot - AC Milan
Lee Grant - Stoke City
Of the club's regular first teamer's, only academy players Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, Scott McTominay and Jesse Lingard stayed to fight and help the club try to return to the Premier League in 2019-20. With the loss in revenue, the Glazers also lost their interest in continuing to own the club as it was no longer profitable for them. The club's value had dropped significantly, which allowed a fan ownership group aptly named Manchester United Fans Ltd., to purchase 100% ownership of the club for a crowdfunded 500M price. Instantly, changes were made in the club's structure and long-term planning to try to not only restore it to the Premier League, but recapture the glory that had been lost over the last six years. Edwin van der Sar was named CEO, making the move over from Ajax to try to right the club's ship, and he proceeded to hire Paul Mitchell as the Director of Football who named former Interim Manager and club legend, Ryan Giggs, the permanent manager of the side.