Facts About Manchester United

Manchester United was established in 1878 as Newton Heath, the works team for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway workers in the local area. In 1892 the Alliance was immersed into the Football League which was restructured into two divisions. The club is one of the most well-known football clubs in English football history and has millions of supporters across the world.

Today Manchester United maybe a global brand and one of the most successful clubs on the planet, but in the late nineteenth century they were a very mundane club indeed. It was under the management of Sir Matt Busby during the 1950s that Manchester United really came to the fore though as Scotsman Busby built a side based on players he had groomed through the united youth structure and created a great side which became known as the Busby Babes due to their precocious talent at young ages.

The Red Devils, as the team is sometimes called, are the reigning champions of the Premier League. Man United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has retained their Premier League Champions title after winning the 2007-2008 Premiership season, beating Chelsea to the Premiership title on the final day of the season. This means that Manchester United scored more goals than the average team, and also allowed fewer goals.

An FA Cup win in 1963 was followed by English league title wins in 1965 and 1967 and was capped off by winning the European Cup in 1968 at Wembley, with Manchester United becoming the first English club to get their hands on European premier club trophy.

By Richard Heap

Richard writes about man-utd-wallpaper for http://www.man-utd-wallpaper.info

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Soccer Transfer News Update - Hleb Joins Barca Ronaldinho Signs For Ac Milan

The football transfer market came to live once again this week with spainish giants Barca announcing the capture of Arsenal's Midfielder Alexander Hleb and the release of Brazilian Ronaldinho to Ac Milan of Italy.

The Release of Ronaldinho is interesting because of the simple fact that his transfer means the end of an era at fc Barca and most importantly it makes the return to football of one of the greatest talents and personality in the game after a long time out due to injury, thirdly it leaves my dearest club ( yes I am a gunner fan ) Arsenal and we the fans wondering whats going on with our dear club , fourthly it ends Ac Milan's interest in Arsenal's Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor and also leaves Manchester City Fc ruing their miss after a long and interesting struggle for the signature of ever smiling Ronaldinho.

The capture of Ronaldinho by Ac Milan despite the fact that he has not seen action for a very long time due to injury confirms the fact that he is one of the best players to have ever played the game of football.

Ronaldinho 28, still look very young and on his way to greatness in the game of football ( Americans call it soccer ). Barcelona spotted and signed the then 23 year old from French giants PSG five years back. He was supposedly the number 2 to David Beckham before the Briton decided to join Barca's Arch rivals Real Madrid.

He joined Barca at a time when things was tough as they have just managed to qualify for the Uefa cup after finished 6 in the La Liga that year. He joined new coach Frank Rijkaard in the job of the transformation of the clubs dwinding fortunes.

Of course he succeeded in his mission as Barca finished second place behind Real Madrid the following season and went on to win back to back titles and the Uefa champions League beating Arsenal in the final a year after.

His feat did not go unnoticed as he was courted by Real Madrid and Fifa could also not ignore his brilliance as he was name the FIFA world footballer of the year.

But ever since things have gone from good to bad and from bad to worst for the Brazilian but now he has a great chance to start a revival of sort with Ac Milan.

As for Dear Arsenal, the news of the departure of Alexander Hleb adds to the growing list of the departees after Ac Milan had earlier stolen Mathieu Flamini right under our nose and the departure of Brazilian Gilberto Silva to Greece .

Although Hleb's transfer to Barca does not seem to surprise any one as it is very obvious but whats a surprise is why does the players who almost won the league for Arsenal in a breath taking way suddenly hate the club. It doesn't even end there as it is very possible that Emmanuel Adebayor may be also on his way out of the Emirates as he has declared his intention to join some other clubs if Arsenal can not agree to his ridiculous and selfish demands although one wonders if Milan who are the clear favorites to sign the Togolese will still be interested after the capture of Ronaldinho.

The capture of Ronaldinho leaves Adebayor hoping Barca will regnite their interest in him. But Unfortunately media reports has it that Barca have decide to abandon their pursuit of the Togolese preferring to sign Tottenham hotspur's Dimitav Berbatov instead. Barca's interest in Berbatov will sure be a thing of concern for Manchester United's Manager Sir Alex as he was also hoping to add the tall striker to his striking force.

With Gilberto also gone and Adebayor one leg in one leg out, it does confirms Arsene Wenger's concern earlier in the summer when he said his greatest concern was not to buy new players but to keep the ones he already has. It does also looks as though as he is losing the battle to keep his players as the players seem to look elsewhere for other challenges in their careers.

As for Manchester City FC and their new Manager Mark Hughes who were hoping to lure Ronaldinho to the eastland stadium are now shocked to know Ronladinho prefers to sign for Milan for a reason that is very obvious- Champions League football. Even though Milan will not be contesting in the Champions League this term but then they have a greater chance to qualify in the future than does Manchester City who can only struggle and hope for Uefa cup appearance.

Now that Ronaldinho has signed for Ac Milan, it will be interesting to know who Manchester City and their ever ambitious manager Mark Hughes will be signing with the £25 million that was rejected by Ronaldinho and Barca.

The transfer of Hleb and Ronaldinho to Barca and Ac Milan respectively could lead to a large scale moment of players from one club to another as it looks as though Milan and Barca mean business after the bad season the last time out. Hleb's transfer leaves Arsene Wenger with the headache of looking for a replacement for Hleb even though he has got Nasri and as for Manchester City it will be difficult to attract the kind of players who will get them breaking into the big four in the English Premiership in the coming season though they are ambitious but I still do not believe they will be attractive enough to get players of the capacity of Ronaldinho at least not for this season.

All football fans are invited to join one of the best and fastest growing football forum on the internet.

By Abayomi Aje

for more soccer news update and forum discussion visit http://soccerfanbase.com

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Transfer Season a Lot Like Dating

Some people may see this article title and might be saying, what is this guy talking about, the transfer season a lot like dating? I know it sounds kind of crazy but just think about it for a second.

Liken the current clubs of the players to that of their current girlfriends, they have a great relationship their services are needed etc. but the transfer season(dating season or summer) comes and many players see another girl who's offering them more, maybe she's got the whole package, a beautiful smile and a nice figure (money), and she's oh so tempting to those players who focus only on the physical, or what she has to offer. Ronaldo is a perfect example of this player, with his current transfer saga with Real Madrid. Of course you know his current girlfriend(Manchester United) doesn't want to let him go, she's bossy, and more likely than not, he has no choice but to stay with her.

However there are different types of players in this game, there are players who look pass what a girl has to offer, they see her for what she is, and is attracted by her values, her character what she stands for and how he can make her a better person. He doesn't let looks be the motivating factor of his decision in choosing a new spouse or date. This kind of player is like Ronaldinho, who moved to Milan this week. I mean the brother had options, women were offering him the world(Manchester City with their lucrative offer), yet he choose the one he was most comfortable with, the one he had a love for, even though she didn't have much to offer.( Milan with their significantly lower deal and no Champions League football)

Then there is the player who is never satisfied, he has a problem with every girl he comes across, I don't even know if to call him picky, but I think he's something of a gigolo. He gets fed up with his current girl and often doesn't stay in a relationship for too long, he's always threating to leave her and often does. Anybody got a clue as to which player I'm talking about? Yip! Nicolas Anelka. Throughout this guy's career, he has played for 8 different clubs in the space of 10 years, subsequently earning himself the nickname "Le Sulk" or the Sulk. He recently signed for Chelsea and has already threatened to leave, because he wasn't getting much playing time under recently fired manager, Avram Grant.

So there you have it, the transfer season is a lot like dating. Players look for the girls who can keep them satisfied, weather it's what she's offering(money), or how much time she's giving the player(playing time), these are just some of the factors that influence a player's decision or quest for a new girl(club).

Can you think of any more players to fit the three descriptions I mentioned?

By Syddel Worrell

Syddel Worrell

Visit My Blog @ http://alleagues.blogspot.com

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A Preview of the Euro 2008 Finals

The upcoming Euro 2008 championships to be held in Austria and Switzerland have caught the imagination and attention of millions of soccer addicts all over the world. With sixteen of Europe's best teams fighting it out for a place in the annals of soccer history, expect action, drama and football of the highest order this coming summer. With an eye on the upcoming championships, let us review the possible teams who would be lifting the chequered trophy come the 27th of June in Austria.

World Champions Italy certainly look to be on the strongest sides of paper. The Italians always come up with the goods in the big stage as demonstrated by their success in the last World Cup and with the likes of Luca Toni and Alessandero Del Piero in fine form, the Azzuri have a lethal frontline capable of coming up trumps against the very best. The defence is a slight concern though with Fabio Cannavaro looking the shadow of the player he was in the World Cup 2006 but with Buffon guarding the net, opposition strikers have much work to do to notch up goals against the Azzuri.

Joint favourites with Italy would have to be France and Portugal. Both these sides have been consistently good at major tournaments over the past decade or so and will be hoping to bury their shortcomings in recent finals by going all the way this time. France will be playing without Zinedine Zidane in a major tournament for the first time and will be heavily reliant on Frank Ribbery and Sameer Nasri in the midfield for pulling the opposition strings. However with Thierry Henry and upcoming Lyon sensation Karim Benzema in attack, expect goals galore when France come out to the field .

This tournament will finally see Cristiano Ronaldo play at the peak of his poweress and the Portuegse will hope that the dazzling wing combination of Ronaldo and Ricardo Quaresma will help them rise from the disappointments of the Euro 2004 when they were vanquished by Greece in their home turf. Their fellow Iberian rivals Spain have also be hoping that they can break their eternal chokers tag with a major silverware for the first time in forty four years. Spain come into the Euro 2008 finals with arguably the finest strike force in World football. The likes of David Villa, David Guiza and Fernando Torres have been nothing but sensational at club level and expect the Spanish to have a major in deciding the champions of European national football competitions this summer.

The Netherlands and Germany will be going into the Euro 2008 finals as the dark horses. With a host of superstars to rely upon in the face of adversity, both these sides are up in the reckoning for a place in the finals this June. Netherlands have been placed in the group of death along with Italy and France and much of their performance will depend on the performance of star strikers Rudd van Nistelrooy, Huntelaar and Robin Van Persie.

Other notable competitors include of Czech Republic, Sweden and Romania. With the likes of Adrian Mutu, Peter Cech, Pavel Nedved and Henrik Larsson in the ranks, these sides have the capacity of stunning the very best in business on their day.

All this will go down as mere paperwork when the official Euro championships kick off in short notice. The championships are notorious for throwing up unpredictable as Greece would testify last time around.

By Dave Page

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