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Manchester United Football Club 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.〔Barnes et al. (2001), p. 8〕 The team initially played games against other departments and rail companies at their home ground at North Road, but by 1888 the club had become a founding member of The Combination, a regional football league. However, following the league's dissolution before the end of its first 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 1892–93 season in the First Division, by which time it had become independent of the rail company, dropped the "LYR" from its name and moved to a new ground at Bank Street.〔 After just two seasons, the club was relegated to the Second Division.〔 In January 1902, with debts of £2,670 – equivalent to £ in – the club was served with a winding-up order.〔Tyrrell & Meek (1996), p. 99〕 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.〔Barnes et al. (2001), p. 9〕 As a mark of this fresh start, on 24 April 1902, the club's name was changed to "Manchester United".〔James (2008), p. 92〕〔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.〕 Under Ernest Mangnall, who became club secretary in 1903, the team finished as Second Division runners-up in 1906 and secured promotion to the First Division, which it won in 1908 – the club's first league title. The following season began with victory in the first ever Charity Shield〔Barnes et al. (2001), p. 118〕 and ended with the club's first FA Cup title. Manchester United moved to a new stadium at Old Trafford in 1910, and won the First Division for the second time in 1911, but at the end of the following season, secretary Mangnall left to join Manchester City.〔Barnes et al. (2001), p. 11〕 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 John Henry 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 an investment of £2,000 in December 1931 by James W. Gibson, who assumed control of the club.〔Barnes et al. (2001), p. 12〕 In the 1938–39 season – the last year of football before the Second World War – the club finished 14th in the First Division.〔 During the war, the club participated in the Wartime League and the Football League War Cup, but in 1941, Old Trafford was damaged by German bombs and would not be fully repaired until 1949.〔Barnes et al. (2001), p. 44〕 ==Early years: 1878–87 == In 1878 the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company granted permission for the employees of its Carriage and Wagon department to start a football team, which was subsequently named Newton Heath LYR. LYR stood for "Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway" and was used to distinguish the team from their colleagues from the Motive Power Division, who were known as Newton Heath Loco.〔 The team was funded by the railway company, who paid the lease on its first home ground, a field close to the railway yard on North Road. It is said that the players were "tough, diligent men who formed a powerful side";〔 they initially played games against other teams of railway workers, very few of which were recorded.〔Barnes et al. (2001), p. 124〕 During the 1882–83 season, the team played a total of 26 recorded friendly matches, and the following season competed in the Lancashire Cup but lost 7–2 in the first round to the reserve team of Blackburn Olympic.〔 In 1884, Newton Heath LYR applied for the Manchester and District Challenge Cup and reached the final, which they lost 3–0 to Hurst at Whalley Range.〔Shury (2005), pp. 6–8〕 The team never failed to score at least three goals in each of the rounds leading up to the final, including in a first round match against Eccles that had to be replayed after the Eccles management protested about Newton Heath's third goal.〔Shury & Landamore (2005), pp. 43–79〕 Newton Heath reached the final of the Manchester and District Challenge Cup a further five times, winning all but one. Meanwhile, in 1886, the club began to expand by signing players of national reputation such as Jack Powell, who became club captain, Jack and Roger Doughty, and Tom Burke.〔Shury & Landamore (2005), pp. 8–9〕 In 1886–87 the club entered the FA Cup for the first time and were drawn away to Fleetwood Rangers in the first round; they managed to earn a 2–2 but when club captain Jack Powell refused to play a period of extra time, Fleetwood were awarded the tie. A subsequent unsuccessful protest to the Football Association〔 led to Newton Heath LYR entering a self-imposed exile from the FA Cup, which lasted until 1889. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Manchester United F.C. (1878–1945)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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