when did manchester united first win a trophy?
FA Cup 1976–77
entailment
 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 . 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 . With an average age of 22 , the back @-@ to @-@ back title winning side of 1956 were labelled " the Busby Babes " by the media , a testament to Busby 's faith in his youth players . 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 . En route to the semi @-@ final , which they lost to Real Madrid , the team recorded a 10 – 0 victory over Belgian champions Anderlecht , which remains the club 's biggest victory on record . 

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 By the end of the season Manchester United had become the world ’ s richest football club , and the most valuable sporting brand worldwide . The club was also at the centre of a takeover bid by BSkyB , which was blocked by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission in March 1999 . 

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 Manchester City had a strong season in 1955 – 56 , finishing fourth in the league and reached the FA Cup final against Birmingham City . Trautmann , one of the team 's most prominent performers , won the FWA Footballer of the Year Award shortly before the match , the first goalkeeper to win the award . Two days later , Trautmann stepped out onto the Wembley pitch for the match that would gain him worldwide acclaim . 

entailment
 In January 1902 , with debts of £ 2 @,@ 670 – equivalent to £ 260 @,@ 000 in 2016 – the club was served with a winding @-@ up order . 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 ; on 24 April 1902 , Manchester United was officially born . 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 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 . 

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 Manchester United was floated on the stock market in June 1991 ( raising £ 6 @.@ 7 million ) , 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 , but the takeover was blocked by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission at the final hurdle in April 1999 . 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 . 
