Manchester City FC Profile

Formed: 1880
Nickname: The Citizens, The Blues, City

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• UEFA European Cup Winners’ Cup: 1970

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
• League title: 2 (1968)
• FA Cup: 5 (2011)
• League Cup: 2 (1976)

History
• Founded by churchwardens as St Mark’s Church, West Gorton in an attempt to curb gang violence and alcoholism among men in East Manchester, the club were known as Gorton AFC and Ardwick AFC before settling on their current name in 1894 and initially won promotion to England’s top division in 1899.

• City won their first FA Cup in 1904, beating Bolton Wanderers FC 1-0 in the final, and moved from Hyde Road to Maine Road in 1923; a second FA Cup came in 1934 but their maiden league title in 1937 was followed by relegation the following season – the only time this has ever happened in England’s top flight.

• Another perhaps unrepeatable first came in the 1956 FA Cup final where City beat Birmingham City FC 3-1 even though their goalkeeper Bert Trautmann, a former German prisoner of war who settled in England, was forced to play the final minutes of the match with a broken neck.

• There were more heroics in 1967/68 as, under the leadership of Joe Mercer, a City side featuring legends like Mike Summerbee and Colin Bell claimed the league title; next came the 1969 FA Cup and the following season’s UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, City beating Górnik Zabrze 2-1 in Vienna.

• Past glories were to weigh heavy on City in later years as they sank as low as England’s third tier in 1998, but the club were back in the Premier League within two years. Although they lasted only one season, promotion followed again in 2001/02 and the arrival of wealthy investors in summer 2009 has transformed them into a competitive side in the English top flight.

• In 2011, Roberto Mancini led City to FA Cup glory as well as a third-place finish, which secured UEFA Champions League football for the first time in the club’s history.

Club records
Most appearances: Alan Oakes (680)
Most goals: Eric Brook (177)
Record victory: City 12-0 Liverpool Stanley FC (4 October 1890)
Record defeat: four defeats by eight-goal margins, most recently 8-0 v Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (First Division, 23 December 1933)

From: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/clubs/club=52919/profile/index.html

Manchester United profile

Formed: 1878
Nickname: The Red Devils

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• European Champion Clubs’ Cup: 1968, 1999, 2008, (2009, 2011)
• UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: 1991
• UEFA Super Cup: 1991, (1999), (2008)

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
• League title: 19 (2011)
• FA Cup: 11 (2004)
• League Cup: 4 (2010)

History
• United were formed in 1878 as Newton Heath L&YR FC, a railway works side which joined the English Football League in 1892. The club claimed a place in the First Division in 1906, and in 1907/08 they brought home their first championship before an inaugural FA Cup win in 1909. The next year United moved to Old Trafford and reclaimed the league trophy in their first season at the ground.

• A period of relative mediocrity followed, but the club were transformed forever by the appointment of Matt Busby as manager in 1945. The Scot developed a team of youngsters who went on to become English champions three times in the 1950s, yet the Busby Babes era ended prematurely with the Munich air disaster of 6 February 1958 which claimed the lives of 21 people, including eight players.

• Busby himself had to recover from serious injuries before rebuilding the squad. The FA Cup was recaptured in 1963 after a 15-year gap, then the league in 1964/65 and 1966/67. Busby’s crowning glory came when a team featuring Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law became the first English side to lift the European Champion Clubs’ Cup, although the injured Law missed the victory against SL Benfica in the 1968 Wembley final.

• Busby finally stood down in 1971 and proved a hard act to follow until the arrival of Alex Ferguson in 1986, the latter’s first trophy arriving with the 1990 FA Cup. United followed up with the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup the next season.

• After bringing in Eric Cantona, Sir Alex’s team ended a 26-year wait by claiming an eighth league title in the inaugural Premier League season of 1992/93. The new competition suited United, who went on to become a hugely dominant force in the domestic game while returning to the European summit in their treble-winning 1998/99 campaign and again in 2007/08. By winning the league for the 19th time in 2010/11, the Red Devils surpassed Liverpool FC as the most successful club in English football.

Club records
Most appearances: Ryan Giggs (876)*
Most goals: Bobby Charlton (249)
Record victory: United 10-0 RSC Anderlecht (European Champion Clubs’ Cup, 26 September 1956)
Record defeat: 7-0 on three occasions, most recently at Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (League, 26 December 1931)

From: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/clubs/club=52682/profile/index.html