The Birth of Manchester United
posted on 07/01/09
Newton Heath Team
Manchester United Football Club was first formed in 1878, albeit under a different name – Newton Heath LYR (Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway).
Little suspecting the impact they were to eventually to have on the national, even global game, the workers in the railway yard at Newton Heath indulged their passion for football with games against other departments of the LYR or other railway companies. Newton Heath played their first ever seriously competitive game in the FA Cup 1st round at Fleetwood Rangers. Drawing 2-2 before an attendance of 2000 The referee asked both teams to play a period of extra time to decide the fixture. Newton Heath refused and the game was awarded to Fleetwood Rangers!! Newton Heath remained at their North Road ground for fifteen years from 1878 to 1893, a year after entering the Football League, before moving to a new home at Bank Street in nearby Clayton. Mr Bert Gregory who acted as a groundsman on the small field on North Road in Newton Heath, passed down stories tell of, ” a small field ,a muddy bog ” sand had to be laid onto the field just to try and make it playable, this is where Newton Heath first played their home games,the team players had to change into their football kit in a local public house and walk from the pub to the field and play the game, it was the Three Crowns pub on Oldham Road.
Indeed, when the Football League was formed in 1888, Newton Heath did not consider themselves good enough to become founder members alongside the likes of Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End. They waited instead until 1892 to make their entrance. In the FA Cup of 1891/92 Newton Heath were drawn against Manchester City on the 3rd October. Newton Heath ran out winners 5-1!! Newton Heath eventually went out in the 4th Qualifying Round to Blackpool 4-3.
Newton Heaths first league game, (3 Sept 1892) was away at Blackburn Rovers, losing 4-3 in front of 8000. A Scot named Robert Donaldson became the first player to score a league goal for Newton Heath. On 15th October 1892 we beat Wolves 10-1 at North Road. The final league table placed Newton Heath rock bottom with only 18 points. Season two (1893/94) saw Newton Heath again rock bottom with only 14 points. Season 1884/95 and Newton Heath finish 3rd in the new Division Two behind Bury and Notts County, with a total of 34 points, 9 points behind the winners. On 2 November 1895 Newton Heath entertained Liverpool in a 5-2 win and beat Arsenal 5-1 on 30th Nov 1895. We finished the season 6th with 33 points from 30 games.
Season 1896/97 and Newton Heath saw off West Manchester 7-0 on 12 Dec in an FA Cup tie. The season finished with Newton Heath coming 2nd with 22 points behind Notts county on 49 points!! Second did not get promoted in those days!
Christmas Day the following season, Newton Heath went to Man City (Hyde Road) and won 1-0 with a goal from Cassidy. In February Liverpool knocked Newton Heath out of the FA Cup after a replay and the odd goal. They then went on to beat Arsenal 5-1 in the next game, finishing 4th at the end of the season.
Season 1898/99 and Newton Heath were showing signs of pressure both on and off the field. Loses to City, Burton Swifts, Liverpool, Arsenal (5-1) saw Newton Heath finish 4th at the end of this season. Notable results along the way were a 9-0 drubbing of Darwen on Christams Eve; 3-0 away win against New Brighton Tower and beating Luton 5-0. Turn of the century saw Newton Heath finish again 4th. Boxing Day 1899, Newton Heath travelled to Grimsby and won 7-0. And, in the first game of 1900 lost at home to Bolton 2-1. Home attendances were around the 6500 average.
Financial problems plagued Newton Heath, and by the start of the twentieth century it seemed they were destined for extinction. The club was saved, however, by a local brewery owner, John Henry Davies. Legend has it that he learned of the club’s plight when he found a dog belonging to Newton Heath captain Harry Stafford. St the end of the 1901 season Newton Heath finished 10th in Division 2. Newton Heath were to finish 15th in Division 2 in 1902 and the team was to vanish, reemerging the following season as Manchester United.
