2. Manchester United Football Club (9,69%) is an English
football club, based at Old Trafford in Trafford, Greater Manchester,
and is one of the most popular football clubs in the world. The club
was a founding member of the Premier League in 1992, and has played in
the top division of English football since 1938, with the exception of
the 1974–75 season. Average attendances at the club have been higher
than any other team in English football for all but six seasons since
1964–65.
Manchester United are the reigning English champions and European and
Club World Cup holders, having won the 2008–09 Premier League, the
2007–08 UEFA Champions League, and the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup. The
club is one of the most successful in the history of English football
and has won 22 major honours since Alex Ferguson became manager in
November 1986. In 1968, they became the first English club to win the
European Cup, beating Benfica 4–1. They won a second European Cup as
part of a Treble in 1999, before winning their third in 2008. The club
holds the joint record for the most English league titles with 18 and
also holds the record for the most FA Cup wins with 11.
Since the late 1990s, the club has been one of the richest in the world
with the highest revenue of any football club, and is currently ranked
as the richest and most valuable club in any sport, with an estimated
value of £897 million (€1.333 billion / $1.8 billion) as of September
2008. Manchester United was a founding member of the now defunct G-14
group of Europe's leading football clubs, and its replacement, the
European Club Association.
Alex Ferguson has been manager of the club since 6 November 1986,
joining from Aberdeen after the sacking of Ron Atkinson. The current
club captain is Gary Neville, who succeeded Roy Keane in November 2005.