Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.

The 1958 Munich air disaster claimed the lives of eight players. In 1968, under the management of Matt Busby, Manchester United was the first English football club to win the European Cup. The current manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has won 24 major honours since he took over in November 1986.

Manchester United has won many trophies in English football, including a record 19 league titles, a record 11 FA Cups, four League Cups and a record 19 FA Community Shields. The club has also won three European Cups, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. In 1998–99, the club won a Treble of the Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, an unprecedented feat for an English club.

Coordinates: 53°28′N 2°14′W / 53.467°N 2.233°W / 53.467; -2.233

Manchester ⁱ/ˈmæntʃɛstər/ is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England with an estimated population of 498,800 in 2010. Manchester lies within one of the United Kingdom's largest urban areas; the Greater Manchester Urban Area which has a population of 2.2 million. The demonym of Manchester is Mancunian and the local authority is Manchester City Council.

Manchester is situated in the south-central part of North West England, fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south and the Pennines to the north and east. The recorded history of Manchester began with the civilian settlement associated with the Roman fort of Mamucium, which was established in c. 79 AD on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and Irwell. Historically, most of the city was a part of Lancashire, although areas south of the River Mersey were in Cheshire. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a manorial township, but it began to expand "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century. Manchester's unplanned urbanisation was brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, and resulted in it becoming the world's first industrialised city. An early 19th-century factory building boom transformed Manchester from a township into a major mill town and borough that was granted city status in 1853. In 1894 the Manchester Ship Canal was built, creating the Port of Manchester.

David Luiz Moreira Marinho (born 22 April 1987), known as David Luiz, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Chelsea in the Premier League. Primarily a central defender, he can also be deployed as a left back.

After starting out at Vitória, he moved to Benfica at the age of 19, remaining with the club five seasons (three complete). He joined Chelsea in January 2011, winning the Champions League and the FA Cup in the following season.

Born in Diadema, São Paulo, David Luiz arrived in Esporte Clube Vitória at the age of 14 after being released by São Paulo FC, and started playing as a defensive midfielder, almost leaving the club for his poor performances in that position. However, he was soon moved to central defender and adapted well.

Luiz made his official debut for Vitória in 2006, and excelled against Santa Cruz Futebol Clube for that season's Brazilian Cup, in a 2–2 draw. At the worst situation of its history, in the third division, Vitória promoted to the second division at the end of the season with Luiz's help, after finishing in second position, with the central appearing in eight of the club's last decisive nine games, scoring his only Série C goal on 3 September 2006, in a 2–0 home win against Clube Atlético do Porto.

Joseph John "Joe" Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English footballer who plays for Liverpool, and the England national football team as midfielder. He started his career with West Ham United where he played more than 100 games during five years, until he left for Chelsea in 2003. Cole won a number of trophies with Chelsea, including three Premier League titles and two FA Cups before leaving on a free transfer in July 2010 to join Liverpool. He is described as "a technically gifted player with the creativity to unlock a defence".

Cole was born in Paddington, London and lived there until he moved to Camden at the age of six. He was educated at St. Mary's Primary School, Bryanston Square in Marylebone along with brother Nicky and sister Charly. He also attended Haverstock School in Chalk Farm, Camden and St. Aloysius RC College in North London. As a youngster Joe Cole supported Chelsea. Joe Cole is a patron for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

A child prodigy who received national media attention as a schoolboy, Cole famously scored seven of the eight goals the England youth team scored against Spain in one match. Cole is a product of the West Ham United youth system. He was long touted as the hottest prospect in English football with Manchester United reportedly offering to pay £10 million for his services as a 16-year-old. Playing in a mould similar to former England favourite Paul Gascoigne, he quickly progressed through the West Ham ranks before making his first-team debut at the age of 17. In 1999 Cole was part of West Ham's victorious FA Youth Cup winning squad (alongside Michael Carrick), defeating Coventry City 9–0 on aggregate in the final. In January 2003 Glenn Roeder, then West Ham United manager gave Cole the club captain's armband at the age of 21. The club was relegated from the Premier League at the end of that season. Cole won the "Hammer of the Year award" for 2003.

Ricardo Alberto Silveira de Carvalho OIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁiˈkaɾdu kɐɾˈvaʎu]; born 18 May 1978) is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a centre back for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid.

Carvalho was born in Amarante where he played for the local team, Amarante Futebol Clube. By his great performance as a youngster, he was spotted by the Portuguese powerhouse, FC Porto, and in 1996 he was brought to FC Porto Junior team. Between 1997 and 2001 he had loan spells at Leça, where he made his professional debut, Vitória de Setúbal and Alverca, but it was in José Mourinho’s reign that he really started to make big strides forward. It was in the 2002–03 season that Carvalho made his name known all around Europe, winning his first domestic league title under Mourinho’s commands, the Portuguese Cup, and the UEFA Cup. His good form led to an international call-up in 2003. In the next season, Carvalho won his second league title in a row, and his first UEFA Champions League title, in which tournament he was named best defender of the tournament. In July 2004, Carvalho transferred to Chelsea for a fee of just under €30 million. With the Blues, he won two Premier League titles in a row and one League Cup in his first two seasons. In 2008, he helped the club reach the UEFA Champions League final for the first time in their history, a game that they lost 6–5 on penalties against Manchester United. In the same year, he was voted by his fellow Chelsea colleagues as Chelsea's 2008 Players' Player of the Year. Two years later, in the 2009–10 season, Carvalho helped the Blues win their first Championship since 2006 and the FA Cup, by winning this last trophy Chelsea have secured the first ever Double in the club's history. In August 2010, after six years with Chelsea, he transferred to Real Madrid for a fee of £6.7 million.