The club formed in 1878 as
Newton Heath LYR F.C. At this time organised League football did not exist; "first class matches" were arranged on a largely ad-hoc basis and supplemented by
cup competitions. Official records from these matches are sketchy at best, and are often extrapolated from newspaper reports at the time. In 1886, the club entered the
FA Cup for the first time, but were knocked out in the first round. They entered
The Combination in 1888, but the league was wound up before the season could be completed. The club then joined the
Football Alliance in 1889, and in 1892 were elected to the newly formed
Football League First Division. Upon joining the
Football League, the club dropped the "LYR" from their name, before financial troubles forced the club to restructure in 1902, including a change of name to
Manchester United F.C. In
1956–57, Manchester United became the first English club to enter European competition, entering the
European Cup, following
the Football Association's refusal to allow
Chelsea to enter the previous year. Eleven years later, in
1968, they became the first English club to win the European Cup, and only the second British side after
Celtic had won it the year before. Meanwhile, in
1960–61, Manchester United entered the inaugural
Football League Cup, only to decline to enter for the next five years. In
1992–93, they became founder members and inaugural champions of the
Premier League, and, in
1998–99, they won an unprecedented
Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. This was followed by two more Premier League titles in
1999–2000 and
2000–01, making Manchester United only the fourth club to win three consecutive English league titles. The club picked up their 10th Premier League title in the
2007–08 season, and followed it with a third Champions League title 10 days later. The
following season, Manchester United became the first British club to win the
FIFA Club World Cup, before becoming the first English club to claim three consecutive league titles twice. In
2010–11, Manchester United won their 19th top division title, passing
Liverpool's previous record of 18, before winning a 20th title in
2012–13. In
2016–17, Manchester United won their first
UEFA Europa League trophy, making them only the fifth club to win the
three main European club competitions. ==Key==