Until Sir Alex Ferguson called time on a legendary managerial career in 2013 with his decision to retire, Manchester United were the dominant force in the Premier League era.
Prior to the advent of the Premier League, United had been 26 long years without a league title, since the days of Matt Busby, Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law in 1967.
Fergie set about restoring the club to its former glory, which included a squad clearout and a revamp of scouting and the youth team. But the process took time and in 1990 there were rumours that the Scot was close to the sack, saved only by winning the FA Cup.
United finished second to Leeds in the final season of the old First Division in 1991/92 but were then primed to take over English football for the two decades that followed.
Manchester United have won 13 Premier League titles since the new top flight was created at the start of the 1992/93 season.
Those triumphs account for more than half of the club’s 20 English league titles in total, winning the first in 1908 and the most recent before the Premier League era in 1967.
United were competing with Aston Villa and Norwich in the 1992/93 title race, ultimately finishing 10 points clear of the rest after Eric Cantona’s mid-season arrival provided a welcome catalyst for success after a poor first half of the campaign.
United romped to the Premier League title in 1993/94 as part of a domestic double, and while they lost the title to Blackburn on the final day of 1994/95, reclaimed the trophy the following year in 1995/96 – again as one half of a domestic double.
As the Class of ’92, originally referred to as ‘Fergie’s Fledglings’ came to prominence, United won Premier League titles in 1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/00 and 2000/01. In 1999, the club won the treble overall by adding FA Cup and Champions League titles – still the only English team to do so.
Ferguson guided his team to another Premier League crown in 2002/03, but the emergence of Chelsea as a domestic force necessitated a rebuild and a slight title drought, before three more consecutive titles inspired by Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney followed in 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2008/09 – the middle of those was paired with another Champions League triumph.
United were agonisingly close to sealing more titles in 2009/10 and 2011/12, losing out to Chelsea and Manchester City respectively, but they broke the then English league title record in 2010/11 with their 19th overall (12th in the Premier League), before adding another in 2012/13.
Manchester United league titles: 1907/08, 1910/11, 1951/52, 1955/56, 1956/57, 1964/65, 1966/67, 1992/93, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09, 2010/11, 2012/13
For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!
