The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 5: Name Change

"This is the name of our team. It will be an exciting name. We must unite and strive for our victory. Nothing can make us surrender, and nothing can stop us from moving forward. We will make this name shine in the world of football!"

--Inscription

From an amateur team of the railway company to a professional football club, from Newton Heath LYR to Newton Heath, they were born in a barbaric era, constantly experienced the taste of failure, and always had to struggle to survive.

These people who love the team have a very difficult time, but they will never let the team go bankrupt or disband.

In the English football environment at that time, it was very difficult to set up a professional team. Even though people who loved playing football could be found everywhere, the cost of setting up a professional team was too high.

There are many teams in England with a history of more than 100 years, but there are even more clubs that have disappeared in the long river of history.

Newton Heath are struggling to survive, but how did they become a Red Devils club?

After the team became independent from the railway company, it became a professional club and no longer moved with the railway company. It became a team rooted in the local area. After the railway company stopped supporting the team, the "care" from the local government and residents that the team imagined did not appear in time. Newton Heath lacked influence, had very few fans and sponsors, and was rejected by other local teams. As an "outsider", Newton Heath was not easy in terms of publicity and promotion, commercial activities, and member recruitment.

Newton Heath originally rented the North Road Stadium as its competition and office venue. Without the financial support of the railway company, they soon became unable to make ends meet and had to suffer like homeless people.

There were already many football teams in the city of Manchester at that time, and the most legitimate one was St. Mark's Church in Singington, a team founded by local residents, the predecessor of Manchester City. Although St. Mark's Church in Singington was founded in 1880, two years later than Newton Heath LYR, they had the support of the local community and the resources of the city hall, and their strength was extraordinary.

纽顿-希斯LYR队对西格顿圣马可堂队的第一次比赛发生在1881年11月12日，纽顿-希斯LYR队最终以3:0轻松获胜。这是历史上曼市双雄的首次交手，随后两队各自都走上了职业道路。

St Mark's Church in West Geddon occupied the city stadium and always regarded themselves as the representative of Manchester football. They were very hostile to outsiders and the downtrodden, believing that they were the masters of the city and that outsiders like Newton Heath should not survive in Manchester.

The conflict between the Red Devils and Manchester City was sown from the first game. When it came to the stage of professional competition, involving interests and future, the conflict between the two teams became more acute and soon broke out.

Newton Heath appointed its first head coach (manager) Mr. AH Albut in 1892. Under Albut's coaching, the team quickly identified the main players, the training time and effect were guaranteed, and the overall strength increased significantly. In that year, Newton Heath successfully applied to join the English Football League and officially participated in the English Football League. On March 1892, 3, Newton Heath participated in the first game of the English Football League, and the opponent was Blackburn Rovers.

The match attracted 8000 fans to the stadium that Newton Heath had rented temporarily. The fans' enthusiasm led to considerable ticket revenue. The two teams met for the first time in the league, and both sides went all out to strive for the top spot, and the game was full of sparks. Newton Heath was brave in attacking, fast-paced, and concise in style. Robert Donaldson scored the first goal, but the opponent responded strongly and launched a fierce offensive wave, frequently threatening the Red Devils' goal. In the end, the game was full of goals, and the two sides kept refreshing the score.

Newton Heath lost to their opponents 3-4 in the end, but their wonderful performance won cheers from the fans.

Newton Heath had a poor performance in the first league season and ranked last in the standings at the end of the season. In the play-offs that decided relegation, the team showed a tenacious fighting spirit and finally won one game and drew one game, thus staying in the First Division. In 1893, Newton Heath moved its home stadium to Bank Street, hoping that the larger stadium would attract more fans. But it turned out to be a nightmare relocation. The team lost fans around the North Road Stadium and failed to attract fans in the Bank Street area, and quickly fell into trouble. Newton Heath did not perform well in the new season and once again sat at the bottom of the First Division. This time they were not so lucky. They were defeated by Liverpool 0:2 in the relegation play-offs and were sadly relegated to the Second Division.

After being relegated, Newton Heath had a harder time. The team was not strong enough to quickly win back to the First Division. Newton Heath did not qualify for the play-offs until 1897, but unfortunately lost to their opponents. In the following years, they have been hovering in the middle of the Second Division, waiting for the opportunity to be promoted.

Falling to the second division seriously affected Newton Heath's ticket sales, and their business became increasingly difficult. The team's games also gradually became sluggish and mediocre, gradually losing their charm.

The high rent of the Bank Street Stadium exacerbated the club's crisis. By 1900, the team was on the verge of bankruptcy and survived after several maneuvers. In 1901, Newton Heath only finished 10th in the Second Division. The quality of their games continued to decline, the number of spectators decreased, and the team's debts increased.

Newton Heath tried their best to save themselves, and the team sent all its players out to collect donations, but the effect was not obvious. The club then held an auction at the instigation of the captain, hoping to auction off some historical club properties and items donated by players and fans to raise enough funds.

The auction was a bit of a sham; not much was sold, and not much money was made, but it did attract a key figure.

John Henry Davies, a wealthy businessman from Manchester, was invited to the auction. He was a loyal fan of the team, wealthy and powerful. After being introduced, he decided to save the team and realize his dream at the same time.

The management of Newton Heath was overjoyed, and the new investment agreement was completed at lightning speed. Mr. Davis generously donated 2000 pounds to the team and became the chairman of the club.

A new chairman means a new beginning, and the fate of Newton Heath has changed.

Mr. Davis continued to inject funds into the club, which quickly boosted the team's morale. Mr. Davis asked the players to play with momentum, strengthen the offense, and make the game more interesting. Stimulated by the good news, the Newton Heath team was inspired and played several exciting games in succession, becoming a hot topic in the news again.

Davis is well aware of how public companies operate, and he decided to give the team a new name.

Davis's reasons were very valid. The team was located in the city rather than on a railway construction site, so it was no longer appropriate to continue using the name Newton Heath. The team should instead use a name that was more closely related to Manchester.

Davis had the energy to push for a name change, but he didn't have the talent to do it, so he decided to solicit fans' opinions.

Newton Heath were the first to receive a suggestion to change their name to Manchester Central, but this was rejected by the city council.

Newton Heath later wanted to be called "Manchester Celtic", and this time it was the Scottish Celtics who opposed it. The Celtics had an unusual religious background at the time and believed that Newton Heath's name change was an offense to them. In order to stop Newton Heath, the Celtics even let chairman Wolf Reid appeal to the London court. Under such circumstances, Newton Heath had no choice but to give up the name.

On April 1902, 4, a die-hard fan suggested that the team's name could be changed to "Manchester United", abbreviated as "Red Devils"!

"Red Devil"!

This name is like a thunder in the dark sky, like a shout in the silent world, and it has magical power that arouses the love of fans.

This name is simple, popular, easy to remember, catchy, unforgettable, and naturally has the power to spread.

Faced with this brilliant proposal, Manchester City Hall could not find any fault with it and had to agree.

In this way, Newton Heath was officially renamed "Manchester United", which is the Red Devils that fans later became familiar with.

"Red Devils - Manchester, unite!"

This is the name of a team. It not only highlights the region, but also attracts fans from all over the world, allowing fans from all places to feel the needs of the team, and also enables fans to quickly stand with the team and unite together.

Combine the power of players, the power of fans, combine the power of everything!

The name "Red Devils" was thus recorded in history, and the Red Devils fan Louis Rocca who made the suggestion was also recorded in the club's history.

The Red Devils made enemies with Manchester City and Celtic during the name change process. It is no surprise that Manchester City, as a competitor, was afraid that the Red Devils would take away their resources. Celtic, far away in Scotland, was remembered by the Red Devils fans because they appealed to prevent the Red Devils from changing their name. The conflict and hatred between the Red Devils and Manchester City evolved into a derby in the same city every season. The Red Devils and Celtic did not meet many times, and Celtic was not as strong as the Red Devils. Their fans could only use past disputes to anger the Red Devils fans.

The name of the Red Devils was officially born, which also brought luck to the development of the team. In the first season after the team changed its name, the Red Devils finished with 11 wins, 6 draws and 17 losses in the league, and beat Chesterfield with a 5-goal advantage to avoid relegation!

After avoiding relegation, Davis decisively started the team's reconstruction. Under his selection, new coach Ernest Mangnall joined the team and opened a new chapter for the team.

From its origins as the Newton Heath LYR team to the naming of the Red Devils, the team has gone through an extremely tortuous and difficult journey.

This team, which was born from railway workers, has a working-class background. The fighting spirit of railway workers has given the team a fighting stamp. The Red Devils have gone through untold hardships, struggles, and never lost their fighting spirit.

This team originated from the working class. No matter they had nothing in the beginning, or were displaced in difficult times, or struggled to survive in plane crashes, or were devastated when they were penniless and had nothing, they always persisted in fighting and moved forward firmly.

This team originated from the grassroots, this team founded by the working class, this team has been passionate since its inception, this team has an iron will, a team with a fighting spirit, its name is called the Red Devils!

Red Devils, we call ourselves Red Devils!