Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and has won more trophies than any other manager in the history of football. Ferguson is often credited for valuing youth during his time with Manchester United, particularly in the 1990s with the "Class of '92", who contributed to making the club one of the richest and most successful in the world.
Roy Maurice Keane is an Irish football pundit, former coach, and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during his time at English club Manchester United. Regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players in 2004.
Patrick Timothy Crerand is a Scottish former footballer who played as a right half. After six years at Celtic, he moved to Manchester United where he won the English League title twice, the FA Cup, the FA Charity Shield twice and the European Cup. He also gained 16 international caps for Scotland. He is considered one of the best midfielders of his generation, possessing an extraordinary sense of sight and having a particularly prolific partnership with talisman George Best.
Norman Rae Taurog was an American film director and screenwriter. From 1920 to 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. At the age of 32, he received the Academy Award for Best Director for Skippy (1931), becoming the youngest person to win the award for eight and a half decades until Damien Chazelle won for La La Land in 2017. He was later nominated for Best Director for the film Boys Town (1938). He directed some of the best-known actors of the twentieth century, including his nephew Jackie Cooper, Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Deanna Durbin, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Deborah Kerr, Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, and Elvis Presley. Taurog directed six Martin and Lewis films, and nine Elvis Presley films, more than any other director.
Paul Howard is an Irish journalist, author and comedy writer. He is best known as the creator of the cult character Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, a fictional Dublin 4 "rugby jock".
Robert Gene "Red" West was an American actor, film stuntman and songwriter. He was known for being a close confidant and bodyguard for rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. Upon his firing, West co-wrote the controversial Elvis: What Happened?, in which he exposed the singer's dangerous drug dependence in an attempt to save him; the book was published just two weeks before Presley's August 1977 drug-related death.
Alan Clayson is an English singer-songwriter, author and music journalist. He gained popularity in the late 1970s as leader of the band Clayson and the Argonauts. In addition to contributing to publications such as Record Collector, Mojo and Folk Roots, he subsequently established himself as a prolific writer of music biographies. Among his many books are Backbeat, which details the Beatles' early career in Germany, Ringo Starr: Straight Man or Joker?, and biographies of Jacques Brel, the Yardbirds, Serge Gainsbourg and Edgard Varèse. Clayson has also contributed to The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Independent and Rock 'n' Reel.
The 2005 FA Cup final was a football match played between Arsenal and Manchester United on 21 May 2005 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2004–05 FA Cup, the 124th season of English football's primary cup competition, the FA Cup. Arsenal became the first team to win the FA Cup via a penalty shoot-out, despite being outplayed throughout the game, after neither side managed to score in the initial 90 minutes or in 30 minutes of extra time. The shoot-out finished 5–4 to Arsenal, with Patrick Vieira scoring the winning penalty after Paul Scholes' shot was saved by Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.
Mario Balotelli Barwuah is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Süper Lig club Adana Demirspor.
Roy Hamilton was an American singer. By combining semi-classical technique with traditional black gospel feeling, he brought soul to Great American Songbook singing.
Conor O'Callaghan is an Irish novelist and poet.
The 2004–05 season was Manchester United's 13th season in the Premier League, and their 30th consecutive season in the top division of English football.
The "Battle of the Buffet", also known as "Pizzagate", is a name used by the British press to refer to a Premier League match played between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford, Manchester, on 24 October 2004. Arsenal dictated much of the early play and created several openings, but as the game progressed Manchester United threatened. The home team were awarded a penalty in the 73rd minute, when Wayne Rooney was deemed to have been fouled by Sol Campbell. Ruud van Nistelrooy converted the penalty kick; Rooney also scored late in the game, making the score 2–0. The result ended Arsenal's record-breaking 49-match unbeaten run. Many Arsenal fans were disgruntled, for they believed Rooney had dived and the penalty should not have been given.
The 2000 FA Charity Shield was the 78th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match organised by the Football Association, and contested by the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions. It was the final match played at the original Wembley Stadium in London and took place on 13 August 2000 between Chelsea, the winners of the 1999–2000 FA Cup, and Manchester United, who had won the 1999–2000 FA Premier League. Watched by a crowd of 65,148, Chelsea won the match 2–0.
The 1993 Football Association Charity Shield was the 71st FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions. It was held at Wembley Stadium on 7 August 1993. The match was played between Arsenal, who beat Sheffield Wednesday to win the 1993 FA Cup Final, and Manchester United, champions of the inaugural Premier League competition. Watched by a crowd of 66,519, Manchester United won the Shield 5–4 on penalties, after the match had finished at 1–1 after 90 minutes. This was the second edition to have penalties to decide the winners. The first being 1974 when Liverpool beat Leeds United on penalties.
Although Arsenal and Manchester United have frequently been in the same division in English football since 1919, the rivalry between the two clubs only became a fierce one in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the teams regularly competed against each other for the Premier League title and FA Cup. There was also an enmity between the managers, Arsenal's Arsène Wenger (1996–2018) and United's Sir Alex Ferguson (1986–2013), and club captains Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane, and their contests often involved on-field trouble – seven red cards were shown in matches from February 1997 to February 2005. The league fixture in September 2003, known as the "Battle of Old Trafford", was marred by a mêlée instigated by Arsenal players, who felt striker Ruud van Nistelrooy had cheated to get Vieira sent off. A season later, Manchester United ended Arsenal's unbeaten run in controversial circumstances, which led to more disorder, this time in the tunnel. Manchester United lead in trophies won with 67 honours compared to Arsenal's 48.
That part of the United Kingdom called Northern Ireland was created in 1922, with the partition of the island of Ireland. The majority of the population of Northern Ireland wanted to remain within the United Kingdom. Most of these were the Protestant descendants of settlers from Great Britain.
In the 2011–12 Premier League season, the first game between Manchester United and Manchester City took place at Old Trafford, Manchester, on 23 October 2011. The fixture was both teams' ninth game of the season. City won the match 6–1, their biggest ever win in the Manchester derby, and their biggest win at Old Trafford since they won 5–0 in 1955. This was the first time in the clubs' history that the first and second place faced off in the Manchester derby.
