Manchester United and UCLA: A Tale of Two Worlds

This article explores the connection between Manchester United, one of the world's most popular football clubs, and UCLA, a prestigious university with a rich athletic history. While seemingly disparate, these two institutions share a common thread of excellence and global recognition.

Manchester United: A Global Football Powerhouse

Manchester United's history is steeped in success and global recognition. The club has grown into the most successful club in English soccer history and arguably the most popular sports franchise of all time. In July, Forbes magazine valued United at $2.23 billion, making it the world’s richest sports franchise. And with nearly 300 million fans worldwide, according to a recent media research study, it’s the world’s most popular franchise as well.

Early History and the Munich Air Disaster

Like many parts of English history, the United-City rivalry dates to the Victorian Era, when a church rector replaced his parish’s cricket team with a soccer club, then challenged a nearby team formed two years earlier by a group of railway workers. And there was bad blood from the first match with the railway team, which would later become Man United, arriving at St. Mark’s calling themselves the Heathens. The nonbelievers won, 3-0, establishing a template that would go largely unchallenged for more than a century, with United growing into the most successful club in English soccer history and arguably the most popular sports franchise of all time while City frequently found itself praying for divine intervention.Three months after the Munich air disaster, a cobbled-together ‘Manchester United’ side consisting of emergency signings and players who had seen their team-mates die, somehow reached the 1958 FA Cup final. United’s first game after Munich had been against Sheffield Wednesday in the cup. So little was known about who would play that the line-up page was left blank in the programme. United won 3-0, carried on a wave of emotion. West Bromwich Albion were next in the sixth round. United drew away and won the replay 1-0 in front of a packed 60,000 crowd, in an era when Old Trafford seldom sold out. The semi-final was drawn 2-2 with Fulham, the replay won 5-3. This was a miracle. Bolton Wanderers, who finished 15th in the 22-team top flight that season (United came ninth), were their opponents in the final. Everyone outside the Lancashire industrial town of 128,000 located 12 miles north west of Manchester wanted United to win.

The Sir Alex Ferguson Era

United didn’t really begin developing into a worldwide brand until Sir Alex Ferguson’s appointment as manager in 1986. Under Ferguson, the team has won 24 major honors including 12 league titles, two UEFA Champions League crowns and a European Cup.

Patrice Evra: A Manchester United Legend

Patrice Latyr Evra (born 15 May 1981) is a former professional footballer who primarily played as a left-back. Evra served as captain for both Manchester United and the France national team. He was named in the PFA Team of the Year on three occasions, as well as the FIFPro World XI and the UEFA Team of the Year. Evra's performances for Monaco culminated in a move to English club Manchester United in January 2006, where he spent eight years and went on to win 14 trophies including five Premier League titles and a UEFA Champions League.

Evra initially had some problems adapting to the English game. He made his debut for the club on 14 January in a 3-1 away defeat to Manchester City in the Premier League, and he was substituted at half-time after failing to make an impact. After the conclusion of the match, Ferguson stated, "Maybe it was a bit of a gamble playing Evra," while the player himself admitted that "playing for Manchester United was something I was not prepared for". Despite the initial set-back, Evra started in the team's ensuing match against Liverpool, a 1-0 victory, and was praised for his performance by teammate Rio Ferdinand. On 26 February, Evra appeared as a substitute in United's 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic in the League Cup final.

Evra regularly alternated between the bench and the starting 11 to close out the campaign. In Evra's first full season as a Manchester United player, he struggled to consistently appear as a starter early on in the season as Ferguson preferred Evra's compatriot Mikaël Silvestre. After appearing as an unused substitute in United's first two Champions League matches, on 17 October 2006, Evra made his European debut for the club in its 3-0 group stage win over Copenhagen. On 18 November, he provided the assist for the game-winning goal, scored by Wayne Rooney, in the team's 2-1 win over Sheffield United. Eight days later, Evra scored his first goal for the club in a 3-0 league win over Everton, also contributing an assist. By December, Evra began featuring as a regular in the starting 11.

Evra began the 2007-08 season as the first-choice left-back. He began the campaign appearing in United's 3-0 penalty shoot-out win over rivals Chelsea in the Community Shield. In competitive matches, Evra appeared in the club's first 12 matches. He missed his first match of the season against Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League after suffering a calf injury during warm-ups. Evra returned to the team a few days later for the team's league match against Arsenal. The rest paid off as he assisted Cristiano Ronaldo's goal in the 82nd minute to give United a 2-1 lead.

Prior to the start of the 2008-09 season, on 18 July 2008, Evra was charged with four separate counts of improper conduct by the FA. The charges were related to an incident that occurred during the 2007-08 season when Evra had an altercation with a Chelsea groundsman during a warm-down following a match on 26 April. The defender denied the charges and was supported by several members of the club's staff, who commented that the player was racially abused by the groundsman prior to the confrontation. Evra remained free to play for United up to the date of the hearing despite the charges being made in July 2008.

Despite the suspension, Evra still featured with Manchester United in December as the club participated in the FIFA Club World Cup. He appeared in both matches the team contested as United came out as champions after defeating Ecuadorian club LDU Quito in the final. Evra temporarily returned to the team domestically for its home match against Chelsea on 11 January 2009, assisting the second goal in a 3-0 victory. He was later forced to leave the match due to a foot injury, which was later discovered to be serious. Evra missed a month and returned to the line-up on 15 February in a 3-0 win over Fulham. Evra subsequently appeared in every remaining competitive match for United, excluding an April league match against Sunderland, as the club cruised to its third consecutive Premier League title, won the League Cup, and reached the Champions League Final after defeating league rivals Arsenal 4-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals. Following the second leg against Arsenal, Evra was asked his opinion of the team's 3-1 second leg victory, and declared, "It was 11 men against 11 babies.

Read also: Programs at UNH Manchester

For the first time in his career, Evra appeared in all 38 league matches in the 2009-10 season. The campaign initially began badly for him after he delivered a soft penalty shot, described by some in the media as "awful", in the team's penalty shoot-out defeat to Chelsea in the Community Shield. Due to injuries to Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs, he captained the team in several matches during the season wearing th…

UCLA: A Legacy of Athletic and Academic Excellence

UCLA Athletics has a storied history of winning titles, producing Hall of Famers and fostering young athletes who go on to become bigger than their respective sports. For the last 102 years, champions have called Westwood home.

Football Greats: A Mount Rushmore of Bruins

On the gridiron, UCLA football has had its fair share of iconic and important figures. Here are the four who top the list, and will have their faces up on All Bruins' metaphorical Mount Rushmore for the team.

Gary Beban

The only Bruin to ever win the Heisman Trophy, Beban may not stand out on the stat sheets or with his athleticism. Instead, Beban just went out on the field and won. The quarterback went 24-5-2 across his three seasons with UCLA, and he was part of the AAWU all-conference team all three years. As a mid-century dual-threat, Beban scored 58 total touchdowns in 31 career games, 35 of which came on the ground.

Johnathan Ogden

Depending on who you ask, Ogden was one of the most physically dominant offensive linemen in football history, let alone UCLA history. Standing at a monstrous 6-foot-9, 345 pounds, Ogden hardly ever met a player who came anywhere near his physical equal. He started on the blind side for four straight seasons, and in the 23 games of his final two campaigns, he allowed just two sacks.

Kenny Easley

Like Ogden, Easley is in the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame, the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame with his retired No. 5 jersey hanging high above the Rose Bowl. And while he got a few more collegiate wins under his belt, Easley didn't end his UCLA career with very many team accolades or bowl victories either - a tie in the 1978 Fiesta Bowl is the best he ever got. But just how Ogden was one of the most dominant offensive linemen of all time, there weren't many safeties who could hit as consistently hard as Easley all while being a dynamic return man and all-time ball hawk.

Terry Donahue

UCLA football wouldn't be anywhere near what it is today without Donahue. His 20 years at the helm are the most of any Bruin coach, he is one of two UCLA coaches with a winning record against USC - holding the most wins at 11 - and his teams account for three of the program's five Rose Bowl wins, in addition to one of its two Cotton Bowl victories and lone Fiesta Bowl.

Other Notable Figures in UCLA Football History

Brett Hundley: Easily the most electrifying player UCLA had throughout the 2010s, Hundley broke records and positioned himself as a Heisman candidate multiple times.
DeShaun Foster: Predating dominant runners Maurice Jones-Drew, Jonathan Franklin and Joshua Kelley, Foster was a do-it-all weapon for UCLA at the turn of the century.
Cade McNown: Tasked with guiding the Bruins in their transition from Donahue to Bob Toledo, McNown went from a game manager to a bona fide star as an upperclassman.
Eric Kendricks: Kendricks was a tackle machine, with his 481 tackles standing as the most in school history.
Troy Aikman: In the short time he was at UCLA after transferring from Oklahoma, Aikman made his mark in a big way.

UCLA Alumni Association: Fostering a Sense of Community

In 1955, Harry Longway ’49 succeeded Jackson as executive secretary, focusing on new alumni programs to strengthen collegial bonds and support UCLA. Longway observed that Charter Day had been celebrated in honor of UC’s birthday for so long that “we had almost forgotten that UCLA itself has an important founding date - May 23, 1919.” Yearly Anniversary Day celebrations were launched in May 1962 and became the official occasion for the presentation of Alumni Association honors* including Distinguished Teaching awards. The 1962 ceremonies honored Jackie Robinson ’42, the all-time sports great, with the Edward A. Awards were later introduced for Community Service in 1967 and Public Service in 1982, and the ceremonies also honored outstanding seniors and graduate students.

By the mid-1950s, Association membership benefits* had expanded to include discounts on football season tickets, library privileges, discounts for student theater productions, advance notice of Royce Hall concert series and class reunions. Bruin clubs now encircled the globe, with a network of some 60 organizations throughout California, the United States and as far away as Tokyo, Paris, London and Mexico City. Scholarship volunteers had augmented their efforts with a new program to recruit outstanding high school seniors to attend UCLA. A civic and legislative program acknowledged the growing importance of governmental relations* activities to the University, and alumni now became more actively involved in student interests, with representation on the ASUCLA Board of Control* and by offering assistance to senior classes in planning events. Well-established programs, such as Homecoming weekend continued to draw thousands.

The Alumni Association assists with UCLA’s Government and Community Relations, creating support for UCLA and the University of California among state, federal and local elected officials. Alumni representatives continue to help guide campus boards.

UCLA's Fundraising Success

As early as 1950, the UCLA Varsity Club had collected thousands of signatures on a petition for urgent consideration of a sports pavilion on the Westwood campus. Finally, in 1959, the Progress Fund launched UCLA’s first major fundraising campaign* to underwrite the dream.

UCLA learned this lesson fast. The University surpassed its goal of raising $2.2 million, and, in March 2002, Chancellor Carnesale announced that Campaign UCLA would be extended until 2005. The new aim, $2.4 billion dollars, was the largest fundraising goal ever set by a public university.

Real Madrid and UCLA: A Preseason Connection

For the fifth consecutive year, the Spanish squad will hold training sessions on UCLA’s North Athletic Field. "We are delighted to welcome Real Madrid to UCLA for the fifth year in a row,” said Richard Mylin, associate director of facility and event operations for UCLA Recreation.

Manchester vs. Bolton: A Rivalry in the North West

Let’s go back now to February 25, 1996.United are away at Bolton’s old Burnden Park ground, complete with its pie shop opposite. We (the “we” being 200 travelling United fans) are in and around a pub in Farnworth, the area where that ambushed parade bus in 1958 came from. Everyone is buzzing. It’s Bolton away, and the appetite for trouble is high. The plan is to walk from here to Burnden Park. Several of the main United hooligans invite me to walk with them, so I can get some insight into their world. We march in a large mob that stretches for a hundred metres. The hatred is evident as soon as we came into contact, with old men in replica shirts wanting to fight. It doesn’t stop. The atmosphere is vile. Police intervene to make sure tempers don’t boil over. It’s pretty hairy and definitely not an environment to be wearing red. United fans who were not hooligans felt frightened.

Inside the ground, the capacity has been cut to just 22,000 - in part because half the large terrace behind one goal has been sold off to a supermarket to save the club financially.

Bolton did end up going down but they came straight back up and moved to their new stadium. After going straight back down in 1998, they came up in 2001 and stayed in the Premier League for 11 years finishing as high as sixth in 2004-05.

The Kevins of Davies and Nolan were stars, along with Gary Speed, Ivan Campo, Nicolas Anelka, Gary Cahill and El Hadji Diouf, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Fernando Hierro, Youri Djorkaeff and Jay-Jay Okocha.

Bolton boast four successive top-eight finishes in the Premier League. They also enjoyed fine cup moments in the 1990s and 2000s, twice reaching the League Cup final and twice the FA Cup semi-finals.

Bolton built a reputation for wily recruitment, using a mixture of ageing stars signed for low fees and given big wages leavened with youthful prospects.

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