Why did Man Utd produce only two successful managers?

Mangnall, the manager who won Manchester United's first two league titles, is rarely mentioned among the club's greatest names today. Mangnall led United to the championship in the 1907-08 and 1910-11 seasons. By comparison, Sir Matt Busby won five league titles and Sir Alex Ferguson won 13.

Eighteen of United's 20 league titles are the work of Busby and Ferguson. Liverpool also won 20 titles, but those successes were shared among 10 different managers. This picture shows how dependent United became on those two men.

When Busby arrived in 1945, Old Trafford had been heavily damaged during the war and could not be used. The team played at Manchester City's ground, Maine Road. Busby dreamed of a club where young players could make the first team, the side would play with ambition, and it would compete with the best in Europe. His emphasis on the youth system took shape in the Busby Babes team.

In 1958, eight United players died in the air crash in Munich, along with others in the travelling party. Busby was seriously injured as well. The club recovered and, with George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton, returned to the top. In 1968, United beat Benfica 4-1 at Wembley to become the first English club to win the European Cup. That triumph came exactly ten years after the disaster.