Few professional sports club franchises around the world are as recognizable as Manchester United. Even those who follow soccer tend to know about them.
This isn’t exactly surprising, either. Soccer is the world’s sport, and Manchester United is everywhere. People are wearing their jerseys across the globe. You will find their game lines and championship odds all over the best betting sites. They are the third most valuable soccer franchise in the world. They house players who are also cultural icons and boast of some of the best signings in the transfer market. They have 13 Premier League titles to their name.
So, yeah, people know about Manchester United.
And yet, the funny thing about successful sports franchises is that it can be difficult to identify their top feats. After a while, they all sort of just blur together.
It’s nobody’s fault. Manchester United has so many highlights. Fans and analysts also spend most of their time comparing Manchester United to their opponents rather than their past selves.
This is just what our exercise aims to do: Look at all the high points in Manchester United’s existence and then rank the most successful seasons in franchise history according to how impressive each of them were.
1. 2006-07
Goals Scored: 80
Goals Allowed: 22
Points: 87
Result: Champions
Even when dealing with a rich history like that from Manchester United, there’s no beating the 2006-07 season.
This was the same year that Cristiano Ronaldo became super-duper megastar Cristiano Ronaldo. He scored 31 times over the course of the schedule en route to taking home the FIFA World Player of the Year award.
2. 2007-08
Goals Scored: 83
Goals Allowed: 27
Points: 89
Result Champions
Some might even call the 2007-08 campaign the absolute best in the history of Manchester United. This season was viewed as the height of the Cristiano Ronaldo-Wayne Rooney partnership before things started to get tense between the two, and it followed what was a breakout 2006-07 crusade in which Manchester United established itself as a superpower yet again.
Put another way: If 2006-07 was the genesis of Manchester United returning to its indomitable roots, then 2007-08 was the season that proved they weren’t going regress anytime soon.
3. 1999-00
Result: Champions
Goals Scored: 97
Goals Allowed: 45
Points: 91
Whoa buddy, could this Manchester United team score.
Led by Trinidad and Tobago’s Dwight Yorke and England’s Andy Cole, the 1999-00 squad tallied 97 goals, coming oh-so-very close to eclipsing the century mark. That number still looks ridiculous now, but at the time, it was even wilder. This marked the first-ever 90-goal season in the Premier League, further putting Manchester United on the map.
For good measure, the club finished this year on an 11-match winning streak, over which time they tallied three-plus goals in nine matches. To this day, there has never quite been another offense like this one, even if some do reasonably compare.
4. 1993-94
Result: Champions
Goals Scored: 80
Goals Allowed: 38
Points: 92
A handful of people will push to see the 1992-93 season included here. They’re not off base. That campaign ended a 26-year title drought. It thrust Manchester United into complete and total relevance, and they never looked back.
Still, there’s no other way to put it: The 1993-94 squad was superior to its predecessor. Eric Cantona (acquired midseason the year before) and Ryan Giggs played the best soccer of their careers, and the entire team at large essentially hit their stride. The success was no longer new to them. They played like a veteran squad, particularly on the defensive side of the pitch, and it showed.
Oh, and this was also the first time Manchester United proved able to repeat as a champion since the 1950s. Call us crazy, but that seems significant.
5. 1998-99
Result: Champions
Goals Scored: 80
Goals Against: 37
Points: 79
The 1998-99 season was a bizarre one for Manchester United. They still finished in first, but the 79 points represents the second-lowest total with which they’ve ever won a title. On paper, that team doesn’t always scream “elite.”
However!
Manchester United was beaten only three times all year. Seriously. This was also the rare occasion in which Manchester United took their championship status down to the final match of the season. That they were able to stave off Arsenal at the time showed character, making it one of the most memorable seasons this franchise has ever had.
