Manchester United F.C. Nickname – Red Devils

When the football club was formed in 1878, it was called Newton Heath and it’s original nickname was the Heatens. This is because of the city area where the club was formed, but Heaten is also a term for someone who is not a believer and Manchester United was the first club who was playing matches on Sundays.

First two decades of the club were full of changes – the name of the football club was changed from Newton Heath to Manchester United in 1902 and in 1910 the team moved to famous Old Trafford stadium where the club plays up to date.

The first color of the teams equipment was green and yellow, but is was changed to red and Manchester Utd became known as The Reds among the fans.

The nickname was in use until Matt Busby took over as a manager of Manchester United from 1945 to 1969. He was the man who made biggest improvements to the team and during his period Manchester United’s players were known as The Busby Babes.

In the 1930s the French media called the rugby team from Salford “Les Diables Rouges” which means The Red Devils. Matt Butsby liked the nickname a lot and he accepted the nick as his own in the 1960s. Since then, Red Devils is the name that appears on the stadium for match programs and Manchester United fans all over the world are known by this name.

Although Manchester United jersey’s are red, they never can or should be called the Reds, because it is the nickname of their biggest rival Liverpool.