Manchester United

On 5 February 1958, the Guardian's football writer HD 'Donny' Davies filed his report from Yugoslavia. "At Belgrade today in warm sunshine and on a grass pitch where the last remnants of melting snow produced the effect of an English lawn flecked with daisies, Red Star and Manchester United began a battle of wits and courage." He wrote of a team of extraordinary young talents, a side destined for years of success. 24 hours later, he, and seven of the players he had watched, were dead.

The tragedy in Munich, and the inspirational recovery under Sir Matt Busby, are just one part of Manchester United's extraordinary story - the story of how a team of 19th-century railway workers rose to become football's most famous club.

Based on original reports from the Guardian and Observer archives from the last 140 years, we revisit 20 of United's defining matches - from a brilliant first-hand account of the opening day at Old Trafford to reports of epic cup finals, Beckham's breakthrough and Cantona's kung-fu kick. This unique collection also asks some big questions: what are the lessons of the past - and what will come next for United?