Manchester United have been known to use a few nicknames in their time - ‘The Heathens’, ‘United’, ‘The Busby Babes’, the ‘Reds’.
But the nickname that seems to have stuck for United is ‘The Red Devils’. And, surprisingly, many individuals do not know how the Premier League side developed the quirky nickname.
United were firstly nicknamed ‘The Heathens’ in their formative years, when the club was established in 1878 and named ‘Newton Heath Football Club’.
However, when the club rebranded itself as Manchester United Football Club in 1902 and is more often than not simply referred to as ‘United’.
Although, when the famous Sir Matt Busby took charge of the club in 1945 a sudden injection of youth emerged. His trust in the youngsters led to the media dubbing United as ‘The Busby Babes’.
Busby himself is said to be responsible for the Red Devils nickname which began to emerge strongly in the 1960s, reportedly borrowing it from a rugby club in Salford which back then, was extremely successful.
It was a nickname which would not turn away from the ‘Busby Babes’ era but establish a different Manchester United period in its own right.
When the team toured around France, French journalists were quick to name the team ‘Les Diables Rouges' which in fact translated to ‘The Red Devils’.
The rest is history.
‘The Red Devils’ nickname may be one of the strangest nicknames in football history but it has most definitely helped to put the club on the world stage.
