Manchester United under the leadership of legendary manager Sir Matt Busby experienced their darkest hour at the Munich air disaster – but also one of their greatest highs in the 1968 European Cup triumph.

Our photographers captured events at the club as Sir Matt formed his Busby Babes and turned the club into a footballing powerhouse.

Our look back through the picture archives uncovered a collection of photographs from the Old Trafford outfit under Sir Matt.

But our earliest photograph is from an even earlier time – when United returned home to Manchester following their 1-0 victory over Bristol City in the 1909 FA Cup final.

Our collection also shows 41,000 fans sitting in roofless terraces at Old Trafford while watching United beat Bolton 3-0 on August 24, 1949. It was the team’s first game back at the ground after it was bombed during the Blitz. In another photograph, a young Sir Bobby Charlton lies injured and heavily bandaged in a hospital bed after the Munich air crash of 1958.

Busby successfully rebuilt United after the disaster and guided them to a 3-1 victory over Leicester City to win the FA Cup in 1963.

Among the photographs is a picture of United captain Noel Cantwell returning home with the trophy and the welcome the players received from adoring fans. The team were league champions in 1965 and again in 1967, but defeat on the final day of the following season saw rivals City snatch away the title.

Busby's biggest triumph came in 1968 when his team completed its transformation when United beat Portuguese champions Benfica after extra time.

Back up to present-day, with Manchester United closing in on a record 20th league title, there could be no better time to look back at the achievements of manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Our photographers have captured his crowning moments... the Champions League victories of 1999 and 2008.

But the celebrations from those great European nights seem a world away from from November 8, 1986, when United lost 2-0 against Oxford United in Ferguson’s first match as boss.

United had achieved only limited success in the 1970s when it seemed as though the glory days of Sir Matt Busby were gone for good. George Best left the club in the 1973/4 season having made more than 470 appearances.

Tommy Docherty brought home the FA Cup in 1977 and United went on to win the trophy in 1983 and again in 1985, when Norman Whiteside scored a sensational winner against Everton in extra-time.

But it was left to Sir Alex to bring league honours back to Old Trafford. He finally did it in 1993, after he also won the FA Cup in 1990 and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1991.

He won the Premier League title again in 1994 and in 1996, with the help of a new breed of young players nicknamed Fergie’s Fledglings.

They won that title despite a claim by TV pundit Alan Hansen that: “You’ll never win anything with kids.”

The team went on to beat Liverpool 1-0 in the 1996 FA Cup Final to secure a second Double in just three seasons.

A period of great success followed and it looks no sign of ending soon.

But Fergie’s most outstanding triumph by far has been achieving the Treble in 1999.

His joy can be seen in one of photographs, which shows him lifting the European Cup after beating Bayern Munich 2-1 in an astonishing Champions League final.