As a young fanzine writer in the early 1990s, one of my first interviews was with Manchester United club secretary Ken Merrett. He invited me to his office, which overlooked the tunnel behind the main stand at Old Trafford, and I took along a school friend because I wasn't aware that you couldn't bring a mate when you interviewed someone.

Mr. Merrett was a lifelong club man who replaced Les Olive, the secretary who'd been in charge since Walter Crickmer lost his life in the Munich air disaster. He was amused to have two schoolboys interviewing him but explained how the club's relations with UEFA were almost non-existent and only improved when UEFA saw media groups courting big clubs like United.

He also said that the club's relationship with Leeds United left much to be desired and pointed out aspects of the club that the fans didn't always appreciate or see, such as the £11,000 that paid for a disabled access ramp. Merrett was shocked at the price of a small concrete slope, but that ramp is still in use some 25 years later, though it'll likely be moved when United build above the Bobby Charlton stand to expand Old Trafford's capacity.

Back then, prior to its exponential growth, United was a family club and staff were recruited slowly. There was no in-house accountant until 1988, while young players, including David Beckham, Gary Neville and the rest of the Class of '92, were paid in cash. Karl Evans, who was sent to modernise things in the 2000s, described the ticket office arrangements: "Those were the days of cash in boxes on the floor. There were no real audit trails. It was all cash and cheques."

And if you want to know how the style of transfers has changed, consider that, in the summer of 1993, Evans was requested to go to a back entrance of Manchester Airport to meet a young Irish player, who United wanted to sign. His name was Roy Keane.

"I was told that I was needed for a driving mission," said Evans. "They needed an anonymous-looking car. My wife had an old Ford Orion. Roy flew into Manchester alone. We had to drive around the back of the airport and I had to flash my headlights twice when I saw him. He was let out of a back gate; it must have been arranged by the club. We were told that there was a lot of press there. They had wind that Roy was on a flight. My instruction was 'as soon as he's in the car, get out of here as quickly as possible.' I was directed to [Sir Alex Ferguson's] house near Wilmslow."

With 900 employees, the Man United of today is a far cry from years gone by. Getty

When Ferguson took over as United manager in 1986, the entire staff, including players, numbered 80. They would all pose on the pitch for a photo and everyone knew each other's names.

When I recently interviewed Richard Arnold, the club's managing director, he said that he tried to learn as many names as possible, but that the number of full-time staff had grown to 900, split over two sites at Old Trafford, as well as two training grounds, commercial offices in London and overseas.

There remain many long-time staff members to maintain the family feel, people like Sue on the Old Trafford reception, Kath at the Carrington training ground and Cliff Butler, who is at the club because he loves it and represents contrast to modern-day commercialism.

There were times in the 1970s and 80s when Butler, a lifelong fan from Manchester who has done numerous jobs and is now the club statistician, was the only person on the Old Trafford forecourt paying his respects on the anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster.

But change is continual. Director of communications Phil Townsend will move to UEFA at the end of the season to take up a similar role. He's been at Old Trafford for 14 years. Townsend kept a low profile but was very good at his job. He also understood the nuances of fan culture and that the club should have a presence at the funeral of a well-known supporter or at the unveiling of a blue plaque for someone who died 70 years ago. That presence was usually him.

As the club continues to grow in size, new positions are created. For example, United have been looking for a Director of Football Operations all season. Unlike at other clubs with similarly titled roles, the appointee will not be involved in recruitment or transfers, beyond paperwork. The role will be closer to that of a Club Secretary, with the DOFO responsible for overseas paperwork, logistics, travel and Academy Training Centre development.

Rebecca Britain, the new club secretary, recently started at United and, like previous incumbent John Alexander, who retired in September, she arrived from Tottenham Hotspur. United have taken a lot of staff from Spurs, and not only players such as Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov. Edward Freedman, who revolutionized the club's merchandising in the early 1990s and made it the envy of its rivals -- a pole position United still occupy -- also joined from Spurs.

Britain worked in a similar role at Spurs for the last seven years and, prior to that, was Alexander's assistant for a decade. Having started at West Ham in 1995, she was Tottenham's main contact with UEFA, another thing United value. Britain will also work with the league and governing body relations, dealing with registrations, rules and fines. A new secretary will do the same for the academy.

Fans pay little attention to the backroom staff and that's how the club wants it. To them, the public focus should be on the players and the manager. Jose Mourinho didn't even want the name of his assistants on the official website but appreciated that people had a right to know.

Mourinho is one of the faces of football's biggest clubs and among the few people with frequent access to him will be the aforementioned appointments, including the Director of Football Operations and communications boss.