Control (2007 film)
Control is a 2007 British biographical film about the life of Ian Curtis, singer of the late-1970s English post-punk band Joy Division. It is the first feature film directed by Anton Corbijn, who had worked with Joy Division as a photographer; the screenplay by Matt Greenhalgh was based on the biography Touching from a Distance by Curtis's widow Deborah, who served as a co-producer on the film. Tony Wilson, who released Joy Division's records through his Factory Records label served as a co-producer. Curtis' bandmates Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris provided incidental music for the soundtrack via their post-Joy Division incarnation New Order. Control was filmed on location in Nottingham and Macclesfield, including areas where Curtis lived, was shot in colour and printed to black-and-white, its title comes from the Joy Division song "She's Lost Control", the fact that much of the plot deals with the notion that Curtis tried to remain in control of his own life, yet had no control over his epilepsy and pharmaceutical side effects.
Sam Riley and Samantha Morton star as Ian and Deborah Curtis, the film portrays the events of the couple's lives from 1973 to 1980, focusing on their marriage, the formation and career of Joy Division, Ian's struggle with epilepsy, his extramarital affair with Belgian journalist Annik Honoré, culminating in his May 1980 suicide. Alexandra Maria Lara plays Honoré, while James Anthony Pearson, Joe Anderson, Harry Treadaway play Sumner and Morris, respectively; the film features Toby Kebbell as band manager Rob Gretton and Craig Parkinson as Tony Wilson. Control premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2007 where it won several awards including the Director's Fortnight, the CICAE Art & Essai prize for best film, the Regards Jeunes Prize for best first/second directed feature film, the Europa Cinemas Label prize for best European film in the sidebar, it went on to win five British Independent Film Awards including Best Film, Best Director for Corbijn, Most Promising Newcomer for Riley, Best Supporting Actor for Kebbell.
It was named Best Film at the 2007 Evening Standard British Film Awards, Greenhalgh was given the Carl Foreman award for outstanding achievement in his first feature film at the 61st British Academy Film Awards. Ian Curtis and Debbie Woodruff marry in 1975 in their home town of Macclesfield at ages 19 and 18, respectively. Ian retreats from domestic life, preferring to write poetry in solitude. On June 4, 1976 they attend a Sex Pistols concert with Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Terry Mason, who are starting a band. Mesmerized by the concert, Ian volunteers to be their singer, they name themselves Warsaw, Terry moves into a managerial role with the addition of drummer Stephen Morris. The band debuts 19 May 1977 and soon rename themselves Joy Division. Ian and Debbie finance An Ideal for Living. During his job as an employment agent, Ian witnesses a seizure suffered by Corinne Lewis. Unsatisfied with the brief mention Joy Division receives from television host Tony Wilson, Ian demands that he put the band on his programme.
In April 1978 Joy Division plays a battle of bands, impressing Tony and Rob Gretton, who becomes their new manager. They perform "Transmission" on Tony's sign to his Factory Records label. In December 1978 Ian suffers a seizure on the way back from the band's first London gig. Learning that Corinne Lewis has died of a seizure, he pens "She's Lost Control" about her, he begins to neglect Debbie, who gives birth to their daughter Natalie in April 1979. Ian quits his job to go on tour, leaving Debbie to care for the baby. Ian admits to Belgian journalist Annik Honoré that he is miserable at home and considers his marriage a mistake; the two begin having an affair during Joy Division's January 1980 European tour. On returning home, Ian tells Debbie. During the rehearsing of "Love Will Tear Us Apart", Rob informs the band that they will be departing 19 May for a tour of the United States. Debbie confronts him, he promises that the affair is over, but continues to see Annik during the recording of Closer in Islington.
Ian suffers a seizure mid-performance and is comforted by Annik, who admits she is falling in love with him. He attempts suicide by overdosing on phenobarbital but doctors save his life, he continues to perform, but is exhausted by the strain and overwhelmed by the audience's expectations. At a performance at the Derby Hall the stress proves too much and he is unable to go onstage; the audience riots when Alan Hempstall of Crispy Ambulance steps in to cover for Ian, the gig is ruined. Ian tells Tony that it is his own fault; when Debbie learns that Ian is still seeing Annik, she demands a divorce. Bernard attempts to use hypnotherapy on Ian, who goes to stay with his parents, he writes to Annik admitting his fear that his epilepsy will kill him, confesses that he loves her. On 17 May 1980, two nights before Joy Division is due to depart for America, Ian returns home and begs Debbie not to divorce him; when she refuses, he angrily orders her out of the house. After drinking alone and writing Debbie a letter, he has another seizure.
Regaining consciousness the following morning, he hangs himself from the Sheila Maid in the kitchen. Debbie discovers his body and staggers into the street; the news of Ian's death leaves the remaining Joy Division members stunned, while Tony consoles Annik. Ian's body is cremated. Sam Riley as Ian Curtis, the main figure in the film and the vocalist of Joy Divisio
ITV (TV network)
ITV is a British free-to-air television network with its headquarters in London, it was launched in 1955 as Independent Television under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to BBC Television, established in 1932. ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, its legal name has been Channel 3, to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time, namely BBC 1, BBC 2 and Channel 4. In part, the number 3 was assigned because television sets would be tuned so that the regional ITV station would be on the third button, with the other stations being allocated to the number within their name. ITV is a network of television channels that operate regional television services as well as sharing programmes between each other to be displayed on the entire network. In recent years, several of these companies have merged, so the fifteen franchises are in the hands of two companies; the ITV network is to be distinguished from ITV plc, the company that resulted from the merger of Granada plc and Carlton Communications in 2004 and which holds the Channel 3 broadcasting licences in England, southern Scotland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and Northern Ireland.
With the exception of Northern Ireland, the ITV brand is the brand used by ITV plc for the Channel 3 service in these areas. In Northern Ireland, ITV plc uses the brand name UTV. STV Group plc uses the STV brand for its two franchises of northern Scotland; the origins of ITV lie in the passing of the Television Act 1954, designed to break the monopoly on television held by the BBC Television Service. The act created the Independent Television Authority to regulate the industry and to award franchises; the first six franchises were awarded in 1954 for London, the Midlands and the North of England, with separate franchises for Weekdays and Weekends. The first ITV network to launch was London's Associated-Rediffusion on 22 September 1955, with the Midlands and North services launching in February 1956 and May 1956 respectively. Following these launches, the ITA awarded more franchises until the whole country was covered by fourteen regional stations, all launched by 1962; the network has been modified several times through franchise reviews that have taken place in 1963, 1967, 1974, 1980 and 1991, during which broadcast regions have changed and service operators have been replaced.
Only one service operator has been declared bankrupt, WWN in 1963, with all other operators leaving the network as a result of a franchise review. Separate weekend franchises were removed in 1968 and over the years more services were added; the Broadcasting Act 1990 changed the nature of ITV. This criticised part of the review saw four operators replaced, the operators facing different annual payments to the Treasury: Central Television, for example, paid only £2000—despite holding a lucrative and large region—because it was unopposed, while Yorkshire Television paid £37.7 million for a region of the same size and status, owing to heavy competition. Following the 1993 changes, ITV as a network began to consolidate with several companies doing so to save money by ceasing the duplication of services present when they were all separate companies. By 2004, ITV was owned by five companies, of which two and Granada had become major players by owning between them all the franchises in England, the Scottish borders and the Isle of Man.
That same year, the two merged to form ITV plc with the only subsequent acquisitions being the takeover of Channel Television, the Channel Islands franchise, in 2011. and UTV, the franchise for Northern Ireland, in 2015. The ITV network is not owned or operated by one company, but by a number of licensees, which provide regional services while broadcasting programmes across the network. Since 2016, the fifteen licences are held by two companies, with the majority held by ITV Broadcasting Limited, part of ITV plc; the network is regulated by the media regulator Ofcom, responsible for awarding the broadcast licences. The last major review of the Channel 3 franchises was in 1991, with all operators' licences having been renewed between 1999 and 2002 and again from 2014 without a further contest. While this has been the longest period that the ITV Network has gone without a major review of its licence holders, Ofcom announced that it would split the Wales and West licence from 1 January 2014, creating a national licence for Wales and joining the newly separated West region to Westcountry Television, to form a new licence for the enlarged South West of England region.
All companies holding a licence were part of the non-profit body ITV Network Limited, which commissioned and scheduled network programming, with compliance handled by ITV plc and Channel Television. However, due to amalgamation of several of these companies since the creation of ITV Network Limited, it has been replaced by an affiliation system. Approved by Ofcom, this results in ITV plc commissioning and funding the network schedule, with STV and UTV paying a fee to broadcast it. All licensees have the right to opt out of network programming (except fo
Michael Winterbottom
Not to be confused with the classical scholar Michael Winterbottom. Michael Winterbottom is an English filmmaker, he began his career working in British television before moving into features. Three of his films—Welcome to Sarajevo, Wonderland and 24 Hour Party People—have competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Winterbottom works with the same actors. Winterbottom was born in Lancashire, he went to Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School and studied English at Balliol College, Oxford before going to film school at Bristol University, where his contemporaries included Marc Evans. Winterbottom's television directing career began with a documentary about Ingmar Bergman and an episode of the children's series Dramarama in 1989, he followed this with the television film Forget About Me in 1990, starring Ewen Bremner, which followed two British soldiers who become involved in a love triangle with a young Hungarian hitch-hiker on their way to Budapest for a Simple Minds concert. In 1991 he directed episodes of various British TV shows, including the 4-part children's series Time Riders and an episode of Boon.
In 1992 he directed the television film Under the Sun about a young British woman traveling in Greece, starring Kate Hardie. In 1993 he directed an episode of the Inspector Alleyn Mysteries, he next directed the 1994 mini-series Family, written by Roddy Doyle. Each of four episodes focused on one member of a working-class Dublin family, it was this series that first brought Winterbottom to the attention of filmgoers, when it was edited down into a feature and shown at festivals. His final early television project was a 1995 episode of the documentary series Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood, focusing on Scandinavian silent cinema. Butterfly KissWinterbottom's 1995 cinematic debut established his intense visual sense, naturalistic style and compelling use of pop songs to reinforce narrative; the story of a mentally unbalanced lesbian serial killer and her submissive lover/accomplice falling in love as they slaughter their way across the motorways of Northern England. It found only a limited release.
Go NowThat same year, he reunited with Jimmy McGovern for the BBC television film Go Now, the story of a young man who falls ill with multiple sclerosis just as he meets the love of his life. Focusing on the turmoil this causes the couple, the film was given a theatrical release in many countries, including the United States. JudeIn 1996 Winterbottom adapted his favourite novel, Thomas Hardy's bleak classic Jude the Obscure, the tale of forbidden love between two cousins which had so scandalized British society on its release in 1895 that Hardy gave up novel-writing, it was not Winterbottom's first time approaching the work, having filmed the pig slaughter sequence at film school. Starring Christopher Eccleston and Kate Winslet, Jude brought Winterbottom wider recognition, his first screening at Cannes and numerous Hollywood offers, all of which he turned down. Welcome to SarajevoWelcome to Sarajevo was filmed on location in the titular city, mere months after the Siege of Sarajevo had ended, adding to its sense of authenticity and allowing frequent inter-cutting of actual news footage from the combat.
The film is based on the true story of a British reporter, Michael Nicholson, who spirited a young orphan girl out of the war zone to safety in Britain. I Want YouWinterbottom's next two films both had distribution difficulties and were not seen. I Want. Starring Rachel Weisz and Alessandro Nivola, it was shot in bold primary colors by the Polish cinematographer Slawomir Idziak and was inspired by the Elvis Costello song of the same name. Idziak won an Honourable Mention award at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival for his work on the film. With or Without YouWith or Without You, starring Christopher Eccleston, is a light Belfast-set sex comedy about a couple who are trying to conceive, only for each to have past loves re-enter their lives. Wonderland1999's Wonderland marked a decided shift in style for Winterbottom, with its loose, handheld photography and naturalistic improvised dialogue which drew comparisons to Robert Altman. Featuring Gina McKee, Shirley Henderson, John Simm, Ian Hart and Stuart Townsend, it is the story of three sisters and their extended family over the Guy Fawkes Day weekend in London.
The disparate elements are tied together by an orchestral score by minimalist composer Michael Nyman, who would become a frequent collaborator with Winterbottom. The ClaimWinterbottom followed that project up with his biggest budgeted film, The Claim, an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge set in 1860s California. Shot with a budget of $20 million in the wilds of Canada, it was not a financial success and proved an ordeal to make, with Winterbottom himself getting frostbite; the production had been ready to shoot in Spain, with sets built, when financing fell through. Attempts were made to cast Madonna, in a role played by Milla Jovovich and many of the production details and difficulties were explained to the public on an unusually frank official website. 24 Hour Party People24 Hour Party People documents the anarchic and sex-fueled rise and fall of the influential label Factory Records and the music scene in Manchester from the late
Cheshire
Cheshire is a county in North West England, bordering Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east and Shropshire to the south and Flintshire and Wrexham county borough to the west. Cheshire's county town is the City of Chester. Other major towns include Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Northwich, Runcorn and Winsford The county covers 905 square miles and has a population of around 1 million, it is rural, with a number of small towns and villages supporting the agricultural and other industries which produce Cheshire cheese, salt and silk. Cheshire's name was derived from an early name for Chester, was first recorded as Legeceasterscir in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, meaning "the shire of the city of legions". Although the name first appears in 980, it is thought that the county was created by Edward the Elder around 920. In the Domesday Book, Chester was recorded as having the name Cestrescir, derived from the name for Chester at the time. A series of changes that occurred as English itself changed, together with some simplifications and elision, resulted in the name Cheshire, as it occurs today.
Because of the close links with the land bordering Cheshire to the west, which became modern Wales, there is a history of interaction between Cheshire and North Wales. The Domesday Book records Cheshire as having two complete Hundreds that became the principal part of Flintshire. Additionally, another large portion of the Duddestan Hundred became known as Maelor Saesneg when it was transferred to North Wales. For this and other reasons, the Welsh language name for Cheshire is sometimes used. After the Norman conquest of 1066 by William I, dissent and resistance continued for many years after the invasion. In 1069 local resistance in Cheshire was put down using draconian measures as part of the Harrying of the North; the ferocity of the campaign against the English populace was enough to end all future resistance. Examples were made of major landowners such as Earl Edwin of Mercia, their properties confiscated and redistributed amongst Norman barons. William I made Cheshire a county palatine and gave Gerbod the Fleming the new title of Earl of Chester.
When Gerbod returned to Normandy in about 1070, the king used his absence to declare the earldom forfeit and gave the title to Hugh d'Avranches. Because of Cheshire's strategic location on Welsh Marches, the Earl had complete autonomous powers to rule on behalf of the king in the county palatine; the earldom was sufficiently independent from the kingdom of England that the 13th-century Magna Carta did not apply to the shire of Chester, so the earl wrote up his own Chester Charter at the petition of his barons. Cheshire in the Domesday Book is recorded as a much larger county, it included two hundreds and Exestan, that became part of North Wales. At the time of the Domesday Book, it included as part of Duddestan Hundred the area of land known as English Maelor in Wales; the area between the Mersey and Ribble formed part of the returns for Cheshire. Although this has been interpreted to mean that at that time south Lancashire was part of Cheshire, more exhaustive research indicates that the boundary between Cheshire and what was to become Lancashire remained the River Mersey.
With minor variations in spelling across sources, the complete list of hundreds of Cheshire at this time are: Atiscross, Chester, Exestan, Middlewich, Roelau, Tunendune and Wilaveston. Feudal baronies or baronies by tenure were granted by the Earl as forms of feudal land tenure within the palatinate in a similar way to which the king granted English feudal baronies within England proper. An example is the barony of Halton. One of Hugh d'Avranche's barons has been identified as Robert Nicholls, Baron of Halton and Montebourg. In 1182 the land north of the Mersey became administered as part of the new county of Lancashire, thus resolving any uncertainty about the county in which the land "Inter Ripam et Mersam" was. Over the years, the ten hundreds consolidated and changed names to leave just seven—Broxton, Eddisbury, Nantwich and Wirral. In 1397 the county had lands in the march of Wales added to its territory, was promoted to the rank of principality; this was because of the support the men of the county had given to King Richard II, in particular by his standing armed force of about 500 men called the "Cheshire Guard".
As a result, the King's title was changed to "King of England and France, Lord of Ireland, Prince of Chester". No other English county has been honoured in this way, although it lost the distinction on Richard's fall in 1399. Through the Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect on 1 April 1974, some areas in the north became part of the metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside. Stockport, Hyde and Stalybridge in the north-east became part of Greater Manchester. Much of the Wirral Peninsula in the north-west, including the county boroughs of Birkenhead and Wallasey, joined Merseyside as the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. At the same time the Tintwistle Rural District was transferred to Derbyshire; the area of south Lancashire not included within either the Merseyside or Greater Manchester counties, including Widnes and the county b
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge, its common name comes from the name of its Jesus Chapel. Jesus College was established between 1496 and 1516 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Mary and St Radegund by John Alcock Bishop of Ely; the cockerel is the symbol of Jesus College, after the surname of its founder. Three members of Jesus College have received a Nobel Prize. Two fellows of the college have been appointed to the International Court of Justice. Notable alumni include Thomas Cranmer, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Reid, Lord Toulson, Sir Rupert Jackson, Sir David Hare, Sir Roger Scruton, Nick Hornby. Jesus College has assets of £243m making it Cambridge’s third-wealthiest college; the college is known for its expansive grounds which include its sporting fields and for its close proximity to its boathouse.
Ian White, current van Eck Professor of Engineering in the university, has been master of Jesus College since 2011. When founded in 1496, the College consisted of buildings taken over from the Nunnery of St Mary and St Radegund, founded at the beginning of the 12th century; the Benedictine Convent, upon dissolution, included the cloister attached to it. This set of buildings remains the core of the college to this day and this accounts for its distinctly monastic architectural style, which sets it apart from other Cambridge colleges. A library was soon added, the chapel was modified and reduced in scale by Alcock. At its foundation, the college had six fellows and six scholars. Jesus College admits undergraduate and graduates students to all subjects at the university though accepts a larger number of students for engineering, law, natural sciences, economics, history and human, social and political sciences; the college offers a wide range of scholarships. The college performs well in the informal Tompkins Table, which ranks Cambridge colleges by undergraduate results.
Along with students from Trinity, King's, Christ's and St John's, students of the college have been members of the Cambridge Apostles. The main entrance to Jesus College is a walled passage known as the "Chimney"; the term is derived the Middle French word chemin, for "path" or "way". The Chimney leads directly to the Porter's Lodge and into First Court. All the courts at the college, with the exception of the cloister, are open on at least one side; the Quincentenary Library is open 24 hours a day. The library was designed by Eldred Evans and David Shalev in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the college in 1996. Completion of the library was shortly followed by a new accommodation building in 2000, now known as Library Court; the Quincentenary Library has a large law collection, housed in a law library on the ground floor. The Old Library was in regular use until 1912, it still is available to private researchers upon appointment. The Old Library includes the Malthus Collection, being the family collection of alumnus Thomas Malthus.
Jesus College has large sporting grounds all on-site. These include football, cricket, squash and hockey pitches; the Jesus College Boat House is only 400 yards away, across Midsummer Common. The college hosts exhibitions of sculpture by contemporary artists, it has hosted work by Sir Antony Gormley, Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, Barry Flanagan. The college grounds include a nature trail, inspired by poetry composed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge during his time as a student. Jesus College is one of the few colleges to allow anyone to walk on the lawns of its courts, with the exception of First Court, Cloister Court and those that are burial sites for deceased nuns from the original nunnery. In common with other Cambridge colleges, this privilege is only extended during Easter term; the College Chapel was founded in 1157 and took until 1245 to complete, is believed to be the oldest university building in Cambridge still in use. It was the Benedictine Convent of St Mary and St Radegund, dissolved by Bishop John Alcock.
The original structure of the chapel was cruciform in shape and the nave had both north and south aisles. A high, pitched roof was surmounted by a steeple; the chapel was used as the parish church of St Radegund. Twice the chapel was ravaged by fire, in 1313 and 1376; when the College took over the precincts during the 15th century, the parish was renamed after the College as Jesus parish, with the churchyard still being used for burials. This, was short lived, as by the middle of the 16th century Jesus parish was absorbed into that of All Saints. Significant alterations were carried out to the church under Alcock, transforming the cathedral-sized church, the largest in Cambridge into a College chapel for a small group of scholars. A large part of the original nave was replaced by College rooms, subsequently part of the Master's Lodge; the misericords were created by the famous English architect Augustus Pugin between 1849 and 1853. Pugin used fragments of the misericords dating from 1500, preserved in the Master's Lodge as templates.
Repairs were undertaken by George Fr
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Nicknamed "the Red Devils", the club was founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to its current stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910. Manchester United have won more trophies than any other club in English football, with a record 20 League titles, 12 FA Cups, 5 League Cups and a record 21 FA Community Shields. United have won three UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA Europa League, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. In 1998–99, the club became the first in the history of English football to achieve the continental European treble. By winning the UEFA Europa League in 2016–17, they became one of five clubs to have won all three main UEFA club competitions; the 1958 Munich air disaster claimed the lives of eight players.
In 1968, under the management of Matt Busby, Manchester United became the first English football club to win the European Cup. Alex Ferguson won 38 trophies as manager, including 13 Premier League titles, 5 FA Cups and 2 UEFA Champions Leagues, between 1986 and 2013, when he announced his retirement. Manchester United was the highest-earning football club in the world for 2016–17, with an annual revenue of €676.3 million, the world's most valuable football club in 2018, valued at £3.1 billion. As of June 2015, it is the world's most valuable football brand, estimated to be worth $1.2 billion. After being floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1991, the club was purchased by Malcolm Glazer in May 2005 in a deal valuing the club at £800 million, after which the company was taken private again, before going public once more in August 2012, when they made an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. Manchester United is one of the most supported football clubs in the world, has rivalries with Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds United.
Manchester United was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath. The team played games against other departments and railway companies, but on 20 November 1880, they competed in their first recorded match. By 1888, the club had become a founding member of a regional football league. Following the league's dissolution after only one season, Newton Heath joined the newly formed Football Alliance, which ran for three seasons before being merged with the Football League; this resulted in the club starting the 1892–93 season in the First Division, by which time it had become independent of the railway company and dropped the "LYR" from its name. After two seasons, the club was relegated to the Second Division. In January 1902, with debts of £2,670 – equivalent to £280,000 in 2019 – the club was served with a winding-up order. Captain Harry Stafford found four local businessmen, including John Henry Davies, each willing to invest £500 in return for a direct interest in running the club and who subsequently changed the name.
Under Ernest Mangnall, who assumed managerial duties in 1903, the team finished as Second Division runners-up in 1906 and secured promotion to the First Division, which they won in 1908 – the club's first league title. The following season began with victory in the first Charity Shield and ended with the club's first FA Cup title. Manchester United won the First Division for the second time in 1911, but at the end of the following season, Mangnall left the club to join Manchester City. In 1922, three years after the resumption of football following the First World War, the club was relegated to the Second Division, where it remained until regaining promotion in 1925. Relegated again in 1931, Manchester United became a yo-yo club, achieving its all-time lowest position of 20th place in the Second Division in 1934. Following the death of principal benefactor John Henry Davies in October 1927, the club's finances deteriorated to the extent that Manchester United would have gone bankrupt had it not been for James W. Gibson, who, in December 1931, invested £2,000 and assumed control of the club.
In the 1938–39 season, the last year of football before the Second World War, the club finished 14th in the First Division. In October 1945, the impending resumption of football led to the managerial appointment of Matt Busby, who demanded an unprecedented level of control over team selection, player transfers and training sessions. Busby led the team to second-place league finishes in 1947, 1948 and 1949, to FA Cup victory in 1948. In 1952, the club won its first league title for 41 years, they won back-to-back league titles in 1956 and 1957. In 1957, Manchester United became the first English team to compete in the European Cup, despite objections from The Football League, who had denied Chelsea the same opportunity the previous season. En route to the semi-final, which they lost to Real Madrid, the team recorded a 10–0 victory over Belgian champions Anderlecht, which remains the club's biggest victory on record; the following season, on the way home from a European Cup quarter-final victory against Red Star Belgrade, the aircraft carrying the Manchester United players and journalists crashed while attempting to take off after refuelling in Munich, Germany.
The
County Borough of Salford
Salford was, from 1844 to 1974, a local government district in the northwest of England, coterminate with Salford. It was granted city status in 1926. In about 1230, the vill of Salford, was created a free borough by charter granted by Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester; the borough's government was in the hands of a portmote court. The reeve was elected by the burgesses at large, while the head of the Molyneux family of Sefton presided over the court as hereditary steward of the Hundred of Salford. In 1791 the first modern local government was established in the area, when the Manchester and Salford Police Act created commissioners to administer the two towns. In 1843 the inhabitant householders petitioned the Privy Council for a charter of incorporation under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The charter was granted on 16 April 1844, the Municipal Borough of Salford came into existence on 1 November; the borough consisted of the township of Salford and the part of Broughton township south of the River Irwell.
It was divided into four wards, with a town council consisting of a mayor, eight aldermen and twenty-four councillors. In 1853 the borough was extended to include the rest of Pendleton township; the wards of the borough were increased in number to sixteen. Salford township was divided into Broughton into three and Pendleton into six; each ward was represented by three councillors and one alderman, the size of the council increased to forty-eight councillors and sixteen aldermen. The names of the wards were as follows: Albert Park, Crescent, Hope, Kersal, Regent, St Matthias's, St Paul's, St Thomas's, Trafford and Weaste. Under the Local Government Act 1888 all municipal boroughs with a population of 50,000 or more were designated as "county boroughs" with the powers of both a municipal borough and a county council. In 1889, the town became the County Borough of Salford. Although independent of Lancashire County Council, Salford remained part of the county for certain purposes such as lieutenancy, custos rotulorum and administration of justice.
The size of the borough council did not change, although the wards were reorganised in 1921. The wards, which remained until the borough's abolition were as follows: No.1 or Charlestown, No.2 or Kersal, No.3 or Mandley Park, No.4 or Albert Park, No.5 or St Matthias's, No.6 or Trinity, No.7 or Crescent, No.8 or Regent, No.9 or Ordsall Park, No.10 or Docks, No.11 or St. Thomas's, No.12 or St Paul's, No.13 or Langworthy, No.14 or Seedley, No.15 or Weaste and No.16 or Claremont. Following a campaign supported by William Joynson-Hicks, Home Secretary and MP for a neighbouring constituency of Manchester, city status was granted to the county borough by letters patent dated 21 April 1926; this was in spite of the opposition of civil servants in the Home Office who dismissed the borough as "merely a scratch collection of 240,000 people cut off from Manchester by the river". The City and County Borough of Salford was abolished in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 and its territory transferred to Greater Manchester to form part of the metropolitan borough and City of Salford.
At abolition the county borough was surrounded by the City and county Borough of Manchester to the east, the Municipal Borough of Swinton and Pendlebury to the northwest, the Municipal Borough of Eccles to the southwest, the Municipal Borough of Stretford to the south. The corporation progressively accumulated increased powers and responsibilities through government legislation and by the promotion of private parliamentary bills; the range of activities in which it was involved can be ascertained by the large number of committees of the borough council in 1909: Buildings and Bridges. Elections to the borough council were held annually, with one third of councillors being elected each year. Aldermen had a six-year term of office, with one half of their number being elected by the council every three years; as was common in borough elections throughout England, early elections were uncontested, with agreed candidates being elected unopposed. As late as 1883 only two wards were contested. Although party labels were not used, there were in fact two groupings on the council, aligned to the parliamentary Conservative and Liberal parties.
Conservatives were in a majority until 1892 when the two groups reached parity, with an independent councillor holding the balance of power. The Conservatives regained power in 1893, by 1894 the Liberal grouping had divided into "Gladstonians" and "Radicals", with the Independent Labour Party contesting seats in their own right. Conservatives and other Unionist members maintained a large majority until 1919. In that year the Labour Party gained five seats, leaving the council evenly divided between Conservatives and Liberal-Labour. There was thereafter no single party in power for a number of years, with Conservative, Labour and Independent groups represented. In 1931 the Conservatives gained control for three years, before the council returned to no overall control. Following the cancellation of elections for the duration of World War II, a Labour landslide saw the party gain a majority for the first time. Labour held the council with a large majority for more than twenty years until the Conservatives returned to power in 1968.
Three years the Conservatives lost power. The final election prior to abolition was held in 1972, saw Lab
