John Henry Davies – King Midas

If any man can claim to be the father of Manchester United then it is self-made millionaire and brewery supremo John Henry Davies. When he rode to the rescue of Newton Heath FC in 1901 he not only saved a football club from extinction but conferred on it a world famous name and built it a world famous stadium.

Bankrolled by Davies' money United won two league championship titles, an FA Cup and moved into a modern 70,000 capacity stadium within a decade. Yet this sudden rise to prominence provoked the FA to launch an investigation into the club which curtailed their spending.

Nevertheless, Davies' legacy remains in the shape of the location of the stadium and the name, Manchester United, which remains among the most famous in the sporting world.

Iain McCartney's blow-by-blow account of Davies' life and times paints a complex portrait of the man who saved a football club and built a legend. Published in 2024.

Size: 111mm x 175mm – 190 pages.