Since 1882, 46 players have held the position of club captain for Newton Heath LYR F.C., Newton Heath F.C. or Manchester United F.C.[1]
The first club captain was E. Thomas, who was captain from 1882 to 1883.[1] The longest-serving captain is Bryan Robson, who was club captain from 1982 to 1994, although he held the position jointly with Steve Bruce for the last two years of his tenure.[1]Roy Keane, who was captain from 1997 to 2005, has the distinction of having won the most trophies as captain; he won four Premier League titles, two FA Cups, one Community Shield, one UEFA Champions League and one Intercontinental Cup. Bruno Fernandes is the current Manchester United captain.
Captains
Caesar Jenkyns served as captain during the 1896–97 season.
Charlie Roberts was captain when Manchester United won their first league title in 1907.
Denis Law captained Manchester United to their first European honour. He made 494 appearances for the club and scored 237 goals.
Bobby Charlton is United's second-highest goalscorer and has the second-most appearances for the club. He captained the club from 1968 to 1973.
Bryan Robson made 461 appearances for Manchester United and is the longest serving captain in the club's history, serving for twelve years.
Eric Cantona made 185 appearances and scored 87 goals for Manchester United. He was the club's first non British/Irish captain.
Roy Keane made 480 appearances with Manchester United and is the most decorated captain in club history, serving from 1997 to 2005.
Gary Neville made 602 appearances for Manchester United and served as captain from 2005 to 2011.
Nemanja Vidić made 300 appearances for Manchester United and served as captain from 2011 to 2014.
Wayne Rooney is the club's all-time top scorer with 253 goals. He captained the club from 2014 to 2017.
Michael Carrick served as captain for his final season as a professional player.
Antonio Valencia captained the Manchester United in his final season of his ten years with the club. He was United's first captain from outside of Europe.
Ashley Young (right) served as captain for the first half of the 2019–20 season, before departing for Inter Milan.
Harry Maguire became captain in the middle of his first season with the club, after Ashley Young's departuer, and served until 2023.
The vice-captain position at Manchester United has been announced by managers after a player has been appointed on a de facto basis.[10] In general, the vice-captain has succeeded the captain.