Gibson believed Reds could win with the kids...
presented to a young United player every year that carries the name of James Gibson.
“It would be a permanent reminder of both my great-uncle and also Walter Crickmer, another great man.”
United were on the verge of going bankrupt when Gibson came to their rescue in December 1931.
The Reds were struggling in the old Second Division, after being relegated the previous season, and the 1-0 home defeat by Bristol City a week before Christmas had been watched by fewer than 5,000 fans.
With United’s board unable to pay the players’ wages, Gibson gifted the club £2,000 to cover costs. And there was enough left over to buy every member of staff a Yuletide turkey. Although the financial meltdown was averted when he invested another £40,000 in the club weeks later, it became clear to him over the course of the next few years that spending money on transfers was unsustainable.
It was in the summer of 1937 that Gibson and Crickmer established the Manchester United Junior Athletic Club.
Within months, the brainwave began to pay off.
And there has been a youth-team graduate named in every firstteam squad since October 30, 1937 – a run that stretched to an incredible 3,881 matches when Jose Mourinho took his team to face Huddersfield yesterday.