Ask a United fan over 40 where they were when Solskjær's toe poke went in and you'll get a ten-minute answer. Ask one over 70 and they might start with Munich instead. The clock on the south east corner of Old Trafford still says 3.04.
So before you buy anything, work out which United they grew up with. A dad who saw Best play is after something different from a teenager who only knows Rashford's best years, and most of the list below splits along those lines.
Prices move, so treat these as rough. Under £30 gets you a book, a film, an old programme or a women's team ticket. Between £30 and £100 covers the stadium tour, membership, a retro shirt or one of our classic United prints from £69. Hospitality and a custom framed team sheet sit above that.
Days out
1. The museum and stadium tour
Good for someone who rarely gets to Old Trafford, or a kid's first visit. Outside, the statue of Best, Law and Charlton faces Sir Matt Busby across the forecourt. Leave time to find the Munich clock and the memorial plaque to the people who died in 1958.
2. Official membership
Most home tickets that season ticket holders don't use go to paid members, usually by ballot. So give the membership, then sit down together and enter the ballots. It's the present for the fan who has been saying "I'll get to a game one day" for about ten years.
3. Manchester United Women at Leigh
Home games are at Leigh Sports Village, with the odd one moved to Old Trafford. Tickets are cheap and you can actually get them. They won the FA Cup in 2024, and for a seven-year-old it's a much gentler first match than a full house at Old Trafford.
4. Matchday hospitality
The way round the ballot, if you've got the money and a birthday worth it.
Books
5. Ferguson, three ways
Managing My Life (1999) ends with the treble. My Autobiography (2013) came out after he retired and has more bite. Leading (2015) is about how he ran the place, and it's the one I'd give a fan who manages people at work.
6. Keane, Neville, and the whole story
Keane's The Second Half (2014) is the angrier read. Neville's Red (2011) is more about growing up a United fan in Bury and then getting to play for them. If they'd rather have the full history, Jim White's Manchester United: The Biography (2008) starts right at the beginning, which is handy for anyone who thinks the club was founded in 1986.
7. Munich
For a grandad, I'd start here. Frank Taylor's The Day a Team Died (1960) was written by a journalist who was on the plane and survived. Bobby Charlton's My Manchester United Years (2007) tells it from inside the team, and then goes through the rebuild that ended at Wembley ten years later.
8. You Are a Champion
Marcus Rashford's 2021 book for children. A decent first read for an eight or nine-year-old, and it's written by a lad who came through the academy.
Watching
9. Three films
The Class of '92 (2013) follows Beckham, Butt, Giggs, Scholes and the Nevilles coming through together. United (2011) is the BBC drama about Munich, with David Tennant as Jimmy Murphy, the assistant who held the club together while Busby was in hospital. Never Give In (2021) is the Ferguson documentary his son Jason made. The part about his brain haemorrhage is hard to watch.
10. MUTV
The club's own subscription channel. Best for an exiled fan who wants more United than the normal TV deals give.
To wear and keep
11. A retro shirt from their season
This is the one where their era matters most. Benfica wore red in the 1968 European Cup final, so United played in blue, and anyone who watched that night will know the shirt straight away. The 1998/99 one is for the fan who still brings up the treble at Christmas. 2007/08 if Moscow was their night. A younger fan might go for 2023/24, the season United beat City in the FA Cup final. Older cuts come up small, so check the measurements before you order.
12. A programme from a big date
Old United Review copies turn up at fairs and on auction sites. Go for the season they were born, or a game they were actually at. Watch out for rusty staples.
13. A framed team sheet of their United
We make these, so bear that in mind. They (or you) pick the XI from any era, or you put the family's Sunday league side on a pitch in United red, with a title and a message underneath. If they're the fan who has everything, this is one of the few things nobody else could have bought them. If you'd rather not do the choosing, our classic United prints start at £69.
My all-time United XI
In a 4-3-3:
Peter Schmeichel. Five league titles. Keane was suspended for Barcelona, so Schmeichel wore the armband that night, in his last game for the club.
Gary Neville. Nineteen years at right back, most of them with Beckham and then Ronaldo in front of him.
Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidić. Ferdinand read the game and Vidić headed everything that came near him. They started together in Moscow, and I'd never pick one without the other.
Denis Irwin. The left back row is below. I went with him.
Roy Keane. Turin, April 1999. United were 2-0 down to Juventus after eleven minutes of the semi-final second leg. Keane headed the first one back from Beckham's corner, and nine minutes later he was booked for a late tackle, which meant he'd miss the final if they got there. He played the rest of the night as if it didn't matter. United won 3-2. I don't think a United captain has had a better ninety minutes.
Paul Scholes. The strike from 25 yards that put Barcelona out of the 2008 semi is the one everyone remembers. He even came back out of retirement for another season and a half in 2012.
Bobby Charlton. He survived Munich, and ten years later he scored twice in the European Cup final.
Cristiano Ronaldo. Won the Ballon d'Or in 2008 and headed United in front in Moscow the same year.
Eric Cantona. United hadn't won the league since 1967. He signed in November 1992, they won it that season, then three more times before he retired in 1997 at 30.
George Best. It was 1-1 against Benfica at Wembley going into extra time, and Best's goal put United back ahead. He won the Ballon d'Or the same year.
Where people will disagree
Van der Sar saved Anelka's penalty to win in Moscow, and plenty of fans would have him in goal. I understand that, but Schmeichel was in goal for the whole first run of titles.
Robson and Giggs both have a case in midfield. Beckham took both corners that led to the goals in Barcelona, but Ronaldo has the right wing. Rooney is the record scorer and Law won the Ballon d'Or in 1964, so leaving them out is awkward. I went with Cantona because the Ferguson titles started with him.
Then there's Duncan Edwards, who is the first name a lot of older fans will shout. He was 21 when he died after Munich, and the people who saw him still talk about him as the best they ever watched. I've left him out because I'm picking on what players did in a United shirt, and he didn't get the time. That's an argument I'd expect to lose in a few pubs round Old Trafford.
Left back is the closest call. Evra was very good. He and Park Ji-sung, with Rooney drifting over, made that left side as good as any in Europe for a few years, and he won three titles in a row from 2007. But Irwin took the penalties and the free kicks, played on either flank whenever Ferguson asked, won seven league titles and started the 1999 final. I'd have him.
Ordering a print
We email a proof first, so you can check every name before anything is printed. Once you approve it, prints usually arrive in 4 to 7 working days in the UK. A custom print from the builder is £149 for 12x16 in or £199 for 18x24 in, in a black or white frame, with free UK delivery.