John Henry Davies was a wealthy brewery owner who in 1902 took over the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 football club Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

, which was then called Newton Heath. The club had massive debt at the time.

Davies was born in Cheadle, Greater Manchester

Cheadle, Greater Manchester

Cheadle is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester, England. It borders the districts of Cheadle Hulme, Gatley, Heald Green and Cheadle Heath in Stockport, and the East Didsbury area of Manchester. As of 2001 it had a population of 14,261.-Early history:There has...

. There is a popular story attached to how he came to take over the club. Legend has it that defender Harry Stafford

Harry Stafford (football)

Harry Stafford was an English football player. Harry joined Newton Heath, later called Manchester United, from Crewe Alexandra F.C. in 1896. According to legend, while captain of Newton Heath, it was his dog that ran over to wealthy brewer John Henry Davies. Davies took a liking to the dog and...

's dog ran over to Davies. After discussion with Stafford (which began with Davies wanting to buy the dog) Davies decided to buy the team. Davies infused the team with much needed money, and in came Ernest Mangnall and players such as Billy Meredith

Billy Meredith

William Henry "Billy" Meredith was a Welsh footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each domestic trophy in the English football league and also gained 48 caps for Wales, for whom he...

 and Sandy Turnbull

Sandy Turnbull

Alexander "Sandy" Turnbull was a Scottish football player who played as a forward for both Manchester City and Manchester United in the early 20th century....

.

Davies changed the team name to Manchester United and replaced the green and yellow halves with the now famous red and white kit.