THE BADGE ON THIS SHIRT IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK ®. In the late nineteenth century Manchester United were a very unremarkable club indeed. They were formed by railway workers, they were originally known as Newton Heath LYR (the suffix stood for Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway) & purchased a uniform strip of jerseys in green & gold, the colours of the parent company. The club's reputation grew & in 1889, the Heathens had joined the Football Alliance, formed as rivals to the Football League.