New Era For Manchester United Sans Sir Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson has retired from Manchester United. Ferguson has won more trophies than any other manager in history with 49. The closest active coaches are Giovanni Trappatoni (currently coaching Ireland's national side) with 22, Louis van Gaal with 19, Jose Mourinho at 18, and Fabio Capello (who is managing Russia at the moment) and Marcello Lippi each with 16.

Jock Stein is second all-time with 26, Ottmar Hitzfeld is third with 25. Other coaches include: Walter Smith 22, Bob Paisley 18, Ernst Happel 17.

As you can see, SAF towers above them all.

And those are some of the most brilliant coaches in history.

Heard someone call Manchester United "the most iconic brand in soccer" (she may have said sports; can't remember).

That's up for debate. It's certainly one of the most valuable brand but popularity doesn't mean the "best" in terms of success. In fact, as soccer fans know, Man U's trophy case doesn't necessarily match its glorious brand. Its greatest rival - Liverpool - has won more tournaments.

I put together a list (late last night so it's possible there are some errors since I didn't verify them a second time but it's pretty accurate I reckon) of teams with the most appearances in the major tournaments: Champions League, Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA/Europa, Fairs, Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup (former Toyota Cup/Club). I didn't include the Latin Cup and Mitropa.

United ranks 9th. Not even Real Madrid ranks 1st. Milan and Barcelona have surpassed them.

1- AC MILAN (ITA) 29 - 18 titles *
2-  FC BARCELONA (ESP) 27 - 17 titles *
3- REAL MADRID (ESP) 24 - 15 titles *
4- JUVENTUS (ITA) 19 - 10 titles *
5-  LIVERPOOL (ENG) 18 - 11 titles *
6-  AJAX (HOL) 15 - 11 titles *
     BAYERN MUNICH (GER) 15 (includes 2013) - currently 8 titles *
8-   INTER MILAN  (ITA) 13 - 9 titles *
9-  MANCHESTER UNITED (ENG) 12 - 7 titles *
10- PORTO (POR) 11 - 7 titles *
      BENFICA (POR) 11 - 2 titles *
12 - ATLETICO MADRID (ESP) 9 - 6 titles
       VALENCIA (ESP) 9 - 6 titles
14 - HAMBURGER (GER) 8 - 2 titles *
       ANDERLECHT (BEL) 8 - 5 titles
        CHELSEA (ENG) 8 - 5 titles *
17 - BORUSSIA DORTMUND (GER) 6 - 2 titles (includes 2013) *
       ARSENAL (ENG) 6 - 2 titles
19 - FEYENOORD (HOL) 5 - 4 titles *
        NOTTINGHAM  FOREST (ENG) 5 - 3 titles *
        PARMA  (ITA) 5 - 4 titles
22-  PSV EINDHOVEN (HOL) 4 - 2 titles *
       RED STAR BELGRADE (YUG) 4 - 2 titles *
       STEAU BUCARESTI (ROM) 4 - 2 titles *
       MARSEILLE (FRA) 4 - 1 titles *
       DINAMO KIEV (UKR) 4 - 3 titles
       CELTIC (SCO) 4  - 1 title *
       M'GLADBACH (GER) 4 - 2 titles
       TOTTENHAM (ENG)  4 - 3 titles
       FIORENTINA (ITA) 4 - 1 title
       RANGERS  (SCO) 4 - 1 title
       LEEDS UNITED (ENG) 4 - 2 titles
       SEVILLA (ESP) 4 - 3 titles
      ASTON VILLA (ENG) - 4 - 2 titles *
      REAL ZARAGOZA (ESP) - 4 - 2 titles
35- LAZIO (ITA) 3 - 2 titles
      SAMPDORIA (ITA) 3 - 1 title
      ROMA  (ITA) 3 - 1 title
      PARIS ST-GERMAIN (FRA) 3 - 1 title
      FERENCVAROS (HUN) 3 - 1 title
      CSKA MOSCOW (RUS) 3 - 1 title

Galatasary, IFK Goteborg, Mechelen, Zenit St. Petersburg, Sporting Lisbon, Everton, Schalke, Frankfurt, Zagreb, Bratislava, Tblisi, Bratislava, Magdeburg, Manchester City, West Ham, Newcastle United or multiple finalists like St. Etienne, Malmo, Rapid Wien and Stuttgart who never won titles not added because I arbitrarily capped it to a 3 finals minimum. The sample size of 41 clubs (including all Champions winners) was big enough as it is to give an idea where the great teams rank.