Progression of the British football transfer fee record in 2001 was £38m. On 1 September 2008, Manchester City agreed a reported £32,500,000 fee for Robinho, which remained the record amount paid by a British club until 31 January 2011, when Liverpool paid £35,000,000 for Andy Carroll from Newcastle United, which was also a new record amount paid for a British player. A few hours later, the record amount paid by a British club was broken again when Chelsea paid £50,000,000 for Fernando Torres from Liverpool. On 11 June 2009, Manchester United announced that they had accepted an £80,000,000 bid from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo. The transfer was
Manchester Rugby Club Manchester FC were also the first recognised association football side in Manchester, and they competed in the FA Cup before any of the region's other sides. In 1894 Newton Heath (present day Manchester United) were banned from changing their name to Manchester FC by the FA and RFU because of the existence of the rugby side. The full story of Manchester FC's association football history is detailed in "Manchester A Football History" where it is revealed they hold many Mancunian firsts. They were also the first English club side to play competitively in Scotland when they faced Queen's Park F.C.