The Book of Dreams | Inside The Manchester United Opus
Love them or hate them, there is no denying the story of Manchester United is a pretty amazing one. To tell such a story United needed an equally amazing product to show case the club's history. So they turned to Opus, makers of exclusive luxury publications and we're lucky enough to have one here at SoccerBible HQ.
The Official United Opus is the biggest football book ever produced, but it is way more than just a book. It is a celebration of a football club established by a group of railway workers in 1878 and their incredible journey to the top of world football. It is the ultimate tribute to Manchester United.
The Opus covers every aspect of United's history in glorious detail. Some of the world's top sports writers, leading photographers and illustrators were commissioned to work on the book, we were just left wondering where our invite was! All jokes aside, the quality shines through like no other book we've clapped our eyes on.
22 chapters cover everything from the clubs humble beginnings as Newton Heath LYR Football Club, the tragic loss of Busby's babes in the 1958 Munich air disaster and the late, great George Best. Right through to the monumental rise of Sir Alex Ferguson and the modern day club that we either love or love to hate.
With 850 pages, calling the Opus large would be a major underestimation. Each page measures 50cm x 50 cm, it weighs 37KG dropping it on your fingers hurts, trust us, we know. The Opus contains over 400,000 words and over 2000 images, inside there are more than 50 exclusive interviews and photo shoots, it truly is a sight to behold.
There were only a limited edition of 9,500 copied released worldwide all of which bear the signatures of Manchester United legends Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Charlton. The standard Opus cost £3,000 with some of the profits going to UNICEF, but despite the hefty price tag every single one has been sold!
There were also 2 exclusive editions released, the "Icons" edition, which is the one we have, and the "Star Series" edition which were limited to 500 and 300 copies. They both feature second signature pages with the "Icons" edition including Manchester United legends Denis Law, Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona and the "Star Series" edition including Korea Republic star Park Ji-Sung.
Arsenal and Celtic are the most recent clubs to have been given the Opus treatment and coming soon are Liverpool and New York Cosmos editions. Needless to say we're looking forward to getting our copies.
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