DEVOTED Manchester United fans have found the resting place of their founder - in Windermere.

The Stretford Enders Worldwide, four devoted fans, have pieced together some of their team's earliest history and through painstaking research and help from South Lakeland District Council, they discovered the grave of Frederick Attock.

Mr Attock worked as a superintendent engineer at the Newton Heath branch of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, and set up the club that would become the Red Devils.

In 1878 Mr Attock registered a new football club under the name Newton Heath LYR FC.

Mr Attock was the first president of the club, and is considered one of its founding fathers, alongside future prime minister Arthur Balfour, and Charles Scott, editor of the Manchester Guardian.

Over the years the Stretford Enders have taken it upon themselves to preserve the forgotten heritage of the club, discovering and maintaining the graves of former managers and players.

The group discovered that due to poor health, Mr Attock stepped down from the club in 1892 and moved to Windermere.

Steve Donoghue, one of the group's members spoke about the work to uncover Mr Attock's final resting place.

He said: "We did some digging and looked through minutes from L&Y Railway Union and searched cemetery records from London, Liverpool, Doncaster and Windermere.

"Eventually we found that when he became too ill to work, Fred Attock moved to the Lake District for the fresh air and died in 1902 in Windermere.

"This led to the contact with SLDC, which operates a number of cemeteries in South Lakeland, and by checking records officers were able to confirm that Frederick Attock was indeed buried in Rayrigg Road Cemetery."

The group want to make sure that Mr Attock is honoured for his work in creating the club they love.

Mr Donoghue said: “It is important that every Manchester United fan on this planet should know about this man. He is someone I think we should revere.

"I think Manchester United FC should induct him into their museum, just as it has with the Munich Babes, Billy Meredith, Matt Busby, Duncan Edwards, Georgie Best and our local Salford boy Eddie Colman. I think it’s the very least they could do."

Simon Rowley, SLDC’s assistant director of neighbourhood services, said: "We're delighted to have helped find the final resting place of Frederick Attock.

“It is a fascinating story and the fans’ group put in a significant amount of time and effort to discover this information. I’m very happy we’ve been able to play our part in finding this missing piece of the jigsaw in Manchester United’s history.’’

Read more:

Have you seen the incredible footage of a Lancaster Bomber as it flew over Cumbria?

Tyson Fury will go before an anti-doping panel in the run up to his re-match with Wladimir Klitschko