When English soccer giant Manchester United rolls into Houston for Wednesday night's MLS All-Star Game at Reliant Stadium, it will do so as the world’s most valuable sports franchise, according to a recent Forbes' ranking.

This is the ultimate in global sporting brands, with a “core” worldwide fan base of 139 million, and a more casual following of hundreds of millions more. With the whole world in World Cup withdrawal, this game could attract plenty of overseas attention (even if the U.S. TV rating on ESPN2 could pale in comparison to even a Houston Texans' preseason game).

How did a soccer team from a secondary English city become such a global icon?

Books have been written on the subject, but, to be very brief, Man U (a nickname that team management doesn’t appreciate) first captured worldwide attention because of a tragedy. In 1958 the team was flying home from a European Cup quarterfinal match in Belgrade when they stopped in Munich to refuel. When the plane attempted to take off, it crashed on the runway. Twenty three people died, including eight players.

Legendary manager Matt Busby — who led the team from 1945-1968 — survived the crash and rebuilt the team. By the mid-1960s, Manchester United became the footballing face of England’s cultural ascendancy. The Devils played a wide-open, attacking style that shook up the stodgy English football world, and the mop-topped striker George Best was hailed as a “fifth Beatle.” (Watch some of Best’s YouTube videos and you’ll see that his reputation was based on much more than his hair.)

The team’s fortunes rose and fell throughout the ‘70s and early ‘80s, until current manager Sir Alex Ferguson took command in 1986. And ‘command’ is the right word, because he’s certainly an imposing, even imperious, presence on the sidelines.

It looks like you’d have to be a brave man to play for him. He famously injured then-Man U star David Beckham by kicking a soccer “boot” into his face during a dressing room disagreement.

His brave hearts (Ferguson is a Scot, after all) have done pretty well. They’ve won the English Premier League 11 times, far more than anyone else (the EPL only began in 1992), and UEFA Champions Cups twice, most recently in 2008 when Cristiano Ronaldo was still blazing across the Old Trafford pitch.

Ferguson will be the most important presence at the All-Star game. His highest profile players, like Wayne Rooney, are home licking their World Cup wounds. (Six Man U players took part in South Africa's mega event).

The team Ferguson brings to town will feature several younger players, including promising strikers Federico Macheda, Danny Welbeck, Mame Diouf, and, last but not least, the 21-year-old Javier Hernández (aka “Little Sweet Pea”), the first Mexican to sign with the Red Devils. Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov and midfielder Ryan Giggs will be the biggest international names to take the field, er, pitch on Wednesday night.

No touring English Premier League team has ever beaten the MLS All-Stars in what has become an annual match. Giggs says that fact gives Man U all the motivation it needs to play well.

If I were a Red Devil, Alex Ferguson’s stony face would be all the motivation I’d need.