Editing Tim Howard (section)

===Manchester United===
[[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] paid a US$4&nbsp;million transfer fee to sign Howard in the middle of the 2003 MLS season, and he replaced [[Fabien Barthez]] as the club's first-choice goalkeeper.<ref>{{cite news|first=Ellen|last=Hale|title=American goalie rises to top of soccer world|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/world/2004-01-22-howard_x.htm|work=USA Today |location=Manchester, England|date=January 22, 2004|access-date=January 12, 2009}}</ref>

Howard started off very well at Manchester United, saving the decisive penalty in the [[FA Community Shield|Community Shield]] against [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]]. Other notable performances followed, including [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]] and a home [[FA Cup]] tie victory over [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]]. In March 2004, however, Howard's poor parry handed a last minute goal to [[FC Porto|Porto]], eliminating United from the [[UEFA Champions League]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7988272.stm |first=Chris |last=Bevan |title=When Porto shocked Man Utd|work=BBC Sport |date=April 14, 2009 |access-date=August 26, 2015}}</ref> The error appeared to shatter Howard's confidence and he was replaced by [[Roy Carroll]].{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} After a period of rest, Howard reclaimed his starting position ahead of Carroll for the [[2004 FA Cup Final]], picking up a winner's medal. He was the second American player to collect a winner's medal in the FA Cup, after [[Julian Sturgis]] of [[Wanderers F.C.|Wanderers]] in the [[1873 FA Cup Final|1873 final]]. Howard was also named in the [[PFA Team of the Year]] in his first season at Manchester United.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/10-players-youd-forgotten-were-a-pfa-premier-league-team-year?page=0%2C1|title=10 players you'd forgotten were in a PFA Premier League Team of the Year|website=Four Four Two|first=Huw|last=Davis|date=April 18, 2018|access-date=June 27, 2018}}</ref>

In Howard's second season with Manchester United, he started poorly, making several errors and was dropped again for Carroll. After Carroll made several errors as well, Howard regained the starting position but his performances were unconvincing, leading to Carroll regaining his place again, playing in the FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal.

At the end of the [[2004–05 FA Premier League|2004–05 season]], Howard signed a new contract, which was to run until 2009. In the summer of 2005, Manchester United released both of his competitors for the goalkeeper position&nbsp;– [[Ricardo (footballer, born 1971)|Ricardo]] and Carroll. However, they also bought experienced Dutch goalkeeper [[Edwin van der Sar]] from [[Fulham F.C.|Fulham]] soon after.