The sequence started on Saturday 30 October 1937, when Tom Manley and Jack Wassall were involved in an away game at Fulham.
Manley was already an established first-teamer by that point, having debuted at Old Trafford in December 1931 against Millwall. The Fulham game was his 161st outing. Wassall, meanwhile, was appearing for the 15th time.
But the key fact is this: since that day at Craven Cottage, United have continued to feature a youth player in the squad for over 4,000 consecutive games.
The epic stat was uncovered by historian Tony Park. Our criteria for a homegrown player is three-fold: 1) they have to have signed before the age of 21, 2) played at a junior level below the first team at United and 3) not to have played for another team at senior level.