If you formed your opinion of football fans from watching Sky Sports, you could be forgiven that anyone who goes to the match is a tourist wearing a jester hat.
At least they are at the game. If you based it on listening to radio phone-ins, you’d be staggered at the number of callers commenting on matches they have listened to on the radio. Empty vessels always make the most noise.
When I stand outside Old Trafford and sell fanzines, the vast majority of people who walk past are local and have gone to the match for years. They don’t feel the need to paint their face and dance in front of the cameras, they just enjoy watching the team they’ve always supported, a cherished release from everyday life.
With average crowds of 75,000, United have more of every type of fan. More monied executives, more disabled, more hooligans, out of towners, locals and clowns who call the team ‘Man U’.
Despite increased ticket prices and awkward kick-off times, football remains a great social leveller. One fan is a professor at Cambridge – the world’s pre-eminent thinker on Dante no less – and he watches United home and away. A lad he goes to games with is a pornographer.
I took a coach from Manchester to Villa Park on Saturday and the variety of the people on board was staggering.
A man talked excitedly of his forthcoming trip to Blackpool away. He’s going for six days and will stay in a caravan. In December.
Across the aisle, a lad in smart casual gear may have looked like the leader of a hooligan firm but he read The Economist and delighted as much in the release of Aung San Suu Kyi as in Macheda and Vidic’s late goals. And you would have never guessed that the man in the black coat from Moston was an executive with responsibility for hundreds of fast-food restaurants.
There was the boyfriend and girlfriend who watch their team home and away. I’m not sure what she made of the conversation four rows behind, a surreal juvenile discussion among boys about whether they’d lend their girlfriend to a player for the night if it meant United getting three points at an away game. Given that United have drawn six of the seven away games so far this season, you could applaud their concern, if not the proposed solution.
Others asserted that the Evening News was ‘a Blue paper’. Funny that, because the Blues I spoke to at the derby last week think it’s a very different colour.
After arriving 90 minutes before kick-off, some fans made straight for the pub, others basked in the November Brummie sunshine inside the ground. A 20-something reserved the kind of love a mother would show her newborn child for his flag as he spent an age making sure his ‘RED ARMY’ banner was perfectly positioned behind the corner flag.
Villa couldn’t sell all their seats and the great old ground was 3,000 short of capacity, but the locals still boasted that they were supporting their local team and that the United fans ‘only live round the corner’.
Local
If Manchester was only around the corner that might be true, but the vast majority of the 2,448 Reds who had paid £43 a ticket came from Greater Manchester. United proudly boast a worldwide support but the local heart still beats strongly.
One lad, slightly under-dressed in a T-shirt and tea-cosy hat, sang “S-A-L-F-O-R-D, Salford Reds and MUFC” throughout. That was far better than the arrogant ‘We’re Man United, we do what we want’ chant which Reds fans have taken to airing.
Another told me how he’d just come out from a five-year stretch in a Greek jail – where he’d managed to watch virtually every United game on TV, surrounded by Albanian gangsters and psychotic Panathinaikos fans.
He’s rejoined this disparate travelling community, many who only know each other by face or a simple ‘Alright mate’.
Like proper fans of any club, they stomp around the country and beyond, spending a fortune to watch players who earn a fortune. They sing, moan, laugh and despair. But when their team get a late equaliser and several players dive into the away end to celebrate, it all seems worthwhile.
Andy Mitten column
November 17, 2010
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Did you enjoy it on our coach then Andy?
Always thought it was funny that there's a guy on here ranting quite a bit at times and he calls himself "manu xpert".
I do love Mitten's comments, they are insightful for the real fan, of which he is clearly one.
Very funny too, which is rare, so very much appreciated in this day and age, more from him Andy please.
great piece bit worried about the pornographer bit though
This is not just true of fans who come from manchester. I usually like Andy's stuff but I have to disagree with hime here. I was at Villa park and I come from Northern ireland. i have been going to Old Trafford since 1957 and am a season ticket holder - not an executive one just an ordinary one. I don't go to many away matches now as I cannot afford to but it costs me a small fortune to get to OT for each home match and I get there. So do thousands from the Emerald Isle and many parts of Northern Europe. Please don't join the real fans only come from Manchester brigade -I'd expect better from you!
Ella
Another excellent column Andy
Great Article Andy, must admit though and I know its a bit childish but the "Were Man United we do what we want" chant doesn't half wind oppostition fans up after a dodgy decision like Gary Nev at Stoke when he should have gone.
Your probably right Andy, the coach going from Manchester probably had people from Manchester on it! But what about all the other coaches?
I remember when City played man u at Maine Road and the amount of coaches that the fans came on was unreal. Who goes to a local derby on a coach!?! Only an out of towner and day tripper like most of man u's fans.
Dear MUEN
Brilliant. Yet another united columnist!
Not only do we have to put up with Stuart "the rag" Brennan reporting on City matches, but now another united fan is provided with a column in addition to Terry Carroll.
Why is the Man City reporter not a City fan?
Where is the weekly City fan column on the City section?
I hate this whole "support your local team" rubbish to be honest. People from Manchester are lucky to be there. I'm from Ireland and go over to matches when I get the chance. What people don't realise is that there is alot of factors involved. Getting time off work, getting flights or a boat over etc its all comes to quite alot. People from Manchester are lucky to have the privilege of being able to head down to Old Trafford for the matches. I would love that. But I'm Irish so alot of people wouldn't consider me a 'real fan'.
Then you have the hypocrites. The way I see it is, if you don't want 'out of town' support then you should be against alot of things that make the Premiership what it is. You should be against football on TV, because by your logic if your a real fan you will go to the match, home or away. You should be against players that are not from Manchester, its your local team after all, no out of towners please. You should want a local manager in charge, not a Scot.
If everyone supported only their local team then no one outside of Manchester would support United, there would be no need to televise matches abroad, there wouldn't be as much interest in the Premiership, players like Law, Best, Cantona, Keane, Giggs etc, would all play for their local clubs and not have become legends at United. The premier league would have no where near the popularity and money it has.
But I suppose even after making these points no one will agree all because I'm from Ireland and not Manchester...
From town, not from town.... I don't worry. We've got more fans in Manchester than the opposition, more in Birmingham, London, Ireland ........ Asia, America..... We've just got MORE, because for the best part of a century, people everywhere have been falling in love with United. We're the world's local team.
I find this support your local team thing a bit odious. I would support my local team, but where I live ( half of the year at least) we don't have professional football teams. There are professional teams, of course, but they are from other cities, not where I live.
In any case, I was hooked onto United by a friend of my grandfather who was a really passionate fan . He used to tell me stories about the club; from Billy Meredith to the Busby Babes and everything else that followed. I was 9 years old when he first took me to OT, and I've been a fan ever since.
The point of all this is to say that things have changed. Today, the world is a much smaller place. If a person wants to remain cocooned in his/her shell, life would be very boring indeed. In such a scenario, issues like "local cub" become non-starters because in the end, we are all connected to each other despite the distances.
To say that a local would be a better fan is to make things overly simplistic. Just look at these pages. There is one person who calls him/herself "manu expert". Many other locals who are so spoilt that they think a draw against Wolves is a disaster, as if United have never drawn to Wolves before. If anybody is going to say locals are better fans, there would be many examples of the opposite being true as well. Arrogance and obnoxiousness is a feature that is prevalent everywhere. Manchester and its charming and wonderful people are not immune to it.
bang on the money mate. well done
Speaking from across the pond, I didn't realize that this was such a divisive issue with so many "locals". As for me, I became a United fan simply because that was the team that was always on TV, back before we had 400 channels, anyway. I imagine most European fans of American "football" (the NFL) are fans of the Dallas Cowboys, simply because that's who they have heard the most about.
Either way, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to worry about all of this. ChrisRed summed it up wonderfully, above. I just hope you "locals" realize how lucky you are to be able to drop in to OT to see a game whenever you want, instead of planning your major vacation 5 years from now, hoping to finally see OT, and hoping still that there happens to be anyone still on the team that you love right now, because that's what I deal with every time I watch our Reds!!! And, yes, every time a buy a new shirt, it helps OUR team!
United-- forever.
The local fans debate - ages old and still bollocks! What makes me laugh is that for some reason if you are prepared to travel 3 and a half hours in each direction and spend £100 on petrol to get to every home game, you're somehow not a proper fan!
Despite having the misfortune of living in west London, I have loved Utd since I first saw them in 1971 and I always will. I have been a season ticket holder at OT for a decade and have only missed on average 4 home games a season, and that includes European and cup games too.
I spend a fortune, take loads of time off work, waste countless hours on the M25, M42 and M6 in particular and none of it bothers me.
My kids are mad for Utd and they will grow up knowing that had I let them support their local team, they would have been Chelsea fans. Imagine the shame they would have had to put up with!
Simple - it's not where you come from that counts, it's where you go to! We weren't all lucky enough to have been born in Stretford!
Manchester United is a mentality, romance and love of football that has no boundries. All other supporters will never understand it, other supporters can only see the end of thier nose and bitters can see that far. UNITED is a STATE OF MIND LUHC.
Man U is a made up expression by the media and closed minds. Manchester United or UNITED
The other week I switched on to Football Focus at 12.15pm live from Old Trafford and that banner that counts City's trophyless years was present already - before the gates were open, do the club put it there? If so I think it is beyond pathetic.
Watching the Reds since 1955 has been the story of my life.Lots of highs ,several lows ,meeting many diverse fellow Reds from Manchester ,and other places too.Indulging in good humoured banter with the Blues ,but that was many years ago.It doesnt exist nowadays,unfortunately been replaced with pure hatred by both sets of fans for many years.A passion for a club that I have loved despite not always agreeing with its policies.
As Red as the blood coarsing through my veins .UTID
@ Gary Neville's Beard...
How many Mancs play for City these days pal? The club is owned by a lad from the Arabian desert. Support your local team, do me a favour! Get a grip and realise how small-minded, ignorant and pathetic you sound. Not even worth beginning to cite the many, many varied historical, social and other reasons why United's fan base has grown as wide as it has over the years (in places like Ireland, for example, where they have always had a huge and loyal following long before recent successes). You're too unintelligent for that.
As for the away fans who sing "we support our local team" etc....yeah, good for you, because nobody else does! To be jealous is an awful thing. May our fan base continue to grow as far and wide as possible because ultimately it will ensure our continued success in the long-term (long after we're all gone). Classless outfits like City and Chelsea, for all their "wealth", will never reach these levels. Some things money can't buy. Back to OT for me this weekend (as always)....but sure I'm not a real fan...
I was born in Australia in 1954. Growing up in Australia at that time, football was for ethnics only. I discovered the game in 1967, and discovered Manchester United the same year, through a recently immigrated United fan. I learnt everything I could about United. There has only ever been one team for me.
In 2005 I made my first trip to Manchester to watch the Reds. I could not afford it before then. I now come to Manchgester once a year and see a game or two. I will continue to do this as long as my finances and health allow me to.
I am proud to be a United fan. I feel total loyalty to the club. If I could live in Manchester for an extended period, and go to all of the games, I would. It sometimes sickens me that I can't. Maybe one day.
Geography has nothing to do with it. I am United through and through. Local fans, count your blessings.
Decent debate, one close to my heart.
I have often wondered why people support United when they live miles away or even abroad. If you come from Blackpool you should support them, If you come from Belfast support Glentoran or Linfield.
On the flip side without the money from day trippers and fans coming from afar we couldnt pay the wages of the players we have today (particularly Wayne Rooney). As for foreign coaches and players,football is as much a business as it is a sport. What business would decline workers from abroad if it was going to improve it?? So where does that put foreign or OOT fans then?? I would say anyone who regularly gets to the games is worthy of the title of a United supporter....But answer me this.
Do you feel the same passion as a local whos grown up in Manchester?? Are you ridiculed by your blue co-workers the day after a derby defeat?? Were you in primary school and all anyone wanted to be was a United or City. Did you get to the youth team games mid-week, or the reserves or even drive past the stadium everday to work?? Do scousers hate you as much for who you support, as for where your from?? Did your grandad and great grandad drink with the players on a regular basis, on first name terms?? All of a sudden, without even realising it, United has been a major even influence even before your very first memories. I doubt you had that. So I would say you are a supporter of the club, but have you dont the roots of a manc?