Fans of any sport will argue at length that the emotion they feel for their sport and their club is the strongest. That surge of emotion which courses through people when “Swing Low” echoes from the stands as England face Scotland at Twickenham or the electrifying buzz as the All Blacks go into the Hakka, the thrill of watching Ali and Frazier toe to toe even after all these years has not diminished and for scale the superbowl, the world series and at the very pinnacle, the Olympics are sights to behold and can trigger emotions which stay with people for years.
If a survey were to be held however, it would inevitably be football which provoked the strongest emotions and affected the greatest number of people most deeply. No other sport can entrance the same number of people week in week out as football and as a spectacle dedicated to only one sport, the World Cup must stand as the highlight of the world sporting calendar. Football can justly claim to be the first truly global sport with almost every nation fielding an international team and huge armies of supporters watching more live and televised football than any other sport.
And if the beautiful game can claim to be the foremost sport then there is only one team who can rightfully claim their seat at the head of the table. More column inches worldwide than any other, headliners on the front and back pages, riches beyond the dreams of world sport and a fan base which covers the entire globe. For all the great individual teams who have come and gone, the great teams of Real Madrid, Juventus, Ajax, Liverpool and Celtic, one football club stands head and shoulders above the rest.
From their lowly beginnings as Newton Heath in 1878 to the dominance of United in the Sky era, Manchester United have always best defined the highs and lows of football. From the ruins of the stadium after it was bombed in WWII to the glory of Edwards, Taylor, Charlton, Foulkes et al and the tragedy of Munich. The remarkable rebuilding of the club and the superstar era of Best and Law with Sir Matt realizing his dream of European glory 10 years after fate had robbed him of a team. The ignominy of the 70’s and 80’s left fans living on their dreams and memories until Alex Ferguson finally managed to fill Sir Matt’s shoes and brought unknown levels of success to the club, possibly even surpassing the Busby babes on the 26th of May 1999 by lifting the Treble of League, FA Cup and European Cup.
The drama that runs through United’s history People stand up in their droves just because they hate them, they ruined poor old Colin Shindler’s life
and love them or hate them, they are the first result everyone checks for. Manchester United are football, win or lose, they always play in the same cavalier fashion which thrust them into the public conciuosness in the 50s and 60s and their history is tinged with a drama that is the stuff of legends and at times reads more like Roy of the Rovers than reality. Had you not lived it you would swear this was the work of some Hollywood screenwriter. The tongue in cheek pride with which the club have rebranded their stadium “The Theatre of Dreams” speaks volumes about both the history of the club and also the aspirations of every player who pulls on the red shirt and every fan who wants to.