What made you support United?

No Idea For Nickname

Patroness Saint of the anti-RAWKites
Joined
Jan 1, 2015
Messages
19,563
Location
Split, Croatia
One nice day long long time ago, I came home with my daughter from a nice little walk (she was 10 months old) fed her, put her to bed, she fell asleep, left her to sleep and went to talk to my parents and have a dinner. As I was passing by living room my dad calls me and says: "come watch football with your old man", I asked him who is playing, he said Bayern and Manchester. Yes that game. I started singing "Manchester, England, England", from a movie Hair, that I sang quite often, he said "yes they are from England". I had no idea about any of the clubs cause I was basketball fan at the time, trained it as well, and started watching football only less then a year before, WC 1998 in France, (Croatia won bronze medal) when I had to lie down in the 9th month of pregnancy, because of my troubles, so I watched every single game that WC. So I said to my dad: ok, who are we cheering for, he said Manchester. He was not big fan of German people on a count his dad was killed by nazi in front of him and his brother and sister. Knowing that I said I will cheer for Bayern, just to have a bit of fun with my old man, as the game went on he was more annoyed with result and the game, talking about this team from Manchester and this Ferguson guy that I spent half of the game trying to find which player has that last name on his back. Good days. 20 minutes before the end I told him I will now cheer for his team and "we" will win. He replied "about time". 10 mins before the end he was so nervous and decided to go to balcony for a cigaret, or two and told me to call him when "we" score. I did. He runs back with a cigaret in his hand (mom was not happy about that) and both hands in the air "yeeeees, one more". I laughed. He went back to balcony. I stopped laughing. "Dad", I shouted, not believeing what just happened, "they scored again" he runs back saying "you are kidding", hears croatian commentator screaming and shoutin, looks at TV and sees bunch of grown up men jumping on one of them. Starts jumping as well, cigaret ash falls on the carpet, (mom was not happy about that either) and shouts: "oh my God, Ferguson did it" I told him Ferguson did not score, it was some guy who came on the pitch not long ago. He looked at me, starts laughing and says: "Ferguson is coach"! How was I supposed to know that?
Anyway, still remember the shock I was in, scoring 2 goals in such a short period, never seen that before (not that I've seen many games up until then) and that was it for me. Funny how I remember that day like it was yesterday.
And I still sing that song very often, now I know why.
 
Last edited:

Cypriot

Full Member
Joined
May 2, 2010
Messages
2,757
Location
Manchester, United Kingdom
Dad took me to OT when I was 4-5. Think we played Maccabi Haifa in the UCL. Missed 3 goals whilst in the queue for a hot dog. Absolute scenes, been hooked ever since.
 

lysglimt

Full Member
Scout
Joined
Jun 1, 2008
Messages
15,107
Was an Arsenal-fan as a little boy, and my idol was Frank Stapleton. When Big Ron signed Stapleton, I decided to support United. I was 8 years old at the time - so I Owe a lot to Big Ron.
 

Jev

Full Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2008
Messages
7,852
Location
Denmark
Started getting into watching football at the 1998 World Cup. I was often a goalkeeper in the schoolyard and was fascinated by Schmeichel. Since he played for United and we went on to win everything in the most thrilling way possible during my first season following football, it made sense
 

AaronRedDevil

Full Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2018
Messages
9,534
Would like to hear about today’s new united fans. 10 years ago we had plenty of reasons. Ones who didn’t come from a family supported team. Would be interesting.
 

NotoriousISSY

$10mil and I fecked it up!
Joined
Mar 20, 2012
Messages
16,277
Location
up north
Manchester United was the biggest sporting entity on all National Media in the 90's.

If you liked football and didn't have an aggressive family following elsewhere, it became customary to follow United because they were everywhere.

On top of that, shamelessly the biggest reason was David Beckham for me aged 6/7. No one has trademarked anything in football quite like him imo. He made taking fecking corners fashionable.
 

Steve Bruce

Full Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2008
Messages
1,311
I honestly don't know. I can't remember not supporting united.

I was born in Belfast but lived in Burnage & Didsbury Manchester soon after until I was 10 before moving back to Belfast.

My father wasn't a football fan. But he worked for SHARP as an engineer. My first memory of being at a game, it was when the stretty was still terracing. My dad put me on his shoulders so I could see (he was 6'6) unfortunately I can't remember any of the game or who it was against, but I was around 5 or 6.

I was following united before this game however but I can't remember when or why when I had no influence in my household and my friends didn't care.
 

forlans.second

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Aug 13, 2014
Messages
145
Location
Staffs
Neither of my parents were really football fans, however my younger brother was born prematurely (2months) on f.a cup final weekend in 1983. There was another baby born very premature also that day. The nurses didn't expect either child to make it. They knitted my brother a tiny man united kit and the other child a Brighton one. We still have the one they made for my brother. As soon as I fell in love with football there was only one club for me, for which I'm eternally grateful to the nurses at stepping hill hospital for...... oh and of course for ensuring my brother survived.
 

johndurham49

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Apr 22, 2019
Messages
17
I started following the reds in 1976 when I was 6 yrs of age! Just remember being a football fan way before that watching the big teams of the time such as Chelsea etc on Match of the Day, Sportsnight, Midweek Sports Special etc then this team came on tv. I remember my Mum and Dad getting me a replica top from Asda (!) and so I watched us lose to Soton in the FA Cup final and the following year us beating a top LFC team 2-1 to win the cup. I fell in love I guess. Since that time I've seen us go through some amazing players such as Mickey T, Jimmy Greenhoff, Stu Pearson, Robbo, Big Norm, Sparky, Choccy, Brucey, Eric, Keano etc and even though we've been through bad spells there is something special about supporting our team. Admittedly it's not a great situation right now but we are bringing some good youngsters through. Trouble is they're not playing alongside some top top experienced players. For me, we will rise again, just not yet. UTD FOREVER
 

black country red

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Aug 10, 2013
Messages
911
Got to admit I’m a glory hunter saw them win the european cup in 1968 aged 8 and been hooked since
 

Whatsername

Full Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
1,100
Location
South Staffs/E239
I'd watched football with my Dad (I think he secretly wanted a son) since I was a toddler but just enjoyed watching and didn't really support anyone until I had a boyfriend in the mid-80s who supported United. I went to games with him and carried on going after we'd split up.
 

bondsname

Full Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2018
Messages
1,054
I'm born in the 90's, so I was quite young when United was at their peak. I didn't watch football often (because I thought it was boring) but I played it myself, and like every other kid in the world at the time, I wanted to emulate Ronaldo.

Someday in school a bunch of kids were talking about how John Terry slipped on his arse in the champions league final. I watched the highlights when I got home and I saw my idol Ronaldo score that wonderful header, and that day I also fell in love with the club.

From there on I always claimed to be a United fan, but didn't start watching games regularly until a few years later (we didn't have the channels at home, when I got older i discovered streaming). My two best friends were Liverpool fan and Manchester City fan respectively, so we started watching the games together and made fun of each other. Unfortunately for me everything turned to shit when I started watching every day because that was around Sir Alex's retirement and the beginning of the horrible mess we are in now, so I've been roasted a lot by my friends for a couple of years.

The slack i've been getting from my friends, and the dire situation this club is in currently, is all worth it though considering the rich history and faith in academy this club uniquely has. I think I made the correct decision that day in 2008.
 

King Eric 7

Full Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2014
Messages
5,486
The short answer is that I became disillusioned with supporting my local club back in the 90s and didn't want to go to their (or any) football matches anymore. I still enjoyed watching football and starting watching United as they just seemed to be on the TV a lot more. It was a wise choice I think because on the few occasions I go up to Old Trafford I really enjoy the match day experience.
 

Roosney

Full Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2013
Messages
3,679
Location
Finland
The local grocery store sold some toyish shin pads with PL crests on them, I got City or/and Everton ones because they were cool sounding English words.
A few weeks later I read the sports pages in the papers and was looking at the standings and asked my dad what does "United" mean. Liked the meaning and became a fan.

This was 1986 or '87.
 

Spaghetti

Mom's
Joined
Aug 15, 2012
Messages
1,463
Location
Barcelona
I was taken to my first game by my parents around 1990, when I was 5. It was 0-0. And so was the next game I went to. I think the first time I saw us score was in a testimonial (maybe Mark Hughes).

Started going regularly in 1993-1994, which makes me seem like a full on Glory Supporter!
 

Class of 63

Sourness
Joined
Aug 15, 2017
Messages
9,028
Location
Going through the Desert on a Horse with no Name
I'm born in the 90's, so I was quite young when United was at their peak. I didn't watch football often (because I thought it was boring) but I played it myself, and like every other kid in the world at the time, I wanted to emulate Ronaldo.

Someday in school a bunch of kids were talking about how John Terry slipped on his arse in the champions league final. I watched the highlights when I got home and I saw my idol Ronaldo score that wonderful header, and that day I also fell in love with the club.

From there on I always claimed to be a United fan, but didn't start watching games regularly until a few years later (we didn't have the channels at home, when I got older i discovered streaming). My two best friends were Liverpool fan and Manchester City fan respectively, so we started watching the games together and made fun of each other. Unfortunately for me everything turned to shit when I started watching every day because that was around Sir Alex's retirement and the beginning of the horrible mess we are in now, so I've been roasted a lot by my friends for a couple of years.

The slack i've been getting from my friends, and the dire situation this club is in currently, is all worth it though considering the rich history and faith in academy this club uniquely has. I think I made the correct decision that day in 2008.
Too much information :lol:
 

croadyman

Full Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2018
Messages
34,330
Got to admit I’m a glory hunter saw them win the european cup in 1968 aged 8 and been hooked since
My cousin got me into Football and was mesmerised while watching his 92/93 season review video and from that day I was hooked on the club, always remember shedding a few tears when we lost that 94 league cup final to villa who my brother just happened to support.
 

alanjohnson

Full Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2016
Messages
611
This is back in 93 when i was 6. The school head teacher was just having some fun, trolling...and asked 'if you support Liverpool, put your hands up', most of my friends put their hands up and i didn't...to which their reaction was 'YOU SUPPORT MANCHESTER UNITED???' so i just went with it.

that's all it took..i didnt know anything about the teams, the players..but it becams an identity where other boys who knew i support manchester united suddenly wanted to be friends. we literally ended up with 2 groups, manchester united fans and liverpool fans..and i swear until my mid to late 20s, I still had that mentality.

The 94 season was the one where i really found out about Cantona, Giggs, Ince, Kanchelskis and Lee Sharpe.

and then this...
 

Member 113277

Guest
I tell you one thing it wasn't, banning Liverpool fans in case they gloat.

The club I followed was way above pettiness like that. I'll still follow Utd, not sure I'll bother on here anymore.

A true Utd fan doesn't care what any other club supporter says - they might have a temporary advantage, but in the long term there's only one biggest club in the world.
 

Stump it up

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Aug 1, 2014
Messages
8
Location
A small red corner of Stockport
Was around 1977 to 1980. My family moved to the states for that 'American dream'. I can remember going to watch the Cosmos play someone or other and my dad putting his arm around me and talking about a player on the opposition team. His name.. George Best. My dad spoke about him like a god and went on about when he watched him play for Man Utd, got hooked right there and then. I moved back to England early 90's and living 15 mins away from OT now im happy as larry!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Penna

diarm

Full Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2014
Messages
16,681
I started supporting them because my dad did. I fell in love because of Cantona.
 

Penna

Kind Moderator (with a bit of a mean streak)
Staff
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
49,661
Location
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
For me it was Bobby Charlton in the 60s. I was the youngest of two girls, my father wasn't a football fan but I was obsessed. Used to cut every article out of dad's newspaper and stick them in scrapbooks. I got into trouble at school when I was about 12 for doing my spoken English presentation on United and Bobby Charlton - it was a rather stuffy girls' grammar school and not the done thing!

Saw them for the first time when I was about 11, my older sister was seeing a boy who was a United fan. We all went to the derby at Maine Road in his old Mini. My sis got knocked over on the terraces and trampled on and we spent the second half of the match in the hospital while she had her ribs X-rayed.
 

Maroon Lucifer

Full Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
4,852
Location
Faroe Islands
So what's your story and how did you come about supporting the best football club on the planet?

Go...
Ryan Giggs... I bought the season review 1991/1992 because it had Giggs on the cover. I might still have it. Have supported them ever since. First kit I bought was the 1992-94, the one with the laces.
 

Hound Dog

Full Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2011
Messages
3,192
Location
Belgrade, Serbia
Supports
Whoever I bet on
One nice day long long time ago, I came home with my daughter from a nice little walk (she was 10 months old) fed her, put her to bed, she fell asleep, left her to sleep and went to talk to my parents and have a dinner. As I was passing by living room my dad calls me and says: "come watch football with your old man", I asked him who is playing, he said Bayern and Manchester. Yes that game. I started singing "Manchester, England, England", from a movie Hair, that I sang quite often, he said "yes they are from England". I had no idea about any of the clubs cause I was basketball fan at the time, trained it as well, and started watching football only less then a year before, WC 1998 in France, (Croatia won bronze medal) when I had to lie down in the 9th month of pregnancy, because of my troubles, so I watched every single game that WC. So I said to my dad: ok, who are we cheering for, he said Manchester. He was not big fan of German people on a count his dad was killed by nazi in front of him and his brother and sister. Knowing that I said I will cheer for Bayern, just to have a bit of fun with my old man, as the game went on he was more annoyed with result and the game, talking about this team from Manchester and this Ferguson guy that I spent half of the game trying to find which player has that last name on his back. Good days. 20 minutes before the end I told him I will now cheer for his team and "we" will win. He replied "about time". 10 mins before the end he was so nervous and decided to go to balcony for a cigaret, or two and told me to call him when "we" score. I did. He runs back with a cigaret in his hand (mom was not happy about that) and both hands in the air "yeeeees, one more". I laughed. He went back to balcony. I stopped laughing. "Dad", I shouted, not believeing what just happened, "they scored again" he runs back saying "you are kidding", hears croatian commentator screaming and shoutin, looks at TV and sees bunch of grown up men jumping on one of them. Starts jumping as well, cigaret ash falls on the carpet, (mom was not happy about that either) and shouts: "oh my God, Ferguson did it" I told him Ferguson did not score, it was some guy who came on the pitch not long ago. He looked at me, starts laughing and says: "Ferguson is coach"! How was I supposed to know that?
Anyway, still remember the shock I was in, scoring 2 goals in such a short period, never seen that before (not that I've seen many games up until then) and that was it for me. Funny how I remember that day like it was yesterday.
And I still sing that song very often, now I know why.
My story is similar to this. Started watching football during WC of 1998, never cared about a foreign club, fell in love during the final vs Bayern. Replace father with grandfather and that's pretty much it.
 

dave1956

Full Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2016
Messages
463
1956, a very very young boy siting on my dad's shoulders with his brother in the Stretford end, being scared by the noise and the amount of people around me, but excited at the same time and watching players whose collective skills I came to admire and have not on reflection of age seen since.
 

cfkane

Full Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2015
Messages
368
Back in 2003 I said to a Manchester born friend that I thought soccer was boring. She replied that I only thought that because I had only seen Americans play it. She challenged me to watch a proper English match. She didn't say I should watch United, just to watch an English game. That weekend, while changing channels I saw an exhibition game being televised between United and Barcelona in Philadelphia. I knew nothing about the team at the time, and how legendary a team it is, but I knew it was Jane's team so decided to watch it. United won the game 3-1, and my wife and I both enjoyed it, enough to continue to watch the team once the season began. The moment the wife an I knew we were hooked was a match on 31 August 2003 against Southampton when James Beattie scored an 88th minute winner off a corner. We were both gutted and depressed the rest of the day. That was when we both knew we were United supporters.

We finally saw them in person the following year on the preseason tour lose to Celtic, in Philadelphia. My wife even bought a United flag and got some signatures on it. We had planned to see them 3 times on the 2011 US tour, but my wife died suddenly one month before the first game. In 2013, with the help of the US Supporters Cub, I went to Old Trafford and witnessed the Derby. Brought the wife's flag, was able to hang it in Old Trafford during the match, got more signatures on it and it now hangs framed in my home, with a plaque engraved, "Christina's flag".

I can't ever imagine not supporting United even if they were relegated all the way to League One.
 

RUCK4444

New Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2015
Messages
9,553
Location
$¥$¥$¥$¥$
Two words

Eric. Cantona.

Im of the belief this man in his prime made millions of people my age fall in love with the club.

I was a kid when he was in his prime and to this day I’ve not seen a player with such an aura. The King.
 

ifightdragons

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Oct 9, 2019
Messages
228
Two words

Eric. Cantona.

Im of the belief this man in his prime made millions of people my age fall in love with the club.

I was a kid when he was in his prime and to this day I’ve not seen a player with such an aura. The King.
I agree!

Question: What do you think of players who have come here, acting like they're the new "king"? Players like Ibrahimovic, and Pogba. I often see people giving them equal or even higher praise than Cantona, for being charismatic and skilled.

I for one think they can't compare. But I'm wondering if I'm in the minority here.
 

Moby

Dick
Joined
May 20, 2011
Messages
51,358
Location
Barcelona, Catalunya
Reading about the Munich Disaster, and the club's history as a whole during all those years and the way we pulled back from such an unfortunate event and be crowned the best in Europe 10 years later definitely inspired a whole lot of respect in me for this club. It is a tad unfair to be honest because we never wish any club or any group for that matter to ever have to recover from something as tragic as that, but the fact that it did happen, and the way the whole organisation stood together to come back from that, and become such a force which surely would have made the ones we lost happy, wherever they were watching from! Not just the 68 win, but the years leading up to that, Sir Bobby coming back and leading his country to the World Cup while being a pillar for us at the club level, Bestie's emergence as one of the true superstars known across Europe and what provided the glamorous side of the club, and so on. Reading Bestie's autobiography as well as the other pieces covering our history, the journey we had during those years is truly inspirational and something that cemented my respect and admiration for what we stand for.
 

RUCK4444

New Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2015
Messages
9,553
Location
$¥$¥$¥$¥$
I agree!

Question: What do you think of players who have come here, acting like they're the new "king"? Players like Ibrahimovic, and Pogba. I often see people giving them equal or even higher praise than Cantona, for being charismatic and skilled.

I for one think they can't compare. But I'm wondering if I'm in the minority here.
I don't believe any player embodied United as a club as much as Cantona.

He was everything I love about this club rolled into one player. Class, passion, attacking,

It's hard to explain but he had a sort of graceful swagger. Collar up, game face, all eyes were on him before he even got onto the pitch.

He's the most important United player of our generation in terms influence and his legend status is as about as high as it gets.

In fairness to Ibra, even before he signed for United, I always thought he had a bit of the Cantona swagger about him. I would swap Eric for anybody though, like I say he was the reason I started following the club - in a house full of Liverpool fans may I add!!