Date: 29th October 2011 at 6:02pm
Written by:
Old Trafford- with fans still there

Old Trafford- with fans still there

It’s always a messy affair when you poke your nose into other people’s relationships; usual responses are along the lines of:

“WTF has it got to do with you?”

“It’s complicated”

“You’ve got some nerve the amount of kids you’ve had behind your wives back”

And so on and so forth, it’s never the nose pokers business; their opinion is null and void. So how does that relate when judging fellow fans relationships with our club? To inevitably alienate myself from a large demographic of United fans I used to be against people not supporting your local club, regardless of how shit they were. My view was one of if they weren’t from Manchester then you have got no right supporting Manchester United; my views have somewhat changed having being all around Europe and met and drank and sang and drank with many Reds who were from all walks of life. Their obvious love for the club warmed a cold heart to a few cockney reds here and there. My view nowadays is if you go to the games; dedicate the significant time, energy and money it takes to follow United then you’re as much of a United fan as me regardless that I was born in Longsight and you were born in Libya. Contributing love and support for the same cause is all that United fans should expect of each other but last Sunday was a fucking disgrace, and I’m not talking about the score line.

Not one for generally dabbling in the sadistic I nevertheless watched last Sundays game in its entirety again last night; I needed to try and get some clarity of how we went wrong, what tactics needed we to employ but it was in vein. Last weeks score line reflected exactly what went on, on the pitch; it was footballs Ron seal. What turned my stomach more than Noncini’s grimace was how empty the stands were with 25minutes still left on the clock; aren’t we the ones who sing “the council house is never full…” and “The city is yours? 20,000 empty seats are you fucking sure?”

There is a clip of a bloke with the October Sun bouncing of his bald bonce leaving the ground; his face, reflected the thoughts of millions of Reds around the world, his actions reflected a small minority. I haven’t met baldy nor a fan yet who walked out early but if/when I do I will be asking “What do you do when your wife’s ill, or your kids, or your dogs been run over and he’s just not going to make it?” Walking out like that last week, for me, was the equivalent of your old Nan being at death’s door in hospital and leaving early because she wasn’t going to make it, what’s the point in hanging around, I’ll get the Metro back to town and beat the rush.

This has significance on several levels:

1) How do you think the players are going to respond to people heading for the hills like the bubonic plague had hit? If we, the fans, can’t be arsed then how are the players going to respond to the only noise in the ground coming from seats closing? We are there to instil support (confidence and gratitude when things are going well, condolence and reassurance when they are not); support does not mean celebrate when you’re winning and whinge and fuck off early when you are not. I would not like to be friends with anyone with such ethics, heaven knows where I’d find you if I needed a shoulder.

2) How does it look to our rivals, and in front of our bitterest rivals at that? How can you have the nerve to sing and mock other clubs attendance records when you behave like that? What sort of signal does that shout out? Old Trafford (bar the Stretford End) already has the reputation of being something of a ghost town, why not play into the hands of such critics

3) Other, less fortunate fans would’ve killed to be at Old Trafford, good, bad or indifferent result. I’ve had the benefit of seeing United fans from poverty stricken parts of Asia who watch are nuts about United; some areas in Indonesia watch games as a community (30+) on one television. To go to Old Trafford is a lifetime ambition for a lot of them and they will NEVER be able to go and the baldy cowards of this world can quite gladly dismiss the privileged position they are in.

The problem with A LOT of United fans is they’ve been spoilt rotten for years and have an expectancy level that is not physically sustainable. When they fail to reach such heights fans throw their dummy out of the ground and head off early doors; I’d hate to see United ever to be relegated again or competing for a lesser league spot but it’d siphon some of the shit from the stands. These same fans, I’ll hazard a guess, booed Michael Carrick from the stands when he got possession earlier on in the season. Spoilt brats, the fucking lot of them, it was an exercise in cowardice and every ticket holder who walked should be revoked of a ticket against Sunderland.

To walk out of any United game when you consider yourself a fan is inexcusable, you should wait until the whistle then leave. Bitch and whinge after the game, in the pub, at the missus; this is the team we are all supposed to love and who we’ll “fight, fight, fight” for, from the River Irwell not flee when it gets too difficult.

A friend of mine got interviewed by GM.TV before he flew out to Moscow for the European Cup Final, another of the bunch had informed the presenter that my friends’ baby was due the same day and his wife was going into slow labour, the presenter asked “and what does your wife thing about you flying off to Russia?” His answer:

“Well, you have to get your priorities straight, don’t you?”

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9 responses to “The Most Embarrassing Aspect Of The Derby Defeat”

  1. lamar says:

    I’m one of those fans that dreams of one day visiting the old trafford. Fuck those spoiled brats that left. I don’t consider them fans.

  2. Ez says:

    Spot on… A True Man United fan will stand by his team no matter what.
    But to be honest, your pal who flew to Moscow leaving his pregnant wife in due date is One big fool. Gary Neville won’t do that aye!

  3. Dee says:

    Couldn’t have said it better – We are United, we BELIEVE and we “fight, fight, fight” till the end.its a shame some “fans” actually walked out

  4. Gaisie says:

    I watch United on SuperSports with many others every matchday in a large room and I will give everything to sit in Old Trafford for a match. Those who left are bitches like you said.

  5. Andy says:

    Top top article. Couldn’t believe it seeing fans leaving early, when others (including myself) would give their right arm just to have the opportunity/honor of sitting in Old Trafford

  6. Robert S says:

    United we stand, United we fall! No matter what the result is. I paid a lot of money to come over from Austria, and never in a million years I thought of leaving early. And I for one was happy that the team tried to attack until the end. United never know when they’re beaten – and so should the supporters!

    There’s no sense in booing your own team! No matter what the situation is – booing will never turn things around or make anything better.

  7. The Verminator says:

    I am, in case anyone missed the name, an inveterate Arsenal fan and I can entirely agree with SES’s excellent take on fickle, plastic, sunshine only fanboys who turn their back on their supposed Club because they had a bad day.
    We had a very bad day on August 28th at OT with our understrength and disjointed team being humiliated BUT our away supporters stayed and sang to the bitter end. That is what being a supporter is all about. If any supporters could be said to be justified in abandoning ship it would be Gooners who haven’t seen a trophy in 6 years (as the press loves to remind everyone) but, while we have spoilt brat moaners and groaners who hate the Club so much that they cheer when we lose or draw, we do have some of the best away fans in the EPL.
    Since that debacle at OT, we have gone on a spree with 10 victories and only 2 defeats in all Cup and EPL games. Suddenly the Wenger and Arsenal hating minority of our supporters have gone quiet and the home and away support is fantastic. This will be the same for United as class can never be ignored.

  8. Tony Attwood says:

    Sorry about this, but another Arsenal supporter here – what you did to us, what Man C did to you, and what we did to Chelsea seems to encourage us all to share feelings.

    People have always left games early – it can be for many reasons, maybe to get the train home, maybe to get to the pub before the rush, who knows. It never used to be an issue when we all stood, because you couldn’t see people edging out, but now, it is just another one of those boring shots that TV stations do.

    Arsenal get it quite often (plus the comments that “it doesn’t look like 60,000 here to me”) and pictures of young children crying or pretty women.

    You can just hear the producer shouting to the cameraman, “give me a shot of a football babe” or “I want a child in the crowd – give me a fucking child in the crowd…”

    Arsenal, like Man U, has a long and esteemed history, which has given both clubs supporters across the globe. They too wonder what is going on with people walking out early when they would give anything to be in our seats as season ticket holders – but the criticism runs on and on.

    We call them (on Untold Arsenal) the Anti-Arsenal Arsenal, and we think we suffer badly from them – they even have their own web sites for God’s sake. But maybe every club has the moaners. Perhaps it is just part of football.

  9. Dave Cooper says:

    I was there on the day and I left early fir the first time ever. I walked out when Dzecko scored the 4th for City in the 90th minute as I couldn’t stand to hear all the Bitters singing Blue Moon at the final whistle but to say fans were leaving with 20 minutes to go and that the ground was half full with 10 minutes to go is a lie and a joke.