33 Years of Sheer Fanaticism

I get a great deal of pleasure from reading other fan's accounts of United past. Although I can’t go back as far as I'd like, I have some very fond memories that may jog the memory of Reds from back in the 70s and 80s.

I was born in Didsbury (about 5 miles from OT for those not familiar with Manchester) in 63 and I do not exactly remember when or why I started following United. It was around 1969 and I think it was because red was my favorite colour at the time and all my mates supported them!!! The first ever game I went to was at Maine Road with my dad to see City. It was in 69 or 70. They beat Sunderland that day 1-0 with Franny Lee scoring a penalty in the 90th minute after taking a dive in the box!!!

I don’t recall my first United game but it may have been a derby against City on May 12th 1972. We lost 3-1 that night and Martin Buchan scored our only goal - I thought he'd be a real sharpshooter after that! Took him about 7 years to score another! I do remember vividly the day when Bestie came back after suspension and scored 6 at Northampton as we won 8-2. I also remember Spurs winning at OT in 71 (I think) 4-1. Martin Peters scored all 4 that day That is the first occasion I recall being sad after United lost!!!

My mum or dad would take me a few games a season. We always parked in the White City car park (why, I’ll never know - it always took ages to get out) and sat anywhere we wanted almost. In those dark days getting tickets was not too tough - even though we still averaged 40,000 plus. That was in the days when a packed Old Trafford hosted around 65,000. Programs were 6 or 8p and silk scarves were the rage then were about 50p. They were nylon really but we called them silk, anyway. We tied them to our wrists and twirled them above our head as we sung Que Sera Sera. Rosettes were also big in those days.

One memorable game from this period was against Chelsea in November 1973. We were down 2-0 with about 5 minutes left. I had bought a United lamp shade from the Souvenir Shop (the tiny one on the corner) before the game and at half time when I looked at it, I realized that by mistake they had given me an Arsenal lamp shade. Now why they carried Arsenal items will always remain a mystery. My mum said that after the game it would take an hour to exchange if we didn't leave early. So with 5 minutes to go, we left. We exchanged the lamp and went back to the car to hear Radio 2 sports report. Imagine my surprise when the score was announced. United 2 Chelsea 2. Tony Young and Brian Greenhoff had both scored from outside the box in a fantastic comeback. Ever since, I stay until the final whistle - which has caused me to miss trains, planes and automobiles.

Then there was a game I saw Bestie beat half the Forest team. He dribbled round the keeper and from 15 yards out in the middle of the goal, with nobody to stop him, George tried to be fancy and chip it in. He hit the bar and it bounced over!!! We won anyway. By the time we went down, I was old enough to go to OT alone and used to regularly hitch a lift from Princess Parkway and Barlow Moor Road and go stand in the United Road. It was 40p for Juniors so a day at OT was less than a pound. The game against Leeds that season at OT brought in 62,000. Leeds had stormed into first place with about 9 wins from the first 10 games and we were losing left, right and centre. We lost 2-0 that day but the atmosphere at OT was amazing. I sat in front of the paddock - literally, on the pitch - behind the advertising hoardings. At half time it was impossible to head back into the crowd to take a leak, so I pissed on the pitch :-) We ended up getting relegated that year and I was one of the hooligans that rushed onto the pitch to abandon the game against City after King Denis had scored. This didn't seal our relegation (we would have gone down anyway) but it was an excuse to get on the pitch and as a 10 year old, that was a thrill.

While we were in Division 2 I missed only two home games. The atmosphere for that final game against Blackpool was the best I'd ever witnessed at Old Trafford. We also played City in the League Cup that year and won 1-0 thanks to a Gerry Daly penalty. City exacted revenge the next season beating us in the same competition by a 4-0 scoreline. The second division and the late 70s were special years for United. The style of football was great. The Doc hadn’t been able to save us from the drop but the side we came up with was good and the next 3-4 years were to prove that. In our first year back up we finished 3rd behind QPR and Liverpool and got to the FA Final. Next year we won the cup which was our first major trophy (the 2nd division title is not a major trophy) for 9 years.And I was going to very home game and about 8-10 away games a season.

That side of: Stepney, Forsyth/Nichol, Houston/Albiston, Buchan, Greenhoff, Macari, McIlroy, Daley, Coppell, Pearson and Hill was a delight to watch. The Doc never had the chance to take this team further as after the Cup win. He was fired when it came to light that he had been shagging Mary Brown (the Physio’s wife). Sexton was not the man for the job and he never capitalized on the Doc’s work.

Special memories from that period were often from away games. As a young teenager (14 or 15 years old) I would go to the Midlands and closer and sometimes even to London. I went to White Hart Lane one year and it was a sell out. I tried every means to get in and finally climbed a 15 foot wall at half time only to end up in the Spurs end. We won 3-1 that night but I couldn’t cheer my reds!! Some of the songs from those days were funny. When we played Birmingham we would sing about Crossroads and Coronation Street. ‘Benny is a fat t**t’ was one. ‘We all agree, Len Fairclough is harder than Benny’ was another. If this makes no sense to you, sorry but some readers will find it nostalgic I think.

I inherited a season ticket from my grandad so usually sat in H Stand. But I often liked to go in the United Road and Scoreboard Paddocks. It was from there that I saw one of the best games ever at Old Trafford. We lost 5-3 to West Brom. The singing and swaying of the crowd were something that the younger generation will never know. Shame really. Then there was the night we tried to pull off a victory against Porto in the Cup Winners Cup. We trailed 4-0 from the first leg. On a very foggy October night, I witnessed a seven goal thriller. We won the game 5-2 but lost 6-5 on aggregate. It was a great effort that was to fall just short. I feel privileged to have been at such games.

In 82, I left England and went to live in Israel. I would listen to BBC World Service and call my folks every week for news but I was isolated and missed my reds. I saw the 85 Cup Final with a friend who supported Everton and when Norman Whiteside scored that gem of a goal, my joy knew no limits. Never watch a game with a good friend who supports the opposition. Either your support will weaken or your friendship will. If that’s fine by you then go ahead but I’ll never do it again.

I’ve been in the US since 89 and now I see a few games a year on TV here and I still get back almost every year to see a few games at OT. I saw Eric’s return from suspension in October 95 against Liverpool. I was Manchester in 21 days in September/October that year and saw 3 home games - 3 wins. In 97 I saw a few games but the ten day trip in early December of that year was truly amazing. We stuffed Blackburn 4-0 and then a week later we won 3-1 at Anfield. I was at both games and it made me realise just how much I miss my beloved. It was also my first trip to Anfield in over 10 years and to see such a win was an amazing buzz. I was also fortunate to meet Alex Ferguson and spend a couple of minutes chatting with him during this trip. For details, click on the Book button to the left

Now I see many games at the Britannia Arms in Cupertino, California which is one of Bestie’s old hangouts from his days with the San Jose Earthquakes. About 30-50 of us get there at 7am whenever United are on and the atmosphere is friendly but we are passionate. In fact, I have my fondest memories of being a Red from "The Brit". Although I was fortunate enough to have had a League Match Ticket Book (similar to a season ticket) for about 10 years, I never saw us win a title from my view in H Stand - Stair 9, Row 30 Seat 163. We also had a bad habit of losing whenever I went to Wembley for Cup finals. So I'd had little to shout about for my 24 years of fanaticism and when Bruce scored the 2 goals against Sheff Weds that set us up to beat Villa for the title in 93, I shed a tear of joy because I knew that day that the gods were with us and our 26 year wait was almost over. That game ranks as my favourite game ever. I also saw the Chelsea Cup Final at the Brit and the Barcelona CWC final. Not to forget the Middlesborough game in 1996 when we won the League again AND the Cup Final against Liverpool where we did the double AGAIN. In 1999 I saw us beat Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup and capture the league title at home to Spurs there. Yes, 'The Brit' may be a poor substitute for a place with the team at every game but I have vowed to be present at our second European Cup final victory whenever and wherever that may be.

 I’ll end with my all time eleven (as of 1999 - too hard to update). I have only included players I saw so Denis Law just misses out and all the heroes from the 60s, 50s and before have no place in my team. It was tough enough doing it this way, as I’m sure you can imagine

Schmeichel
Neville G.
Buchan
Pallister
Irwin
Giggs
Robson
Keane
Charlton
Best
Cantona

Subs:
Bailey
McGrath
Ince
Hughes
Macari