Manchester United - the most romanticized football club.

In the summer of 2006, Germany hosted the FIFA World Cup, which was highly entertaining in terms of the quality of football and theatrics. Back in my hometown, Vadodara, I and my society friends used to get excited for football once every four years, at the time of the football world cup. I was a cricket lover (as you do in India), and used to watch football to get entertained.

On 1st July 2006, England and Portugal met in the quarter-finals at the Veltins-Arena. The goalless match saw David Beckham get injured and in the 62nd minute of the game, an incident happened which piqued my interest in football. England striker Wayne Rooney stamped his foot on Carvalho. During the commotion, Rooney also pushed Cristiano Ronaldo, who was trying to get him sent off. The referee did the honors and Rooney was shown a red card. After the sending off, the camera cut to Ronaldo who winked at his teammate implying that his instigation led to Rooney’s dismissal. Loving drama and theatrics, this was a moment of joy for me, and I was introduced to the dramatic side of the football. The game went into penalties and Portugal beat England, Ronaldo being the player that kicked in the winning penalty.

I followed the whole tournament and, in a month, read the back pages of the newspaper which stated that Sir Alex Ferguson mends the enmity between Rooney and Ronaldo who played for the same club in England, a club called Manchester United. I was intrigued. The season began and Rooney-Ronaldo’s partnership helped their club to a fantastic start.

Cut to – I visit a relative, my distant cousin, who talks to me about the greatness of the English Premier League. He supported Arsenal and tried to force me for it by laying out that club’s achievements. But I said,” what about ManUtd?” to which he went on a rant of how United cheat to win and how they are not a good club, etc. He told me to watch Arsenal’s game against United which took place on September 17, 2006. Also, my close friends at the time were nudging me to support Chelsea, AC Milan, who they supported.

I sat down to watch Manchester United v Arsenal which took place at United’s home ground ‘Old Trafford’. The match was dramatic and had plenty of twists and turns, Emmanuel Adebayor scored in the 86th minute to bring a halt to United’s winning run. Even though Arsenal won, the commentary, the supporters in Old Trafford made me root for ManUtd. I felt bad after United lost and instantly loved the passion and aggression shown by the players and the manager – Sir Alex Ferguson. I had found my club.

After watching more matches, I noticed that Ronaldo was public enemy no.1 due to his theatrics at the World Cup that triggered the English fans and his skills and trickery won me over. As my cousin, close friends raged at me for following ManUtd, and trolled the club, I fell more for the team. During that year I also looked into the history of ManUtd and just felt connected with them. The Munich Air Disaster in 1958 that left eight senior team players dead, to the relegation of the team in the 70s, to being a good cup team in the 80s, to the appointment of Sir Alex in 1986, to the dominance in English football in the 90s, I felt connected and at home.

From there the journey has seen some great highs like becoming 20 time- Premier League Champions, winning the UEFA Champions League in 2008 jumping up and down at around 4 am in the early morning, FA Cup - League Cup triumphs and FIFA Club World Cup wins, and sinking lows including getting knocked out of UCL group stages, losing the league to ManCity on goal difference. I have cried in victory and losses; I became a more passionate man growing up supporting United. This is the most romanticized football club and frankly, I experienced more emotions watching United than being in a relationship. I tried to never miss any game, be it the 10th-12th exams, or traveling, or while working. And even when I couldn’t watch them play live, I would always look out for updates.

After the retirement of the most successful Premier League manager, Sir Alex, the club has been stuck in a repetitive cycle. In seven years, we have seen 4 managers at the helm of the club and the greed of the owners- the Glazer family has grown rapidly. The Chief executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward’s goal for us has been to get a top 4 finish and then not back the manager. The club has failed to back a good third position finish with manager and legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. It is sad to see the decline of the club and this transfer window has been shambolic. The 1-6 loss against the former boss, Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford just highlighted the mess we are in.

The negativity, the lack of courage and vision shown by the club is infuriating. It is one step forward, two steps backward for the United fans. Ed Woodward and the Glazer family’s departure has been demanded by the fans for a long time now, and it only keeps growing. The board needs a revamp and the manager needs the backing in transfers.

The ethos of the football club is to never give up and always make a comeback. Hope to bounce back and get back up to the top, again. The love and passion for United will not waver ever. This is where I feel home and this is where I will be forever.

And as a certain ManUtd legend said,” you can change your wife, your politics, your religion, but never, never can you change your favorite football team.”