09 Sep 2026 11:54:06
An interesting debate down the page, kind of revolving around how much do you care?
A Manchester lad, I've supported United for 50 years since the Division 2 days, had a season ticket for some time, followed home and away at other times. I was there when we were pretty poor, and there through the SAF successful years.
Being completely honest, I don't care like I used to. Don't get me wrong, I want United to win every game and I am desperate for trophies, but it doesn't keep me awake. I see the coverage of grown men crying because their team is losing and I don't get it.
Maybe it's because I have been spoilt by 20 years of success.
Maybe I'm older and wiser, I have kids and a lot of life experience, and there are far bigger things in my life I need to focus on and worry about. Perhaps it is because the game has lost its soul, finishing in the top 4 is seen as success, for a lot of clubs simply staying in the EPL is success, it's all about the cash.
I don't get the same highs or the same lows any more, essentially it's just a game. When I get stick of friends who support other teams, I really can't be bothered with it.
I'm not judging anyone else, I just think it's a really interesting discussion.
09 Sep 2026 13:36:03
I've got a few years on you. Been supporting since 1962/3 but I've lived in the US since 1982, at which time the only news was the occasional publishing of the tables in The New York Times. Now one can watch every game.
The Glazers have pretty much destroyed the club, so that, despite still having good revenues, we don't have the financial wherewithal to compete with City, Arsenal and Liverpool. Debt and debt service are costing us 2 £30m-a-year players in wages and amortization costs. The stadium is outdated and in disrepair, and the cost of its replacement will add a whole new debt reality, and, no doubt, the end of the name "Old Trafford" when, desperate for income, they sell the naming rights. This summer's pusillanimous transfer window really rubbed in the quandary we're facing.
Ineos have bought decently, but hardly spectacularly. I don't think we're anywhere near mounting a serious challenge for any major trophy. We're so far behind City (however we do this weekend) that it's a joke. We're now the whimpering neighbours. Past glories have faded into the distance. It's sad, but there's no point in getting worked up over it. So, I'm like you. I'm not completely immune to feeling the pain of defeat, but it's simply not worth investing too much emotional energy into it. There are so many more important things going on in the world than football. That's what I worry about. Football's become a substantially meaningless distraction.
The jury's out still on Ineos, but the Glazers simply do not deserve our passion.
{Ed0666's Note - fabulous and nuanced read mate
09 Sep 2026 13:41:22
It is ajh.
I think once you're a supporter, you're a supporter for life.
It's great when you're winning, not so great when you're losing.
I used to have season tickets. I used to have a box (that was not a great decision and a bit of a vanity metric, tbh). My lads go over from Ireland every other week and have just been awarded season tickets.
We all love United. But it's a hobby for us. We have busy lives, and United results are not a barometer of our form or temperament.
There are many more important things in our lives, and whilst we try and make sure we are available to go to OT or watch games no matter where we are in the world, it's very important not to obsess on things you can't control or have any influence on.
It's not good for anybody's mental well being to obsess on things that they can't control.
Football is unique in some ways, whereby it's one of the only sports where fans feel they know better than the ref, the manager, the owners, and can't see past the nose on their own face.
Enjoy the ride, even if you end up on a roundabout circling continually or driving up the odd cul de sac.
We all want to win, but sadly when we don't, all the faux expertise comes out.
If you can't enjoy it, and consistently think you know better, then why are you on this forum and not out there putting your fully imagined expertise to good use.
09 Sep 2026 14:49:09
That's the other key thing, it's not the same club any more. Rival fans always hated us, but the club had values and an ethos. Now it seems it stands for nothing. It's hard to like the club (not the team), and it's been like that for some years.
09 Sep 2026 16:33:40
As a Manc whose family supported through Munich and told me all the stories about Edwards, Foulkes, Charlton and Gregg it is more than a hobby. Members of family were at the Sheffield Wednesday game after the tragedy. They also lined the streets to see the tragedy brought back to Manchester, they told me how they wept. I have known survivors personally so was very involved from being young. I don't have to tell you how much but the stories and living not that far from the ground meant the atmosphere, the connection was very different from today. I resent the implication it is just a hobby. My late sibling was involved with the club, I was ingrained in it from young.
It hurt as a kid when the club became a mess because I lived on Law Charlton and Best for years until Hill, Coppell and Pearson arrived.
To be honest I think it is insulting to be told it's a hobby like making toy planes, by people who clearly have different experiences to you and who look like they have an agenda to anaesthetise you to the present ownership.
I went down to OT about 1970 when Manchester was a smog ridden mess, people generally don't know what Manchester was like then, when the team represented the hopes and dream of us working people, we went to the old ground and the excitement to stand on the wooden bit at the top of the Paddock which rocked. Few people now have any idea how exciting it was when Gordon Hill scored in the 1976 FA Cup semi because of the years of dross. The first time and only time I cried about United was when Southampton won the final. I could tell you stories about meeting players who were not hidden in fancy houses in massively priced areas, they lived amongst us. It made them human and we went on those terraces and screamed our heads off for them. I was there in 1979 at a Semi final against Liverpool and never shouted so loud.
My passion is still there, I wouldn't be here writing this if it wasn't. There are differences and similarities. Louis Edwards was chairman at the start, and we didn't like it, he was the cause of not renewing the players for the team that brought relegation. That's a similarity but only so far, he didn't soak a Billion out of the club, but was openly derided. I can't tell you what they said about him at the time. Seen through all that. My old pence pocket money got me in the ground, and I once managed to get into the tunnel and walked out behind the team, I heard the roar. You don't know how inspiring that is.
My passion is there because there were people who died for the club, like I said I knew survivors and that makes it more than a hobby. It's what drives a passion about the parasites that are destroying the club. Yes I have tried switching off and in fact said to my wife a few weeks ago I wish I could. It's in my blood and even the parasitic owners can't stop it although I won't give them a penny of my money these days.
It is not the same club, it's all about screwing us for every cent, and it stinks. I don't live near the ground any more, I can't go down to see what is happening. But my passion for the principle of what the babes and Busby stood for will be there likely until the end.
09 Sep 2026 17:00:51
Well said, Mr Red Man.
09 Sep 2026 18:52:19
Lovely post, Red Man. I used to feel that way. I remember crying as a youngster reading about Munich, the pain of '76 followed by the europhoria of '77, only to be devastated again in '79, and then, for me, the ecstasy of the FA Cup semi-final in '83, all 3 goals scored at our end.
I was there against Blackburn in '93. I'm sure millions will claim they were there, but there were only 40,000 there; the joy of everyone was wonderful to see, particularly Sir Matt's wide-eyed grin.
I respect how you feel, and I wish I still felt the same way, particularly as a Manc, but, as time has passed, my passion has cooled, although I still draw the line at crying.
Great post.
09 Sep 2026 19:06:56
Newname, also an awesome post. The Glazers have ripped the soul out of the club.
09 Sep 2026 19:54:15
Come on youngsters, where are you?
09 Sep 2026 20:41:31
I think everything you've said there, Red Man, is because you've lived it, connected with the club, its players and what it means.
Speaking for myself, it's not so much a question of love for United, but for the game. When players are paid as much as they are, everything is so commercialised, tickets are prioritised for corporate viewers, FIFA is clearly corrupt, players are rolling around, VAR is taking the emotion out of every moment, and owners are in our game to do everything but care about the club - it's pretty hard to say you love the game.
Unfortunately, that rubs off on United for me because we are one of the biggest victims of most of those things.
09 Sep 2026 20:46:11
And I'm fairly young compared to most, it seems - 35. The nostalgia I have is still the thing I love most about United, but the broader state of football has taken the shine off somewhat.
09 Sep 2026 21:02:01
That's kind of how I feel, JD. It's not the same game any more. I used to live in Lymm, where a couple of players lived, but no more. Now they are all in walled properties in the wealthiest areas, living in their own bubbles.
Sky haven't helped, nor have broadcasters in general. The over hyping, presenting games as war or life and death, is just stupid. The England Norway game was a great example.
Dressing the England players up as warriors repelling the Viking invaders was stupid. For the love of God, it's just a game.
Add in the cost of tickets, the behaviour of FIFA, the weakness of the governing bodies when trying to deal with the big clubs, the foreign ownership, and, well, it's hard to still feel the same way about the game.
10 Sep 2026 00:57:34
Blimey, an adult conversation on here without trading insults.
10 Sep 2026 07:40:15
I am a 36 year old Welshman who has supported them since I was around 5 or 6. I only ended up supporting them as my older brother was a Liverpool fan. I asked him, who do they hate? He said Manchester United, and that's when I started to support them. I loved the club ever since, immersed myself into the club and its history, watching old games, reading books, and modeled my game after a couple players, Rvn in my earlier days, then Rooney in my later days.
But my love for football has cooled over the years. I'm not sure if that's because we became bad, or if it's because I don't like today's football. It's too systematic, and I feel the quality of players is at an all-time low.
10 Sep 2026 08:01:10
You see I wouldn't cross the road to greet any United player, past or present.
They are not special people, they play football for the club I support no more, and they mean no more to me than that.
I don't hold them as idols, and none of them, past or present, except the ones I've had personal relationships with, hold any interest for me.
They play football, they are not my heroes.
I've lived beside a member of possibly the biggest live band in the world for 35 years and in Ireland he can sit down in any bar or restaurant in the country without someone looking for a selfie.
It's a very Irish thing not to fawn over these very ordinary people that have a specific talent.
Players come and go, managers come and go, owners come and go. I've zero interest in any of them (with a few exceptions) when they've gone, retired, or died.
Thanks for the memory, and move on.
10 Sep 2026 08:30:08
Early 40s myself. Ireland based but was in UK for a decade. Grew up in a United supporting family. Follow every United game and have been to a fair few games in OT over the years. But if I were to watch a game as a neutral I'd pick Gaelic football or hurling every single time. Football is just so commercialised and accepts a lot of nonsense. Ed Woodward really put my love for United to the test.
The primadonna culture is the antithesis of all that sport should represent. It's a large part of the reason I'm so quick to defend RA as I feel he's done more than any manager since SAF to instill the right culture at the club. Mbeumo, Cunha and all these players give their best efforts. A United like that I'll always follow
10 Sep 2026 09:38:38
A lot of youngsters these days know nothing about Utd's past glories or players. Those who died in the Munich air disaster, etc. I grew up being told tales of Duncan Edwards, George Best, Dennis Law, etc.
How poor Ted Mcdougal was.
My Dad and Grandad knew Roger Hunt. He would even take them to Anfield to watch matches.
I'm early 40s now, Utd flows through my veins. I hope one day, they get to the very top.
10 Sep 2026 10:31:52
My first game was 1957. A one-all draw with Aston Villa. Tommy scored. I was born in Old Trafford in a two-up, two-down. The latter shook when the first goal against Sheffield Wednesday went in! I went to Saint Alphonsus Primary on Ayres Road. And De La Salle in Weaste. A school chum was Tony Wilson!
I attended all the home games in the 60s. That was the time of Law, Charlton and Best. If memory serves me correctly, the three didn’t play together that often. Law and Charlton, Best and Charlton, but rarely all three together. We used to mither Shay Brennan’s missus by knocking on his door asking for an autograph.
He lived on Kings Road, Stretford. Not Wimslow or Hale!
I live in Cork, Ireland now.
I agree with the consensus that the club is not what it used to be. The Glazers.
But I agree with Ken and others that despite all this we still fervently support the club. It is in our blood. On a daily basis!
By the way, Ken, we were very poor but a school chum of mine, or rather his family, had a box at Old Trafford! They were into tiles and had an Italian surname. Any clues?
10 Sep 2026 10:41:49
The company called Rocca Tiles had a box, Patrick, in the mid 2000s, but not sure if it's the same connection, mate.
10 Sep 2026 11:21:51
I saw my first game in 1957. It was a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at home. Tommy scored. I was born in Old Trafford, and I went to St Alphonsus on Ayres Road. Our two-up, two-down shook when the first goal against Sheffield Wednesday went in.
In the 60s, it was all about Law, Charlton and Best. But, if memory serves me correctly, they seldom played together. Law and Charlton, Charlton and Best was the norm. Denis was not the same after his knee injury. However, before that he was lethal. 62-65?
10 Sep 2026 11:25:24
Their name was Quilligotti, Ken. Think they sold out to Topps Tiles. Detail eludes after half a century. ?
10 Sep 2026 11:54:11
You still remember your 1st game though. ?
10 Sep 2026 12:03:25
Which player did you have a personal relationship with, Ken? Are you telling us you slept with Georgie Best in the 70s?
This is a very interesting debate and I am still a little unsure as to which side I stand on it. United is still huge to me. I still go to every home game and apply for every away game. I've been to every domestic final and was in Bilbao to see us be horrific against Spurs. I still feel gutted when we lost and delighted when we win, but I do agree that the club as a whole is difficult to like too much.
I also find a large number of the fan base pretty difficult to like as well, those on social media are a disgrace at times. Scammers trying to have a go at the club because they are trying to stop them from being touts is the latest one. If you haven't done anything wrong, the club wouldn't be banning you from games, it's as simple as that.
I don't mean the fans on here, I like the debates on here and, as much as we sometimes argue, I do find the discussions a lot more sensible and informative than anything you could read on X.
I do wonder whether if we were still good more people would still feel now they did about the club in the 90s / 00s. It is much easier to be less bothered about your team when they aren't winning every week. For example, I see a lot more City fans very interested in football these days when, back 20 years ago, they weren't really that bothered. The opposite for United fans. There is a reason why promoted teams get double the crowd in the Premier League than if they drop down a couple of leagues, people like to go and watch their team win, when you're losing it's not as fun and therefore it's easier to back away and find something more fun in your life.
I'd say I'm addicted / obsessed with the club and would love them to get back to how they were, but I'd say a loss ruins the next hour for me these days rather than the next full day or week, but that might be because I'm older and more used to the defeats.