Source: Daily Mirror
The club, born in 2005 when a committed band of Manchester United fans grew disillusioned with the Glazer regime and the commercial rapacity of the modern game, has raised £1.6million from a community share issue.
It is believed that the figure represents the largest sum ever raised by football supporters independently and it will go towards the construction of a permanent home for the club in Moston, north east Manchester.
FC United are now only three promotions away from a place in the Football League but their biggest achievement is remaining true to the principles that brought them into existence
Oliver Holt, 21st March 2012
Showing posts with label Daily Mirror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daily Mirror. Show all posts
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Thursday, October 27, 2011
FC United granted planning permission for new stadium
Source: Daily Mirror
Plans for a new 5,000-seater stadium for Manchester United's breakaway club FC United have been approved by councillors, according to the club.
FC United had submitted plans for a stadium, club house, pitches and car parking at Ronald Johnson playing fields in Moston, Manchester.
The 5,000 capacity ground would cost around £3.5m.
The club said in a statement: "FC United is pleased to announce that Manchester City Council Planning Department approved the plans for our ground development at Lightbowne Road in Moston, at a meeting held this afternoon."
Councillor Paul Murphy, who represents Moston on the city council, told the BBC before the meeting: "If the application is approved, it will bring much needed investment to Moston - close to £4m.
"It will also bring sporting facilities for the young people of Moston and the surrounding areas which again is much needed and will be developed in a professional way."
Plans for a new 5,000-seater stadium for Manchester United's breakaway club FC United have been approved by councillors, according to the club.
FC United had submitted plans for a stadium, club house, pitches and car parking at Ronald Johnson playing fields in Moston, Manchester.
The 5,000 capacity ground would cost around £3.5m.
The club said in a statement: "FC United is pleased to announce that Manchester City Council Planning Department approved the plans for our ground development at Lightbowne Road in Moston, at a meeting held this afternoon."
Councillor Paul Murphy, who represents Moston on the city council, told the BBC before the meeting: "If the application is approved, it will bring much needed investment to Moston - close to £4m.
"It will also bring sporting facilities for the young people of Moston and the surrounding areas which again is much needed and will be developed in a professional way."
Friday, July 15, 2011
FC United player assaulted girlfriend after costing side FA cup tie
Source: Daily Mirror
A FOOTBALLER sent off for elbowing an opponent returned home after the game and attacked his girlfriend.
Scott McManus, 22, got drunk after FC United’s FA Cup clash with Brighton, Salford magistrates heard.
He returned to the home he shared with his partner, 20, in Prestwich, Manchester, and when she quizzed him over why he wanted to sleep apart, he hit her, using a duvet to muffle her cries.
Former Man United trainee McManus admitted assault and got a 16-week suspended prison sentence.
A FOOTBALLER sent off for elbowing an opponent returned home after the game and attacked his girlfriend.
Scott McManus, 22, got drunk after FC United’s FA Cup clash with Brighton, Salford magistrates heard.
He returned to the home he shared with his partner, 20, in Prestwich, Manchester, and when she quizzed him over why he wanted to sleep apart, he hit her, using a duvet to muffle her cries.
Former Man United trainee McManus admitted assault and got a 16-week suspended prison sentence.
Monday, March 14, 2011
How the Glazers could come face-to-face with FC United at Wembley
Source: Daily Mirror
ABUs dreading another Manchester United appearance in the FA Cup final should content themselves with one interesting prospect.
Every year the FA invites the winners of the Ronnie Radford Award, given to the team which has pulled off the season’s biggest Cup upset, to Wembley for a VIP day out and a chance to shake hands with dignitaries from the finalists.
In terms of league places between the clubs, FC United’s first round win against Rochdale was statistically the biggest giant-killing of the season, setting up the delicious prospect of the rebels coming face-to-face with David Gill and those lovable Glazer boys.
ABUs dreading another Manchester United appearance in the FA Cup final should content themselves with one interesting prospect.
Every year the FA invites the winners of the Ronnie Radford Award, given to the team which has pulled off the season’s biggest Cup upset, to Wembley for a VIP day out and a chance to shake hands with dignitaries from the finalists.
In terms of league places between the clubs, FC United’s first round win against Rochdale was statistically the biggest giant-killing of the season, setting up the delicious prospect of the rebels coming face-to-face with David Gill and those lovable Glazer boys.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Brighton 1-1 FC United
Source: Daily Mirror
Nicky Platt believes his side can still join Manchester’s other United in the FA Cup Third Round.
The FC United’s goal scorer says the rank outsiders fancy their chances in the replay at Bury’s Gigg Lane ground on December 8 – and a home date with Portsmouth.
Platt gave United the lead five minutes before the interval and they held on until seven minutes from time when Spanish striker Francisco Sandaza equalised for an increasingly desperate Brighton.
Gus Poyet’s League One leaders then wasted a glorious opportunity to seal a place in the third round in the fifth minute of stoppage time when Elliott Bennett had a well-struck penalty brilliantly saved by keeper Sam Ashton.
But midfielder Platt insisted his side had drawn enormous confidence from their gallant display, saying: “We can’t wait to get Brighton u p to our place, which I’m sure will be packed. Brighton will not have seen anything like it, I can guarantee it. You can see why they are top of the league – they were quality opposition. But I’m sure a lot of our lads could step up to play in League Two or in the Conference.”
Keeper Ashton, who made four crucial saves before Platt drove FC United ahead, admitted a tip from his assistant manager Roy Soule had helped him to foil Brighton.
Ashton said: “Roy Soule had watched a tape of Brighton’s penalty shoot-out at Woking and told me that Sandaza will go left and the rest will all put it to the right.
“I did go to my right and I touched it round the post. I could tell that he (Bennett) didn’t want to take it. He didn’t look as though he was confident to take it.”
FC United boss Karl Marginson felt the tie illustrated the magic of the FA Cup, and was overjoyed that his side – 112 places in the football pyramid below Brighton – had come so close to pulling off one of the biggest shocks in the history of the competition.
He said: “It was really a victory for us. To come to Brighton and get any kind of result was always going to be very difficult.
“We hung on by our fingernails at times, but that shows the belief the players have got.”
Brighton, without a win in six games in all competitions, have now missed four penalties this season and their assistant manager Mauricio Taricco believed this was a game they should have won easily.
He said: “We’re not very happy at the moment because we know we need to be more clinical.
“We must be doing something well because of the amount of opportunities that we’re creating, but the final touch has been missing.”
Nicky Platt believes his side can still join Manchester’s other United in the FA Cup Third Round.
The FC United’s goal scorer says the rank outsiders fancy their chances in the replay at Bury’s Gigg Lane ground on December 8 – and a home date with Portsmouth.
Platt gave United the lead five minutes before the interval and they held on until seven minutes from time when Spanish striker Francisco Sandaza equalised for an increasingly desperate Brighton.
Gus Poyet’s League One leaders then wasted a glorious opportunity to seal a place in the third round in the fifth minute of stoppage time when Elliott Bennett had a well-struck penalty brilliantly saved by keeper Sam Ashton.
But midfielder Platt insisted his side had drawn enormous confidence from their gallant display, saying: “We can’t wait to get Brighton u p to our place, which I’m sure will be packed. Brighton will not have seen anything like it, I can guarantee it. You can see why they are top of the league – they were quality opposition. But I’m sure a lot of our lads could step up to play in League Two or in the Conference.”
Keeper Ashton, who made four crucial saves before Platt drove FC United ahead, admitted a tip from his assistant manager Roy Soule had helped him to foil Brighton.
Ashton said: “Roy Soule had watched a tape of Brighton’s penalty shoot-out at Woking and told me that Sandaza will go left and the rest will all put it to the right.
“I did go to my right and I touched it round the post. I could tell that he (Bennett) didn’t want to take it. He didn’t look as though he was confident to take it.”
FC United boss Karl Marginson felt the tie illustrated the magic of the FA Cup, and was overjoyed that his side – 112 places in the football pyramid below Brighton – had come so close to pulling off one of the biggest shocks in the history of the competition.
He said: “It was really a victory for us. To come to Brighton and get any kind of result was always going to be very difficult.
“We hung on by our fingernails at times, but that shows the belief the players have got.”
Brighton, without a win in six games in all competitions, have now missed four penalties this season and their assistant manager Mauricio Taricco believed this was a game they should have won easily.
He said: “We’re not very happy at the moment because we know we need to be more clinical.
“We must be doing something well because of the amount of opportunities that we’re creating, but the final touch has been missing.”
Monday, November 15, 2010
3pm
Edited from: Daily Mirror
...
Stadium announcement of the decade came at FC United's away game to Northwich Victoria on Saturday afternoon.
Before the minute's silence, the Tannoy man announced they would be "remembering the servicemen and women of two World Cups... ah, I mean World Wars."
...
Stadium announcement of the decade came at FC United's away game to Northwich Victoria on Saturday afternoon.
Before the minute's silence, the Tannoy man announced they would be "remembering the servicemen and women of two World Cups... ah, I mean World Wars."
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
FC United, Brad Friedel and Man City's wimps in The Trophy Room - MirrorFootball's new weekly awards
Source: Daily Mirror
By James McMahon
Another weekend, another set of Trophy Room awards for MirrorFootball to dish out. Will your favourite player win anything? Will your favourite team come good? Will Newcastle United striker Andy Carroll ever wash his horrible, greasy hair? (There’s no award for that, it’s just a general enquiry). Let’s find out shall we...
The Feelgood Hit of the Weekend Award goes to… FC United
FC United’s first round FA Cup tie against Rochdale at Spotdale Stadium was played in fog so thick you half expected Jack the Ripper to turn up at some point and disembowel the ref. It was fairytale stuff for the team formed in rebellion of Old Trafford’s current owners, the non-league side winning the game 3-2 with a controversial goal in the final few minutes.
Hmmm, maybe they’re not that dissimilar to Man United after all...
The Theo the Wyvern Award for Mucking About with Pitch Sprinklers goes to … David Sullivan and David Gold (maybe)
Last week I told you about Leyton Orient’s mischievous mascot Theo the Wyvern and how he ran onto the pitch sometime during the pre-match cheerleader performance last Saturday and turned the Brisbane Road pitch sprinklers on – with moderately hilarious consequences.
Watching the sprinklers come on midway through the game between Birmingham and West Ham this weekend made me think of three things. 1) Where’s Theo? 2) Um, what’s a Wyvern anyway? 3) Is this a ploy by the visiting West Ham chairmen to scupper the play of their old club, and if so, have they also installed land mines inside the six-yard box or employed a sniper to track Lee Bowyer?
Next week: Theo The Wyvern inspires Paul Scholes to build a moat around Old Trafford and put crocodiles in it.
The It’s Only A Game Award goes to … Tony Mowbray
There are many awards I could present to Tony Mowbray. ‘Most jowly’. ‘Looking most likely to punch his assistant manager at all times’. ‘The special achievement award for talking to the press after games and sounding like he’s gargling coal’. But this very special award is being given for the new Middlesbrough manager’s bizarre (and it must be said) extremely melodramatic response to his side conceding their goal against Crystal Palace.
No manager enjoys watching their team concede a goal, but upon watching Palace’s Pablo Counago poke the London side in front, Mowbray’s response was to sink into the bowels of his bench, fashion his fist into the shape of a gun and simulate blowing his brains out.
It made me wonder how the ex-Celtic manager responds to other acts of bad fortune. Does he drag his finger across his throat upon receiving a parking ticket? Maybe he simulates a brain hemorrhage when learning his son hasn’t finished his homework? Probably not. But maybe.
The Fabrizio Ravanelli Silver Fox Award goes to … Cardiff City defender Kevin McNaughton
Dude, you’re a professional footballer. You earn more money in one breath than I do in an entire year. Can you really not afford a tub of Just For Men?
The Kevin Keegan ‘I’m An Emotional Manager’ Award goes to … Mick McCarthy and Steve Bruce
Two managers, two differing emotions: one award (but don’t worry, we’re going to cut it in half and send them a piece each), yet in a world that hasn’t seen Sam Allardyce smile since 1995 (incidentally the same year the Deep-fried Mars Bar was invented), something to celebrate surely?
McCarthy underwent a rollercoaster ride of emotion on Saturday, as his team fell to the curse of Manchester United and their ability to seemingly conjure up (read: bully the ref into giving) however many more minutes they need until they score the goals to win.
At 1-1 McCarthy was so emotionally involved he was punching the air whenever his players won sliding tackles. At 2-1 he looked like a man who’d just been informed there was a bomb in his pants.
Then there was Steve Bruce, who celebrated Sunderland’s 2-0 victory against Stoke by pegging it down the touchline like a comprehensive school dinner lady being chased by Jamie Oliver, and giving any members of his team he could get his sausage fingers on a big meaty hug.
On the other hand, over in Leicester, Sven-Goran Eriksson celebrated his team’s victory over Preston by clapping, politely. Then going home for a doze.
The God Help Us if There’s A War Award goes to … Manchester City
Last week I had a bit of a pop at Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli for wearing gloves, sporting a crap Mohican and making a full debut proper that was as incendiary as Songs Of Praise with the sound turned down. This week he put two past West Brom and got sent off for kicking Youssuf Mulumbu in the testicles. So at least someone is reading this column, eh?
However, Balotelli’s fear of winter seems to be catching on at City. Yesterday five of the team also turned out wearing gloves. Carlos Tevez went one step further and wore a scarf. Next week: Gareth Barry wears a balaclava and cries when Kolo Toure suggests going sledging.
The Sir Bobby Robson Award for Being a Bloody Good Bloke in Football Award goes to ... Tipton Town assistant manager Scott Voice
Despite once managing to win the Premier League with Doncaster Rovers on Football Manager 2010, I’m humble enough to admit that (over in that place called real life) I would make a rubbish football manager.
Much of this is to do with the fact that, should my team ever lose 6-0 in an FA Cup tie to Carlisle United, I’d most likely resemble Michael Douglas in the movie Falling Down and/or Ryan Shawcross. Tipton Town assistant manager Scott Voice on the other hand told an ITV reporter that he’d had a “fantastic day out”, even celebrating the fact his Baker-Joiner Midland Football Alliance team managed to win a (sole) corner at one juncture with the glee of a small boy discovering a pornographic magazine in a bush.
I should say that I went to bed last night dreaming of flying kites and building dens with my new potential best friend Scott Voice. I’m on Facebook Scott, look me up…
The Being John Malkovich Award goes to … Brad Friedel and Andrew Johnson
It’s Saturday afternoon. The Fulham striker is one-on-one with the Aston Villa keeper. Will he score? I don’t know. All I can think is Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich...
By James McMahon
Another weekend, another set of Trophy Room awards for MirrorFootball to dish out. Will your favourite player win anything? Will your favourite team come good? Will Newcastle United striker Andy Carroll ever wash his horrible, greasy hair? (There’s no award for that, it’s just a general enquiry). Let’s find out shall we...
The Feelgood Hit of the Weekend Award goes to… FC United
FC United’s first round FA Cup tie against Rochdale at Spotdale Stadium was played in fog so thick you half expected Jack the Ripper to turn up at some point and disembowel the ref. It was fairytale stuff for the team formed in rebellion of Old Trafford’s current owners, the non-league side winning the game 3-2 with a controversial goal in the final few minutes.
Hmmm, maybe they’re not that dissimilar to Man United after all...
The Theo the Wyvern Award for Mucking About with Pitch Sprinklers goes to … David Sullivan and David Gold (maybe)
Last week I told you about Leyton Orient’s mischievous mascot Theo the Wyvern and how he ran onto the pitch sometime during the pre-match cheerleader performance last Saturday and turned the Brisbane Road pitch sprinklers on – with moderately hilarious consequences.
Watching the sprinklers come on midway through the game between Birmingham and West Ham this weekend made me think of three things. 1) Where’s Theo? 2) Um, what’s a Wyvern anyway? 3) Is this a ploy by the visiting West Ham chairmen to scupper the play of their old club, and if so, have they also installed land mines inside the six-yard box or employed a sniper to track Lee Bowyer?
Next week: Theo The Wyvern inspires Paul Scholes to build a moat around Old Trafford and put crocodiles in it.
The It’s Only A Game Award goes to … Tony Mowbray
There are many awards I could present to Tony Mowbray. ‘Most jowly’. ‘Looking most likely to punch his assistant manager at all times’. ‘The special achievement award for talking to the press after games and sounding like he’s gargling coal’. But this very special award is being given for the new Middlesbrough manager’s bizarre (and it must be said) extremely melodramatic response to his side conceding their goal against Crystal Palace.
No manager enjoys watching their team concede a goal, but upon watching Palace’s Pablo Counago poke the London side in front, Mowbray’s response was to sink into the bowels of his bench, fashion his fist into the shape of a gun and simulate blowing his brains out.
It made me wonder how the ex-Celtic manager responds to other acts of bad fortune. Does he drag his finger across his throat upon receiving a parking ticket? Maybe he simulates a brain hemorrhage when learning his son hasn’t finished his homework? Probably not. But maybe.
The Fabrizio Ravanelli Silver Fox Award goes to … Cardiff City defender Kevin McNaughton
Dude, you’re a professional footballer. You earn more money in one breath than I do in an entire year. Can you really not afford a tub of Just For Men?
The Kevin Keegan ‘I’m An Emotional Manager’ Award goes to … Mick McCarthy and Steve Bruce
Two managers, two differing emotions: one award (but don’t worry, we’re going to cut it in half and send them a piece each), yet in a world that hasn’t seen Sam Allardyce smile since 1995 (incidentally the same year the Deep-fried Mars Bar was invented), something to celebrate surely?
McCarthy underwent a rollercoaster ride of emotion on Saturday, as his team fell to the curse of Manchester United and their ability to seemingly conjure up (read: bully the ref into giving) however many more minutes they need until they score the goals to win.
At 1-1 McCarthy was so emotionally involved he was punching the air whenever his players won sliding tackles. At 2-1 he looked like a man who’d just been informed there was a bomb in his pants.
Then there was Steve Bruce, who celebrated Sunderland’s 2-0 victory against Stoke by pegging it down the touchline like a comprehensive school dinner lady being chased by Jamie Oliver, and giving any members of his team he could get his sausage fingers on a big meaty hug.
On the other hand, over in Leicester, Sven-Goran Eriksson celebrated his team’s victory over Preston by clapping, politely. Then going home for a doze.
The God Help Us if There’s A War Award goes to … Manchester City
Last week I had a bit of a pop at Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli for wearing gloves, sporting a crap Mohican and making a full debut proper that was as incendiary as Songs Of Praise with the sound turned down. This week he put two past West Brom and got sent off for kicking Youssuf Mulumbu in the testicles. So at least someone is reading this column, eh?
However, Balotelli’s fear of winter seems to be catching on at City. Yesterday five of the team also turned out wearing gloves. Carlos Tevez went one step further and wore a scarf. Next week: Gareth Barry wears a balaclava and cries when Kolo Toure suggests going sledging.
The Sir Bobby Robson Award for Being a Bloody Good Bloke in Football Award goes to ... Tipton Town assistant manager Scott Voice
Despite once managing to win the Premier League with Doncaster Rovers on Football Manager 2010, I’m humble enough to admit that (over in that place called real life) I would make a rubbish football manager.
Much of this is to do with the fact that, should my team ever lose 6-0 in an FA Cup tie to Carlisle United, I’d most likely resemble Michael Douglas in the movie Falling Down and/or Ryan Shawcross. Tipton Town assistant manager Scott Voice on the other hand told an ITV reporter that he’d had a “fantastic day out”, even celebrating the fact his Baker-Joiner Midland Football Alliance team managed to win a (sole) corner at one juncture with the glee of a small boy discovering a pornographic magazine in a bush.
I should say that I went to bed last night dreaming of flying kites and building dens with my new potential best friend Scott Voice. I’m on Facebook Scott, look me up…
The Being John Malkovich Award goes to … Brad Friedel and Andrew Johnson
It’s Saturday afternoon. The Fulham striker is one-on-one with the Aston Villa keeper. Will he score? I don’t know. All I can think is Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich...
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Why I hope Mancini fails and Sheikh Mansour invests in FC United instead
Source: Daily Mirror
By Michael Calvin
Published 23:02 06/11/10
His Highness, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, wooed the wrong noisy neighbour.
Instead of blowing £1billion on Manchester City, he should have donated £1million to FC United.
He wouldn’t have been able to shape a club owned by the fans, for the fans.
But, for a relative pittance, he would have become a folk hero.
He would have helped expose the hypocrisy of the Glazers, the unfair burden of leveraged debt.
In so doing, football’s richest man would have discovered what football is all about.
The empowerment of a community, rather than the enrichment of opportunists.
Faith, defiance, and the credibility of commitment.
Passion, unprocessed and deliciously unrefined.
Joy, rather than empty rhetoric, and massaged opinion.
You don’t need advertising copywriters and simpering apologists to make a statement of intent.
Alienated Manchester United fans did that, when they formed a football club to give a human dimension to a protest movement.
Equally, the League pyramid cannot adequately measure the difference between City and FC United.
On paper it is seven Divisions. In essence the clubs are separated by a chasm, which separates constructive outrage and graceless vulgarity.
I defy anyone to watch a re-run of FC United’s FA Cup win at Rochdale without a smile. Players were stripped to homemade Superman underpants by euphoric fans.
They cavorted for the cameras in the dressing room, and promised not to turn up for work on Monday.
Their manager was wide eyed, and about to be legless. “We’ll have a couple of sherberts, here and there” he promised.
I’ll take Karl Marginson, before Roberto Mancini, any day of the week.
The FC United boss does need a personal website that is beyond parody.
“Roberto Mancini,” it croons. “The football. The class. The champion.”
Strange how it didn’t mention the cautious coach, the closet politician, and the cry baby.
Marginson used to be a milkman, reliant on boot money from the likes of Salford City and Bacup Borough.
You wouldn’t catch him posing for soft-focus photos, like a 10th-rate George Clooney.
Blue Moon Rising?
I prefer the red flares of class warriors, which illuminated Spotland’s Willbutts Lane Stand.
Money has siphoned innocence from football.
City’s purchasing power is intimidating, and intoxicating to outsiders.
I came across a caricature of a marketing executive late on Friday night.
He was worried my views would compromise his commercial relationship with Eastlands.
His type – swivel-eyed networkers who couldn’t spell the word integrity, let alone grasp its meaning – are everywhere.
I loathe what they represent, why they genuflect at the feet of the City hierarchy.
They are prepared to overlook the positive aspects of City’s problems.
Three successive defeats remind us that wealth is worthless, if used unwisely.
Briefings, and counter briefings, tell a cautionary tale of unchecked egos and unseemly ambition.
This is no time to sit on the fence. I once loved what City represented.
They were my “second” club as a schoolboy, an acceptable antidote to my chemical romance with Watford.
I wore the sky blue shirt, savoured the silly setbacks, and salivated at the skill of Colin Bell
To be fair, the new regime paid exemplary homage to Malcolm Allison.
The club tribute was simple, affecting, classy
But, with apologies to the vast majority of City fans who will understand my disillusion, let’s light the bonfire of the vanities.
I hope Mancini crashes and burns.
I pray FC United realise their impossible dream, a third round tie at Old Trafford.
And that someone, somewhere, has the courage to inform His Highness that he needs to act. Now!
By Michael Calvin
Published 23:02 06/11/10
His Highness, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, wooed the wrong noisy neighbour.
Instead of blowing £1billion on Manchester City, he should have donated £1million to FC United.
He wouldn’t have been able to shape a club owned by the fans, for the fans.
But, for a relative pittance, he would have become a folk hero.
He would have helped expose the hypocrisy of the Glazers, the unfair burden of leveraged debt.
In so doing, football’s richest man would have discovered what football is all about.
The empowerment of a community, rather than the enrichment of opportunists.
Faith, defiance, and the credibility of commitment.
Passion, unprocessed and deliciously unrefined.
Joy, rather than empty rhetoric, and massaged opinion.
You don’t need advertising copywriters and simpering apologists to make a statement of intent.
Alienated Manchester United fans did that, when they formed a football club to give a human dimension to a protest movement.
Equally, the League pyramid cannot adequately measure the difference between City and FC United.
On paper it is seven Divisions. In essence the clubs are separated by a chasm, which separates constructive outrage and graceless vulgarity.
I defy anyone to watch a re-run of FC United’s FA Cup win at Rochdale without a smile. Players were stripped to homemade Superman underpants by euphoric fans.
They cavorted for the cameras in the dressing room, and promised not to turn up for work on Monday.
Their manager was wide eyed, and about to be legless. “We’ll have a couple of sherberts, here and there” he promised.
I’ll take Karl Marginson, before Roberto Mancini, any day of the week.
The FC United boss does need a personal website that is beyond parody.
“Roberto Mancini,” it croons. “The football. The class. The champion.”
Strange how it didn’t mention the cautious coach, the closet politician, and the cry baby.
Marginson used to be a milkman, reliant on boot money from the likes of Salford City and Bacup Borough.
You wouldn’t catch him posing for soft-focus photos, like a 10th-rate George Clooney.
Blue Moon Rising?
I prefer the red flares of class warriors, which illuminated Spotland’s Willbutts Lane Stand.
Money has siphoned innocence from football.
City’s purchasing power is intimidating, and intoxicating to outsiders.
I came across a caricature of a marketing executive late on Friday night.
He was worried my views would compromise his commercial relationship with Eastlands.
His type – swivel-eyed networkers who couldn’t spell the word integrity, let alone grasp its meaning – are everywhere.
I loathe what they represent, why they genuflect at the feet of the City hierarchy.
They are prepared to overlook the positive aspects of City’s problems.
Three successive defeats remind us that wealth is worthless, if used unwisely.
Briefings, and counter briefings, tell a cautionary tale of unchecked egos and unseemly ambition.
This is no time to sit on the fence. I once loved what City represented.
They were my “second” club as a schoolboy, an acceptable antidote to my chemical romance with Watford.
I wore the sky blue shirt, savoured the silly setbacks, and salivated at the skill of Colin Bell
To be fair, the new regime paid exemplary homage to Malcolm Allison.
The club tribute was simple, affecting, classy
But, with apologies to the vast majority of City fans who will understand my disillusion, let’s light the bonfire of the vanities.
I hope Mancini crashes and burns.
I pray FC United realise their impossible dream, a third round tie at Old Trafford.
And that someone, somewhere, has the courage to inform His Highness that he needs to act. Now!
Friday, November 05, 2010
FC United keep Old Trafford dream alive with last-gasp winner
Source: Daily Mirror
Published 22:15 05/11/10 By MirrorFootball
FC United of Manchester grabbed a controversial stoppage-time winner to keep their hopes of meeting Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup alive.
The Evo-Stick League side, making their maiden appearance in the first round proper, had looked to have a blown a two-goal lead when Anthony Elding and Craig Dawson cancelled out Nicky Platt and Jake Cottrell's goals for United.
But striker Mike Norton's late winner ensured they would take their place in Sunday's second-round draw and remain on course for a possible meeting with the club a group of their supporters splintered from in 2005.
On a pitch covered with water following 90 minutes of rain, Rochdale goalkeeper Josh Lillis thought he had control of the ball by his near post, only for it to come free and allow Norton to tap into an empty net.
Lillis and his team-mates claimed Norton had kicked the ball out of his hands, but referee Geoff Eltringham waved away their protests and the United fans flooded on to the field when he blew the final whistle seconds later.
Karl Marginson's United side had taken the lead three minutes before the break when Platt, a former Liverpool academy player, slotted home after Jerome Wright's pass.
A one-goal lead became a two-goal lead four minutes after the interval when Cottrell, a former Rochdale trainee, drove in from 25 yards, before Elding reduced the deficit with a glancing header after 53 minutes.
Dawson then looked to have taken the game to a replay with another header with 12 minutes remaining, before Norton won it four minutes into time added on.
"I thought the referee was going to blow for a free-kick but he only had one hand on it," said Norton afterwards. "We were dreading a replay, my legs wouldn't have taken it."
Marginson added on ESPN: "Rochdale possibly didn't deserve to lose but that's the FA Cup."
Published 22:15 05/11/10 By MirrorFootball
FC United of Manchester grabbed a controversial stoppage-time winner to keep their hopes of meeting Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup alive.
The Evo-Stick League side, making their maiden appearance in the first round proper, had looked to have a blown a two-goal lead when Anthony Elding and Craig Dawson cancelled out Nicky Platt and Jake Cottrell's goals for United.
But striker Mike Norton's late winner ensured they would take their place in Sunday's second-round draw and remain on course for a possible meeting with the club a group of their supporters splintered from in 2005.
On a pitch covered with water following 90 minutes of rain, Rochdale goalkeeper Josh Lillis thought he had control of the ball by his near post, only for it to come free and allow Norton to tap into an empty net.
Lillis and his team-mates claimed Norton had kicked the ball out of his hands, but referee Geoff Eltringham waved away their protests and the United fans flooded on to the field when he blew the final whistle seconds later.
Karl Marginson's United side had taken the lead three minutes before the break when Platt, a former Liverpool academy player, slotted home after Jerome Wright's pass.
A one-goal lead became a two-goal lead four minutes after the interval when Cottrell, a former Rochdale trainee, drove in from 25 yards, before Elding reduced the deficit with a glancing header after 53 minutes.
Dawson then looked to have taken the game to a replay with another header with 12 minutes remaining, before Norton won it four minutes into time added on.
"I thought the referee was going to blow for a free-kick but he only had one hand on it," said Norton afterwards. "We were dreading a replay, my legs wouldn't have taken it."
Marginson added on ESPN: "Rochdale possibly didn't deserve to lose but that's the FA Cup."
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
ROCA HAS FC ON FA CUP ROLL
Source: Daily Mirror
By Jon West 25/10/2010
Cup Roll Fc United of M a n c h e s t e r have earned an FA Cup firstround trip to neighbours Rochdale by beating Barrow 1-0 yesterday.
Carlos Roca struck in the 78th minute for the Evo-Stik League Premier Division team, formed five years ago by fans angry at the Glazer takeover of Manchester United.
Hythe are the lowestranked team left in the competition and travel to the Football League's bottom club, Hereford.
They beat Staines 2-0 to become the first Kent League team for 53 years to get this far.
Three-times winners Sheffield Wednesday are drawn away at Southport, and Southampton - who lifted the trophy in 1976 - are at home to League Two promotion hopefuls Shrewsbury Town.
Fleetwood Town will fancy their chances at home to League One strugglers Walsall.
But Woking, of the Blue Square South, have their work cut out if they are to add League One leaders Brighton to their list of famous cup scalps.
Another club formed by supporters, AFC Wimbledon, play host to Ebbsfleet.
By Jon West 25/10/2010
Cup Roll Fc United of M a n c h e s t e r have earned an FA Cup firstround trip to neighbours Rochdale by beating Barrow 1-0 yesterday.
Carlos Roca struck in the 78th minute for the Evo-Stik League Premier Division team, formed five years ago by fans angry at the Glazer takeover of Manchester United.
Hythe are the lowestranked team left in the competition and travel to the Football League's bottom club, Hereford.
They beat Staines 2-0 to become the first Kent League team for 53 years to get this far.
Three-times winners Sheffield Wednesday are drawn away at Southport, and Southampton - who lifted the trophy in 1976 - are at home to League Two promotion hopefuls Shrewsbury Town.
Fleetwood Town will fancy their chances at home to League One strugglers Walsall.
But Woking, of the Blue Square South, have their work cut out if they are to add League One leaders Brighton to their list of famous cup scalps.
Another club formed by supporters, AFC Wimbledon, play host to Ebbsfleet.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Has the Man United green and gold campaign become little more than a fashion statement?
Source: Daily Mirror
By Simon Mullock
Published 12:30 26/03/10
Manchester-united-green-and-gold cropped
There have been some pretty powerful images generated by the green and gold campaign undertook by Manchester United fans to show their opposition to the Glazer family’s continuing ownership of the club.
We’ve seen the Stretford End transformed from is usual sea of red; there was the impressive unified show of dissent at Wembley.
But you have to wonder whether the scarfs being worn around Old Trafford during match-day have become a fashion statement rather than a genuine sign of support for regime change.
Why else do you see so many United fans around Manchester wearing a green and gold scarf over a Nike-manufactured replica shirt with AIG splashed across the chest?
Surely that defeats the whole object of the exercise.
I always though that wearing the colours of United’s founding club Newton Heath was to show support for the team without pouring money into the coffers of the American family who are pillaging the club.
That it was about paying your dues at the turnstile but refusing to pay into the other revenue streams which enable the Glazers to service the debt. Things like official club merchandise and even food and drink.
Last weekend, after the game against Liverpool, I saw a couple walking through town sporting their anti-Glazer colours.
The man was clutching a Manchester United megastore carrier bag.
He obviously didn’t see the contradiction.
A couple of months ago I met Andy Walsh, the man who refused to step foot inside Old Trafford the day the Glazers took over and hasn’t been back since.
In fact, he was so disillusioned that he helped to establish a new club, FC United of Manchester.
Walsh had been instrumental in the campaign to keep the Glazers out of Old Trafford in 2005.
He had seen the future – and it prompted him to turn his back on the club he had supported all his life.
Walsh has been impressed by the green and gold campaign orchestrated by the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust.
But he told me that the only thing the Glazers understand is money.
Walsh still believes that fans – and not just United supporters – can force a change of club ownership by following his example.
He knows from his own experience that boycotting matches is the ultimate sacrifice for a football fan.
MUST have said they are going to step up their campaign against the Glazers and talk of fans giving up season tickets is rife.
There’s little chance of that happening when many supporters can’t even bring themselves to lay down their replica shirts.
Meanwhile, back in Florida, you can be sure that the Glazers will be stepping up their plans to launch a range of merchandising in green and gold.
After all, it’s the must-have colour amongst United fashionistas at the moment.
By Simon Mullock
Published 12:30 26/03/10
Manchester-united-green-and-gold cropped
There have been some pretty powerful images generated by the green and gold campaign undertook by Manchester United fans to show their opposition to the Glazer family’s continuing ownership of the club.
We’ve seen the Stretford End transformed from is usual sea of red; there was the impressive unified show of dissent at Wembley.
But you have to wonder whether the scarfs being worn around Old Trafford during match-day have become a fashion statement rather than a genuine sign of support for regime change.
Why else do you see so many United fans around Manchester wearing a green and gold scarf over a Nike-manufactured replica shirt with AIG splashed across the chest?
Surely that defeats the whole object of the exercise.
I always though that wearing the colours of United’s founding club Newton Heath was to show support for the team without pouring money into the coffers of the American family who are pillaging the club.
That it was about paying your dues at the turnstile but refusing to pay into the other revenue streams which enable the Glazers to service the debt. Things like official club merchandise and even food and drink.
Last weekend, after the game against Liverpool, I saw a couple walking through town sporting their anti-Glazer colours.
The man was clutching a Manchester United megastore carrier bag.
He obviously didn’t see the contradiction.
A couple of months ago I met Andy Walsh, the man who refused to step foot inside Old Trafford the day the Glazers took over and hasn’t been back since.
In fact, he was so disillusioned that he helped to establish a new club, FC United of Manchester.
Walsh had been instrumental in the campaign to keep the Glazers out of Old Trafford in 2005.
He had seen the future – and it prompted him to turn his back on the club he had supported all his life.
Walsh has been impressed by the green and gold campaign orchestrated by the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust.
But he told me that the only thing the Glazers understand is money.
Walsh still believes that fans – and not just United supporters – can force a change of club ownership by following his example.
He knows from his own experience that boycotting matches is the ultimate sacrifice for a football fan.
MUST have said they are going to step up their campaign against the Glazers and talk of fans giving up season tickets is rife.
There’s little chance of that happening when many supporters can’t even bring themselves to lay down their replica shirts.
Meanwhile, back in Florida, you can be sure that the Glazers will be stepping up their plans to launch a range of merchandising in green and gold.
After all, it’s the must-have colour amongst United fashionistas at the moment.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Win after 28 defeats for England's worst football team
Source: Daily Mirror
By Steve Myall 16/03/2010
England's worst football team have finally won a game - after losing 28 times on the trot.
Durham City keeper Rhys Jobling saved a penalty to secure a shock 2-1 victory away at FC United of Manchester.
And that meant celebrations for the Unibond League Premier Division club, who had scored just 16 goals and let in 137 before Saturday.
That record makes them the least successful side in the country. And they are still bottom of the table by 26 points.
A six-point deduction imposed by the FA for fielding a suspended player under a false name earlier in the season means they still need another victory simply to get up to zero.
But jubilant Rhys, 20, now hoping to keep out Whitby Town at home tonight, beamed: "It was like winning the Cup."
By Steve Myall 16/03/2010
England's worst football team have finally won a game - after losing 28 times on the trot.
Durham City keeper Rhys Jobling saved a penalty to secure a shock 2-1 victory away at FC United of Manchester.
And that meant celebrations for the Unibond League Premier Division club, who had scored just 16 goals and let in 137 before Saturday.
That record makes them the least successful side in the country. And they are still bottom of the table by 26 points.
A six-point deduction imposed by the FA for fielding a suspended player under a false name earlier in the season means they still need another victory simply to get up to zero.
But jubilant Rhys, 20, now hoping to keep out Whitby Town at home tonight, beamed: "It was like winning the Cup."
Friday, January 22, 2010
The only way for fans to force to change is to vote with their wallets
Source: Daily Mirror
By Simon Mullock
Published 10:00 22/01/10
Manchester United fans have tried almost everything to force the Glazer family out of Old Trafford – including forming another club.
Thirty-five miles down the East Lancs Road, Liverpool’s finest have made it clear that Tom Hicks and George Gillett are not welcome at Anfield.
It has become so desperate that there has even been talk – or rather whispers - of the two rival factions calling a brief truce and joining together to prevent the north west of England continuing as America’s Soccer State.
The posturing and rhetoric, the demos and banners, the e-mails and letters might make the supporters feel good because at least they are actually doing something.
But the bottom line – literally – is that there’s only one thing that hard-nosed businessmen like the Glazer brothers, Hicks and Gillett understand: Money.
They can live with the bruised ego that comes from an irate fan calling them a ****. But hit them in the wallet and watch their eyes water.
Unfortunately, for groups like the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust and the Spirit of Shankly they are unlikely to ever come up with the reddies that will tempt the Americans to sell.
And that means the only alternative, as unthinkable and shameful as it may seem to football fans of every ilk, is for the supporters of United and Liverpool to boycott their clubs.
A few thousand United fans walked out of Old Trafford five years ago to give their support to FC United of Manchester. It had no impact on the Glazers whatsoever.
If a few thousand more refused to renew their season tickets those places would be filled in an instant.
But if 30,000 “customers” – and that’s how the Glazer’s see them - sent back season tickets, refused to visit the megastore and cut up their MUFC credit cards, how long would it be before the owners’ crumbling business plan collapsed completely? Six months? A year?
If anything, Liverpool’s owners rely even more heavily on a club standard that states ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone.’
Again, there is a long waiting list for season tickets, so the dissension would have to be widespread to guarantee a half-full Anfield and the thus force the owners to the negotiating table with a realistic valuation of the club for potential buyers.
It’s the fans that make a football club.
What the owners of United and Liverpool have exploited is that club loyalties are unbreakable. Like genes, they are part of you, passed down through the generations.
One flag I’ve seen around the world on my travels covering United states: ‘United, Kids, Wife. In that order.’
The Glazers might not understand football, but they know how to fleece a fanatic like him. Double the price of a ticket and if he pays, double it again.
The only way to remove club owners who are only in it for the money is for fans to take away the hold they have on them.
A boycott of Old Trafford and Anfield is akin to asking the impossible.
But who would have thought a few years ago that these two rival sets of supporters would, in a way, share a common goal?
By Simon Mullock
Published 10:00 22/01/10
Manchester United fans have tried almost everything to force the Glazer family out of Old Trafford – including forming another club.
Thirty-five miles down the East Lancs Road, Liverpool’s finest have made it clear that Tom Hicks and George Gillett are not welcome at Anfield.
It has become so desperate that there has even been talk – or rather whispers - of the two rival factions calling a brief truce and joining together to prevent the north west of England continuing as America’s Soccer State.
The posturing and rhetoric, the demos and banners, the e-mails and letters might make the supporters feel good because at least they are actually doing something.
But the bottom line – literally – is that there’s only one thing that hard-nosed businessmen like the Glazer brothers, Hicks and Gillett understand: Money.
They can live with the bruised ego that comes from an irate fan calling them a ****. But hit them in the wallet and watch their eyes water.
Unfortunately, for groups like the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust and the Spirit of Shankly they are unlikely to ever come up with the reddies that will tempt the Americans to sell.
And that means the only alternative, as unthinkable and shameful as it may seem to football fans of every ilk, is for the supporters of United and Liverpool to boycott their clubs.
A few thousand United fans walked out of Old Trafford five years ago to give their support to FC United of Manchester. It had no impact on the Glazers whatsoever.
If a few thousand more refused to renew their season tickets those places would be filled in an instant.
But if 30,000 “customers” – and that’s how the Glazer’s see them - sent back season tickets, refused to visit the megastore and cut up their MUFC credit cards, how long would it be before the owners’ crumbling business plan collapsed completely? Six months? A year?
If anything, Liverpool’s owners rely even more heavily on a club standard that states ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone.’
Again, there is a long waiting list for season tickets, so the dissension would have to be widespread to guarantee a half-full Anfield and the thus force the owners to the negotiating table with a realistic valuation of the club for potential buyers.
It’s the fans that make a football club.
What the owners of United and Liverpool have exploited is that club loyalties are unbreakable. Like genes, they are part of you, passed down through the generations.
One flag I’ve seen around the world on my travels covering United states: ‘United, Kids, Wife. In that order.’
The Glazers might not understand football, but they know how to fleece a fanatic like him. Double the price of a ticket and if he pays, double it again.
The only way to remove club owners who are only in it for the money is for fans to take away the hold they have on them.
A boycott of Old Trafford and Anfield is akin to asking the impossible.
But who would have thought a few years ago that these two rival sets of supporters would, in a way, share a common goal?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Why angry football fans are the heroes of the resistance
Source: Daily Mirror
By Oliver Holt
Published 23:00 19/01/10
The people I admire most in football are fans who take action.
I don’t mean violent action. I don’t mean smashing directors’ windows or daubing their cars with paint.
But I do mean fans who don’t just sit back and take it. Fans who are angry about what is happening to their club and to football and do something about it.
Fans who don’t believe the garbage they’re fed by people who think they’re all dumb. Fans who fight back.
I admire the supporters who unfurled the ‘Love United, Hate the Glazers’ banner at the Stretford End on Saturday.
I admire the Spirit of Shankly fans who are trying to defend Liverpool from its American owners.
I admire the Stockport County supporters who walked from Edgeley Park into Manchester to highlight the club’s financial plight at the height of the winter freeze before Christmas.
I admire the people who have made AFC Wimbledon such a success and still rage against the way their club was stolen from them by Milton Keynes Dons.
And the disaffected United supporters who set up FC United of Manchester and who have stuck to their principles as their club has risen through the non-league pyramid.
They didn’t just sit there and munch on their prawn sandwiches when the Glazers took over.
They saw what was coming and they tried to mobilise more United fans to protest with them but the club, to their shame, snuffed the protests out.
Sir Alex Ferguson turned his back on those people, too. He got another Champions League victory out of it, I suppose, but now he’s suffering the consequences.
I hope they keep it peaceful but I hope United fans step up their protests about what is happening to their club.
I hope they continue to make life awkward for the Glazers. I hope they keep taking that banner to games and unfurling it.
Because the rape of so many of our football clubs relies in some part on the silence of the fans.
It relies on supporters accepting meekly the bland and hollow explanations they are given.
Remember a few months ago when Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore was busy telling everybody that debt in football wasn’t a problem.
Just like you and me having a mortgage, he said. Ridiculous to worry about it, he said. Made us feel like fools for saying it was a concern.
He’s changed his tune a bit now. Debt’s got a bit tricky now that Portsmouth look like they might be heading for administration.
Debt’s not so routine now that David Sullivan has revealed West Ham have £110m worth of it and nearly went into administration as well.
Debt’s not quite so hunky-dory now that the Glazers are talking about selling Old Trafford and leasing it back and doing the same with the club’s prized Carrington training facility.
They’re threatening to chop up United like it’s a piece of cheap meat and yet still there are those who criticise the supporters for organising protests.
Informed reports yesterday revealed that the Glazers can take almost £130m cash out of the club next year alone if enough lenders sign up for the bond they have launched to borrow £500m for United.
I suppose that’s just capitalism at work. Owner seeks to make a fat profit shock. But it doesn’t mean fans have to like it. It doesn’t mean they have to put up with it.
The thing the Premier League and the club owners hate to admit is that however badly the fans have been screwed over, they still have power. Real power.
Scudamore needs Premier League stadia full of fans so he can continue to flog television rights for huge sums.
Rows of empty seats don’t look good on telly. They don’t do a lot for share value or re-sale price.
And nothing makes owners more uncomfortable than fan discontent. They hate it because it focuses attention on them and their sometimes dubious practices. It’s bad for business.
With every day that passes this season, it feels as if English football is at a critical stage. It feels as if it is dying of greed.
And sometimes it feels as though the fans are the only ones trying to save it.
I’d like to see more marches, more protests, fans turning their backs on the action in a gesture of disgust. The Premier League is clearly powerless to enforce any form of proper financial governance. The fans might as well have a go at influencing owners instead.
Good luck to all of them, whichever club they support. Good luck to Spirit of Shankly and IMUSA and MUST and the Stockport fans who are petitioning the local council.
Good luck to them for not listening to the drones who tell them resistance is futile. Their defiance should be an inspiration to all of us.
By Oliver Holt
Published 23:00 19/01/10
The people I admire most in football are fans who take action.
I don’t mean violent action. I don’t mean smashing directors’ windows or daubing their cars with paint.
But I do mean fans who don’t just sit back and take it. Fans who are angry about what is happening to their club and to football and do something about it.
Fans who don’t believe the garbage they’re fed by people who think they’re all dumb. Fans who fight back.
I admire the supporters who unfurled the ‘Love United, Hate the Glazers’ banner at the Stretford End on Saturday.
I admire the Spirit of Shankly fans who are trying to defend Liverpool from its American owners.
I admire the Stockport County supporters who walked from Edgeley Park into Manchester to highlight the club’s financial plight at the height of the winter freeze before Christmas.
I admire the people who have made AFC Wimbledon such a success and still rage against the way their club was stolen from them by Milton Keynes Dons.
And the disaffected United supporters who set up FC United of Manchester and who have stuck to their principles as their club has risen through the non-league pyramid.
They didn’t just sit there and munch on their prawn sandwiches when the Glazers took over.
They saw what was coming and they tried to mobilise more United fans to protest with them but the club, to their shame, snuffed the protests out.
Sir Alex Ferguson turned his back on those people, too. He got another Champions League victory out of it, I suppose, but now he’s suffering the consequences.
I hope they keep it peaceful but I hope United fans step up their protests about what is happening to their club.
I hope they continue to make life awkward for the Glazers. I hope they keep taking that banner to games and unfurling it.
Because the rape of so many of our football clubs relies in some part on the silence of the fans.
It relies on supporters accepting meekly the bland and hollow explanations they are given.
Remember a few months ago when Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore was busy telling everybody that debt in football wasn’t a problem.
Just like you and me having a mortgage, he said. Ridiculous to worry about it, he said. Made us feel like fools for saying it was a concern.
He’s changed his tune a bit now. Debt’s got a bit tricky now that Portsmouth look like they might be heading for administration.
Debt’s not so routine now that David Sullivan has revealed West Ham have £110m worth of it and nearly went into administration as well.
Debt’s not quite so hunky-dory now that the Glazers are talking about selling Old Trafford and leasing it back and doing the same with the club’s prized Carrington training facility.
They’re threatening to chop up United like it’s a piece of cheap meat and yet still there are those who criticise the supporters for organising protests.
Informed reports yesterday revealed that the Glazers can take almost £130m cash out of the club next year alone if enough lenders sign up for the bond they have launched to borrow £500m for United.
I suppose that’s just capitalism at work. Owner seeks to make a fat profit shock. But it doesn’t mean fans have to like it. It doesn’t mean they have to put up with it.
The thing the Premier League and the club owners hate to admit is that however badly the fans have been screwed over, they still have power. Real power.
Scudamore needs Premier League stadia full of fans so he can continue to flog television rights for huge sums.
Rows of empty seats don’t look good on telly. They don’t do a lot for share value or re-sale price.
And nothing makes owners more uncomfortable than fan discontent. They hate it because it focuses attention on them and their sometimes dubious practices. It’s bad for business.
With every day that passes this season, it feels as if English football is at a critical stage. It feels as if it is dying of greed.
And sometimes it feels as though the fans are the only ones trying to save it.
I’d like to see more marches, more protests, fans turning their backs on the action in a gesture of disgust. The Premier League is clearly powerless to enforce any form of proper financial governance. The fans might as well have a go at influencing owners instead.
Good luck to all of them, whichever club they support. Good luck to Spirit of Shankly and IMUSA and MUST and the Stockport fans who are petitioning the local council.
Good luck to them for not listening to the drones who tell them resistance is futile. Their defiance should be an inspiration to all of us.
Friday, June 12, 2009
FC United of Manchester are doing very well
Source: Daily Mirror
By Oliver Holt 13/05/2009
Read Oliver Holt's column every Wednesday on Mirror.co.uk
FC United of Manchester was set up in the summer of 2005 by Manchester United supporters who could not stomach the takeover of their club by the Glazer family.
The sternest challenge was always going to be how the new club avoided turning into the commercially driven beast its fans had rebelled against as it rose through the league pyramid.
All the signs are that it's coping very well.
After three successive promotions, FC United are now in the Unibond Premier League but they are refusing to put up prices.
Advertisement - article continues below »
In fact, this summer the club will ask supporters to decide how much to pay for their season ticket based on what they can afford.
That is probably a first. If a few Premier League clubs had a fraction of this respect for their supporters, English football would have a lot more friends.
By Oliver Holt 13/05/2009
Read Oliver Holt's column every Wednesday on Mirror.co.uk
FC United of Manchester was set up in the summer of 2005 by Manchester United supporters who could not stomach the takeover of their club by the Glazer family.
The sternest challenge was always going to be how the new club avoided turning into the commercially driven beast its fans had rebelled against as it rose through the league pyramid.
All the signs are that it's coping very well.
After three successive promotions, FC United are now in the Unibond Premier League but they are refusing to put up prices.
Advertisement - article continues below »
In fact, this summer the club will ask supporters to decide how much to pay for their season ticket based on what they can afford.
That is probably a first. If a few Premier League clubs had a fraction of this respect for their supporters, English football would have a lot more friends.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
FC United they stand
Source: Daily Mirror
By Oliver Holt 13/05/2009
Fc United of Manchester was set up in the summer of 2005 by Manchester United supporters who could not stomach the takeover of their club by the Glazer family.
The sternest challenge was always going to be how the new club avoided turning into the commercially driven beast its fans had rebelled against as it rose through the league pyramid.
All the signs are that it's coping very well.
After three successive promotions, FC United are now in the Unibond Premier League but they are refusing to put up prices.
In fact, this summer the club will ask supporters to decide how much to pay for their season ticket based on what they can afford.
That is probably a first. If a few Premier League clubs had a fraction of this respect for their supporters, English football would have a lot more friends.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
WE HAVE OUR SAY
Source: The Mirror
10/05/2008
The fsf was at Westminster this week giving evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Football Group inquiry into club governance.
Deep stuff we know, but important nonetheless. On the surface it could appear that football has "never had it so good." Dig a little deeper and there are real problems.
Also giving evidence were ex-England chief Howard Wilkinson from the League Managers' Association, the PFA, the FSF's very good friends at Supporters Direct and a rep from FC United of Manchester, just promoted to the Unibond Premier League... the club set up by unhappy Man United supporters after the Glazer takeover at Old Trafford.
The FSF concentrated their contribution on how the FA and the leagues supervise "fit and proper person" tests for club owners and directors - a step in the right direction but needing to be beefed up.
Advertisement
Website: fsf.org.uk
10/05/2008
The fsf was at Westminster this week giving evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Football Group inquiry into club governance.
Deep stuff we know, but important nonetheless. On the surface it could appear that football has "never had it so good." Dig a little deeper and there are real problems.
Also giving evidence were ex-England chief Howard Wilkinson from the League Managers' Association, the PFA, the FSF's very good friends at Supporters Direct and a rep from FC United of Manchester, just promoted to the Unibond Premier League... the club set up by unhappy Man United supporters after the Glazer takeover at Old Trafford.
The FSF concentrated their contribution on how the FA and the leagues supervise "fit and proper person" tests for club owners and directors - a step in the right direction but needing to be beefed up.
Advertisement
Website: fsf.org.uk
Thursday, January 10, 2008
30 ways to survive skint weekend
Edited from: Daily Mirror
14 INSTEAD of spending a fortune watching Premiership football, go and see a non-league game for a fraction of the price. If you're a Manchester United fan, give the game against Newcastle a miss this Saturday. Instead of forking out £30 for a ticket, you could watch FC United v Chorley for £7.50.
If Chelsea fans can bear to miss the home game against Tottenham, they could see FA cup heroes Havant & Waterlooville play St Albans City for just £15. And instead of travelling all the way to London to watch the game against Arsenal, for just £8 each Birmingham fans could support non-leaguers Halesowen Town as they play Hitchin Town.
14 INSTEAD of spending a fortune watching Premiership football, go and see a non-league game for a fraction of the price. If you're a Manchester United fan, give the game against Newcastle a miss this Saturday. Instead of forking out £30 for a ticket, you could watch FC United v Chorley for £7.50.
If Chelsea fans can bear to miss the home game against Tottenham, they could see FA cup heroes Havant & Waterlooville play St Albans City for just £15. And instead of travelling all the way to London to watch the game against Arsenal, for just £8 each Birmingham fans could support non-leaguers Halesowen Town as they play Hitchin Town.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
United we stand
Source: Mirror.co.uk
By Iain Hepburn
A little moment of history will be made this weekend in the North West of England.
The vast majority of attention in Manchester will be focused on Roy Keane’s return to Old Trafford with his Sunderland side on Saturday night.
But almost a day later, and a few miles away, FC United will be playing Trafford FC at Moss Lane.
And why is this significant, you ask? Because it will mark FC United’s debut in the FA Cup, the world’s oldest cup competition and the trophy Manchester United have won 11 times.
It may only be the preliminary round of the competition – almost, but not quite, as early as you can embark on the road to Wembley. But it marks another milestone for the little club born two years ago, and forged out of protest and anger.
Victory at this stage of the competition is worth £1000 to a club – nothing if you’re the Premiership champions, but a hell of a lot to sides further down the pyramid.
At this level of the cup, the names may be unfamiliar but the stories aren’t. London ASPA won their extra preliminary replay against Sporting Bengal last week – making them the first Asian team to make the preliminary round.
For the sides taking part in this weekend’s fixtures, they’re just 11 rounds away from the final.
Both teams were founded from passion and a disenfranchised community – be it at the semi-pro level, as players wanting to be a standard bearer for Asian football in the UK, or at the top of the Premier League, left out in the cold by United’s takeover by the Glazer family and the direction of the club.
And both now find themselves, like around 600 others, on the road to Wembley.
Forget all the hype, all the media glitz and glamour. That’s the real magic of the FA Cup.
By Iain Hepburn
A little moment of history will be made this weekend in the North West of England.
The vast majority of attention in Manchester will be focused on Roy Keane’s return to Old Trafford with his Sunderland side on Saturday night.
But almost a day later, and a few miles away, FC United will be playing Trafford FC at Moss Lane.
And why is this significant, you ask? Because it will mark FC United’s debut in the FA Cup, the world’s oldest cup competition and the trophy Manchester United have won 11 times.
It may only be the preliminary round of the competition – almost, but not quite, as early as you can embark on the road to Wembley. But it marks another milestone for the little club born two years ago, and forged out of protest and anger.
Victory at this stage of the competition is worth £1000 to a club – nothing if you’re the Premiership champions, but a hell of a lot to sides further down the pyramid.
At this level of the cup, the names may be unfamiliar but the stories aren’t. London ASPA won their extra preliminary replay against Sporting Bengal last week – making them the first Asian team to make the preliminary round.
For the sides taking part in this weekend’s fixtures, they’re just 11 rounds away from the final.
Both teams were founded from passion and a disenfranchised community – be it at the semi-pro level, as players wanting to be a standard bearer for Asian football in the UK, or at the top of the Premier League, left out in the cold by United’s takeover by the Glazer family and the direction of the club.
And both now find themselves, like around 600 others, on the road to Wembley.
Forget all the hype, all the media glitz and glamour. That’s the real magic of the FA Cup.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
WHY REBELS STILL SAY THERE'S ONLY TWO UNITEDS
Source: Daily MirrorOliver Holt 25/04/2007
GIGGS scored a hat-trick for United on Saturday. "Sublime," they called it on the club website.
What, you mean you watched the game against Middlesbrough and you didn't see it?
Well, you could be forgiven for that because you were watching a different United and a different Giggs.
And you could be forgiven, too, for having forgotten all about FC United of Manchester, as Manchester United of Manchester have carried all before them in a magical season that is racing towards its climax.
FC United were formed by disillusioned Manchester United supporters in the summer of 2005 in the first flush of resentment against Malcolm Glazer's debt-laden takeover at Old Trafford.
For a year, they were the club's guilty conscience. Their presence was a reminder of the way Sir Alex Ferguson and his craven board had swallowed their principles and bowed down in front of the money-men from Palm Beach.
Think of Dennis Skinner railing from Labour's back benches against the sell-out Tony Blair and you've got an idea of their position in football culture.
To the more romantic, they were knights on white chargers waging war on the football anti-Christs who talked of fans as 'customers' and the club as 'a brand'.
They were part of a movement to give football back to the fans, part of the counter-culture initiated by AFC Wimbledon and taken up by clubs like Stockport County, now run with passion and intelligence by supporters.
But then this season, Manchester United put their recent years of relative ordinariness behind them and started playing well again. Started playing beautiful, beautiful football again.
The Glazers shelled out big money for Michael Carrick and Nemanja Vidic and appeared to be ready to sanction the £20million purchase of Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich.
The television moolah rolled in, ticket prices remained stable and suddenly everyone started asking what all the fuss had been about. To many, FC United had lost their raison d'etre.
The people at FC United don't see it that way. On the pitch, things are still going as well as they possibly could. A week ago, they secured their second successive promotion. They have won 35 of their 40 games in the North West Counties Football League Division One.
They have amassed 108 points, which puts them 15 ahead of second-placed Curzon Ashton. Their goal difference is plus 116.
On Saturday, they beat Salford City 4-2. Rhodri Giggs, younger brother of Ryan and a left-winger to boot, scored three of the goals.
Next season, they will play in the Unibond First Division. They are clambering up the pyramid fast. Four more promotions and they would be in the Football League.
Attendances are holding up, too. They are averaging more than 2,500 this season, which puts them above several league clubs, including Bury, with whom they share Gigg Lane.
And for the fans instrumental in the founding of the club, the fact that Ferguson and his side are closing in on another Treble has given them no reason for second thoughts.
Because, essentially, it's not what happens on the pitch at either club that defines the reason for the split. It's what happens off it. "The true effects of the Glazer takeover at Old Trafford have yet to come to fruition," FC United board member and spokesman Jules Spencer said.
"There were always going to be two or three seasons of grace before the interest payments Glazers' investment vehicle, announced a loss of more than £130m last week for the year ended June 2006.
"But the figures were revealed at the same time as news of Cristiano Ronaldo's new contract so no one really took any notice. They paid £85m in interest payments until June last year and that's £85m that could have gone towards keeping ticket prices down.
"We didn't set up FC United just because Manchester United were in the doldrums. The fact they are having success now does not remove the reasons why we walked away.
"We were becoming disillusioned by issues like kick-off times, rampant merchandising and rising ticket prices. And when Glazer took over, we objected to the idea we would be buying the club for him.
"None of those issues have changed because Manchester United are in the semi-finals of the European Cup and are at the top of the Premiership. It's important to stress we still remain United fans, just not customers.
"Anyone who saw how FC United supporters reacted to John O'Shea's winner in front of the Kop in the pubs round Gigg Lane prior to one of our home games will attest to that."
FC United face plenty of stern challenges in the years ahead, not least the fight to avoid turning into the kind of club they despise the closer they get to the Football League.
But their philosophy is worth supporting. They're the acceptable, articulate face of opposition to foreign ownership, the antithesis of the old-boy idiocy of Peter Hill-Wood's xenophobic garbage about not wanting 'their sort' here.
"We never opposed Glazer on the grounds of his nationality," Spencer says. "We just had concerns that he had no emotional ties to Manchester United and about the debt burden. "But takeovers by foreign owners are distancing Premiership clubs even more from their supporters. Clubs and the community should be one and the same thing.
"We still stick to our philosophy of not endorsing rampant commercialism. We do some merchandising but it's only what is requested by our fans. We took a vote on it. That's the difference." Well, vive la difference. I still admire FC United for what they're doing. I hope they continue to prosper.
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