ARE THE KIDS BORED? NOTHING ON TELLY?

Last updated : 31 August 2005 By Editor

With no United games for a week or so why not bob down to FC United? Bags of fun, goals guaranteed (last game ended 7-1 to FC) and dispel a few internet-based myths about what it’s all about.

FC United play Winsford tonight at Northwich Victoria’s ground (7:45pm) and again at Northwich on Saturday (1pm) against Ashton Town. Both away games have been moved to the bigger ground to cope with demand. Full details can be found at www.fc-utd.co.uk

Meanwhile the Evening News’ Stuart Brennan, writing in the programme last week:

I didn't think football could make me angry ever again - until Malcolm Glazer came along. And I also didn't think, after years as a sports journalist, that I would ever be uplifted and heartened by football again - until FC United came along.

You tend to get cynical as a football writer, dealing with lying managers, duplicitous agents, and greedy players. I have been lucky enough to go to all four pre-season games and, after the trauma and upset of the Glazer takeover - far worse for a lot of you than for me - it has put a spring back in my step.

I am proud to be a Mancunian. And when I think about what makes me proud, it is this city's long tradition of giving a damn. Mancunians have a healthy habit of standing up in the face of injustice and the testimony is there for all to see in the history books and on the streets of Manchester.

The Peterloo massacre, the statue of Abraham Lincoln on Brazennose Street and what it represents, and the old-fashioned Manchester "greeting" for fascist leader Oswald Mosley when he came here in the 30s - while that great British hero Winston Churchill was still saying Hitler was not such a bad chap.

I see FC United as an extension of that tradition. Those who have stood up to Glazer and have stuck to their principles, even to the extent of cutting ties with Manchester United which are extremely deep-rooted.

As a journalist, you get divorced from the everyday reality of the football supporter. We are a pampered lot, paid expenses to go to away games, with a press pass laid on, the best seats in the house and plenty of free refreshments.

It is a far cry from the anguish of applying for tickets, being shoved around by stewards, maltreated by police and treated with contempt by the club you support after forking out a small fortune. You can easily lose touch with your roots as a supporter, as many football writers have.

I had the pleasure of travelling down to Wimbledon on one of the FCUM coaches and, against my better judgment, fell in with Swampy and Spike - those of you who don't know them by name will certainly know them by sight - at the back of the bus. It was a great day out, a reminder of the great things about football. And for me it was about back to the roots of following United home and away in the 80s - but without the hassle.

Having a few scoops, standing on the terraces with people you feel comfortable with, listening to beautiful Mancunian wit, getting behind the shirts - as long as they are grafting and regardless of the score – and feeling that you are part of something worthwhile. That is FC United.

When I first heard of the plans to press ahead with FC United, I must admit that my heart sank. During the anti-Glazer campaign, I have developed a tremendous amount of respect for those who have stood tall, organised and demonstrated. So to hear that some of them - well known and respected Reds- were "splitting" was disheartening. Only when I listened to them outline what it was all about did I finally "get it".

FC United supporters have been called "traitors", "spoilt schoolkids" and worse by so-called Reds who can't quite grasp what the Glazer mess truly means. They are none of these things. They are carrying on the best traditions of Manchester United Football Club, and many will continue to defy and oppose those who are using United for their own financial ends. And the fact that they can provide a lively, vibrant alternative for those people in Manchester already priced out of football is another big bonus.

The Manchester Evening News has been interested and invigorated by the FC United story from day one, and as long as the crowds continue to turn up, I am sure we will do our best to cover what has been a great story. I couldn't be at Leek because I was stuck at Goodison Park last week (not a sentence I thought I would ever write). But I should be here at Gigg Lane today, not as a reporter but as a supporter. Long live FC United.