1 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011

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2 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011

 Editorials In this month’s issue of
So that’s it then...we’ve had the ups and downs,
we have smiled and cried but here we are. End Football United Fanzine
of the season and end of an era. No I’m not
talking about United securing a record 19th

12
league title, or even our performance against Youth
Barcelona (it’s still raw!), instead I am refer- Policy
ring to the sad news today that United veteran
Paul Scholes has made the decision to retire
from football. Just as we had been expected
Scholes’ announcement was understated and
with minimal fuss, just as he would have dic-
tated. I have often spoke of my jealousy of the
United fans who were fortunate enough to
watch the likes of Duncan Edwards and George
Best. Now I feel proud that in 20 years time I
can tell the new generation of fans that I was

38
one of the lucky fans who watched Scholesy in 2010-11
person. A genius. One of the best. What else can Awards
you say? Thank you for the memories Paul, it’s
been an absolute pleasure. And of course a
significant applause must also go to Edwin Van
der Sar, six fantastic seasons with United won’t
be forgotten.

Steph - Editor @stephdoehler

26
United’s best
Premier League XI

REGULAR FEATURES SPECIAL FEATURES

I don’t know about you guys but I’m starting to
06 HOT TOPIC 08 UNITED AGAINST
wish the Champions League final took place United’s record league title THE WORLD PART III
before the Premier League finished. The con- A look at Fergie’s strained
trast of agony and ecstasy, always present in 07 EDITOR COMMENT relationship with the FA
football has been felt greatly by all United fans Social media’s victory over courts
over the last few weeks. One week you’re 24 PLAYER RATINGS
writing your name into the record books and
celebrating being the greatest English team 14 AWAY DAYS 2010-11
ever, the next you’re having your dreams of a United vs Bayern, 1999 How have our players fared this
spectacular double crushed by the mighty season?
Barcelona. But that’s football and that’s why 16 MICKY OWEN - PI
we love it. We lost to the better side, the very Micky takes on the injunctions 33 DENNIS VIOLLET
best team around right now and maybe ever United legend and Munich hero
but we move on. We can take a lot of credit
from a great season. Now it’s those horrible 17 GREAT DEBATE
few months where your life has a massive void Should terracing be introduced into 36 TWEETIN’ HELL
and barely any purpose (or maybe that’s just Premier League grounds? The growing phenomenon of
me being a bit dramatic). Hopefully we shall footballers on Twitter
see some key signings to add to our already 20 OVERSEAS REDS
strong side. I hope we can all put the Barcelona
Introducing Casper from Denmark
game behind us and enjoy a summer celebrat-
ing a fantastic 19th title. I have no doubt we will
be back even stronger next season, fighting on 22 YOUTH WATCH @FootballUB
all fronts with Fergie very much in the driving Will Keane
seat yet again.
I hope you enjoy this month’s edition and our Thanks to Darren
end of season awards.
31 MAY ROUND UP (@ManUtdOT) for use of his
photos on the cover of this
Rachel - Assistant Editor @Rachel_jj2011 40 THE FINAL WORD magazine.

3 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011

Contributors

Liam Scott
1986: Plain old Alex Ferguson emphatically is
Alan Monger asked what his primary aim is with Manchester
@almanuman United after his recent appointment as manager.
Tony Park
His answer? Quite simply, to “knock Liverpool off
@mrmujac their fucking perch.” He was laughed at. Liverpool
were on 18 league titles, whilst United lumbered
Stephen Jackson on just seven.
Brett Burgers
@holdandgive
14th May 2011: Scouser and Evertonian, Wayne
Rooney, knocks Liverpool off their fucking perch.
Alex Wardrop
@aquelious

Suffy Kala
@sufiyan_kala

Tom Clare

Special thanks to

Casper Heiselberg
@Heiselberg

Darren
@ManUtdOT

Daniel Burdett
@Luzhniki2008

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The Football United Fanzine is completely independent of Manchester United Football Club. The Football United Fanzine
accepts no responsibility for services offered by advertisers.

4 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011

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5 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011

 Hi all, back with this month’s hot topic. As this
is written pre-Champions League final, I decided
that the most important thing to be discussed
this month was of course #19.
But before we relive the magic moment we
confirmed our status as the greatest English
club, I would like to pay tribute to someone very
special.
My cousin passed away in April, leaving behind
a husband and three little children. In her mid
20's and with everything in life in front of her, an
inoperable brain tumour took her away, when
there are so many other more deserving of such
a fate. So whilst we sit and put the footballing
world to rights, never forget, there is more to life
than football. Laura, your family, friends and
those who you held dearest, will always hold you
close to their hearts, never to be forgotten.
And so, after all, this is a football mag - League
Champions for a record breaking 19th time, now
who's sat on the perch? And, maybe we haven't
had the best of seasons, but I think SAF put it best.
The league is getting more competitive than it has
ever been. Investment in the middle order clubs
means that, you may only finish the season with
five away wins and still go on to lift the title. Over
the course of the year, we amassed more points,
regardless of what anyone says about the club’s
strength this year, that's what matters! Arsenal,
Chelsea, Manchester City - all of them less consis-
tent than ourselves, so why don't we deserve it?
Liverpool haven't won a league title since 1990. I
was three years old then and, with the exception
of a couple of titles here and there, excluding the
league of course, I haven't seen the machine of
6 ISSUE
Liverpool FC show even a glimmer of the promise
we show year on year. And that drive shows no
signs of slowing down. Shortly after winning the
19th Championship, SAF was discussing his plans
to bring maybe two or three players in, plus our
young loan players coming back with more ex-
perience, eager to break into the team. Mike
Phelan after the Blackburn game referring to this
Championship winning team as a squad still in devel-
opment. Not bad really. With comments like that I
can only think but one thing. Bring on the League
next year!!
Somehow, with talk like that, so soon after a
monumental achievement, I can't see SAF sud-
denly winding down to retire at the end of this
year. All I took from his press conferences and
interviews is that he is ready to win number 20,
whatever money rich club wants to challenge.
Retirement is for young people, according to
SAF himself. That must be why, at the age of 37
Ryan Giggs has won 12 league titles, he must also
believe in that philosophy - especially as he wants
to stay on next year for number 13. And will we
let him stay on? I should bloody think so!! The
man is still, tearing apart defences when most
midfielders would be working on their tee shot...
By Liam Scott
ISSUE
4, JUNE
4, JUNE
2011
2011
 Social media scores victory as Ryan Giggs is named the Premier League
footballer at the centre of an injunction scandal over alleged affair.
Like many who use the social enjoyed ‘extra-curricular’ ac- Are we witnessing the best
media world it was hardly a tivities shall we say. He cer-
shock when MP John Hemming tainly wont be the last player ever football player?
used Parliamentary privilege to be accused of such indiscre-
to disclose Giggsy as the in- tions. I’ve had this discussion with my brother
junction wielding football ban- on a few occasions. He says Leo Messi is up
ning Imogen Thomas from It was uncomfortable viewing there with Maradona in terms of being the
discussing their alleged affair. at Old Trafford when United best ever footballer to grace this planet. I
Anyone who uses forums, were awarded the Premier have always said he still needs to improve
Twitter etc have been aware of League trophy and out walked his international form to be truly deemed
these rumours since it was first his wife and kids onto the the best. My brother argues a compelling
reported in April. pitch. But such is life. point, when Maradona played the World
Cup was the bee all and end all of football,
Everyone will have their own I watch and appreciate Ryan not anymore. The Champions League is a
views on what may or may not Giggs as a footballer, not as a far more important competition, and I’m
have happened between Giggs man. The same goes for any inclined to agree with him. Messi is 23, he
and Thomas, but in truth I other Manchester United still has at least ten decent years ahead of
really couldn't care less player. So long as they perform him on the grandest stage of them all. He
whether they had an affair or on the pitch I am not overly already has three Champions League med-
not. To me Giggs is nothing fussed about what they do off it als to his name (not to mention the five La
more than a footballer, just like and considering Ryan’s recent Liga titles). He is deemed the best player in
the others out there who have form, I’m all for it! the world at present and has embarrassed
United in two European Cup finals. Make
AGREE OR DISAGREE? We want to know what you think no mistake, by the time Messi retires there
about anything you read in the magazine. You can email: will no longer be a debate - he will have
editor.fub@live.co.uk or tweet us @footballUB been the best player ever.

7 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011

 Over the last two issues Alan Monger has supplied firm proof that contrary
to popular belief from the ABUs, Manchester United are in fact more often
than not reprimanded for their actions rather than let off. Here Alan
addresses the complex issue of Sir Alex Ferguson.
In the previous two issues of the incurred the wrath of the FA on Seriously, you couldn’t make it up
FUFanzine I have sought to quash more than just the one occasion in could you? Well actually, if you're
the arguments of those who seem the past. Far more than just the the FA it appears you CAN just
to think that United are forever the once actually. Basically the mere make it up. Because compare SAF’s
beneficiaries of 'dodgy decisions', fact of him opening his mouth comments to Ancelotti on 6th May,
of 'luck' and yes, of downright seems to infuriate that oh-so- again prior to the United v Chelsea
'bias' by referees particularly, but reputable body known as the Foot- match.. "I don’t want to put pres-
also by bodies such as the FA. ball Asso...... sure on the referee. I think Howard
However examination of events Webb is a fantastic referee because
both on and off the pitch this sea- **** STOP PRESS **** STOP he has experience. If the referee has
son and in seasons past actually PRESS**** STOP PRESS **** STOP no experience we can perhaps be a
shows this not to be the case, with PRESS**** bit worried about this but with
United often getting the rough end Howard Webb there is no problem".
of key decisions on the field, and Well blow me down with a Um, has Ancelotti been charged?
off the field often seen to be having feather! Mid sentence writing Has he bollocks. And nor should he
punishments levied against them about SAF's 'indiscretions', and the be. But SAF shouldn't be either!
which are not then levied in any FA have only gone and hit him with
consistent form against other clubs another disrepute charge!! This
and their players by the FA. Oh, time for daring to 'insult' referee
and other clubs' managers too.... Howard Webb when asked in the
pre Utd v Chelsea match press
As detailed in the previous arti- conference about the choice of ref
cles, Sir Alex Ferguson was handed by saying "We are getting the best
a five match touchline ban by the referee, there is no doubt about
FA for his comments after the that" And those comments bring
Chelsea game earlier this season. A forth a charge from the FA which
five match ban that included two their website justify as "The charge
matches from a previous relates to media comments made
'suspended' but now enforced about match official Howard
punishment. Straight away there- Webb."
fore we know that SAF has

8 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011

 For Christ’s sake FA, Fergie WAS
ASKED A BLOODY QUESTION!!! As
was Ancelotti. As was Tony Pulis
on 30th March prior to Stoke’s FA
Cup semi final against Bolton
"Howard is a great ref in my book
and certainly as good as there is in
the world... We are pleased to have
him [for the semi final]. ..we just
hope .... That major decisions are
decided by the players and not the
officials". Oh, and one more, Harry
Redknapp also extolled the virtues
of Howard Webb on 13th May prior
to Spurs playing Liverpool two
days later.
At the time of writing NONE of
these latter three managers have
been charged. Which obviously
begs the question as to whether
the FA radar is specifically and
solely aimed at Old Trafford? To
quote from a Carry On film (quite
apt I think in that the logic of the
FA at some times smacks of a right
carry-on), I am of the mind that
SAF could justifiably come out with
the oft-repeated line 'Infamy,
Infamy, you've all got it in for me'. ..
And he wouldn't be wrong.
Sorry, got a bit sidetracked there.
Where was I?
Oh yeah, so the latest charging of
SAF has absolutely and totally
exemplified yet again that United
are being persecuted by the FA.
And it brings me nicely back to
what the main theme for this arti-
cle was going to be, having looked
at the past and present, what does
the future promise in the relation-
ship between United and official-
dom?
9 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011
To be honest I see nothing chang-
ing for as long as the legend that is
SAF remains our manager. And
judging by varying soundbites
coming out of Old Trafford this
could basically be one year, two
years, five years, or even more -
hell, as long as the great man him-
self wants to and is able to con-
tinue. Which is great news for all
us United fans, as (and I speak as
someone who has lived through
the bleak times having supported
United since the early 70's) the
stability and success his tenure at
Old Trafford has brought has been
unparalleled in English football,
culminating of course in newly
acquired title number 19.
What's going to happen when he
finally does relinquish the reins
though? And this question is not
just posed in terms of how United
will do on the pitch. Yes, we'd all
like to think that a seamless transi-
tion will take place with the new
manager continuing where SAF
leaves off, but let's not kid our-
selves that he's not going to prove
to be one hell of a hard act to fol-
low. No, the question is asked
more in terms of how United are
going to be perceived and treated
under a new manager by the likes
of the FA.
At present, the FA quite clearly
delight in picking on SAF at any
opportunity. They obviously resent
the fact that he is perceived as
being the most powerful man in
English football. After all he has
been at the helm of the biggest club
side in the world for over a quarter
of a century, a tenure which would
be extraordinary at any time, but in
the present day, with its £1m a
month footballers, it’s almost beg-
gars belief. He holds so much sway
that the FA delight in any chance to
bring him down a peg or too. It's as
though they're saying 'whoa, hang
on we're in control here, get back
in line,' that increasingly marks
them up for ridicule, particularly
when it is quite clear that a lack of
consistency is being applied, as
with this latest charge (which
incidentally as I write has just been
dealt with, with SAF rightfully not
being punished but merely being
warned as to his future conduct).
So, do the United board, when
eventually sitting down to discuss
SAF’s successor, make any consid-
eration of how the new man will
interact with the FA? Obviously
they, and we, will want the best
man for the job, someone who it is
to be hoped will carry on our suc-
cess. But will they want someone
who brings with him baggage that
maybe United don't necessarily
want in the immediate aftermath
of SAF? Someone who, whilst
maybe being a guarantee of con-
tinuing success to United is also
almost guaranteed from day one to
raise the hackles of the FA? You
may have guessed where I'm going
here....
Yes, I'm talking about José Mour-
inho. He has long been touted as a
possible successor to SAF, and it's
often stated that the two men get
on well, they speak to each other
and text each other often, thus
leading to conjecture that SAF may
be grooming him as his successor.
And for his part Mourinho has
expressed on more than one occa-
sion that he wishes to return to
England to manage once he fin-
ishes with Real Madrid. In terms of
continuing the dynasty that SAF
has created, Mourinho is a proven
winner and as he showed at Porto,
not always purely because of blank
cheques being at his disposal. He
has a winning mentality yes, but,
and this is important, he also a
propensity to upset people, as
shown by his behaviour/actions/
attitude in the recent Madrid v
Barcelona clashes. Do we want
this?
In my eyes no I don't think so. I
think that bridges have to be re-
built between United and the FA in
the wake of SAF leaving and I don't
see that the appointment of Mour-
inho will enable this. I think a more
diplomatic manager might be the
order of the day, someone who
neither seeks nor attracts contro-
versy, as per Mourinho. Hell, listen,
I might be completely wrong.
Maybe the 'we're Man United, we'll
do what we want' faction of United
supporters would like nothing
more than Mourinho or someone
similar to come in and completely
assume the mantle of SAF and
disregard the consequences with
regard to how United as an institu-
tion are perceived.
Going the 'diplomat' route how-
ever, I could see someone like Pep
Guardiola ticking all the right
boxes. A loyal one club man whose
10
team play great football and some-
one who has a great demeanor
about him. Even the FA would
struggle to fabricate, sorry, not
fabricate, that just sounds as
though they make things up as
they go along....um...ok, as we were,
fabricate charges against someone
like Guardiola. Maybe the whole
time element will never facilitate
such an appointment however,
with as previously mentioned SAF
at present giving no indication as
to when the dreaded day of his
leaving will arrive and Guardiola
perhaps only possibly available in
the next year or so.
Names such as Moyes and Bruce,
amongst others, will doubtless be
touted in any future SAF successor
debate. If you allow me to indulge
myself for a minute in a few years
time I would hope that another
name is added to that list. A per-
son who is currently in his first full
time managerial post abroad, who
is the epitome of diplomacy, whose
demeanor and football values
could never be questioned and
who would be welcomed by every
single United fan if it came about.
Having already achieved success in
his spell as United reserve team
manager, how great would it be if
legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer trans-
lates his managerial ability on to
the bigger stage and makes a suc-
cess of his new career? Sure we're
talking some way in the future
here, but a lá Guardiola at Barce-
lona, does anyone think that a
playing legend such as Ole couldn't
successfully take the reins of the
United manager?
At any rate the FA would have
ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011
little choice but to be charmed by
him, just like we as fans had no
choice but to be charmed by him
from the first day he burst into Old
Trafford, leading quickly to his
'baby faced assassin' nickname.
Such charm, such calmness, would
in my opinion benefit the dynamics
of the whole United versus the FA
situation in due course. And this is
something that I for one would
love to see in the fullness of time.
For the good of United, the good of
the FA, and for the good of football
in general. No-one’s best interests
are served by United and the FA
being almost permanently at log-
gerheads with each other. And I
look forward to the day when it
ceases, or at least eases.
Something to think about for the
future perhaps? For the present
let's rejoice as one in the winning
of title number 19, a title that
makes us the most successful Eng-
lish side in the history of league
football; a title that can be said to
have been won despite the FA,
certainly not because of it.
Alan has been a United fan ever
since his dad took him to watch
them play Spurs in 1972. He was
a Stretford Ender in the days
when you could turn up and pay
20 minutes before KO. He also
had a ST in North Stand before
work took him abroad. His best
memory was the trip to Barce-
lona for the 1999 Champions
League final. His favourite play-
ers are Eric Cantona and Ryan
Giggs.
@almanuman
 Tweets
From The
Terrace
Give one word to sum up
Manchester United’s season.

On the 2nd May United sadly lost one of its oldest @holdandgive:
stars. Eddie Lewis, one of the original Busby BELIEVE
Babes, lost his battle with cancer aged 76. The
striker joined United in 1947 and made is debut in @aquelious:
1952 at just 17 years old against West Brom, giv-
ing United the lead after seven minutes. He went Historic
on to make 24 appearances in total, scoring 11
goals for the club. He also featured in United’s first @mrgreen1066:
FA Youth Cup winning side of 1953. His appear- Edwin
ances were limited due to the presence of the likes
of Sir Bobby Charlton, Billy Whelan, Dennis Viollet
@John_Aldinho:
and Tommy Taylor. Lewis therefore left United for
Preston before joining West Ham in 1956 where Overachievers
he was playing when the Munich Air Disaster
happened. Eric Mallender, a Manchester City Scout @JanMetcalf:
who was a team mate of Eddie’s at Manchester Rollercoaster
Boys, described him as “a bubbly character and an
astute, clever forward who was destined to make it
as a footballer.” @WorriedTurkey:
Unexpected
After his playing career he went into coaching,
mostly in South Africa where he emigrated in @DazJenno:
1970. He coached Wits University and Kaizer Evolution
Chiefs amongst others. He also worked on TV for
sports stations Supersport and PA Sports. Premier
Soccer League chairman Irvin Khoza says Eddie @FootieRoxMySox:
Lewis’ death is a big loss and credit’s the rise of Exciting
football in South Africa to him. “He joined the old
National Professional Soccer League when it was @ManUtdJacko:
not fashionable. His presence gave the confidence to
sponsors at the time to back the league and he was
Gritty
already there when the NPSL went multi racial in
1976. He always strove to put that English disci-
pline into the game. He was an influence on the
direction of the game in the country. We thank God
for the gift of his life.”

He may not be the best known of the Busby

Babes, but we remember each and every one of
them. Rest in peace Eddie Lewis.

By Rachel

11 Page 11 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011


By Tony Park
For most of us Manchester United
have always been regarded as a
wealthy club. Let’s put aside the
Glazer argument for a moment and
consider the facts. Manchester
United have a history of buying big.
In 1949 we broke the transfer
record to bring John Downie to the
club for £18,000. In 1958 we did
the same thing and paid £45,000 to
acquire Albert Quixall. Since then
Denis Law, Bryan Robson, Gary
Pallister, Roy Keane and Rio Ferdi-
nand amongst others have been
added to the list. But it wasn’t
always that way.
In the early 1930’s United were
the poor neighbours in Manchester
and Chairman James Gibson was
keen to change that. A visionary,
Gibson had bankrolled the Reds
throughout his tenure, but times
were tough in the depression years
and Gibson sought a different
strategy. If United couldn’t afford
to buy big names of the day, then
perhaps we could develop our
own. With that in mind Gibson set
out to find a man who could turn
his dream into reality. It’s at this
point that the story becomes a
little vague…whether or not Louis
Rocca influenced James Gibson, or
the Chairman was acting on his
own volition may never be con-
firmed. However, what is clear is
that both men agreed to build a
football club made up of home-
grown players.
Meanwhile up in Scotland, Cow-
denbeath had won promotion to
the Scottish First Division in 1924
and had appointed Scott Duncan as
secretary/manager. With a team of
predominantly local youngsters,
Duncan won plaudits north of the
border as Cowdenbeath finished
regularly in the top half of the
12
Johnny Morris while others such as
Jack Crompton and Henry Cock-
burn had featured for the Goslings,
one of United’s nursery clubs.
Fundamentally, Matt Busby in-
herited his first youth team.
Crowds up and down the country
soon saw how good this youth
team was as the Reds won the FA
Cup in 1948 with seven players
coming through the ranks. The side
table. So in 1932, Gibson and Rocca also finished second in the league
decided that Duncan was their man on four occasions before lifting the
and offered the Scot the opportu- league title in 1951 with the likes
nity of replicating his success at of Roger Byrne, Don Gibson and
Manchester United. Unfortunately Billy Redman progressing from the
it didn’t turn out that way. With ‘A’ team. Meanwhile the MUJAC’s
United struggling in the Second were back in action!
Division there was an enormous
pressure for results and the com-
In 1947, Jimmy Murphy had won
ings and goings at the club made
the Central League with United’s
Tommy Docherty’s spell as man-
Reserves, and after being congratu-
ager appear one of stability! Dun-
lated by Busby commented that
can was under pressure from the
although he appreciated the recog-
start.
nition, not one player was good
enough for the first team. Murphy’s
Nevertheless, in 1934 United
Mission had begun!
entered a team in the Manchester
League calling themselves the
Together with Bert Whalley and
Manchester United ‘A’. The ‘A’ team
scout Joe Armstrong, Murphy
was a level below the Reserves and
scoured the country watching
made of seventeen and eighteen
schoolboy football and trying to
year-olds. The Manchester United
entice the best lads available to
Youth team was born! A few years
join Manchester United. Wanting to
later, the club decided to take the
‘catch them young’, he convinced
next step and develop kids straight
the likes of Jackie Blanchflower,
from school. So, in 1938, the Man-
Bill Foulkes, Mark Jones, Geoff
chester United Junior Athletic Club
Bent, Freddie Goodwin, Cliff
(MUJAC) was formed and two
Birkett, Brian Birch amongst oth-
teams were formed, with the MU-
ers that their future was at Old
JAC ‘A’ being entered into the local
Trafford.
Chorlton League. During WW2 the
MUJAC’s project was shelved.
To the amazement of all and
sundry, Matt Busby played them in
When Matt Busby was appointed
the rough and tumble of the old
manager of Manchester United in
First Division. This was ground-
1946 he faced an uphill task of
breaking. Word soon caught on
rebuilding the club. With Old Traf-
and schoolboy footballers wanted
ford severely damaged by bombs
to join United. Duncan Edwards
during the war, Busby found him-
and Bobby Charlton needed very
self with no ground, no money and
little convincing….”if you wanted a
high expectations. What he did
chance at being a footballer then
have was blend of good prospects
Old Trafford was the only place to
such as Carey, Rowley and Chilton
be.” Together with local youngsters
who remained on the clubs books
such as Eddie Colman, Wilf
from before the war and a band of
McGuinness, Dennis Viollet, John
even more exciting juniors who
Doherty, Eddie Lewis and Albert
had featured for the MUJAC’s in
Scanlon, United were developing a
some capacity. Lads such as John
deep pool of talent that no other
Aston, Stan Pearson, John Ander-
club could compete with.
son, Joe Walton, Charlie Mitten and
ISSUE
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4, 4,
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JUNE
2011
2011
 Then in 1952 the FA announced
that they were launching a new
competition. A mini FA Cup tourna-
ment called the FA Youth Cup.
Murphy saw the opportunity of
spreading the message to an even
wider audience and duly entered.
History has since shown that
Manchester United won the FA
Youth Cup for the first five seasons
on the trot and but for Munich
could have extended this record.
Records were made and broken
regularly and the youth conveyor
belt had begun. The United junior
teams regularly won their leagues
and local cup competitions and all
Busby had to do was to decide
when to blood these ‘Babes’ in the
first team. As a consequence, be-
tween 1952 and 1957 Matt Busby
only needed to significantly enter
the transfer market once, for
Tommy Taylor.
For many modern supporters it
might be difficult to understand,
but back in the 1950’s to play with
a team whose average age was
only 21 was ground breaking. To
win two successive league champi-
onships and enter Europe was just
pure fantasy.
After Munich it took a little time
to rebuild but the ‘conveyor belt’
was still in operation and soon the
likes of Giles, Brennan, Nicholson,
McMillan, Stiles, Moir, Chisnall,
Lawton and others found them-
selves on first team duty.
In 1964 the Reds won their sixth
FA Youth Cup with the likes of
Bobby Noble, George Best, David
Sadler, John Aston, John Fitzpatrick
and Jimmy Rimmer all featuring. In
1968, we won the European Cup
with eight of the team progressing
from the juniors, including nine-
teen year-old Brian Kidd. You can
talk about your modern Barce-
lona’s and Ajax….United were
pioneering home gown talent in
European Cup finals 45 years ago.
The 1970’s saw a bleak time for
13
From the Busby
Babes...
Manchester United Youth team.
Four different managers did noth-
ing for stability and although the
likes of Arthur Albiston, Jimmy
Nicholl, Brian Greenhoff, Sammy
McIlroy and a handful of others
pushed their way into first team
reckoning little success was en-
joyed. In 1977, Dave Sexton joined
as Manchester United manager and
set about to restore United’s repu-
tation of prodigious producers of
young talent. In 1980 and 1981 the
youngsters reached the semi-final
of the competition with the likes of
Scott McGarvey, Steve Pears, Nor-
man Whiteside, Clayton Black-
more, Mark Hughes and Graeme
Hogg all showing their worth.
Ron Atkinson continued in the
same vein and although not par-
ticularly interested in the youth
team he made an important deci-
sion. He appointed Eric Harrison as
youth team manager. Under Harri-
son’s tenure the Reds reached the
FA Youth Cup final in 1982 and
1986 producing first team players
such as Billy Garton, Gary Walsh,
Lee Martin, Russell Beardsmore
and Mark Robins.
However, when Alex Ferguson
took over in November 1986 he
wanted to completely restructure
the youth set-up. He wanted ex-
actly what Murphy had achieved
thirty years earlier - the best youth
system in the country.
The rest they say is history. Since
ISSUE
ISSUE4,4,JUNE
To the class of
1992.
1987, United have won the FA
Youth Cup in 1992, 1995 and 2003.
They have been finalists in 1993
and 2007 and reached the semi-
finals twice.
As I am currently writing this
article, United have reached the
final of the FA Youth Cup once
again with a team as exciting as
that of the ‘Class of 1992’. A full
house at Bramall Lane saw an
exhilarating 2-2 draw with Shef-
field United and it is hoped that
United can make it ten successes
next Monday in the return.
(Editor’s note: United won the sec-
ond leg 4-1, securing the cup once
again).
Since it all began United have
given first team debuts to 194
juniors - approximately 50% of the
total number of first team players
in that period. 31 of the top 60
appearance makers have come
through the ranks. 85 juniors have
gone on to represent their country.
No club in Britain has a youth
system that can compare to these
figures.
Watching the kids progress from
the juniors through to the first
team has been part of our pioneer-
ing history…part of Gibson’s,
Rocca’s, and Murphy’s vision…part
of our rich culture of young attack-
ing football…part of what we lost
on the runway at Munich…part of
what attracts so many support-
ers…and it will always be part of
our future!
JUNE2011
2011
 Our journey began back home
in Redditch, me and my dad
were members of the Redditch
supporter’s club and was also
season tickets holders sitting
just under the old score board
north east quadrant . We loved
going to watch United at home
and tried as much to travel to see
them play away.
As soon as United had reached
the final of the Champions
League we knew we had to make
this game. The supporters club
in Redditch decided that the best
way to get to the match was to
travel there by coach, stay over
at a hotel near Barcelona watch
the game and then travel back. It
seemed like a long way to travel
by coach but the savings out-
shone the extra effort of travel-
ling. We turned up at the meet-
ing point in Redditch on the
Monday morning ready and
prepared for the adventure.
There was plenty of banter flying
around and an air of excitement
14
as we set off. We set of travelling
down England towards Dover to
catch the ferry over into France,
the mood was good as all chat-
ted, laughed and watched foot-
ball DVDs on the coach. We
caught the ferry over into France
and proceeded to travel down
the country going through Paris
and Lyon. I recall Lyon being a
particularly dull concrete look-
ing city with the large cold look-
ing river running through it.
My dad always recalls stopping
for a toilet break in the middle of
nowhere having to step over
people sleeping on the floor on
the coach to get off for the toilet
block near the roadside. Then
rushing into the toilets half
asleep and hearing an Elvis song
playing during a much needed
break, surreal! By this time the
mood was a lot duller as we was
all tired, uncomfortable and
wanting to just get to our desti-
nation. We crossed the boarder
over into Spain where we
ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011
headed to our place of rest, a
hotel based in Girona, The Cos-
mopolita. I think everybody was
glad to arrive there and get off
the coach which had started to
feel more like a prison than
mode of transport. We went
down to the hotel bar being
greeted by a friendly barman
who was the spitting image of
Faulty Towers’ Manuel, “two
beers please,” was the order. We
sat down, drank some beers and
then decided to venture out to
the local bars to soak up the
atmosphere more. As we walked
down the street we could see the
many United fans flooding the
bars, drinking away and singing
song after song.
We woke the next day fully
recharged and ready for the big
match. United vs. Munich, Cham-
pions League final! I could hardly
still believe we were there and
the excitement of us playing in
this match was huge. The jour-
ney this time was around two
hours into the city where we
parked up and then went to
some of the bars in the sur-
rounding areas. The weather
was fantastic, very sunny and
there was plenty of fans enjoying
it and drinking in the local bars.
This is where we stayed for
some time before heading to-
wards the stadium around two
hours before kick off. We
stopped around the outside of
the Nou Camp to get some food
and look around at the many
stands selling merchandise, of
which I was tempted and bought
a nice scarf that still hangs on my
wall at home to this day. The
stadium looked fantastic, we
couldn’t wait to get inside. Our
tickets which had barcodes on
them was scanned three times
before even getting into the
stadium so security was very
tight. We climbed the stairs into
the ground got a quick drink
then found our seats to watch
the players warm up an view the
amazing stadium. We were
seated on the 2nd tier, in the
corner Beckham took the cor-
ners for our goals. The atmos-
phere was great and the match
was fantastic. We all know what
the happened in the game, but
wow! I’ve never seen so many
people jump, cheer and generally
15
go crazy when Ole’s goal went in,
AMAZING! It was a moment that Tweets
I will never forget in my life and
still get goose bumps thinking From The
about. It was typical of United to
come back and win it like this. Terrace
After all the cup celebrations and
cheering we left the ground
which was manic as all were Scenario: You can
trying to get back to their
coaches and travelled back to
sign one player
hotel for some drinks an plenty during the summer
of singing. The next day we woke for United, who do
went down for breakfast, relaxed
our tender heads and then you choose?
started to board the coach and
travel back home, which had @GJ_Goody: Bring back
been long forgotten about during
this great adventure. The jour-
Ronaldo
ney back was much the same as
the journey down but with a @deanhuggins731:
sense of satisfaction with Edwin Van Der Sar’s
United’s historic win. We finally younger clone if that was
got home after many miles and
reflected back on our adventure, possible!
a nightmare of a journey but a
dream come true, Manchester @Shaun_Payne_7:
United Champions of Europe It's hard to give just one.
1999 worth every little bit of it! Sneijder is the obvious but
I think Diarra would add
some tenacity!
@Ram5den:
I’d sign Modric. Probably
not what United need but
By Stephen Jackson
he is fantastic #mufc
@ MrMujac:
The Ajax keeper
@himavad:
I’d have to say Wesley
Sneijder
And finally, ever the
optimist
@Alan_Tonge:
Messi
ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011
 Since escaping the evil clutches of Liverpool’s gang of petty criminals. Micky Owen has
spent most of his investigative career ensconced in the underbelly of the horse racing
fraternity. Sir Alex Ferguson recognised the potential in Micky and offered him the oppor-
tunity to fine tune his craft for long periods of time without having football as a distraction.
It was just your average Thursday. I was at the good name. Sir Alex had once again assured the
stable hosing down one of the horses I had recently press that there was nothing suspicious concerning
acquired since working for United, that I’d affection- my whereabouts by releasing a pre-prepared state-
ately named Dion Dublin. I’d also just bought a don- ment that I had ‘stubbed my toe in training and
key cross (it had a horses head) for the kids I was would need treatment from a placenta specialist in
calling Obertan. My Step-father Alan Shearer was Paignton and I’d be out for 2-3 weeks”. Without my
with me, we’d just had a big win at the last meeting wheelchair (that Hargo had managed to park half-
so he had got to work on creosoting a fence to cele- way up a tree last month leaving him with multiple
brate. Now that’s living. As I walked across to one of injuries that science hadn’t yet discovered) I decided
the barns I spotted Arsene Wenger round the back, to take my trusty steed Obertan for this adventure.
at the entrance to the glue factory. He was trying to Yeeeehaaaa! Unfortunately, although Obertan was
sell one of the poor mares we had put down last like shit off a shovel, he had no sense of direction
week…He was always flogging a dead horse. Further and kept instinctively taking us down cul-de-sacs.
to this Fernando Torres was inside the barn taking
in some extra training, he’d bought one of George
Formby’s instruments off E-bay and borrowed a
bovine from the a local farmer. He’d been in there
for months but still hadn’t hit the cows arse with the
banjo. was the most amazing discovery in all my investiga-

As I headed inside for a cuppa with a copy of the

racing post I spotted SAF heading up the driveway unbelievable! My ability to deal with high pressure
with Ruud Van Nistlerooy. As he got closer I soon
realised he was actually just bringing one of his own
horses with him to show me. SAF’s mouth was
masticating so frantically I though his head was
going to dislodge from his shoulders! Mike Phelan
was with him and he had one of the red top newspa-
pers wedged in his mouth. “Drop!” bellowed SAF,
which Mike Phelan obediently did. SAF petted him
on the head and gave him a treat from his pocket. I
picked up the drool ridden paper up and began to
read the page it was folded open on. The article was I’m sure you will agree it was fairly conclusive. Case
talking about the rise in Super-Injunctions issued by closed.
professional footballers and bemoaning how they
were becoming above the law. I agreed with the Carro was supposed to be seeing a bloke about
getting this self-destruct function sorted, but said he
was going round Nani’s house for dinner cos he was
always making a meal of things. I think they got on
like a house on fire last time Carro apparently had
Nani in stitches. As per the last issue, please dispose
beyond the pale. Something would have to be done of this sensitive information by whichever means
and fast. necessary. Thank you. I will not rest until the integ-
rity of Manchester United is upheld. Keep ‘em
After a few months of learning morse code I finally peeled!
By Brett Burgers @HoldAndGive
Image courtesy of www.deemointernational.com

16 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011

17 ISSUE
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2011
 By
Steph
The subject of terraced standing areas at football
grounds was revolutionised by the Hillsborough disaster
in 1989, in which 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to
death during their FA Cup semi-final tie against Notting-
ham Forrest. A horrific incident, no doubt about that, but
looking back it is hard to place much blame on terraces
themselves, instead there were a range of logistical
problems that affected events on that sad day; poor
planning, poor observation by the police and human
error were the main culprits, not to mention the large
fences that trapped so many, which has since been abol-
ished in this country.
As a result of Hillsborough the Taylor Report was pub-
lished in which Lord Justice Taylor not only sought justi-
fication for what happened, but also made recommenda-
tions for how the Football League may be able to prevent
future tragedies. It was this that essentially saw the end
of terraces. Lord Taylor believed at the time that there
was no solution which would achieve the total safety –
however seated grounds would achieve this aim more
than any other single measure. However we are now in a
fortunate enough position that clubs have been able to
incorporate technological advance within their grounds;
CCTV and digital ticketing are just two of the progres-
sions made by clubs already. Some will argue that with
seated grounds trouble makers are more easily recognis-
able as each seat is assigned a number which in turn will
be assigned a name. However modern technological
advances do not require people to be sat down to be
identified. People are spotted at festivals, in the busy
crowds of London and therefore surely they can be
picked out of the static environment inside a football
ground? There is standing in almost every other specta-
tor sport. Furthermore standing is allowed at concerts
(many of which take place inside football grounds) with
far more safety concerns, anyone who attended Oasis’
2005 gig at the City of Manchester Stadium will under-
stand this.
The football authorities in Germany have it spot on in all
aspects with standing areas in many top grounds
throughout the country. Whilst German fans tend to
describe how improved the atmosphere is at matches,
there is also a significant monetary benefit. A seated
18
season ticket at Bayern Munich costs €650, whereas a
Stehplatz (standing) season ticket costs just €120.
The atmosphere concern is another that often comes up
when discussing standing terraces. It is generally consid-
ered that football grounds don’t hold the same atmos-
phere they used to. I spoke to numerous fans, many of
whom nostalgically talked about how they would stand
on the terraces on match day and described what a fan-
tastic experience it was. Some believed that football lost
its soul since television revenue poured into clubs. Whilst
this afforded the clubs a much healthier financial position
it also contributed to the downfall of another part of the
club.
Sadly a precedent was set with the Taylor Report, one
that doesn’t look like changing anytime soon. As fantastic
as it would be to see the return of terraces, it took a lot of
effort to get all-seater grounds and at a significant devel-
opmental cost.
Each week we still see large numbers of fans standing
as the attempts to remove this from stadia has largely
been ignored by spectators. Regular Stretford Enders
spend entire matches on their feet. Furthermore away
fans all across the country often choose to spend their
time stood when occupying other grounds. They are the
hardcore fans, the ones that scream and shout – why
would they want to be confined to a seat? After all they
are there to watch a football match, not a west end show.
Surely putting these fans in a safer environment, built for
purpose, is far more secure than having standing fans in a
seated area?
The lessons have been learnt from Hillsborough. The
Taylor Report sought to propose a range of measures to
give football ‘a better future.’ And it did for many years.
Now the report is out of date and a modern review
should take place, yet the authorities appear to be hiding
behind the safety excuse for the foreseeable future.
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2011
 By
Alex
Over the last few years, the calls for a reintroduction
of terracing at Premier League grounds has grown
louder, but personally I disagree with supporters of
this change and will try to provide you with my rea-
soning for that. So, why should we bring back terrac-
ing?
There are many that believe that terracing has been
given a bad reputation due to the 1989 Hillsborough
disaster, when 98 Liverpool fans lost their lives at an
FA Cup semi-final. This is due to the belief that it was
the role played by the overcrowding of the terrace and
the large fences holding back the supporters that con-
tributed heavily to this terrible event. An understand-
able argument, especially when you take into consid-
eration that the fencing and crowd segregation had
been implemented to prevent any potential crowd
trouble that had become synonymous with football in
that era.
The case for its return continues with the discovery
that several leagues across Europe, most notably Ger-
many, have terracing, and have had no significant
issues.
My argument would be that since the introduction of
all seater stadiums within the Premier League, and to
some extent Championship as well if you take into
consideration teams that have been relegated from the
top tier of English football, we have not had any repeat
of those terrible scenes from April ‘89, or others like it
(Heysel, Bradford). The safety aspect of all seater are-
nas has been well and truly established, as well as the
fact that they are far easier to police and access should
an issue occur.
I also believe that foreign clubs with terracing have
looked at disasters like Hillsborough and learnt from
the mistakes made, to ensure that safety is paramount.
Who would use terracing nowadays? ‘Hardcore’
supporters appear to be eying a return to terracing,
but where would that leave the incredibly diverse
crowds that football clubs are seeing flock through
19
their turnstiles? The huge increase in women and
children attending matches now is testament to the
safety of modern stadia and the enjoyment there is to
be had whilst watching your favourite team.
My favourite reason why terracing should come back
is due to the atmosphere it would generate at matches.
In fairness, I can understand why people would say
this. When I think back to games I watched in the 80’s
or bring up on Youtube, the atmosphere is incredible.
The noise, the singing, that incredible 12th man spirit
that the fans provide for their team. There truly is no
way that an all seater stadium could come close to
matching that sort of intensity and atmosphere, is
there?
Well, cast your minds back a few weeks to a game at
Old Trafford. I choose the Theatre of Dreams for two
reasons. Firstly, this is a United fanzine, but also be-
cause Old Trafford has often been criticised for lacking
atmosphere due to its ‘prawn sandwich brigade’ per-
haps. Imagine my surprise, and pride I might add, at
the sheer volume of noise being made by the Old Traf-
ford crowd during the game against Chelsea.
Yes, if we won we had all but clinched title no 19.
Yes, we scored before Petr Cech had even tied up his
head protector. But that noise, that wall of sound, said
everything about what a Premier League football sta-
dium and it’s attendees now bring to a game. Stoke
City fans are another great example of being able to
create an incredible atmosphere. They never stop
singing, ever. Win, lose or draw. And they do that with-
out the ‘aid’ of terracing.
This is what football is all about. discussion and opin-
ion. Agreement and argument.
But at the end of the day, football has to make its
decision one way or the other, and my personal opin-
ion is that if will decide to stick, rather than twist and
risk seeing something half as bad as Hillsborough.
ISSUE
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JUNE2011
2011
FUB: What made you start supporting
United over other English clubs?
CH: Eric Cantona was the reason why I first
started following United while growing up in
the 90's. Obviously there was a lot of focus on
United because of Schmeichel and the success,
but it was really the talent of Cantona that got
me started. Then I started to learn more about
the club and the history. My first game was the
away friendly in 1998 against Brondby, where
I was so lucky to meet the squad the day be-
fore the game. I was 12 years old at that time,
so it was obviously a memorable day for me.
Later, my passion for the club made me
start www.OldTrafford.dk in 2003. The web-
site has grown to become a leading football
website in Denmark with between 6,000 and
8,000 daily visitors.
Especially Barcelona, but not to the same
social extent as United.
FUB: We've obviously boasted one of the
best GK's ever in the shape of Peter
Schmeichel. How is he regarded in Den-
mark?
CH: Among football fans, he's huge. Among
United fans, it's a bit different. He's the host of
the Champions League show and never lets an
opportunity to past without telling about his
love for United. Some United fans feel this is a
bit over the top, I think. Especially because he
played for City and he's never been that
"supporter friendly." But obviously, everyone
seems to be proud of what he's done for us
and Denmark.

FUB: How big are United in Denmark, com-

pared to other big European clubs?
CH: It is difficult to say, but I think we have the
most organized fanbase among foreign clubs
in Denmark. This is first of all thanks to the
Scandinavian supporter’s branch and maybe
in the later years, also OldTrafford.dk. On the
website, we have done a lot to promote the
social aspect of following United through pro-
moting the "United-friendly" pubs and doing
events. However, I also need to say that Liver-
pool has a large fanbase here as well. But as
far as I see it, they seem to be less organized
than us. In recent years, we have also seen the
fanbase of Barcelona and Real Madrid grow.

20 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011

FUB: How accessible are United matches?
CH: Every game is shown on TV here. You can
also watch the games with other United fans like
at the Happy Pig in Copenhagen. Fans who went
to Copenhagen away a few years ago may remem-
ber it. For the big games, it's totally packed with
300 singing United fans, while for the smaller
games we're a group of 100 hardcore fans.
FUB: Is it expensive to watch United matches
in Denmark?
CH: Beer is expensive in Denmark, so yes!
FUB: Does supporting them have an impact
upon your work and leisure life?
CH: For me personally, it is a bit extreme since I
run the website. So yes, it does have a great im-
pact on my life. My fellow students in my study
group at Uni have been let down a few times,
especially during the 2009 CL final, where the
game was during a 72hr exam.
FUB: Have you ever been to Old Trafford?
CH: About 25 times. First time was in 2004. Be-
fore I started studying, I worked full time for an
airline which gave me some benefits of going to
the games. But I prefer away games, especially in
Europe. I've seen United play in Rome, Milan,
Barcelona, Lisbon, Paris, Glasgow, Copenhagen
and Aalborg.
FUB: Do you support any teams in the Danish
leagues?
CH: No. I actually feel I spend too much time on
21
United that I can’t defend myself taking interest
in other football.
FUB: What has been your favourite United
moment?
CH: United has given me a lot of memorable mo-
ment. I remember when I met Eric Cantona per-
sonally, I went over and shook his hand and said
"Thank you for what you've done for United and
me." One of the greatest moments has been walk-
ing down Sir Matt Busby Way before the Milan
game in 2005 protesting against the Glazers. I am
very passionate about United and at that moment
I felt I was not alone in my protests against the
Glazers. I am still protesting and doing my best to
tell Danish fans about the situation at United.
Football-wise it was probably the away game
against Juventus in 1999. One of the best games
I’ve seen. Then I could also add John O' Shea's late
winner against Liverpool, which made the Happy
Pig go nuts. People had their glasses broken
during the celebrations. The CL victory in 2008
was also a great memory. We had organized a
street event in Copenhagen with the supporter’s
branch and the Happy Pig. 2,000 United fans
came and had a great time. The next year we did
the same and 5,000 people showed up. This year
we'll do the same.
FUB: Finally, who is your favourite player and
why?
Of all time, Eric Cantona. He was more an artist
than a football, wasn't he? Of present day, I’d say
Darren Fletcher. Amazing how he has grown up
to become such an important player for us.
ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011
Name: William David Keane

Born: Stockport, 11th January 1993

Position: Forward

When I first watched Will Keane play for the
Manchester United U-15 Academy side, I was
immediately struck with his maturity on the ball.
But who did he remind me of?
He had excellent control, good movement off
the ball when he would often drop deep, great
composure and an eye for goal. Although not
particularly quick, he possessed a wide range of
passing skills and had superb vision. I thought
that this kid had a real chance.
Talking to my pals at Carrington who mostly
watched the U-18’s I remember telling them to
watch out for this kid, who made the game look
so easy and always seem to have time on the
ball.
Marveld and Nike Youth Tournaments, reinforc-
ing his potential along the way. A pupil of St.
Bede’s College in Stockport and staunch United
fan, Will had already stressed that his future was
in a Manchester United shirt!
In the 2008-09 season, Will made his Academy
debut on the 21st of October in the 0-1 home
defeat to Stoke City. With Evandro Brandao
playing up front, Will adopted his favoured role
of playing just off the front man. By the end of
the term he had been called up into the England
U-16 squad and immediately won silverware as
he helped the young Lions to success in the
Montaigu Youth Tournament with a victory over
Germany. By now a full time scholar, it had been
a great jump for the young Stockport lad.

“Like Paul Scholes?” they asked.

Then it came to me.

“No…..like Teddy Sheringham!”

The younger of the twins, Will born in Stepping

Hill Hospital in Stockport but grew up in Heaton
Moor. Both lads played for St. Winifred’s School
and also their local team South Manchester from
the ages of eight to ten. They were then asked to
join the United Academy at U-11 level, with Will
always featuring up front. He continued to pro-
gress through the ranks, featuring in the
22 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011
 Throughout the term, Will contin-
ued to feature for the England U-17’s,
mainly in an advanced midfield role rather
than out and out striker and appeared regu-
larly on the scoresheet at Academy level.
Will made his FA Youth Cup debut against
Birmingham and poached two goals in the
trip to Burnley in the following round be-
fore the Reds were knocked out at Black-
burn Rovers. By the end of the season he
had finished as United’s leading goalscorer
in the Academy side with thirteen goals in
twenty-five appearances s the Reds topped
Group C. Further success was just around
the corner as he was part of the England U-
17 team that won the European Champion-
ship with a 2-1 victory over Spain in Liech-
tenstein.
This season has seen Will push on once
again. He collected an U-19 England cap
against Slovakia in September and been a
regular in both the Reserve and Academy
teams. At the same time his form was key in
helping the United FA Youth Cup squad
reach the final against Sheffield United.
After finding the back of the net against
Portsmouth he pounced on a keeper error
to score the winner at West Ham in Janu-
ary.
23
He suffered a deadleg which worry-
ingly kept him sidelined throughout Febru-
ary and March. He returned for the away leg
at Chelsea in the semi-final and although
well. Happily for all United fans he looked
much sharper in the return and scored a
‘perfect’ hat-trick in United’s 4-0 success
over the Londoners.
At Bramall Lane last Tuesday, he found
the net once again and with the second leg’s
result not known at this point, it is hoped
that his fine form has resulted in a well
deserved winners medal.
A player of some talent, many United fans
will be watching his progress with much
interest. While clearly not in the Roy Keane
mould, nor alike in playing characteristics,
he has already motivated many fans to
sing…‘there’s only one Keano’….
That is respect in itself.
By Tony Park
Tony has been a season ticket holder for 20 years.
He has been following the youth side since the late
1970’s. Tony is currently co-writing a book on the
history of the United youth team.
ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011
 With the season now over, Liam has given his assessment
of the United players and rated their contributions.
Edwin Van Der Sar- The rock at the back. Our season
would have been much worse if we didn’t have him.
Shame we couldn’t persuade him to stay on for more
one year, while we developed our next number one.
Score out of 10-10
Gary Neville– Three league appearances this year,
plagued by injury and an inability to gain any mo-
mentum to his season. Decided to retire mid-season.
Score out of 10-1.
Patrice Evra- Left back, plays with the same flow and
drive that Gary Neville played with when teamed up
with David Beckham. Will keep getting better- future
captain? Score out of 10-7.
Owen Hargreaves- One of our BUPA player of the year
contenders, his future doesn’t lie with United. Score
out of 10-0.
Rio Ferdinand- Started to get back to form this year
after a temperamental summer. Played 28 games
across three competitions, never as a substitute. His
performances haven’t set the world on fire, but has
done the job required of him well. Score out of 10-6
Wes Brown- Bit part player. Don’t think he will fea-
ture much next year, as our younger players come
back off loan. Has been a diligent servant to the club,
but I think his time is drawing to a close this year.
Score out of 10-4
24
Michael Owen- 4 games, 12 appearances as a sub, 4
goals to his name. However is another player be-
sieged by injury. Might be given a reprieve for one
more year…but I think that will be it for
Michael Owen. Score out of 10-3
Anderson- I think he has shown glimpses of what he
is capable of- could have a very good year next year.
More to come from this man I think. Score out of 10-
7
Dimitar Berbatov- Top goalscorer, has been pushed
out by the blossoming relationship between Rooney
and Chicha. Has had a great year despite his rightful
limelight being taken away from him. Won’t be
leaving in the summer, but will slump again next
year I think with less playing time and confidence
knocked by being left out of the squad. Score out of
10-9
ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011
Wayne Rooney- had highs and lows, some
moments of pure brilliance and some moments of
pure cringe worthy stupidity but goal of the season
without a doubt. Score out of 10 for the season-
taking into account his poor start, transfer rant,
and on the other hand his partnership with Chica
and improving form…6

Ryan Giggs- Doesn’t know when to slow down.

Still tears through players like they’re not there.
Also did a very good job at left back too I recall.
Last season? I also heard a rumour he’s heading
for management in two years time. Score out of
10-7.

Chris Smalling- For me over the course of a year

the most improved individual. Grown into the role
of 1st team starting centre back, created a rock
solid partnership at the back with Vidic. Some
small mistakes but watch out next season. Score
out of 10-7
Park Ji-Sung- Player that gives so much effort to
each and every game he plays- would make a
great advert for Lucozade. For me, under- utilised.
When Park puts in a performance he sets the
United tempo high- Score out of 10-8
Javier Hernandez- Brilliance! What a first year,.
Would have liked to see him partner Berba up
front a bit more. See how that partnership got on
- Score out of 10-10
John O’ Shea- Mixed emotions. He does the job
put in front of him, utility player able to cover
everywhere. Score out of 10- 6
Johnny Evans- his report simply says must im-
prove. Not at the right standard to break into the
regular squad and with summer reinforcements
on the way it could signal the end of his fight.
Score out of 10- 5
Darren Fletcher- Damn virus, could have had a
great season. Obviously this is written before the
CL final, I hope he made it. He is a player that
makes the difference- Score out of 10- 6 (should
be much more)

Nemanja Vidic- Captain, heart of the de-
fence, heart of the team. Leads by example.
Score out of 10- 9
Michael Carrick- Can’t take him seriously- no
rating
Tony Valencia- Should also have been one of the
influential men on the field and when he was
back from injury he made up for lost time with
some great performances. Looking forward to
seeing him play next year. Score for this season-
7

Nani- For me, player of the season, he’s grow-

ing and growing. I can’t help but think next
year is his “Ronaldo” year and he’ll set the
league on fire! Score out of 10- 9

Paul Scholes- as rash and as hard working as ever.

Don’t need to tell you all what he is to the team.
Debateable as to whether he will be there next
season, or if he takes title 19 as his curtain call-
Score out of 10- 7

Fabio & Rafael- Can’t make my mind up who has

done better. Fabio has a great forward working
mind, will develop in leaps and bounds if he listens
in to Evra’s guidance. Twin scores out of 10- 7

25 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011

 The
Perfect
XI

By Sufiyan Kala

So, when I was asked to choose my perfect XI for this issue of the fanzine,
I knew a tricky task was at hand. Over the years, we have had a wealth of
talent grace the holy turf of Old Trafford. From the days of Welsh Wizard,
Billy Meredith in the early 1900’s, to Matt Busby’s pioneering Babes in
the mid-1950’s, to Fergie’s Fledglings of the last 24 years. There have
been players that have come and gone who have helped United win
countless trophies and gone down in history as
immortals.

Although there might have been some unbelievable players in the past in
Best, Charlton, Law, Whiteside and Robbo to name but a few, I felt it was
only fair for me to choose my team based on players who I’ve seen play
during my lifetime – the Fergie era, especially from the late 90’s to the
present day.
26 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011
GOALKEEPER: PETER SCHMEICHEL
The Great Dane. Probably the greatest goalkeeper to
ever play for United, he made 398 appearances in Red.
He was between the sticks during the most successful
period in the club’s history and helped us to win our
first Premier League title. He was a vocal goalkeeper,
constantly talking to his centre-backs, keeping them
organised. If the defensive lines were breached, he’d
always be there to the rescue, often making the most
elaborate of saves. Who can forget the last-minute
penalty save from Dennis Bergkamp in the FA Cup semi
-finals and captaining United to the European Cup to
complete the Treble in his very last game for the club?
In total, he won 15 trophies in his eight years with the
club and even though he may have defected to the bit-
ters across the city, there’ll be no other like him, not
even good old Edwin.
RIGHT-BACK: GARY NEVILLE
Winner of 19 major honours and my all-time greatest
player and hero, Nev was and still is Mr Manchester
United. He’s arguably the most passionate amongst us
as supporters. Not only that, he was a firm favourite
amongst the fans and a loyal servant to the club dedi-
cating 20 years of his life to play for his boyhood club.
He also had the small matter of playing for Ingurland 85
times. Although he wasn’t naturally gifted, there was no
doubting his technical ability and desire to succeed as
one of the greatest United players. He never was the
fastest of players so he worked on his stamina; he was
never the tallest so he worked on his leap. An exem-
plary role-model if ever there was one who proved that
nothing but sheer hard work and determination is the
key to success. He struck up a telepathic understanding
with Beckham down that right hand side constantly
proving to be a nightmare for opposition defences with
his deceiving overlapping runs and great vision, making
him for me, the greatest right-back in Red.
27
CENTRE-BACKS: JAAP STAM &
NEMANJA VIDIC
STAM
For me, Stam comes ahead of Rio. Despite only spending
three seasons at the club, he was a solid rock in the heart
of our defence and struck up a good partnership with
Ronny Johnsen. He was simply unbeatable. Strikers
hated to play against him and everybody else loved play-
ing with him. He was a tough-tackling, ball-winning, non-
fearing, scary-looking, fearless character on the pitch and
he was pretty much the same off it. He was voted the
best defender in the Champions League for two consecu-
tive seasons which also coincided with him helping us to
win the Treble along the way and himself winning a total
of six major honours in those three seasons. Fergie to
this day regrets selling him after Stam criticised him in
his autobiography. But there’s no questioning the impact
he had when he played
VIDIC
When Vida first came, it looked as if it was another
Djemba-Djemba/Kleberson-esque signing from Fergie.
Relatively unknown and signed from Spartak Moscow,
for me, he has emerged as probably the best central-
defender of our present time. After his disastrous debut
performance against City, his talents were severely
doubted but he’s forged a strong partnership with Rio at
the heart of the defence and played an integral part in
the double-winning season of 2008 where his perform-
ances in every competition were nothing short of im-
maculate. Further testament to this is his inclusion in the
PFA Team of the Year for three consecutive seasons and
being voted as Barclays Player of the Season after help-
ing United reach a record-breaking 14 consecutive clean
sheets in 2008-09. He does have an eye for goal with 17
of them, many quite crucial. In the time he has been at
the club, he’s won 11 major honours and this season,
been handed the captaincy ahead of Giggsy and Rio.
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LEFT-BACK: PATRICE EVRA
This was a tough choice as Denis Irwin was a fantastic
left-back in his time but good old Paddy just edges it.
Like Vidic, his debut was a complete disaster and some
were questioning Fergie’s motives behind this signing
but once again, he pulled out a gem of a signing for only
£5.5million. Since his arrival and the departure of
Gabriel Heinze, Evra’s made the left-back position his
own and he’s flown up and down that wing, keeping
some of the worlds best players in check, most notably,
Lionel Messi in the Champions League semi-final at Old
Trafford in 2008. But ever since that disastrous debut
against City, he has gone from strength to strength
notching up 200+ appearances for United, winning ten
major trophies and being included in the PFA Team of
the Year on three occasions, UEFA Team of the Year
RIGHT-MIDFIELD:
DAVID BECKHAM
He was a special player from the first day he joined the
club. A member of the class of ’92 and another one of
my childhood heroes, his trademark free-kicks and his
great vision coupled with his spectacular ability to
score free-kicks from any distance possible, he again,
played an integral part in ensuring United were trophy-
rich throughout the 90’s and it was from both of his
corners that magical night in Barcelona that led to the
dramatic turn-around and completed the Treble. He
had the ability to change a game in a split second, be it
through a free-kick or a pinpoint pass, he was a great
player for the club. It was a shame that he left in the
circumstances that he did but there’s no denying the
service he gave to the club. In the ten years he was at
the club, he won 15 major honours and was voted PFA
Young Player of the Year as well as Goal of the Decade
for his rather ostentatious strike against Wimbledon.
28
CENTRAL-MIDFIELD:
ROY KEANE & PAUL SCHOLES
KEANE
Having Roy Keane in your team meant that you had an
extra two people in the side. Captain fantastic gave life
and limb for the cause of Manchester United. He
grabbed the game by the balls and made sure each and
every player on the pitch with him gave more than 100
per cent. His fiery character and aggressive nature
combined with his hunger and competitiveness was
special to witness. Tough-tackling and no-nonsense, he
struck fear into his opponents. His passion and ability
to win football matches on his own set him apart from
other United players. The only player whose character-
istics resemble that of Bryan Robson, he was indeed a
special player and in my eyes, the best United captain of
my generation. His desire to ‘take one for the team’ was
also commendable and if ever you could rely on any-
body on the pitch, Roy Keane was that man. During his
12 years with the club, he won 17 major titles. He may
have left the club on controversial terms but he will
always remain a special person to the fans.
SCHOLES
Paul Scholes is the most natural passer of the ball I have
ever seen. Despite there being David Beckham, if you
asked Paul Scholes to hit a particular crater on the
moon, you could bet that he would hit it. His range of
passing is unreal. He had a wide range of shots in his
armoury. Left foot, right foot, volleys, tap-ins and head-
ers; Paul Scholes could score them all. He scored count-
less goals to help United claim countless crucial victo-
ries and is truly one of the best players of our genera-
tion-not just for United. When he’s on the ball, he has an
imaginary force field around him, no opponent can get
anywhere near him. Barcelona’s Xavi said of his ability,
“He's the best central midfielder I've seen in the last 15,
20 years. He's spectacular, he has it all, the last pass,
goals, he's strong; he doesn't lose the ball, vision. If he'd
been Spanish he might have been rated more highly.
Players love him.” He is still going strong at a veteran
age of 36 and this season is rumoured to be his last. He
has won 23 major titles at Old Trafford and his shy
personality means he hasn’t picked up many individual
awards but he has been included in the PFA Team of the
Year award on three occasions.
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LEFT-MIDFIELD: RYAN GIGGS
The most decorated player in English football and win-
ner of 31 major honours, he is the greatest player ever
to have played for United. Having made 700+ appear-
ances and at the grand old age of 37, he has occupied
that left wing for nearly 21 years and doesn’t look like
giving it up any time soon. Although he has lost some of
his pace, he has been integral in United’s recent success
and has been the catalyst for some of the most impor-
tant victories, not just in the present but in the past.
He’s had plenty of great individual moments – the most
famous one being his goal against Arsenal in the FA Cup
semi-final in 1999. But it’s his willingness to be the best
that has got him where he is today. Using his elegant
wizardry, he’s captured the hearts of each and every
United fan with a shimmy here and there, a quick turn
of pace to beat his man, a peach of a shot from that left
foot of his and in recent seasons whilst occupying the
central-midfield position, great vision to pick out his
men and further go down as the greatest British player
of all time. No team would be complete without Ryan
29
STRIKER: CRISTIANO RONALDO
The bargain buy from Sporting Lisbon, he was destined
to go onto bigger and better things. The ominous sur-
name, the elegant trickery, the unorthodox free-kick
styles, the blistering pace and not forgetting the hatful of
goals he scored in his time here. With 118 goals in 244
appearances – 42 of them in one season – he didn’t even
hit his peak before departing for Real Madrid in 2009. He
won nine trophies in his six years and he won both PFA
Players’ Player of the Year & Fans Player of the Year
twice, was voted in the FIFPro World XI and the PFA
Premier League Team of the Year for four consecutive
seasons.
CENTRE-FORWARD:
RUUD VAN NISTELROOY
This man is the most prolific goal-scorer I’ve ever seen.
He scored 150 goals in 200 games here and won four
trophies in five years. He also won a hatful of individual
honours; PFA Player of the Year, UEFA Club Forward of
the year, Premier League Golden Boot (02/03), UEFA
Champions League Top scorer for three consecutive
seasons. Enough said.
By Sufiyan Kala
Suffy is currently studying journalism at UcLan. He has
been a red all his life and a regular at Old Trafford. His
favourite player is Paul Scholes.
ISSUE
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2011
 A selection of photos taken by Darren from United’s
victory parade through Manchester on 30th May 2011.

30All photos are copyright to Darren. Follow him on

ISSUE 4, JUNE
Twitter 2011
@ManUtdOT
 May form: LWWDWL
7 points taken from a possible 12 in the Premier League
One Premier League trophy
And another disappointing trip to Wembley
Rachel takes a look at United’s performances in May

1st May 2011

Arsenal (A) - Premier League - 1v0 - defeat
Attendance - 60,107
Arsenal dominated the first half although created
very little. They did however have a penalty shout
when Vidic was deemed to have handled the ball in
the area but no penalty was given. United gave the
ball away too often and only really started to settle
into the game towards the end of the half. 10 min-
utes into the second half however Arsenal took the
lead through Aaron Ramsey. United stepped up a
gear in search of an equaliser, with Szczesny saving
well from a Rooney free kick. Both Berbatov and
Owen were then introduced to try and find a goal
but United couldn’t find one. They did however
have a penalty appeal of their own when Clichy
caught Owen with barely a minute left on the clock.
Again no penalty was given. The game finished in
defeat and United could have little argument with
the result after a flat performance.
4th May 2011
Schalke (H) - Champions League semi-final 2nd
leg - 4v1 - win
Goals - Valencia (26), Gibson (31) and Anderson
(72, 76)
Attendance - 74,687
Both teams started the game with an attacking in-
tent, but it was United who took the lead half an
hour into the game. Schalke gave the ball away, then
Gibson played a brilliant, defence splitting pass to
Valencia who finished clinically. The reds then dou-
bled their lead on the night, making it 4v0 on aggre-
gate through a Gibson goal which Schalke keeper
Neuer should probably have saved. The away team
then scored just 4 minutes later to make it 2v1. A
Valencia shot was then cleared off the line but the
half time score remained 2v1 United. Two second
half goals from Anderson sealed United’s path to the
Wembley final. Nani found Anderson in the box for
his first which he slotted into the bottom corner of
the goal and Berbatov’s pass left him with a simple
tap in for his second. Next stop Barcelona.
08/05/2011
Chelsea (H) - Premier League - 2v1 - win
Goals - Hernandez (1) and Vidic (23)
Attendance - 75,445
Hernandez gave United the lead less than a minute
into the game, after a brilliant through ball from Park
left him one on one with Cech. The Mexican slotted
home to send Old Trafford crazy. Rooney then hit a
screamer from 30 yards out which Cech did well to
save. Park later tested Cech who knocked the ball
away for a corner. United doubled their lead from the
corner with a determined Vidic header mid way
through the first half. Chelsea almost pulled one back
but Van Der Sar’s reactions kept the lead intact, stop-
ping a close range Kalou header. The keeper then
made another good stop from a Drogba free kick.
Ivanovic was lucky not to get a second yellow after
stepping on Rooneys foot. Both teams had penalty
shouts early in the second half but both were denied.
Lampard then pulled one back for the blues with 20
minutes to go. It was United however who looked the
more likely for the next goal, with Alex stopping a

31 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011

Rooney shot on the line and Hernandez failing to
score from a close range free header late on. The
result meant that United had all but sealed their
record breaking 19th title.

14/05/2011
Blackburn (A) - Premier League - 1v1- draw
Goals - Rooney (pen 73)
Attendance - 29,867
The first real chance of the game fell to Nani in the
first 5 minutes, but unfortunately he could only head
his effort onto the crossbar. Samba then had a good
chance to put Blackburn ahead but
ended up hitting the ball well over the bar. Kuszczak
looked nervous in goal for United and was at fault
when Blackburn took the lead after 20 minutes. The
marking from United’s defence was also poor how-
ever when Emerton was free in the box to put the
ball past Kuszczak. Blackburn defended well
throughout and held onto their lead into half time,
with Robinson also saving well from Hernandez.
Blackburn almost doubled their lead with 25 minutes
to go when Olsson’s header smacked against the
post. United were level less than 10 minutes later
when Robinson brought down Hernandez in the box
to give the reds a penalty. Rooney coolly converted
leaving United on the brink of the title. Nani should
well from a Berbatov header. Blackpool’s hearts
have put United ahead but failed to connect from
were however broken when Evatt put into his own
close range onto a Rooney cross. The game finished
net from a Smalling cross to give United the lead with
without much incident as both teams were happy to
15 minutes to go. Owen then made it 4v2 after run-
take a point which meant United were Champions
ning onto a delightful through ball from Anderson.
again for a record 19th time.
28/05/2011
22/05/2011
Barcelona (N) - Champions League final - 3v1 -
Blackpool (H) - Premier League - 4v2 - win
defeat
Goals - Park (21), Anderson (63) and Owen (81)
Goals - Rooney (34)
Attendance - 75, 400
Attendance - 87, 695
Keith Southern should have given Blackpool the lead
United started the game well, seeing more of the ball
after just 3 minutes but he dragged his free shot in
than expected until Barcelona settled into the game.
the box wide. Rafael then worked the Blackpool
With the Spanish side seeing more and more of the
keeper Gilks from 20 yards out as did Berbatov from
ball, it was no shock when they look the lead just
close range. It was United who took the lead after 21
under half an hour into the game. Some wonderful
minutes through Park. Fletcher played a great long
link up play between Rooney and Giggs however led
pass to Berbatov who controlled brilliantly before
to an equaliser against the run of play just 7 minutes
passing to Park who finished well. United should
later. Rooney finished exceptionally well with a
have had a penalty half an hour in when Park was
clever shot past Valdes. Messi restored Barcelona’s
fouled but no penalty was given. Charlie Adam then
lead early in the second half when the United defence
equalised 5 minutes from half time from a great free
stood off him and Van Der Sar perhaps should have
kick that went in off the post. Van Der Sar made a
done better. The reds tried to get back in to the game
good save from another Adam free kick early in the
but Barcelona were just too good and Villa sealed his
second half but Blackpool still took the lead through
team’s victory with a third goal 20 minutes from
Taylor Fletcher ten minutes later. Anderson brought
time. United rarely threatened and were sadly com-
the teams level again with just under half an hour to
prehensively beaten by the brilliant Barcelona.
go after Parks cross into the box. Gilks then saved

32 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011

 Some of you may have come across the fantastic work by Tom Clare
before, having written extensively about Manchester United history. Tom
has resubmitted some of his articles which centre around United captains.
This one looks at Dennis Viollet, captain from 1959-60.
To be around Old Trafford in the particularly in the British game. to lose his young life just fifteen
early to late 1950’s was an abso- Sadly, after sowing the seeds and days later. Because of the sever-
lute joy. It was a joy shared by watching the flowers grow, they ity of their injuries, two others
fans, players, directors, staff, in were to see them wither at the were never to play again. Of the
fact anybody who had any kind of end of a slush filled airfield run- seven surviving players, four of
connection to the club. Ask any of way in Munich, Germany, on 6th them would leave the club
the older fans today who were February 1958. within four years, and of that
around during that period who four, three would disappear into
has been the greatest United team Seven Manchester United play- relative anonymity. The other
ever? and it’s my guess that the ers lost their lives that sad day, player is the subject of this arti-
answer will come back as quick as and another one, the colossus cle, and he is of course, Dennis
a bullet shot from a gun – the that was Duncan Edwards, was Viollet.
Babes!
Violett’s United Career
The Busby Babes were probably
the most exciting, and precocious
collection of young football play- Appearances Goals
ers ever to come together at any
club in the world. For at that time, Division One 259 159
they were certainly unique. In the
professional world of football at FA Cup 18 5
that time, players in their teens
and early twenties were deemed
not to have the skills or experience
League Cup 2 1
to survive at the top level of the
professional game. Fortunately, European Cup 12 13
Matt Busby and Jimmy Murphy’s
visions changed that kind of blink- Other matches 2 1
ered thinking, and opened up a
whole new outlook and era

33 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011

Mention of that wonderful team
always throws up the names of
Byrne, Colman, Edwards, Taylor,
and of course a young teenager
who had just broken into the
team, a certain Bobby Charlton.
Yet one of the side's key per-
formers was widely and pecu-
liarly underrated, though not, it
should be emphasised, by Matt
Busby himself. In terms of ap-
pearance, Dennis Viollet did not
correspond with the popular
image of a goal-scoring hero.
Wan of countenance and slim to
the point of scrawniness, he
seemed pathetically equipped
physically to mix it with strap-
ping defenders. Yet the prolific
Mancunian was a gem, both as a
foil for the magnificent Tommy
Taylor and as a marksman in his
own right. Indeed, the fact that
no one - not Law, not Best, not
Cantona, not Ronaldo, not even
Rooney - has netted more league
goals than Dennis did in a single
season, offers telling evidence of
his rare calibre.
After captaining Manchester
schoolboys - and also playing
regularly for his country at that
level - he joined Manchester
United as an amateur in 1949,
turning professional a year later
and making his first-team debut
at St. James’ Park, Newcastle in
1952/53. Dennis held his own
against white-hot competition as
Busby's youthful revolution
gathered exhilarating momen-
tum and he won a regular place
during 1953/54. He was blessed
with instinctive ball control,
searing acceleration, and the
vision to use these attributes to
full advantage. Arguably he was
at his most effective when work-
ing in tandem with Tommy Tay-
lor, the big bold Yorkshireman
who lost his life on that slushy
German runway. Big Tommy was
majestic in the air while his less
conspicuous but formidably
34
lethal partner was a steel dart at London sunshine, the emotions
ground level. During the mid- of the previous few months
1950s when the Babes were caught up with them, and their
sweeping all before them, the energies seemed to have been
duo struck up a seemingly tele- sapped. They didn’t function too
pathic understanding, creating well and Bolton were deserved 2
space for each other by their -0 winners.
imaginative movement and reg-
istering a river of goals that
Any fears that Dennis would
showed no signs of drying up. It
never be the player that he was
is incredible when you look at
quickly disappeared over the
the fact that they played in 134
following two seasons. In season
games together and scored 182
1958/59 Manchester United
goals between them, Dennis
confounded everybody by finish-
netting 84 and Taylor 98!
ing as runners-up to Wolves in
the First Division. Dennis con-
From the inside-left position, tributed 21 goals. The following
Dennis contributed at least 20 season he was on fire and set a
senior goals per season, and he club League goal scoring record
went on to share in a succession by notching a further 32 goals.
of heady triumphs, notably the By this time he had also taken
League Championships of over the responsibility of Club
1955/56 and 1956/57. As Captain from Bill Foulkes. It was
United blazed a trail into Europe, an enormous responsibility
his pedigree shone through ever considering that the club was in
more vividly and his evident the early stages of trying to re-
relish for continental opposition build the team after the accident.
made his sojourn in the interna- It was also during this same
tional wilderness increasingly period that Dennis finally and
perplexing. Maybe this was be- deservedly won full interna-
cause at that time the England tional recognition. That he was
team was chosen by a selection only capped twice for England
committee made up of chair- was a travesty of justice.
men/directors of other First
Division clubs. In the 1960/61 season Dennis’s
form dipped and he lost his place
Dennis survived the tragedy at in the team. Perhaps his phe-
Munich but did suffer head inju- nomenal contributions from the
ries and was hospitalised for a
month after the accident. How-
ever, he did return home to Man-
chester and began the journey
that would see him playing
again. By mid April of 1958 he
was deemed fit enough to play
again at first team level and after
a couple of League outings he
was selected to play at Wembley
against Bolton Wanderers in the
FA Cup Final. Dennis had missed
the emotional passage of
United’s patched up young team
winning their way to that Final,
and sadly, on that May day in the
ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011
previous season did take its toll.
However, he battled back towards Fan photo:
the end of the season and he be- Old Trafford
gan the 1961/62 season as first celebrating Javier
choice striker. Again his form
dipped and once more he was left Hernandez’s early goal
out only making sporadic appear- vs Chelsea.
ances and playing in the number By Daniel Burdett
seven shirt. By this time United
had signed centre forward David
Herd from Arsenal, and plans were
well afoot to bring Denis Law back
to Manchester from Torino in
Italy. Dennis was still only 29
years old, and despite his hercu-
lean efforts for the club since the
tragedy, Busby sold him to Stoke
City who were then in the Second
Division, for the sum of 25,000
pounds in January of 1962. Just
four years after the tragedy, only
Gregg, Foulkes, and Charlton,
remained at Old Trafford from the
17 players who had left for Bel-
grade in 1958, and Gregg was to
leave the club in 1966.

35 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011


I'm fast coming around to thinking that someone
'up there' is looking down on me favourably when-
ever I start picking up my iPad and start typing an
article for this magazine. No sooner had I started
thinking about how to approach the question of
whether the combination of Twitter and footballers
is good or bad than an incident involving Wayne
Rooney hits the headlines, an incident that straight
away has got even Arsene Wenger voicing an opinion
(and in this case even a fairly sensible one) on the
pros and cons of his and other clubs' players signing
up to this rapidly expanding social network.
So what's Wayne been up to? Well basically he saw
fit to respond to the following idiotic 'threat' of a
Liverpool-supporting moron "....I'll smash ya head in
with a pitching wedge an bury ya with a ballast fork.
etc". To which Wayne retorted "haha you know where
I train every day kid come and do it, good luck". He
followed up with "I will put you asleep within 10 sec-
onds hope u turn up if you don't gonna tell everyone
you scared u little nit. I'll be waiting.”
More of this incident later, but suffice at the mo-
ment to say that some within the media have jumped
on this 'spat' and consequently the whole question of
whether it is a good idea for footballers to be tweet-
ing has raised its ugly head again. I say again because
we have had other instances of players reacting be-
fore. Danny Gabbidon for example responded to a
torrent of abuse from his own West Ham fans who
blamed him for a defeat against Aston Villa by tweet-
ing “U know what, f*** the lot of you.” An FA fine of
£6000 for this outburst led to Gabbidon’s account
subsequently being deleted. Slightly different but
again a reaction of sorts against things going on
around him came from Darren Bent when trying to
facilitate a move from Spurs to Sunderland. Believing
Spurs' Chairman Daniel Levy to be preventing or
stalling such a move, Bent went public and pleaded
via Twitter for Levy to “stop f**king around”. Bent got
his move not long after, but had possibly learnt the
error of his ways by the time he subsequently moved
36
from Sunderland to Villa - not a tweet to speak of!
Ryan Babel also fell foul of the FA in his Twitter
dealings. His attempt at humour in mocking up a
crude photoshop image of Howard Webb in a
United shirt subsequent to the FA Cup tie between
the two sides in January cost him a £10,000 fine. A
bit steep perhaps for what could be perceived as an
act of satire, but clearly the FA felt he had over-
stepped the mark. I daresay a United player produc-
ing something similar with Martin Atkinson and a
Chelsea shirt would provoke the same reaction…
quite funny though.
Another attempt at humour via Twitter landed
Carlton Cole of West Ham in trouble. On the day that
Ghana played England in a friendly, Cole tweeted,
“Immigration has surrounded Wembley premises! I
knew it was a trap! Hahaha!”. Clearly a joke, but it
backfired on Cole with the FA reprimanding him for
improper conduct.
Returning to Wayne Rooney, I have to admit that
him joining Twitter came as a surprise to me. With
all of the turmoil that has clouded his life over the
past season, I don't think it needed an Einstein, or
better still even a Clark Carlisle, to work out that
some idiots would seize on the opportunity to abuse
the United star. And yes, I would have possibly
thought that even some non-forgiving United fans
would be amongst that number. And you know
what, that very fact raises Rooney's stock with me.
He's put himself on a platform where anyone, and I
mean literally anyone, has the ability to send him a
personal one-to-one message. They might not get
the chance to send a second one, thanks to the
'block' process, but hey there is that chance of en-
gagement. Whether he actually reads your tweets to
Not exactly Babel’s smartest tweet, January 2011.
ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011
him of course is a different matter. In the example
highlighted earlier, he obviously did read it, and
subsequently replied. And I for one say good for
him. Why should he idly sit by and just take abuse
like that?
Rooney of course is only one of several United
stars to have Twitter accounts, the most vocal and
prolific being Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen as
well as now ex-United player (and legend) Gary
Neville. Of these Ferdinand is the self-proclaimed
'Boss,' addressing his million plus followers on a
regular basis, and not just about football. Music,
food, competitions, familial stuff, even politics, can
be read about from the big man.
And Rio gives the impression of being the go-to
man if anyone is considering starting up on twitter.
Or even leaving it. Because literally hours after he
announced that Darron Gibson was joining, Rio also
announced that he was leaving! Notwithstanding
the fact that Gibson for the brief time he was on
board received shameful abuse from both United
fans and also from Irish fans angry at his perceived
switching of allegiance from Northern Ireland to
the Republic for International representation, the
official reason for him leaving was given by Ferdi-
nand as “Darron Gibson says he came on to see what
the lads were up to – he came off because he couldn’t
be bothered with it not any other reason.”
So Twitter is not everyone’s cup of tea. It certainly
appears to be Michael Owen’s though. And probably
Gary Neville's. Owen's tweet to Gary Neville "you
certainly need thick skin on here. I'm sure if anyone
knows how to handle it it's you." gives an indication
that the two of them may be on Twitter for the long
haul.
Did the Gibson bashers hound him out of
Twitter? Not according to Rio.
37
Not unexpectedly for someone always consid-
ered an intelligent footballer, Owen has already
shown himself to be very articulate in his tweets
whether they are about football, horse racing or
just general stuff. To illustrate, he engaged with
journalist Oliver Holt and stated inter alia that "the
relationship between players and media is poor and
needs improving...if papers actually printed what is
actually said then I think players would talk to you
more openly. I know I would....it's the sensationalis-
ing of headlines that annoys most players". The
basic content of this exchange was relayed in the
following days Daily Mirror, with Holt seemingly
embracing the concept of a comfort zone that
Owen had found in Twitter. Holt tweeted that
Owen was “giving better insight on here than a lot
of footballers do". And that was because, as Mi-
chael himself implied, the words that people were
reading were his and unarguably his.
So, to conclude, are Twitter and footballers a
good combination? As can be seen from the above
examples it very much depends on the individuals
themselves. Some just aren't cut out for it, some
just need to take care in how they deal with it, and
some, well some just seem to be completely at
ease with it and have almost found a new lease of
life, certainly a new way of expression through
it.....
Now, if only we could get rid of the idiots who try
and ruin Twitter for everyone…Wayne? Wayne?
Over here lad…
By Alan Monger
Incidentally you can follow the United players on
Twitter here:
Rio Ferdinand: @rioferdy5
Michael Owen: @themichaelowen
Wayne Rooney: @WayneRooney
Nani: @luisnani
Gary Neville: @GNev2
Ryan Tunnicliffe: @RyanTunnicliffe
Ravel Morrison: @RavelMorrison49
ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011
It has been one hell of a maiden season for us and yet here we are, cele-
brating United’s 19th league title. Who would have thought that after
Craven Cottage and Goodison Park? We would like to take the chance to
now praise those stand out players for the season in the 2010-11
awards with all winners being decided by FUB’s website readers.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER YOUNG PLAYER OF 2010-11

OF 2010-11
This hotly contested category had three
outstanding candidates put forth by the
readers of FUB. Rafael, Dimitar Berbatov
and Luis Nani. A big mention must also go
to Fabio, who probably would have made
the top three had the poll been conducted
at the end of May as opposed to the start
of it. Nevertheless Nani ran out the even-
tual winner, securing 59% of the final
votes. Congratulations Nani!
The short listed candidates for this award
were Rafael, Javier Hernandez and Chris
Smalling, the latter two both enjoying ex-
cellent maiden seasons for the club. How-
ever it was the little Mexican who ran
away with the vote, capturing an astound-
ing 81% following his 20 goal tally for the
season. We hope to see more from 22 year
old Chicharito next season.

38 ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011

 MATCH OF THE SEASON
2010-11
The was arguably the most difficult cate-
gory for fans to decide, with six matches
to choose from:
United 7 Blackburn 1
Schalke 0 United 2
Blackpool 2 United 3
United 3 Liverpool 2
West Ham 2 United 4
United 2 Chelsea 1 (Premier League)
It was United’s match with champions
Chelsea at Old Trafford which won with
37% of the final vote, most agreeing that
this was the match when fans could finally
believe the title was ours.
PLAYER YOU WOULD MOST
LIKE TO HIT WITH A BLUNT
OBJECT
Whilst fans were allowed to vote for
United players in this category, it’s hardly
surprising that it was three rival players
who battled for this award - John Terry,
Mario Balotelli and Jack Wilshere. And
captain fantastic, JT, came out on top.
39
GOAL OF THE SEASON
2010-11
A vote was hardly needed for this award
and as you might expect Wayne Rooney’s
winner in the Manchester derby ran away
with the title of FUB’s goal of the season.
Notably mentioned must go to two run-
ner’s up, Berbatov’s third against Liver-
pool and Javier Hernandez’s backwards
header against Stoke at the Britannia Sta-
dium. Rooney said of his goal that it was
the best he ever scored, which is arguable
in itself. Here’s to more next season,
Wayne.
MATCH OF THE SEASON
2010-11
In a season built on some fantastic indi-
vidual performances it was hard to pick
out one player. Captain, Nemanja Vidic
and Hernandez fought valiantly for the
title, both securing 30% of the votes, but it
was retiring Edwin Van der Sar who can
claim the title of FUB’s player of the
season.
ISSUE 4, JUNE 2011
 Ok so Europe wasn’t meant to be but if you had told
me at the start of this season we would be walking
away with a record 19th league title I would have
been delighted. It is with sadness that we bid fare-
well to the playing careers of both Edwin Van der
Sar and Paul Scholes (not to mention Gary Neville
earlier in the season), but it certainly won’t be the
last time we see them around Old Trafford. I am sure
throughout the next month United will be linked to
endless amounts of players, hopefully by the next
issue we can be previewing some new signings. Until
then let’s try to get through the close season as best
we can...as champions.

40 ISSUE
Issue 5 is out on Friday 1st July 4, JUNE 2011
2011