Ever since the first episode aired I’ve just been aching for the second monthly round-up. Here it is:
Bring Your Own Ball – September
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An interview with an Italian blog
the translation is at the very bottom in the comments section…..
http://www.vavel.com/it/giornalismo/264067-fc-united-of-manchester-intervista-a-richard-simpson.html
A superb 36 min FC documentary filmed last year
MRE v Main Stand – abuse and banter
I have been asked on various occasions about a part of the fc matchday experience which is confusing to say the least for new visitors to Gigg Lane, which is our temporary home. FC United usually use two of Gigg Lane’s stands (one is called the Main Stand and the other is called MRE) and visitors can often hear the two stands abusing each other in a friendly fashion:
Main Stand v MRE
(During the last video the MRE was closed so the regular MRE-goers was also standing in the Main Stand)
There are probably two main reasons for this chanting between stands -which can take any form from the simple and harmless “WE ARE THE MAIN STAND -WE’RE LOUDER THAN YOU” to the somewhat surprising and more threatening chant which is a complete throwback to the 1970’s -“YOU’RE GONNA GET YOUR FUCKIN HEADS KICKED IN!”
The first and probably main reason is that a lot of the fans are of a similar age to myself and used to stand in the Stretford End in the 70’s and 80’s when the ground would fill up an hour or more before kick off and so to stop boredom the leftside, rightside or tunnel-(if you look at old photo’s of the Stretty you will see there was a large tunnel in the middle and above that was very small section of standing that used to be packed like sardines!) anyway we would all launch into “WE are the Tunnel” to get a response.
This also grew to include challenging other sections of the ground to sing such as the Scoreboard and Stretford Paddocks which were pretty large corners of the ground.
The Scoreboard in particular used to have a fair few nutters in there as they were next to the away fans and would give them at the very least plenty of abuse. Towards the middle and late 1980’s the United Road and k stand got a bit more lively as some guys grew out of the Stretford End mentality and wanted a bit more shall we say interaction with opposing fans.
So to bring things back to the present day we do sing at each other -but this is simply English humour, banter -if you look on people’s faces whilst we abuse our fellow fc’ers you will see at least a trace of a smile on our lips -we are ,making some noise and having a laugh -end of.
The second reason we do this -err- if you will pardon the expression -self abuse- is very few teams we play at our level bring any meaningful support i.e. ones we can hear sing -passion and naked territorrialism is one of the bedrocks on which football clubs have been built upon for 130 years – so until we get to a level where we can have banter and abuse with opposing fans -we shall probably carry on having fun and games shouting at ourselves.
One thing you will notice is there is much less of this at away games as we are once again truly -UNITED!
I look forward to bringing you some very exciting news regarding our new home in Moston later this week!!
Beautiful pics from a few FC matches
The grass root football photography blog No Clash of Colours (follow them on twitter here) have four blog posts about matches including FC United. Every post includes very beautiful photographs portraying the life of true grass root football. You can find them all here sorted under the label “FC United of Manchester”.
Have a look-see!
Rochdale – FC United remembered (a story about emotions)
Numerous studies have shown that the most vivid memories we have tend to be of emotional events. For instance, I can hardly remember what I had for dinner a few days back or where I left my keys just moments ago, but I will always remember where I was when I heard that the Twin Towers had been attacked or when I heard that my uncle had become seriously ill in another country far, far away. It’s not only that we remember that the event occured – the events themselves are likely to be recalled more often and with more clarity and detail than neutral events. We remember not only where we were, but also lots of other small details. A strong emotional response thus heightens memory retention. Now why am I talking about emotions and memory on a blog about FC United?
Bring your own ball – a new FCUM review show!
Fantastic news! A new FCUM review show has been launched by fcumtv!
Bring your own ball is the name of the show. In this first edition Andrew Lindsay hosts the show and he is joined by FCUM Radio’s Swampy and FCUM TV’s Roy Williamson to discus the opening month of the season and other club related issues.
This month’s edition featured:
- Match highlights and reviews
- Co-owner commentaries
- Interview with Marginson about the start of the season and the new signings
- News about the ground development
- Discussion about the upcoming FA fixture against Chorley
Don’t forget to subscribe!
“Separatisten wider willen”
The day before yesterday FC United was featured on spox.com, which is one of Germany’s leading football sites online. Get your google translate ready and read about how spox.com views FC!
Here’s the article: “Separatisten wider willen”
The Romance of Football: FC United of Manchester – Stamford AFC 24/8/2013
Intended as a short trip to London to celebrate our daughter’s 15th birthday, our family outing took a somewhat sinister turn when both my wife´s and daughter’s visa were refused on the fact that there was no marriage certificate included in the pile of documents we had to send as part of the application procedure. As if there are no digital systems to find out within second that we have been happily married for two years and a month now. Since even a partial refund for the money we had invested in the trip was out of the question we decided that I would still make the trip, but then alone. So instead of shopping sprees and showing the sights to my family I found myself visiting the British Museum for the first time and roaming around the impressive area around Liverpool Station, just for a taste of the unique London atmosphere, rather addictive to an English teacher from Holland. One prearranged part of the programme was not to be adjusted though, my maiden visit to FCUM, the club I have gradually come to respect and support , after having seen a documentary on Dutch TV. As a football romantic with a love for the pureness of the game the story of FC stands out as a dreamlike adventure amidst Sheikh overtakings, Corporate Football, Customers not Fans policies and artificial turf, even at top level.
Everything I want the world to be
Here’s a great article that went up on Supporters not customers’ homepage yesterday. It’s about the match between Trafford FC and FC United of Manchester and about how a non-league day out could give more joy than a visit to a giant showdown such as Manchester United – Chelsea. It also sums up a lot of the great things that FC brings to life.
Here are some highlights:
“watching FC is roughly 10 million times more fun than joining the iPad wielding tourists at Old Trafford.”
“Trafford FC vs. FCUM may not be the biggest Manchester derby of the season, but you’d have struggled to have a better football experience even if the likes of Robin Van Persie, Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Wayne Rooney had been on show. I’ve watched Bayern Munich, Galatasaray, AC Milan and Manchester City already this season, but this was unquestionably the most enjoyable 90 minutes of 2013/14 so far.”