Terrace Talk

Sports brands, regardless of which land mass they play their ball, are locked into the same general formula for success. One part smart management, another part legendary players, and a dash of luck, quickly yields silverware and high priced television contracts. However, the focus today isn’t on the formula for success – I’ll leave that job for my other Unitedzone colleagues to ponder. Instead, I’m more concerned with the byproduct of this sporting concoction and in particular, the way the fans have reacted to dominance.

Roy Keane and I have always had a love-hate relationship. For now I’m concerned with his more distasteful qualities and it’s a testament to his leadership and resolute thirst for success that I’d even consider still singing his songs with the rest of the Stretford End. His antics are one thing, but his almost annual comments while in a red shirt, were often a little too much to bear and were his eventual downfall. It’s been almost seven years since the “one that wears a magic hat,” decided to adjudicate the United faithful that cheered him on. Few of us have forgotten his “prawn sandwich” interview and that single moment in United’s history alone will be a marker he will forever carry. The problem of course is that he has been proven right, so while I try to complain that his comments were without basis, a quick trip to the North Stands will result in a display of indifferent fans, as well as a quite delectable tuna on wheat.

Actually, are the fans truly indifferent? Roy Keane’s point should really be that the fans aren’t indifferent, but instead that they have become a capricious bunch. I personally would not be surprised hypothetically, if United began to move down the table, that the ticket draws for the season as a whole followed. Not that this is in any way a characteristic of United fans alone. You can look from New York to New Delhi for teams who have been notoriously successful, and have the seats filled with fans that are there for a show rather than to be part of the show. The same would be true of the scousers, or in Portsmouth (if the tickets were at equivalent levels), or at Arsenal and certainly at Chelsea (they can’t fill the Bridge as it is).

Logically, I have to wonder why this has happened to Old Trafford, and what about the fans changed? The only explanation is that success when it comes, out-weighs an equal period of loss. Post the 1999 triumph, a generation of young fans quickly begged their parents for tickets to the Theater of Dreams and a David Beckham poster. Ticket prices rose and a slew of marginal fans began snatching up season tickets. It is easy to say that United’s success has caused a significant downturn in the morale and exuberance of the fan base. It is easy to say that we as a group, know less about the history of the team and more about the menu at the Red Café. It is also easy to ignore the whole picture.

As tame as some of the fan base have become, some of the factions amongst the United support look to be more rabid. I walk into the pub every weekend, and I’m struck by how rowdy the fans are, and how every strike of the ball brings hopeful anticipation. The songs are straight from Manchester, and the passion is unmistakenly Mancunian, however the fans are not. Like anything else there are two sides to any story and in this case there’s more to this than meets the eye.

I’d like to reflect for a moment on Roy Keane’s speech, and how I fit into all of this laziness. I came to realize recently that this indifference is natural for me when my team has dominated to such an extent, but yet unnatural for the average fan. I had to ask myself, how long would I be a United fan if they won every game of every season, decisively and with ease? The conclusion is simple. As fans, we’re a function of our own success, and the team has become so skilled at winning that we’ve become restless. If I think of the games I truly enjoyed in the last year, it has to be games against Fulham, Blackburn and Everton that stood out last season. These were contests that truly challenged the players and gave the fans a reason to yell. As fans we served a purpose as twelfth man.

The rest of us can sympathize with Derby fans, and how few points they’ll be able to wrestle away from other teams, but they might not be as poor as we think. I look forward to the Rams next win, which should erase any pity I’ve built up for them. I certainly felt some remorse for the Hammers fans last season, who were stuck watching a poorly scripted drama. However, they were also treated with a win at Old Trafford and coupled with evading the drop, their fans reactions were quite a spectacle. While stunned by the defeat, I remember looking over and smiling at the jolly Hammer that was standing on the bar and thinking that this was one fat bastard happy guy.

United were facing an opposing team that’s giving us a run for our money, and there is something almost lax in the support, especially in the first half. It’s September 1st and I crossed the River Irwin to go and watch Roy Keane’s return to Old Trafford for the first time as a manager. This monumental event, compounded with the first match since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer announced his retirement, and I had visions of the Stretford End in complete unity, voices straining to contend with the importance of the spectacle. Sadly after a half hour I had to turn to the elderly gentlemen to my right and ask “I thought the Stretford End would be louder?” to which he replied “We’ve had nothing to cheer for.” I retorted with “I thought the red shirt was enough.” I think I now understand why he wasn’t too pleased with selling his ticket to me, in retrospect. Maybe I’m the only one that craves the adversity. Maybe through these challenges I see an opportunity to cheer, not just a goal, but for an experience, or maybe I’m just the type of fan that enjoys the journey, more than just the final result.