Tag Archives: manchester

Keep An Open Mind Or Else

Like all great football rivalries, United and Liverpool’s stems from decades of mutual, on and off-pitch loathing: we don’t like them and they don’t like us. You can explore the sociopolitical identities of our two cities and find we have much in common, but in football terms – it’s fair to say Mancs and Scousers breathe different air and exist on different planets.

That said however, like some twisted sibling rivalry, the existence of one helps define and dictate the identity of the other. You’ll do well to meet a United fan who could honestly claim to pay Liverpool no attention and consider their fortunes an irrelevance. We’re in opposition to them on a daily basis, whether it be whilst celebrating moving ahead of them in terms of titles won or by simply sniggering at their unwavering devotion to that rotund oaf, Benitez.

As football supporters, we sport blinkers instinctively as part of our matchday attire. Question is: how much do we let an entrenched dislike of ‘the other’ invade our real lives? Taking football out of the equation, does the old adage of ‘never trust a Scouser’ (or Manc) ring true to the point it shapes opinions or influences relationships at home, socially or at work? The sensible answer to give is ‘no’, of course. That’s a line that reasonable, rational people don’t cross…but as we’ve witnessed recently, football rivalries can transcend what’s reasonable and rational and take us onto extremely dodgy terrain.

“We would rather have it done and dusted, out in the open. Whoever is the guilty party – the person who said it or the accuser – (should) get their due punishment.”

So uttered Kenny Dalglish back on the 28^th October, in his familiar, self-righteously indignant mode. Fully supportive of the FA’s decision to launch an independent enquiry into the events at Anfield – where just in case you’ve been away on another planet somewhere, Patrice Evra recently got into ‘a bit of a heated debate’ with Liverpool’s Luis Suárez.

Sadly for Kenny and advocates of racial intolerance everywhere, 9 weeks later, the 3 man independent panel appointed to investigate the matter found Suárez guilty, resulting in a fine of £40,000 and an 8 match suspension. Having steadfastly refused to contemplate anything other than the Uruguayan’s innocence from the start, this wasn’t part of the script at all as far as Kenny was concerned. Within minutes, Liverpool had released an official statement that made for incredible reading.

“We find it extraordinary that Luis can be found guilty on the word of Patrice Evra alone when no-one else on the field of play – including Evra’s own Manchester United teammates and all the match officials – heard the alleged conversation between the two players…”

In reality of course, the 2^nd part of that extract was superfluous. Liverpool were unable to grasp that Suárez could be found guilty at all – how could an independent panel listen to all the evidence in what was a highly emotive, sensitive case and reach an informed and considered decision against them? How dare they.

“LFC considers racism in any form to be unacceptable – without compromise…It is our opinion that the accusation by this particular player was not credible – certainly no more credible than his prior unfounded accusations.”

“In any form”…“without compromise”. Seriously?! This seemed slightly at odds with their assertion that Evra was an unreliable character, a truculent upstart ‘with previous’ for playing the race card.

“It is key to note that Patrice Evra himself in his written statement in this case said ‘I don’t think Luis Suárez is racist’. The FA in their opening remarks accepted that Luis Suárez was not racist.”

Hang on, I’m getting confused here – so are we to take notice of what Evra says or not? In the last paragraph they were claiming he wasn’t in any way credible, remember? Clearly we must disregard the part of Evra’s testimony that is damning towards Suárez, but take careful note of the part in which he states he doesn’t believe the guy is racist. That’s all a bit conveniently contradictory, isn’t it?

No one thought for a minute that Suárez was a card carrying member of the BNP…or UNP…or whatever. The FA’s verdict wasn’t casting aspersions on his political views, it was delivered following an investigation into a one-off incident. To illustrate: I’m not an alcoholic, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get pissed and make a tit of myself.

“Luis himself is of a mixed race family background as his grandfather was black…He has played with black players and mixed with their families whilst with the Uruguay national side and was Captain at Ajax Amsterdam of a team with a proud multi-cultural profile, many of whom became good friends.”

“Luis is also a keen fan of dub reggae and once enjoyed a relaxing, family holiday in the Caribbean. He respects diversity so much that he’ll often request half-rice and half-chips. He prefers 1970’s Michael Jackson, when his skin was considerably darker than it was in later years.” Okay, okay, we geddit.

“We would also like to know when the FA intend to charge Patrice Evra with making abusive remarks…in the most objectionable of terms. Luis, to his credit, actually told the FA he had not heard the insult.”

Oh so we were to pay attention to this part of Evra’s statement as well, were we? Funny that. So Suárez hadn’t considered it relevant to mention a key mitigating fact – that he’d been incited? Despite the seriousness of the allegations and potential damage to his personal and professional reputation, he’d chosen not to mention the fact he was provoked? Very odd.

The statement was an incendiary development in a story that had been a quietly smouldering since the original incident, weeks earlier. With the decision to wear ‘Suárez 7’ shirts in support of their troubled colleague at Wigan, a day later – Liverpool may as well have chucked a can of petrol over proceedings.

Up to that point, press reaction to the original verdict had been fairly mixed – if anything, most commentators in the football world seemed taken aback by the severity of the punishment imposed. The t-shirts, however, led to widespread condemnation. Consensus of opinion interpreting Liverpool’s actions as somewhat crass, rather than the classy and dignified gesture of solidarity as was intended.

The siege mentality is a common managerial tool in football, with our own manager utilising it to stunning effect over the years. As well as helping bond a dressing room, it’s a useful (if obvious) trick for getting supporters onside too. You purposefully perpetuate a sense of injustice with the insinuation being that everyone (whether that be referees, the authorities or the rest of the world in general) is wishing nothing but ill on you. Hence, everyone unites behind a common cause with the intention of upsetting the odds and proving all outsiders wrong.

As United fans, we’re well versed in seeing the world contrary to public opinion. We defended Eric whilst some were calling for him to be imprisoned or extradited back in Jan ’95, and closed ranks around a number of our players during the fallouts of England’s repeated tournament failings. Similar posturing from Liverpool though, looked spectacularly ill-judged in this instance – pinned in a corner, fervently defending Suárez’s right to repeatedly call an opponent ‘negro’. Such battles aren’t worth fighting, one would reasonably assume.

Still, fight they did. Dalglish was unrepentant in his post-match press conference, sounding bewildered as to the fuss taking place. “It would be helpful to everyone if someone gave us some guidelines about what you can and cannot say.” Yeah, these politically correct types, eh Kenny? Bloody can’t say anything these days…ask Jeremy Clarkson. Meanwhile, Alan Hansen waded in and found himself dangerously close to Ron Atkinson waters on MOTD.

The list of people to boycott and complain to was growing and anyone speaking out of term (Livepool’s terms) was rounded on. Stan Collymore was subjected to all kinds of abuse on twitter for daring to condemn the club’s stance, much of this coming from black and Asian LFC fans for whom misplaced loyalty to the club had taken precedence over common sense. John Barnes played it safe, peddling the ‘cultural differences’ line whilst Paul McGrath gave a withering assessment of Glen Johnson’s compliance in the t-shirt stunt during an interview on Talksport.

Ever the astute social commentator and nemesis of good grammar, Rio Ferdinand blundered in with a knee-high challenge on twitter. “I’m seeing sooo many BOUNTY’s!! I hate them personally!!” Either that, or he’d just opened a tin of Celebrations.

Liverpool must have known this was all going pear-shaped for them on Christmas Eve, when after a mad few days, events took on an air of the surreal. In a PR move worthy of Brass Eye, a picture appeared in the Daily Mail of John Terry posing with a black baby. Well that was me convinced, he’s obviously NOT racist then. Chelsea also attempted to gather kudos points by revealing they kyboshed attempts by their players to wear t-shirts in support of the lionhearted one, deeming the plan “inappropriate and unhelpful”.

The first sign that anyone connected to LFC was uncomfortable with the stance the club had adopted, came via a Times article penned by respected Scouse journo, Tony Evans. Evans dared to suggest that Liverpool had made grave errors of judgement in their handling of the case and were entirely wrong in attempting to shift focus of the blame onto Evra. Fair play.

Still, it appeared no one thought it wise to brief Dalglish on this development. The FA subsequently published their detailed, 115 page report on the case. In response, Liverpool issued a holding statement – vowing to “digest and properly consider” the content before making further comment.

After 3 days of reflection, LFC and Suárez each released statements that demonstrated their stance hadn’t altered. Whilst deciding not to appeal the ban – Liverpool considered the report to be “highly subjective”, maintained the FA had treated them unfairly and even suggested United had set out to deliberately secure a ban for the player. Suárez meanwhile, showed a similar lack of contrition, instead choosing to remind us how he was “born into a very humble family, in a working class neighbourhood, in a small country” and throwing in a couple of crowd pleasing YNWA’s for good measure.

After the poorly received statements, Dalglish’s press conference following the City game that evening proved simultaneously ludicrous and gripping, upping the ante further and revealing the true extent of the man’s bitterness.

“There’s a lot of things we’d like to say and a lot we could say but we would only get ourselves in trouble. We are not trying to be evasive…well, we are being evasive because we don’t like getting ourselves in trouble. But we know what has gone on. We know what is not in the report and that’s important for us. So without me getting ourselves in trouble, I think that’s it finished.”

No hint of an apology or remorse, just sulky belligerence and a self-pitying refusal to accept that Suárez was out of order. “Wrong place, wrong time”, according to Kenny. Evra, the FA, the 9 week independent investigation, Manchester United…everyone seemed to be in cahoots against Liverpool Football Club.

2 days later and 10 weeks too late, Suárez did, finally, choose to apologise. Well, it was an apology of sorts. A terse, 2 line statement delivered with all the grace and sincerity of a recently admonished pre-schooler. In doing so, he still managed to protest his innocence and pointedly made no reference to any offence that Patrice Evra might have been caused. Class and dignity.

Discussing the case weeks earlier, the question came up ‘imagine the outcry from Liverpool if all of this had been the other way round?’ Say if Javier Hernandez, in a spat with Glen Johnson, had used insulting remarks with racist connotations then sought to discredit Johnson at every opportunity and claim it was all a cultural misunderstanding.

How would we have reacted? Instinct would have led us to defend our boy, wouldn’t it? One would hope that collectively, we (and I’m talking everyone with an interest in Manchester United) might have responded differently. I’m pretty sure the club would have handled things better than Liverpool did, but would United fans have been able to see through the red-tinted specs and accept that a punishment was merited? I seriously doubt it. Most people, I’m certain would have reacted exactly as Liverpool fans had done and blindly followed the party line being dictated by the club. Football supporters are sheep-like by nature, aren’t we?

In true soap-opera fashion, Liverpool were to face the consequences of their handling of the Suárez case within days. 10 minutes to go in an innocuous looking FA Cup tie vs Oldham and 20 year old, Latics player Tom Adeyemi was called a ‘black bastard’ by a single voice on the Kop. After he turned to remonstrate with the perpetrator, the crowd (as they’d been doing throughout the evening) chose that moment to rise as one and re-affirm their support for Suárez. A baying crowd facing a black kid in tears? I’m not deliberately trying to over dramatise things, but this all looked a bit ‘Nuremberg rally’ and made for very uncomfortable viewing.

Of course it was only one dickhead in a crowd of thousands, and noone seriously doubts LFC when they claim to oppose racism and discrimination in all forms. However, due to the timing of the incident, it’s clear the individual concerned had been influenced by the club’s implicit support of Suárez’s conduct towards a black opponent. Even if it was only one supporter, it was one too many. Racism + sheep-like mentality = extremely dodgy terrain. One would hope this provides food for thought when the Liverpool board takes time to reflect on their handling of the Suárez-Evra affair.

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In The Bleak Midwinter

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“Nani and Anderson having good days, Cleverley buzzing around like the anti-Gibson, Young looking instantly comfortable on the OT stage and Rooney back to his imperious best…it’s hard not to sound giddy.” This, dear reader, was me getting a little bit carried away in this column back in September – caught up in that early season period where we fleetingly looked untouchable and the possibilities seemed endless. It was a brief foray into positive thinking and it won’t happen again. So tonight (Matthew), we’re going to party like it’s 2005. Dooooom is back.

Even during those carefree days of our autumnal bloom, things didn’t feel quite right. Although the midfield was stringing some delightful, intricate passing manoeuvres together (think Bolton away), at times (like Arsenal and Chelsea at home) it resembled an ever-widening chasm. It just seemed churlish to dwell too much on that back then, as new faces appeared to be bedding in nicely and the team took on an air of free-scoring invincibility.

I expressed certain reservations to a mate post-Chelsea that if we didn’t make some changes, big problems might lie on the horizon in the shape of Liverpool and City. As it turned out, another lukewarm Anfield showing gave no hint as to the horror of what would unfold a week later in the derby. I’ve still not seen the last three City goals, nor will I ever – sitting through several first-hand accounts from traumatised friends and relatives was bad enough.

No apologies for leaving at 3-1, either. I suffered every second of the 5-1 back in ’89, slumped in the rapidly emptying Platt Lane as City celebrated. It wasn’t pleasant and isn’t an experience I’m intent on ever repeating. Top tip: the bar in the Cornerhouse makes for an effective, non-football, post-match hiding place.

Doom-laden United fans have had a tough time of things since the unexpected return to title winning form in 2007. 4 league titles in five years and 3 European Cup finals was much more than papering over cracks, it was the most sustained period of success in the club’s history. It’s hard to make a case for imminent disaster when your team is hoovering up silverware and (depending on if you can make sense of the financial reports) seemingly making inroads into paying off the mountainous debt our lovely owners saddled us with.

Yes, us doom-mongers have been quietened to some extent in recent years. Ongoing gripes about the gaping hole in central midfield have provided some respite but Green & Gold campaign aside, continued success on the pitch has neutered widespread complaint about overall lack of investment. We just sound like spoilt bastards when we moan. Other clubs would kill to be in our position, surely? Just look at the pretty, silver trophies and shush…

Failure to qualify for the latter stages of the Champions League, however, means that questions are going to be asked. A favourable draw should have secured an easy passage into the last 16. So is it complacency, arrogance or lack of personnel that’s led us into the footballing purgatory of the Europa League?

It’s probably a mixture of all three. Qualifying year on year has seen the group stages reduced to something team and fans alike have started to sleepwalk through. People trot out the cliché about CL nights at OT being ‘special’ and possessing some sort of unique atmosphere. What atmosphere? The second half of the Benfica fixture was played out in virtual silence. I met up with a mate in town prior to that game, a home and away red for many years – and he genuinely thought we were playing Crystal Palace in the League Cup that night. Amusing in itself, but indicative of the disregard many of us hold for the group stages these days. Once upon a time, any participation in the European Cup was something to be cherished – early finishes from work and a lengthy session pre-match were de rigueur.

Of course it’s not just in the stands where malaise has been evident. On-pitch performances have veered between slack and shambolic, particularly at home. I’m never slow to criticise Nani, the guy infuriates me and his decision making makes me despair – but the decision to leave him out of the Basel home game was a shocker, particularly with Rooney being out injured. Although erratic, at least he’ll try to make things happen – even if they don’t always come off. Where others are ponderous and instinctively look to consolidate, he’s CREATIVE. Basel arrived at OT and for 20 minutes looked absolutely terrified, an hour later they were playing us off the park. They should have been smashed out of sight.

When the question of us struggling was raised in the press conference following dropped points vs Benfica, Ferguson was incredulous and dismissed the notion out of hand. Although a perfectly valid point given our laboured performances, to him the suggestion was ridiculous, insulting even. He obviously has continued faith in our enduring ability to do just about enough to get over the line as we’ve managed to do time and time again…only this time we fell short.

It’s only taken a couple of injuries for the known problem area of the squad to be exposed once more. Cleverley has proved a huge loss, one far greater than should be the case for a player with only half a dozen appearances to his name. Carrick, Park and Fletcher continue to labour through most games, in turns low in confidence/form, ability and fitness. Pogba and Morrison are presumably not considered quite ready yet – so consequently Phil Jones now finds himself a first choice central midfielder.

Fergie’s position on the matter is maddening. I mean, we all love the guy for what he’s achieved here and congratulations on doing 25 years and getting a stand named after you and all that… but what the fuck? Are we seriously supposed to believe that he’s truly content with this midfield? Under previous regimes he’s always spent big when necessary – the (spit) ‘value’ line trotted out in recent times just doesn’t add up. We are Manchester United and have always had to pay above and beyond the perceived market rate, whether that be £2.3M on Gary Pallister or £31M on Rio Ferdinand – both astronomical fees at the time. There was no mention of value then, it was ‘we needed this player, this is what he cost’.

If Fergie/Gill played a straight bat (ha!), simply held their hands up and said ‘look, we can no longer afford the going rate for the player we really need anymore’ (you can guess who I’m alluding to – the one beginning with ‘S’, always injured, allegedly after a private jet…or someone like him) then we could deal with it and at least there’d be some acknowledgement of the elephant in the room. It’s absurd to try and put a figure on ‘value’ in modern football anyway – it recently cost £40 or so to watch the reserves play Palace. That doesn’t strike me as particularly good ‘value’ either but we’re still expected to pay it.

So there we have it. Vidic out for the season, City top of the league, midfield still fucked, we’re in the Europa League and Darron Gibson’s available for selection. Merry Christmas.

Photography copyright Ian Bramham www.ianbramham.com

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Teenage Kicks

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A familiar name on the non-league circuit during the 90’s, local lad Brendan Burke was a teenage football prodigy who spent 3 years at United on schoolboy forms during the mid-80’s. I caught up with Brendan last year after he kindly agreed to share his recollections of those days.

RN: How and why were you a red, then?

BB: There’s only one team to support in Manchester! It’s funny really ‘cos my Dad’s a blue – I don’t really know if there was some rebellion going on. I was born in 1970 and I think the first time I saw United on telly was in the ’76 Cup Final when they got beat by Southampton…and I just loved the way they played…I suppose that was the first time I really became aware of it, when I was 6. Although they got beat I loved the red tops, the white shorts…just the whole effect of the Cup Final. I genuinely think that’s where my passion started from.

RN: Do you remember the year after?

BB: Yeah, I remember that a bit more vividly really…I think from 7 onwards you’re really remembering things. Before that, when you’re a nipper, you’re probably relying on what your parents are telling you. But yeah, ’77 was superb because obviously not only did we win it, but we beat the Scousers which is always nice!

RN: Were you always a good footballer as a kid growing up?

BB: Yeah, I was always in the back garden with little nets. My Dad worked for the BBC…he worked on ‘It’s A Knockout!’ and one of the best things he got me in my entire life was some netting from work. We strung it up on some trees near where we lived and it fit…full size nets. I was always kicking a ball about in the back garden…we’d take this netting out where I lived…all the lads used to come out and we’d play…it just progressed from there really. I used to play for school…because I used to play with my mates who were all 3-4 years older than me, it gave me a good grounding

RN: You played for school…was there a local Junior club you joined?

BB: Yeah. I played for school in Juniors, then I got asked to play for a Sunday League side called St John Vianney’s…just a church team…but we had a good set of lads and I was scoring 40-50 goals a season.

RN: How old were you at this point?

BB: I was 10 or 11, summat like that. It moved on then, I was a regular for the school team on a Saturday, playing Sunday league…got picked up for Manchester Boys…County level and all that kinda thing. Then clubs were coming into the equation…

RN: You won the Bobby Charlton Soccer School competition?

BB: There was an advert in the MEN and my parents were like, ‘do you want to go?’ It was during the 6 week holidays, so my mate Chris and I went…it was a residential thing for a full week. Anyway, we did passing, shooting , juggling…different disciplines that you had to do during the week and depending on how many points you got, you went through to a grand final which was on Mellands playing fields. We were supposed to do the juggling in the centre circle at Old Trafford before a home game vs West Brom,, but it absolutely pissed down and they wouldn’t let us on the pitch. We ended up doing it by the corner flag underneath the old scoreboard. You had to keep the ball up in the air for a minute – a bloke was there with a stop-watch and I did it. We’d been given tickets for the game and I was sat with me Mam and Dad; then at HT it came over the tannoy…’We’d like to announce the winners of the Bobby Charlton Football School’ Then my name was read out and we had to report to the nearest steward. There were three winners and we all got brought into the Executive Suite, Bobby Charlton and Sir Matt were there and it was ‘Congratulations lads, you’ve just won two weeks as the guest of Real Madrid!’

To go from filling out a form in the paper to playing in the Bernabeu was incredible…

RN: You played in the Bernabeu?!

BB: Yeah! There was a press conference in the trophy room at the Bernabeu, it was a big thing over there – all the Spanish press. Sir Bobby and Sir Matt flew over with us, after the press conference we’re walking in the bowels of the Bernabeu and the next thing we’re on the pitch with about 30 balls, tracksuits, training kit, free boots…Bobby Charlton was on the wing…’here y’are Brendan, knock that one in!’ So yeah, I can say I scored at the Bernabeu! It was fantastic over there, they really looked after us.

RN: Then you got signed up by United…

BB: I got invited down to go training. I suppose it’s called ‘Centre of Excellence’ nowadays, I went down and it kinda went from there. At the time, City were interested and Oldham Athletic as well cos I went to an Oldham School. Because I supported United though, there’s only one club I wanted to play for. I went training with United and they offered me Associate Schoolboy forms in 1984, just before I was 14. That’s when the relationship with United, in terms of playing, began.

RN: You were training at the Cliff?

BB: Yeah, in the big indoor facility there. I remember my Dad and my Grandad coming down with me, rolling into the Cliff in Salford and just…knowing. My Grandad was a City fan too but he went to watch United as well. That was the way it was with that generation, you watched City one week, then you went to watch United the next. He loved players like Edwards, Charlton…Eddie Coleman…the Busby Babes basically…Georgie Best. For me then to be coming into this world where so many legends had trained, at first it was pretty…I wouldn’t say overwhelming…but it was just gobsmacking really. As a 13/14 year old…it was kinda…’Wow!’ All these great legends who’d represented the club had come through these gates.

We used to train Tuesday and Thursday nights…it was just magical. It was superb to be in the inner sanctum of the team that I supported, y’know? It was amazing.

RN: Having been there a couple of years did you get offered the Apprenticeship?

BB: The way it was timed…in 1986 I would’ve been 16. Under Ron Atkinson, whose regime I was signed under…I was doing pretty well. Sir Alex came in and Archie Knox as his assistant. Eric Harrison and Jimmy Curran were still looking after us. Alex and Archie were reviewing everything…and that meant the juniors and schoolboys as well as the pros. Unfortunately we only got about 6 months with Alex before alot of us were deemed surplus to requirements. The only three lads that got kept on were Russ Beardsmore, Mark Robins and Gary Walsh…there was something said at the time, I dunno how true it was…as well as signing schoolboy forms, they’d had their apprenticeship built into it. It was a 4 year plan for them, rather than 2 years.

RN: What was the attitude of the 1st team towards the kids…did you have much interaction with them?

BB: I was lucky cos I’d moved to an Oldham school when I was at Secondary school, prior to that I was always in Manchester Schools…but my parents moved up to Chadderton. So I went to an Oldham school and their holidays were always a week or two behind the Manchester schools. It worked out brilliantly for me…I was going down to the Cliff and all the other lads had gone back to school so there were only a couple of us down there! It was brilliant because Ron used to make us feel part of it. The likes of Bryan Robson, Frank Stapleton, Paul McGrath, Norman Whiteside, Arnold Muhren…all the lads you were watching on a Saturday as a fan…you were in the gym with ‘em and they’re coming over and having a kick about with you! Mark Hughes was really good with me…it was just incredible. One thing I’ll say about Ron, and I know things went pear-shaped for him a few years ago, but he always looked after lads like myself and made us feel really welcome. He used to pick us in the 5-a-side teams, we didn’t always train with the 1st team, more often it was the reserves…but then the odd time he would bring us into the fold.

RN: Who were the biggest influences on your career during your time at United? You mentioned Eric Harrison…

BB: Eric was the main point of contact in terms of our development. Eric was incredible. He was a hard taskmaster…if he wasn’t happy with you, he’d tell you. But it was all to encourage you and spur you on. I’ve seen him destroy some lads but it was on the basis of ‘you need to survive this and be stronger for it in order to become a player at Manchester United’. You might have all the ability in the world but if you didn’t have the mental ability…there’s a certain pressure that comes with representing Manchester United. Eric was the guy who tried to instill that in you from an early age.

RN: Did bad results for the 1st team affect the day-to-day atmosphere around the club?

BB: Under Ron it was always a happy-go-lucky atmosphere. He was a great showman, in spite of what he might have been feeling deep down, he always put a front on – he was a larger-than-life character. He was a very positive guy and it was infectious. We had some lean times during that period, the odd FA Cup or whatever was just seen as something we could build on. Obviously the league title was the holy grail. Robson, Moses, Muhren…they were all top class players. The next season was always ‘the one’, y’know? …it could be this year!

RN: Yep. Every summer was like that. In ‘84 when we signed Brazil, Strachan and Olsen, I remember thinking ‘now if we can just keep everyone fit’…

BB: It was a great place to be around. Getting within that inner sanctum and being a part of it was just incredible…especially being a local lad. To be mixing with those types of players was just fantastic.

RN: You’ve talked about the interaction you had with the 1st team, were there any other perks to being a youngster there?

BB: We used to get boots. In those days Adidas World Cup were the be-all and end-all. They had a tongue on ‘em you could fold over…you looked like a proper player!

RN: Puma King.

BB: Yeah, but at that time the kits were always Adidas…with the Sharp Electronics sponsor on.

RN: Adidas Tangos!

BB: Yeah, after the 82 World Cup…still the best ball ever. The B team used to play in the Lancashire League Division 2 on a Saturday morning; we’d get in a beat-up, old Ford minibus which Jimmy Curran would drive and set off to Chester or Liverpool or Crewe, depending on who we were playing. We’d always get back to Old Trafford for early afternoon and each be given a pair of tickets for that afternoon’s game in A Stand.

RN: Did you go with your old man then?

BB: Even though he was a blue he loved the fact he could get into Old Trafford and watch a proper team! In those days I was going in the United Road with my mates so I’d give the tickets to my Dad who’d go in with a pal of his who was a big red…so he’d give me a few quid and I’d go off with my mates.

So yeah, tickets and boots…but you just generally got looked after. You didn’t have to bring any training kit, everything was there for you. You just had to bring your boots and that was it!

RN: It’s been widely documented there was a something of a drinking culture around the club during that era. As a youngster, were you aware of that?

BB: Yeah. As I said earlier, it was a bit happy-go-lucky. The Ron Atkinson regime and the Alex Ferguson regime were two totally different ball games. Ron wanted to portray a sort-of positivity…even though things were perhaps not going as they should do. It was well known to be honest…and it filtered through to the younger lads that…well…the ‘legends’, let’s say… were having a good session now and again. The accepted script was that they were still doing it on the pitch on a Saturday…and in training. I think they were left to get on with it in the hope it was all a team bonding process that would lead to success.

RN: Playing for the B team, what were the fixtures like against Liverpool or City? Was there a different level of intensity to those games?

BB: To me, perhaps more than to lads who were from outside of Manchester, I knew what it meant…even at that tender age of between 13 and 15. Liverpool were the dominant force, City were our neighbours…even though they weren’t a threat at the time. To me, it was just about wearing the shirt. Even if I’d played only one game for the B team and a bus had hit me the next day, I’d have died a happy lad. I’d pulled the shirt on, no matter what level it was at…I’d pulled the shirt on and represented the club.

RN: Was there a lot of sadness when Ron Atkinson left?

BB: I’ve got a lot to be thankful for to Ron as it was under his scouting regime I’d been picked up. I think the criticism was that…under Ron the press used to come into the Cliff and they were probably tipped off about the team before the lads who were involved were. He wanted that openness…

RN: I’ve heard that before…

BB: He wanted that openness but I think there’s got to be a certain distance…which obviously Sir Alex later brought in. I felt sorry for Ron when it all kicked off years later. Obviously what he said was wrong…I couldn’t understand it as he’d been a pioneer in introducing black players into the game whilst at West Brom. Cyril Regis, Laurie Cunningham, Brendan Batson, Remi Moses…Ron was also a great guy for man-management, finding out what players needed individually.

RN: I’ve always said he would’ve made a great international manager. Taking a group of players to a tournament…

BB: He was tremendous. He used to let on to us young lads as much as he would the major stars we had at the time. It was sad…but I think at the time there was a general consensus that it was definitely the right thing to do. You couldn’t fail to have noticed what Sir Alex had achieved at Aberdeen. It was a time for new optimism and obviously the league title was what we cherished…not only the supporters, but the playing staff too.

RN: Was there a noticeable change around the place when Fergie arrived?

BB: As juniors we were all concerned that we were coming up for our apprenticeships and alot hinged on the fact that we needed to perform. I dunno – under Ron I might have got an apprenticeship , I might not…there was a definite feeling though that ‘this guy’s coming in to change this club and make it successful’.

I suppose with any football club or business, if a new boss comes in you’re starting from scratch…

RN: Everyone’s on edge?

BB: Yeah…and we were no different, everyone was fighting for an apprenticeship. I eventually got released in May 1987, 6 months after Sir Alex had come down. I remember the feeling being that we hadn’t really been given a chance…they’d only looked at us for a short period of time. We always knew when Sir Alex or Archie Knox were coming to watch us play…but at the end of the day you can’t knock the guy. It was the worst I’ve ever felt in my life, wanting to play for the club I’d supported as a boy and being released…your world falls apart…but how can you have any bitterness? He ripped up the youth model, started again and brought in the likes of Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Nicky Butt, the Nevilles…you’ve just got to hold your hands up. He started over again and ultimately that was the right thing to do, even though it wasn’t the best news for me at the time.

RN: What vibes did you pick up from the 1st team?

BB: The likes of Gordon Strachan had worked with Sir Alex before at Aberdeen of course. He was saying to the 1st team lads, ‘look, he’s really gonna put the cat amongst the pigeons at this club’… because of the culture that had developed. But in fairness, there were a lot of positives – it wasn’t all negative that this ‘boys club’ was gonna be broken up. There was a genuine feeling he was coming to the club to try and deliver what we all wanted…what we’d been waiting for, for all those years. If certain people or players were gonna be victims of that cull or whatever you want to call it… it was all about the longer term goal or vision.

RN: The characters at the club at the time, who was sound…and was there anyone you tried to steer clear of?

BB: Not really, no. To be honest there weren’t many who were up their own arse. I’d be in the gym at the Cliff doing weights or whatever…the program that had been set out for me…and you’ve got Bryan Robson there recuperating from his latest injury! They could see you’re this nervous 14-15 year old…Paul McGrath, Kevin Moran…they were guys that just had a natural charm about them in terms of bringing you into the fold, whether it just be a conversation or having a bit of craic with you. Remi Moses…well he was a bit of a hard nut, so you were always thinking ‘shit – is he gonna be like that off the field, as he is on the field?’ But Remi was great – when he knew you were a Manchester lad there was a real affinity there. Don’t get me wrong, there were some cunts there who were junior players, but the 1st team lads…they were spot on. Dunno whether you can use this but there was a Welsh lad there, Deniol Graham…

RN: Went on to Barnsley didn’t he?

BB: A big time Charlie. He’d signed for Man United and thought he’d made it. Don’t get me wrong, he was a good player but he still had a lot of work to do. One of my mates, Tony Hopley from Blackley…he was a pocket dynamo, a top player but he had the temperament of Cantona…in France.

RN: Hahahahaha…

BB: He was off it, absolutely off it! One day, he’d had enough. Tony was a forward, Deniol was a forward…they were always vying for the same position. One day we were in the showers at the Cliff and Tony says to me ‘Bren, just stand at the front of the showers here, make sure no-one comes in’. I’m like ‘why, what’s the script?’ Tony was a year or two older than me and says ‘just fucking stand there for us, our kid’. Next thing he comes out the showers and just grabs my arm, I’m like ‘Kinell mate, what’s going on?’ Tony goes ‘I’ve just sorted that cunt out on behalf of the changing rooms!’ I popped my head back round the corner and Deniol’s sat in the corner with birds going round his head, Tom & Jerry style.

RN: Have you stayed in touch with anyone from that era?

BB: A few lads, yeah. Ashley Ward was there at the same time as me, he went on to have a good career in the game…I see him now and again. Spoke to Billy Garton via email a few times…a lad called Nicky Welsh, Keiran Toal who went on to play for the ROI. I’ve known Keiran for about 30 years, we grew up together.

RN: You met Ron again quite recently, didn’t you?

BB: I was at a do up in Saddleworth, at the White Hart. It was a Sportsman’s Dinner type-thing and Ron was a guest speaker, doing a Q&A. I was up there with a few of my mates and they were like ‘go on, go and have a word with him!’ Then one lad’s going, ‘I bet you weren’t even at United, you cunt! That’s why you won’t go over!’ I’m going ‘no, no – he wont remember me…he’s seen so many players in his life and I didn’t even play for the 1st team’. I didn’t want to mither him…next thing one of the lads brings him over and he’s like ‘Brendan! How are you doing?’ That was magic.

RN: Did it come as a hammer blow when you were released?

BB: Yeah, I was doing okay under Ron and making progress. Then in 1987, about April-May time, Archie Knox brought us all into the office and told us one-by-one that we weren’t going to be offered an apprenticeship and would be leaving. It was heartbreaking because I’d given a lot up, all my mates were going out to youth clubs on a Friday night but I’d have a game Saturday morning. So yeah, it was hard to take.

After that I went to various different clubs and had trials. I got injured playing for Crewe against Chester City, Dario Gradi asked me to go down. We were 2-0 up after about 10 minutes, I’d scored one and set one up – then this Scouser went right over the top on me and I did my knee ligaments. I was out for about 6 months after that…I still wanted to be a pro, but the only way was down after United. Anyway, I phoned Crewe back up after I got sorted but they were like ‘oh, we’ve moved on – we’ve not got anything down for you’.

By then I was applying for jobs, a mate of mine was working at Nat West and said I should apply for a job there. I’d realised by then how fickle a career football was. My Dad had always told me to get a trade, get qualifications and I’d done alright in that respect…I wasn’t an academic genius but I’d held my own in terms of O Levels and stuff. I got a job and became a bit disillusioned with the idea of football as a career, I was still playing with my mates on a Sunday but by then I was following United all over the country. I’d missed out on so much in terms of what my mates were doing, between 16 and 19…I wanted to have a bit of ‘me’ time.

Then I was in the Red Barn in Chadderton one night, and this guy Mick Lavery says to me ‘you’re wasting your time here, what are you doing tomorrow?’ He was the manager of Oldham Town, a local NW counties league side. Do you remember ‘Jossy’s Giants’?

RN: Yeah – Sid Waddell wrote it and Robbo made a cameo appearance…

BB: That’s right. Their ground was where it was filmed…they got floodlights off the back of that! Anyway he says to me ‘come and play for us against Droylsden, I’ll pick you up here tomorrow at 1.30pm’…he knew about my background at United. So I turned out for them, we got beat 4-1 but I scored…and I absolutely loved it. That set me on the way to a semi-pro career, I played about a dozen games for Oldham but then Mick said to me ‘you’re too good for this level, you need to be playing in the Northern Premier League…

RN: Evo-Stik League as it is now.

BB: That’s right. A mate of Mick’s called Mark Hilton, who’d played for Bury and Oldham Athletic was manager at Mossley at the time…so I went there. This was 1989 and I was 19. You had ‘Madchester’, the Hacienda, raves…I was lovin’ life. I had my job at the bank and a few quid in my pocket from playing semi-pro football every week. Over the next couple of years…

RN: I’ve Googled you, you became a bit of a legend there!

BB: I did alright. After a couple of years at Mossley I moved to Witton Albion who were in the GM Vauxhall Conference at the time. I then played in the Conference for the next 10 years or so. In 1995 I moved to Stalybridge, they paid a club record transfer fee for me…£12,000, which was a lot of money for that level. I had a few years there and was made captain, as I had been at Witton. We had a bad couple of years and got relegated but I stuck with them…wanted to bounce straight back but it just didn’t happen. Clubs were knocking at the door and I eventually signed for Altrincham. I’d got back in the Conference but by that time I was having real problems with my back…at first I thought it was just a bit of wear and tear. Unfortunately, at 29, I had to pack it in…that was 1999 so it was a bitter-sweet year for me, with United winning the treble as well.

RN: Do you still go to the match now?

BB: I’ve always had a season ticket in K-Stand but share it out with mates. I don’t get to all the games cos of one or two family issues over the last couple of years. But yeah, I still get to games…it’s still a great buzz. Although playing there was only a short period in my life, I feel proud to have been a part of it. I’ll never forget those days.

A top lad and a top red, thanks to Brendan for his time and allowing access to his scrapbooks. Thanks to Mrs Pat Burke for compiling said scrapbooks all those years ago.