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STATS: Chelsea vs United

STATS: Chelsea vs United

Manchester United head into Sunday’s fixture at Stamford Bridge off the back of three consecutive victories in the Premier League and an opportunity to back on level points with City. Penalties from Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov either side of half time on transfer deadline day lead Manchester United on their way to 3 points [...]

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Evra Ready

‘Welcome to Hell’ read the memorable banner as United arrived in Istanbul to be greeted by Galtasaray fanatics in 1993. The second leg of a European Cup tie saw Aslanlarsupporters arrive four hours before kick-off within the confines of the infamous Ali Sami Yen stadium, as the intensity soon resembled a war zone. ‘No way [...]

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Wall hits Fan: Manchester United Star Does A ‘Cantona’… 100 Years Ago

When Eric Cantona of Manchester United did his amazing Kung-fu kick on an obnoxious Crystal Palace supporter seventeen years ago this month, I was there. By chance I was also an eye-witness thirty-five years earlier when United’s goalkeeper Harry Gregg spectacularly whacked a spectator at Luton Town in April, 1960, knocking him to the ground. That coincidence meant [...]

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When Arsenal beat Manchester United 5-2 in 1960, was the match ‘fixed’?

When Arsenal beat Manchester United 5-2 in 1960, was the match ‘fixed’?

I was lucky when I first used to go to Manchester United matches, over fifty years ago. Although the team was in the painful early stages of recovery from the Munich Air Crash they still often managed to play wonderfully expressive football in keeping with the finest traditions of the club.Take this description of United’s quicksilver style, written by ex-1930s Arsenal star Bernard Joy [...]

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Injuries – Comparing United With Arsenal, Chelsea, City, Liverpool and Spurs…

Injuries – Comparing United With Arsenal, Chelsea, City, Liverpool and Spurs…

Even before the terrible news that Vidic’s season is over, many of us were already questioning whether the football Gods were conspiring against United with an unusually high rate of injuries this season. Indeed, some have gone further, raising the concern that this is not an isolated phenomenon but the continuation of a trend that [...]

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Man U, Munich and Duncan Edwards… Part II

We have seen in Part I how the term ‘Man U’, considered objectionable by many supporters today, was created entirely uncontroversially by newspapers at least sixty years ago, as an easy printed abbreviation for Manchester United. Used initially almost exclusively for fixtures, results and league tables, it only later became part of grassroots speech a [...]

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Why Saying ‘Man U’ Isn’t So Bad… Part I

Why Saying ‘Man U’ Isn’t So Bad… Part I

It has been estimated that Manchester United have 333 million supporters in over 200 countries, providing an astonishing cumulative audience of 4.2 billion television viewers watching the team in 2010-11. It would be lovely to think we’re all one big happy family but it’s probably no exaggeration to say that millions of those very fans [...]

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Sir Jimmy Savile: The Manchester United connection

Amidst the eulogies for the veteran disc-jockey, showbiz star and champion charity fund-raiser, Sir Jimmy Savile, who died at the end of October at the age of 84, there was little mention of one small, largely forgotten but rather touching charitable stunt that he performed which is worth remembering if you are a Manchester United [...]

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Fergie’s Greatest Achievement Has Been Managing Himself

A lot has and will be said about Fergie’s winning mentality this week. It’s at milestones such as these (and let’s face it, SAF’s had a few) that well worn phrases are paraded about like leathery skinned ex-pros at identikit stadia they never graced. “Never knows he’s beaten”, “obsession with winning” and “addicted to success” [...]

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Ferguson’s Greatest Achievement: Part II

Henry Winter, The Telegraph On his 25th anniversary, Sir Alex is being hailed as one of the greatest managers of all time. Rightly so. He possesses the four qualities that shape the finest leaders of footballing men: he buys well, bonds well, prepares well and exudes an aura. Never underestimate the power of an aura [...]

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Ferguson – Remarkable performances on and off the pitch

People will tell you that when someone of power and prominence walks into a room, before you have even seen them, you feel their presence. It’s an absurd notion really. The idea that anyone has an invisible aura of authority or influence is at best descriptive indulgence, more accurately it’s physically not possible. But the [...]

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The Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Find

So we lost. 6-1. To City. In a week that brought us the catastrophic news of Westlife splitting up, it had me wondering – what about now? Could this really be City’s season in the sun? It’s always a mini-trauma to lose heavily to a bitter rival, and we all have our own personal coping [...]

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How Patrice Evra has never played the race card and why assumptions are dangerous

Football can do a lot of things. It can turn completely stable people into emotional wrecks, it can play with our emotions like nothing else, save perhaps a member of the opposite sex. In short, it’s a very powerful thing. One thing it should not do, however, is to change our perspective. Not footballing perspective, [...]

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Keep This Man Away From Old Trafford

Keep This Man Away From Old Trafford

When the trademarked Special One was at Chelsea, I was an advocate of him. No doubt he brought something interesting to the table that other foreign managers simply don’t. Wenger, Benitez and the rest are generally as dull as dishwater. And as much as we already had cause to dislike him for his hop, skip [...]

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Desperately Seeking De Gea – How Fans Tie The Noose So Very Quickly

Desperately Seeking De Gea – How Fans Tie The Noose So Very Quickly

So 90 minutes into his Manchester United career, young Spanish goalkeeping wonderkid David De Gea has ended his spell as MUFC’s number one. At least that’s what some fans would have you believe. Never before has the word ‘howler’ been used out of context in such a short space of time. De Gea’s mistake vs. [...]

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