Glory glory Man United - Any wonder we have glory fans?

The sun was shining as we left Old Trafford yesterday, but the usual chants of us being Champions that have filled the tunnels under the ground upon exit were missing. We weren’t a happy bunch of fans.

Walking out under the Sir Matt Busby statue, the two opposing sets of fans began to mingle. The usual families weaved their way through the crowd, whilst a few mental Newcastle fans, with their shirts off, started mouthing off. They were very excited you see, picking up a point at Old Trafford.

Some United fans, not showing their colours, started mouthing back at the geordie lot, talking about their ‘cup final’ and prick for a manager. These were Manchester lads, their accents clear proof of this.

“Fuck off you glory supporting cunts,” one shirtless geordie shouted, before getting a slight dig in the ribs. There was no trouble, the mouthy geordie made his way through the crowds whilst the angry group of Manc lads just watched him, not saying anything more.

United have more than their fair share of ‘glory fans’, it tends to be the result of any team immersing themselves in glory and success, but what is your opinion of them.

My opinion of ‘glory fans’ has changed over the years. Whilst I have no time for people who chop and change clubs, opting to ‘support’ whichever team is at the top, I do have more team who support United from afar. My local team happens to be one of the most successful and biggest in the World, so am I in a position to tell people from Scunthorpe they have to support their local League 1 side? I don’t think so.

My mate was after a ticket for the Liverpool match last season, so showed up at Old Trafford the day before trying to see what he could find. No tickets available and no touts in site, but his blood was boiling when he saw a coach load of Americans pull up, all buzzing with excitement about tomorrow’s match.

Now my mate is a local lad, followed United all his life, and he couldn’t get his head around how 50 or so Yanks were getting tickets for the biggest game of the season, and he got nothing. There’s a big part of me that agrees with this, the local fans, whose family have been reds for generations, should not be forced out of the ground.

However, that doesn’t mean I believe there isn’t a place for people from outside Manchester supporting our team. The Cockney Reds, for example, have been following United up and down the country for decades. Can a 12-year-old Manchester lad claim these southerners aren’t ‘proper’ United fans?

People from all over the World started following United after hearing about the Munich Air Disaster, or once they’d seen the likes of George Best and Sir Bobby Charlton play. 50 years of loyal support later, can we claim they aren’t proper United fans because they’re not from Manchester?

“Glory glory Man United” goes the song, but what is your opinion of glory supporters?