Red, Blue, North, South…

We English are, in the main, a factious and unprincipled bunch. We are famous for loutish behaviour, the ability to go to war with just about anyone without always checking on the reasons (Edward III and Tony Blair particularly come to mind), for treating foreigners as lesser mortals from another planet, our kindness to dogs and cats, a general fondness for sport, and a series of assumptions such as “an Englishman’s home is his castle” and “there’ll always be an England”. There is a North-South divide, and a Red-Blue divide, and most Englishmen remain loyal throughout their lifetimes to a political party (“my family has voted labour/conservative for as long as I can remember”) and to their chosen football team (the older brother – bless him – is a notable exception to this rule).

Now regular readers of this blog will know that the Ranting Nappa does not support Manchester United or their fans. But, as a former scarf-wearing/season ticket-carrying/cup final-experienced supporter of the late Wimbledon FC, I might be expected to show some sympathy and support for the plight of the followers of what is arguably one of the best teams in the country (excepting two London clubs who are in a league of their own, and one Merseyside club which is getting better by the minute). Mr Glazer’s acquisition of Manchester United may not end up as being the total calamity that some Talksport Radio commentators and most fans predict, but it will almost certainly lead to change – both in the club’s fortunes, and maybe in the structure of the Premiership.

Last Tuesday’s match (Manchester United’s last home fixture in the Premiership this season) against Chelsea was en encapsulation of Englishness. Here was the North-South divide, here was the Red-Blue divide, and both teams had points to prove. It was a hugely entertaining match with Chelsea having the lucky breaks (if that’s what you call Tiago’s brilliant goal which caught commentators, Jose Mourinho, most of the spectators and the Manchester United goalkeeper all by surprise) and victory by a margin of three goals to one.

When the final whistle blew the players were pretty courteous to one another (many being team-mates on their various national sides), and the Chelsea players left the pitch. Sir Alex Ferguson however rather gallantly kept his players back in order to applaud and thank their supporters on this, the last full appearance of the year at Old Trafford. Sadly for the Manchester United players most of the “fans” had already left the stadium and there were vast areas of empty seats for the team to acknowledge. Maybe with so many of these “fans” burning their season ticket re-booking forms Mr Glazer will be able to attract some more loyal and worthy new supporters.