20 league titles, 3 European Cups, 12 times FA Cup winners — Manchester United Football Club needs no introduction really. It is one of England’s most successful clubs, and is often referred to as ” the most romantic club in world football”. Some of football’s greatest players have graced the red shirt, ranging from George Best and Bobby Charlton to Eric Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo. The club also has had managers like Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson, who were both knighted by the Queen in recognition of their contribution to the British Game. It is no surprise that the club has millions of fans all over the globe, and even more, millions of haters as well. Fans of clubs like Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City especially envy us, given our history and dominance on the English league, especially in recent years. Here are top 3 reasons why United fans draw the most amount of flak:
1. THE FOOTBALLERS
Footballers play a major role in how people perceive their team and if someone dislikes a certain player because of their actions, they sometimes end up disliking their team too. In United’s case, some examples include Eric Cantona’s kick on a Crystal Palace fan, Roy Keane’s horror tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland and Ashley Young AND Cristiano Ronaldo’s constant simulations. There’s also Gary Neville’s infamous goal celebration in front of Liverpool fans as well as Patrice Evra’s dance before Luis Suarez (god I loved that one), who hated him since then. These players got some hate for their actions which only served to increase people’s hatred towards United, which is something we enjoy more and more.
2. THE GLORY
Most people will try to deny this, but the hatred they feel for Manchester United stems from being jealous of them and their accomplishments. Not only are we the only English club to have won a proper Treble, but we were also the first football club from the Britain to win the European Cup back in 1968, just 10 years after the horrifying Munich air Disaster. The fans, thus tend to resent United for their remarkable feats because they have already achieved many of their goals while their teams are still trying to follow in their footsteps.
3. WE, OURSELVES
As fans of the biggest and the richest club in world football, we are bloody proud of our history, our stadium and our club. Old Trafford has been nicknamed as “The Theatre Of Dreams“, while our financial might in football sees us buy the likes of Juan Mata and Angel di Maria at the drop of a hat. We love the stick other fans give us, but we know they would have done anything to be in our shoes right now. Like they say, we are “Hated, Adored, but never Ignored“!
