Theatre of Dreams
I attended my second-ever Manchester United match a little less than a year ago on Saturday, February 12, 2022. It was my first time back at this storied ground since my Dad surprised me with tickets to United vs Chelsea in the Fall of 2014, over eight years ago.
The match was United vs Southampton at Old Trafford, the Theatre of Dreams. I woke up at 04:45 and took the Underground from Stratford Station to London Euston Station.
My train left London at 06:33 and it was a relatively simple journey to Manchester Piccadilly- just over two hours. Our train passed by the Etihad Stadium, home of Manchester City on the way. Luckily, the only other time I’ll have to see the “Emptihad” is on the return train home.
Of course, as I stepped off the train I was greeted with a steady Manchester drizzle and windy 45° F temperatures. The prototypical Mancunian welcome.
I had some time to kill before the match, so I walked three miles to the stadium, most of which was along a narrow canal snaking through the industrial city. Yes, I subjected myself to the elements to save 2 quid in tram tickets and kill a bit of time. And no, Manchester is not conventionally beautiful, but I still enjoyed my walk.
I arrived at Old Trafford about 2.5 hours before kickoff and promptly bought a “Viva Ronaldo” scarf to go along with my 07-08 Champions League Final Ronaldo kit.
After taking pictures in front of the East Stand and Holy Trinity statue, I explored the United Megastore. I then made my way around to the Stretford End and gathered with the growing crowd awaiting the team buses.
Southampton’s coach arrived first, and eventually United’s about 90 minutes before kickoff. I was able to catch a glimpse of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, and co before they entered the ground. Was it worth standing in the rain for an hour to see them? Yes.
Before entering the stadium, I bought an official match-day program to commemorate the experience. Once through the turnstiles and up the stairs, I treated myself to my first British pie since arriving in January. I selected the steak variant- surprisingly tasty.
My seat was in block NW3433, in the corner of the upper bowl, in between the Stretford End and the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand. Despite having bought this ticket five days ago, it was a surprisingly good seat.
The atmosphere around the stadium began to grow in the minutes leading up to kickoff, and as usual, throngs of supporters entered from the concourse mere minutes before kickoff.
Over the PA system, Alan Keegan, the voice of Manchester United announced “Old Trafford, this is the Theatre of Dreams. Will you please welcome Southampton and…Manchester United!”
The match kicked off at 12:30 and United immediately dominated the affair, at least in the first half. Somehow, Ronaldo missed an open tap-in after rounding Fraser Forster, but eventually, Jadon Sancho broke the deadlock midway through the first 45 minutes.
Throughout the match, the Stretford End was in full voice:
“I see the Stretford End arising!
I see trouble on the way!
Don’t go out tonight,
Unless you’re red and white!
I see trouble on the way!”
“U-N-I-T-E-D
United are the team for me,
With a nick nack paddy wack give a dog a bone
Why don’t city f**k off home!”
“Hello! Hello!
We are the Busby Boys!
Hello! Hello!
We are the Busby Boys!
And if you are a City fan surrender or you’ll die!
We all follow United!”
“Going on up to the spirit in the sky!
That’s where I’m gonna go when I die!
When I die and they lay me to rest,
I’m gonna go on a piss with Georgie Best!”
“Viva Ronaldo!
Viva Ronaldo!
Running down the wing,
Hear United sing,
Viva Ronaldo!”
“I saw my mate the other day,
And he said to me, he saw the white Pele…
So I asked, who is he?
He goes by the name of Wayne Rooney!
Wayne Rooney! Wayne Rooney!
He goes by the name of Wayne Rooney!”
“We are just one of those teams that you see now and then,
We often score six, but we seldom score 10,
We’ll beat ‘em at home and we’ll beat ‘em away!
We’ll kill any bastard who gets in our way!
We are the pride of all Europe, the cock of the North!
We hate the Scousers, the Cockneys of course,
And Leeds!
We are United, without any doubt!
We are the Manchester Boys!”
“We fought in France,
We fought in Spain,
We fought in the sun,
And we fought in the rain,
We took the Kop and Chelsea too,
But what we like most is kicking a blue,
Kicking a blue,
Kicking a blue,
But what we like most is kicking a blue,
Kicking a blue!”
I wish I could end this blog right now, after the first half. But no, United started the second half sluggishly and conceded an early equalizer. Fourty-two minutes (plus stoppage time) of Southampton time-wasting, poor officiating (in my opinion), and generally poor football from United ensued, and the match ended in a stalemate, 1-1.
This was somehow my third Southampton match in four weeks; in all three they nicked points off of big-six clubs: draws with both Manchester clubs and a win over Spurs. I’m not sure when my check will be arriving in the post from Southampton, but it should be soon. If I was a season ticket holder, they would be competing in the Champions League by now!
Truthfully, as much as it pains me to admit it, at times the whole of Old Trafford doesn’t live up to other Premiership grounds, especially the smaller ones. While the Stretford End is undoubtedly incredible, and always in full voice, United is too large of a club for its own good. The brand name alone attracts many tourists who frankly don’t have the same level of passion for the club as true, red-blooded Mancunians.
Of course, I am writing this having attended matches as a tourist myself. However, I was in full voice the entire 90 minutes, so there are certainly exceptions to this general assumption.
Anyway, rant aside, it was still an outstanding experience. Yes, despite the poor weather, poor United performance, and exhaustively early journey, it was incredible to see another match at Old Trafford. Hope to be back sooner than eight years from now. Cheers.