About

Hi and welcome to my Manchester United blog!

A London born-and-bred red, I have been 'following the trawler' all the way to Old Trafford since I was 10, and from the first moment he saw 'Le Roi' flick his collar, I knew that's where I belonged.

I started my critical football blog ‘Following the Trawler’ in May of 2009 as United were gearing up to win their third Premier League title in a row, as well as preparing to face Barcelona and retain the Champions League trophy. It was a truly amazing time – not only as a Manchester United fan who was experiencing the most successful period of his club's glittering history, but also a fan of the English Premier League, as we witnessed three of the four Champions League semi-final places being occupied by English teams for the second year running. Our league was undoubtedly worthy of its “best in the world” tag.

My passion as a United fan is always reflected in my writing – whether it be through an injection of overwhelming joy at a particular performance, or sheer despair at a disappointing defeat (my post after the aforementioned '09 Champions League final is testament to that). It is also at times unfortunately reflected in my output – evident in the fact that a shocking zero posts were written in the equally shocking post-Ferguson 2013-14 campaign. I do however vow to make a return to my glory days as a blogger…which I am sure will coincide with United’s return to glory also!

My blog, which features latest news as well as reviews and opinion pieces, is featured on NewsNow, as well as being recognised as a recommended link by the leading Manchester United blog www.Republikofmancunia.com. My work has also been published online at FourFourTwo and the Telegraph.

Favourite United player…

Eric. Of course! Although I do hold a soft spot for Ronaldo. The best United player of my generation.

Favourite game…

In terms of the games I have had the pleasure to witness first-hand, definitely the 4-3 win against City at Old Trafford. Otherwise, little can beat the feeling of either Champions League final win (’99 and ’08).

Favourite goal…

Where do I begin? Ronaldo’s free-kick against Portsmouth in 2009? Or his second goal in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal in the same year? Then there is Beckham from the half-way, Giggs in the ’99 FA Cup semi-final replay or Rooney’s over-head kick against City. But for me, the goal that sums up the unrivaled genius of Cantona was his chip (and celebration) against Sunderland in 1996.

All time XI (players I have seen)…

Van der Sar; Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Namanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs; Cristiano Ronaldo, Eric Cantona.
Subs: Peter Schmeichel, Jaap Stam, Ronny Johnson, Michael Carrick, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke.

Best thing about being a United fan…

The glory and all the hero’s that have come and gone. But above all: Old Trafford. A magical place to watch football.

Worst thing about being a United fan…

Being dubbed a glory hunter simply because I wasn’t born in Manchester. This is an ignorant logic that I have always had argue myself out of, but at the risk of repeating myself and ranting unnecessarily I’ll instead point all those who are interested in my thoughts to here.