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BLIND, STUPID AND DESPERATE
 
Irrational hatred of...
Manc scum
By Andy Barnard
 
Someone (an American, maybe?) remarked on my slightly partisan report of our youth team's fine cup victory over the "manc scum virgins". Er, where do I start? Well, arguably, there's two kinds of football supporters: those who hate Manchester Utd, and also those who come from the Manchester area and support "United". Both lots detest the vast majority of so-called Manchester United fans whose only reason for supporting the club is that it's big and successful. Such fans know little about football and still less about Manchester - they are glory-hunting scum and there were a fair few of them at the match last Thursday.

As consumers rather than supporters, it's the glory-hunters who are ruining football - more so than anyone else, in my opinion. That's because instead of supporting their local clubs they buy Man Utd merchandise and subscribe to Sky (who then pay even more money to Man Utd for screening their matches) and so the gap between rich and poor widens further. Other clubs like Liverpool and Newcastle are pretty bad for this too, but then there are all sorts of other reasons for hating the manc scum in particular: the whinging and bullying that so many of their players famously go in for; the arrogance; the apparent tendency for refs and TV commentators to favour them, etc. All these were there to be seen on Thursday. Add them all together and you too can hate the scum.

Of course you don't absolutely have to support your local club. But if you don't you should have a good reason. Otherwise it's like being in love with the Spice Girls instead of the ones you get to talk to.