Jan Hoeksema25 September 2024, 09:55
Last updated: September 25, 2024 at 9:58 am
In the summer of 2005, when Manchester United is about to be taken over by the Glazer family, who are not well regarded in Manchester, a group of supporters of the top club formed their own club in response. FC United of Manchester is the (very) little brother of Manchester United. The story of a club that exists at the mercy of its own ideology and where football acts as a tool rather than a commodity.
Author: Jan Hoeksema
As you walk down the narrow corridor and then through the classic red revolving doors into Broadhurst Park, you’ll soon realize you’re in a non-league stadium. Sell the catering containers in the corner pint, pork pie in sausage rolls and the only thing separating the stands from the field is a few feet of grass and a billboard advertising the local mattress specialty store, Mattress World.
Broadhurst Park, home of FC United of Manchester, is a small but relatively modern stadium in the North East of Manchester. In terms of capacity, it is comparable to the theaters of TOP Oss and FC Eindhoven, in terms of the actual number of spectators, it is closer to the second division team Quick Boys.
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Broadhurst Park can hold 4,900 supporters.
Located on Lightbowne Road, the complex opened in 2015, ten years after the founding of Manchester FC United. Ten years after a group of Manchester United fans had seen enough and decided to form their own club in response to the club’s upcoming sale to the Glazer family. The building and opening of Broadhurst Park was a confirmation of what the disaffected Manchester United supporters were desperate to show: that a football club can be run without a money bag to set the lines.
Born out of protest
The summer in which FC United of Manchester, simply FC United, was founded was the summer that followed a disappointing Premier League campaign for Manchester United, which saw Sir Alex Ferguson’s men finish third, eighteen points behind the all-powerful Jose’s champions. Mourinho at Chelsea. It was also the summer before the season in which Manchester United were forced to leave the Championship despite attracting up-and-coming club legends such as Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic and Edwin van der Sar. Blues.
But it was not the lack of success that the group of supporters red devils stand out from England’s record champions. The creation of FC United was a direct response to the Glazer brothers’ takeover of Manchester United, although the idea of forming a new club had been around for some time among protesting fans.
Many Manchester United supporters had long ago resented the course their once beloved club had taken. In particular, Premier League kick-off times are changing – to the advantage of television viewers – strict stadium management policies, skyrocketing ticket prices and a general aversion to the commercialization of football were the reasons behind the founding of FC United. This group of football fans were ready to ignore Evra, Vidic and Van der Sar because they were ready for a different football culture. They needed a club where football serves the fans, not the other way around.
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Football owned by the fans
This is how FC United was born, an excellent example of this fan owned football. club, red rebels nicknamed, it has a democratic structure where fans can participate in decision-making and thus influence policy: from the salary structure to the design of the new guest series. According to the club’s website, FC United currently has 3,221 paying members and therefore 3,221 owners.
One of the most important pillars of culture red rebels focuses on the Manchester community. FC United was founded in the so-called Community benefit societya non-profit organization that serves a social purpose. Since its inception, the club has strived to be of value to local people living below the poverty line, the homeless and asylum seekers.
In addition, FC United does everything to make the club as accessible as possible to everyone. This can be seen, for example, in the ticket prices, which are among the lowest in English top-level amateur football. “We’ve left all that ’70s shit behind,” said Vinny Thompson. Community contact person bee red rebelsappeared three years ago. In this position, he is responsible for the connection between the club and the locality in which it is located. “Like homophobia, an unwelcoming atmosphere for women, hooliganism, and things like that. At the same time, we have stuck to the beautiful things of that time,” Thompson sums up FC United’s identity. Everyone should feel welcome at Broadhurst Park.
In addition, the club’s image not only attracts more and more supporters. Some players are also strongly interested in the idea of playing in the red of FC United. “I’ve been offered money elsewhere that would change my life financially,” said four hundredfold Red Rebel Jerome Wright in 2015 The Guardian. “But I believe with all my heart that I have an experience here that is better than most other footballers in the world.”
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Jerome Wright wore the FC United of Manchester shirt exactly four hundred times.
Since their inception in 2005, FC United, often at the behest of Wright, have been promoted three times and relegated once. This season it competes in the Northern Premier League, the seventh tier of the English football pyramid. After six rounds, Manchester United’s little brother is in 20th place, in the relegation zone.
It’s a shame at Broadhurst Park that FC United don’t appear to be in contention for promotion this season. But it’s not the end of the world. Naturally, supporters want to see the best possible pitch, as many points as possible and as many goals as possible. However, this should not come at the expense of the values of this fan-led club. If you wanted to see top football at any cost, you would have been a season ticket holder at Old Trafford. No FC United fans should think that.