I sat on a bus en route to Ireland’s capital listening to various podcasts and YouTube debates, all focused on the struggles of David Moyes. The forthcoming night I would attend something similar, in terms of Manchester United-themed chatter, although in person.
Red Issue, United We Stand and Red News have all signed up to participate in this event. The last time I travelled to Dublin for something United-related was when the first team played the inaugural football match at the newly-opened Aviva stadium during the summer of 2010.
Irish Reds are generally a good bunch. Manchester, as a city, has a large Irish population. United is one of, if not the most followed club in the country. Whether the fans in Ireland take a ferry to Wales followed by a bus journey up North or get the cheapest flight directly to Manchester, like other Reds they make an effort. Events like This United, therefore, are warmly welcomed and result in good turnouts.
Prior to the event I had 20 minutes with Andy Mitten and Barney Chilton. Two separate interviews with two writers I respect massively. From the conversations I gathered more information about UWS and Red News, their stance on the petitioned teenage section and so on.
Unsurprisingly, This United was a success. It was advertised as an audience Q&A which, given the week we’ve had, I was sceptical of. Thankfully Joe Molloy hosted the event and quickly moved on from the flood of Moyes questions. It’s not as if we haven’t read enough about him or anything…
Sir Alex Ferguson, Roy Keane and fanzine culture were common topics. However following the Q&A, fans were treated to a screening of Manchester United v Barcelona in the European Cup Winners Cup quarter-final 2nd Leg from March 21, 1984.
Saturday night started and ended on a high. John-Paul O’Neill, Andy Mitten and Barney Chilton were an excellent panel. If you haven’t already, subscribe to all three fanzines. They offer digitalised content but fans need to support print. Follow the links below to do so.
