“You have to respect Sir Alex’s achievements at United though, don’t you?”
Well no, not at all actually. I can’t understand why any normal person wouldn’t hate the scum. They represent everything that has been wrong with English football since 1990. The evil empire, and not a football club, but a Chinese tourist’s idea of what a football club is like.
Hating the scum is nowhere near as important as loving Leeds, but it’s a big part of it. It’s a big enough part that I would never wear a red t-shirt, or in fact buy anything that’s red. It’s the reason I never say “Un*ted”, because unfortunately everyone assumes I mean the red United.
I hate them because of the constant moaning and special treatment – Fergie time, and what other manager would be allowed to defer from his contractual obligations and never speak to the BBC? What other club would be allowed to have referees on the payroll (allegedly)? I hate them because you go on holiday and people ask where you’re from, and when you say England, they seem to assume you’re a scum fan. They always seem to scrape by with injury time winners. I hate them because they have more “fans” in China than they do in the UK. I hate them because on match day when their games are televised, scummers are walking around wearing the shirt. Why aren’t they in the pub watching, could it be because they don’t actually care?
Ignoring the violence between the Houses of York and Lancaster, the hatred is there because scum are the anti-Leeds. They have been given everything that Leeds have been denied. Don Revie and Matt Busby were great friends and achieved great things in the game, but only one received a knighthood. Jack and Bobby Charlton, obviously brothers, both world cup winners, and only one received a knighthood. Jealousy? No, it’s like that ugly bloke you know who seems to bag all the girls, it’s about injustice.
If you’re thinking this hatred is a one way street, let me tell you that it’s not. Tune into any of their games on the TV and you will hear “we all hate Leeds scum” breaking the silence in the theatre of wet dreams. I love that when we were two divisions below them they were still bothered by us enough to sing this.
So am I being irrational? I would argue that there’s no point in a football club without rivalry. Football needs rivalry and hatred; it’s what makes it interesting. Clubs are defined by who they hate. Everybody loves to be hated, and I love to hate the scum.
