United I stand
Edwin McGreal
It was Mark Hughes that did it for me.
There comes a time in the early years of every sports mad kid when he or she has to make that decision.
Who will you support. I can think of no other decision at such a young age that can have such an impact on your life.
Because when you pitch your flag to the mast there’s no going back. Not unless you want to be tainted as a glory hunter. No, make your decision you must and stick with it you must.
At such a young age that’s quite an onerous task, even if you don’t realise it at the time. It’s arguably not until your Leaving Cert year that you make as binding a decision again when you pick your college course. But even then you can change your career course. Marriage? Sure isn’t there divorce if you’re not happy.
But choosing what soccer team to follow, well that’s a binding decision.
Aged seven I had reached that point where I had to make the call. Liverpool were the team of the moment in 1989. They were also armed with three big Irish players in Steve Staunton, Ronnie Whelan and Ray Houghton.
I don’t know for sure what it was but I just couldn’t warm to them.
Manchester United were another matter. They were struggling behind Liverpool at the time. A bit like now, but in reverse. They had the aura of a big club but the league hadn’t come their way since 1967.
But in Mark Hughes I saw something. A cerebral footballer, he was capable of moments of magic that would make you watch even the dullest of games just waiting for his class to shine through. As often it did.
The Premier League season starts now on Saturday and it is fair to say I have been absolutely spoilt thanks to a relatively random decision as a seven-year-old.
United won the FA Cup in 1990, the European Cup Winners Cup the following year - with two goals from Hughes - and finally won the league in the 1992/93 season.
Since then manager Alex Ferguson has inspired United to ten more league titles and two glorious Champions League successes.
Mark Hughes is gone but won’t be forgotten. We’ve had the pleasure of several more exciting players to follow. Ryan Giggs, Eric Cantona, Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney have each given us plenty of moments of magic to savour.
And poor Liverpool haven’t been next or near a league since. It would be wrong to gloat. But we can’t be right all the time. Alex Ferguson came in as manager of Manchester United with a stated aim of knocking Liverpool off their perch. And as the season starts one more league title will see United ahead of Liverpool and knock them emphatically off that perch.
