Five reasons to love Manchester United

I’ve lost the count of the number of times my neighbours have come over to my place to check if everything was alright, after listening to my wild shrieks just after Manchester United have scored an injury time winner. They return perplexed and totally amused when they get to know that it was because a certain football team in England had won a match. I don’t blame them, just as I don’t blame many others who do not know football and hence fail to understand my love towards Manchester United! But today, I want the world to understand it.

Manchester United is life, the rest is mere details. Followed by over 659 millions supporters worldwide, Manchester United is the biggest football club in the world.

Every one of those 659 million supporters has his or her own reasons for supporting the famous club from Manchester. Some support them for their rich history, some for their charismatic global image, some for their jersey colour, some for their star players and some who’ve put a bet on them to win. For such supporters, Manchester United is a source of entertainment – a way to spend some time in a pub on a free weekend.

But, apart from this group, there is another completely different set of supporters who support Manchester United for certain specific reasons. For them, Manchester United is not just a football club. Rather, it is a religion. It is an institution where they learn their everyday lessons of life.

I, like millions others, am proud to be a devotee of the Manchester United religion. It has nothing to do with our country, our place of birth or our parents. Their results never affect our bank accounts as well. But still, we can stay up for hours in the night to watch them play. We shout like nomads, irrespective of our surroundings, whenever they score a late winner. Their result at the weekend defines the mood of our week ahead. Their actions on the field define our actions in our own lives. We relate everything that happens to us with Manchester United.

So what it is that which makes this bond between supporters and Manchester United so strong? The answer lies within the supporters. The lessons of life that we learn from our fantastic football club makes us follow them with all of our energies.

Manchester United is what makes us what we are today, due to the following learnings we get from them, week in and week out:

1) Never-say-die attitude

One who never gives up is a winner. If there is one entity in this universe that epitomizes the statement above, it is Manchester United. The number of times they’ve snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat is unfathomable.

Strong belief that no matter how little time is left in a game, Manchester United will score – that’s the characteristic of this football club. It’s that indomitable spirit, that belief that they are Manchester United, that they will win and come through. People talk about fatalism, as in knowing when you’re beaten. United’s attitude is that they never know when they’re beaten. Manchester United never lose – they just learn, until they win.

2) Rising from the ashes

Manchester United perform best under adversity – when their backs are against the walls. A true character of a team is determined when the entire world has written them off.

Manchester United have proved this time and again throughout their history. Winning the league few years after they almost went bankrupt in 1902, to winning the European Cup few years after their entire team was killed in a tragic air crash, to becoming the most successful club in England by overhauling the achievements of Liverpool – these are some of many examples when Manchester United have proved their undying status.

Every time they get knocked down, they just take it in their stride, dust themselves down, start all over again and come back even stronger. What sets them apart is how easily they adapt to change, rebuild teams, replace star players and still keep on winning during the process.

3) Relentless motivation

Manchester United’s hunger for success is like Cleopatra’s beauty – when most get satisfied, they get hungrier. United are never at the top of the mountain – there is no mountain, no end in sight, it’s just a continuous, relentless charge year after year. There’s never a feeling of ‘we’ve done it’. The motivation of the players, manager and staff is unparalleled.

United’s greatest strength lies in the fact that they readily accept a new challenge just after they have completed one. They never set out with a list of objectives. They evolve with time – winning the first trophy, winning the double, winning the treble, rebuilding teams, becoming the most successful team in England, accepting challenges from other clubs and so on.

4) The spirit and the mentality

Just as in life, an individual is nothing in football. No one is bigger than Manchester United – it’s ‘the team’ that loses and ‘the team’ that wins. This is what defines the spirit in the United camp. Every player fights for his colleague. Individual honours mean nothing in front of team honours. Every player that walks out from that famous red tunnel at Old Trafford is imbibed with a team spirit and winning mentality that grows every second and infuses fear among their opponents.

People look up to them and they see that never ending desire, drive, determination, work ethic, never-say-die attitude and that too even after achieving so much success, Manchester United makes people feel inspired and motivated.

5) Beautiful football with emphasis on youth

In the 1950′s, Manchester United started a trend that was totally unheard of at that time, and one that formed the basis of all future Manchester United teams. Sir Matt Busby could foresee that youth was an undervalued asset in football which could give him the edge. Therefore, he formed his team around young, vibrant, energetic and talented young players which proved to be a revolution. Busby’s babes became players who broke the mould and played with class and panache.

The legacy of Busby Babes still remains at the forefront of everything that Manchester United stands for and strives to attain. From the famous ‘Flowers of Manchester’ banner at the Stretford end to the ethos of fast flowing beautiful football, with the emphasis on youth, nurtured by Sir Alex Ferguson.

There are teams who buy stars; Manchester United make them!

These lessons of life learnt from Manchester United makes it absolutely worth living. It actually makes life much easier. Whenever I feel de-motivated or de-spirited, I look upto my football club for inspiration. Whenever I feel I have lost a battle, I remember my football club to get the necessary strength to hold on and fight till the end. Whenever I achieve something, I remember my football club to get the required motivation to aim for even higher accolades.

I don’t exactly remember when I got hooked to this famous red jersey, but one thing that I certainly remember is that this affection has just grown by every passing moment, and it will keep on getting stronger even till the day after forever. I can change my religion, gender and anything else; but not my football club.

admiRED by peers, adoRED by fans and feaRED by opponents – Manchester United is life! MUFC – The Religion. Believe!