The one thing to say to fans of other clubs who “have respect for the Rag Socks” is this.
Clubs like Darlington / AFC Wimbledon / Macc / Bury had their club either stolen off them or run into the ground by shysters to the point that the club went bust (or in Wimbledon’s case moved 64 miles north), perfectly legitimate reasons for starting up a phoenix club and using the same colours etc etc.
Where as those starting up the Rag Socks simply didn’t like the model the new owners decided to run United on. Whatever the rights or wrongs of that model the club still functioned and indeed won a number of titles and the Champions League as well as buying the leading players around the world.
Bury and Darlington were set up to fill the void left by the demise of their clubs where as the Rag Socks were set up to be a 5th rate tribute band, simply trading off a ready named brand still in operation and functioning whilst trying to claim some moral high ground.
It was started by a handful of politicised fans with a personal agenda and the formation of the club allowed them to obtain a little piece of power that they desired and thrived on the attention that they attracted as a result. They were aided and abetted by a few thousand gullible (yet well intentioned) fellow United fans who got caught up in the momentum and like a born again Christian, they were hypnotized by the charismatic leaders, just like the TV Evangelists, demanding that their followers donated more to the cause and to keep on donating more so that the leaders could take out more and help themselves to the funds. …..
The whole thing was a vanity project for a small number that sought a power grab and also thought they could change the way the game is run by doing things “the right way” and declaring this is how clubs should be run. It was all hollow symbolic gestures. And the reality (as we know now) is that whilst pontificating about evil Premier League clubs and rampant capitalism killing the game, the club itself was rotten on the inside and has only survived as long as it has done by begging the council to give them tax payers money to keep it afloat.
They had a dream - and wanted everyone else to pay for it……
