Just lay in the bath, wallowing in the happy haze that always follows a derby win. 24 hours and im still buzzing, humming “champions again” and “old trafford is falling down”.
I took my 8 year old lad yesterday for his first old toilet derby and as im lay here i got to thinking about all the games i went with my dad as a kid.
Seeing aurthur albison score a late own goal at my first OT derby, sat in K stand with Dad, dad not giving a shit about being called a blue bastard as we jumped up n down, seeing brightwell welly it as a 16 year old in the main stand paddock, daring not to cheer until i looked round and saw enough pockets of blues around me to feel safe enough to punch the air (and being on MOTD later ), being on the K stand paddock a year or so later in a neck brace having smashed a car up earlier that day to see ooh curley wurley smash home the pen to give us the draw.
Draws. That was as good as it got. Being highly delighted with a point, just happy to not get a spanking.
But of course in between those rare draws there was the hammerings. My lowest point was being in the main stand again as they battered us and stuck 5 past us with simon fuckin tracey in nets. They laughed at us that night. Was it a thursday?
They were very much beginning to dominate by then and we were beginning to yo-yo through the leagues. But yeah, they fuckin laughed at us.
I was back in the kenny in cheadle hulme before the full time whistle.
Then came the day id waited all my life for. At the age of 34 in in 2008 i saw us beat them in their own back yard. Benjami!! We were told we were going to ruin the munich 50 year anniversary respects. We didnt of course.. we were IMPECCABLE!
And since ive seen us beat them countless times. Hammer them. Wipe them off the park… laugh at them.
So yesterday in that shitty old stadium i told my son that hes very lucky to wait til he was only 8 to see us win there as i was 34.
He didnt give a shit. He doesnt care that united used to be good. To him hes only ever known them to be shite. And hes only known us to be the best team in the land and all the world!