Extracted from tnp:BUDGIE SAYS: Fans not singing? Blame yourself, Man U
January 09, 2008SIR Alex Ferguson's hairdryer was on full blast last week.
And this time, the Manchester United fans were at the receiving end of his blast.
The United manager had criticised the fans for being too quiet, and not showing enough vocal support for the Red Devils.
He described the atmosphere during the Premier League match against Birmingham at Old Trafford as a funeral.
Was Ferguson's comment fair? Well, one would expect a much better atmosphere from a stadium packed with 76,000 fans.
But instead of blaming the fans, Ferguson and the suits of Manchester United must ask themselves why the atmosphere has diminished over the years.
The problem lies with the club itself.
In recent years, ticket prices at Old Trafford have risen beyond reason.
PRICE HIKEIn 1968, the cost of admission at Old Trafford was about eight shillings, or 40 pence ($1.20).
Forty years on, the average ticket at the Stretford End is £35 ($105).
The astonishing price hike has priced out the local blue-collar workers who sing and chant during football matches.
And believe me, the words of their chants and songs cannot be reproduced in this respectable newspaper.
But they are funny, colourful, and represent the very culture of Manchester United.
But these fans are being priced out of the stadium, and Old Trafford instead becomes the playground of the middle-class and the tourists.
It is estimated that 43 per cent of United's match-day receipts are generated by their 'executive' fans.
These are your white-collar workers who can, of course, afford to watch United on a regular basis.
I have observed these 'executive' fans countless times.
These fans will come dressed in fur coats and Armani jackets. They are more willing to spend hundreds of pounds on United club merchandise than a few quid on the roadside bangers and mash.
For all the money they piled into the club coffers, they are not going to stand up on the terraces, wave their scarves, sing or chant.
When the Stretford End start to chant 'Ryan Giggs is an illiterate, he doesn't have a birth certificate', these 'executive' fans seldom join in.
Perhaps, the only chant or song they know is that boring 'Glory, glory Man United'.
And you're actually lucky if they would even clap along from their posh seats.
What Ferguson must realise is that the most faithful and vociferous of Man United fans are not inside Old Trafford.
The hard-core fans are congregating at the pubs, their songs and chants fuelled by pints after pints of lager.
A Man United supporter puts it aptly in the Daily Telegraph: 'If you want Old Trafford to be a 'cauldron' of intensity and fervour for the home team, why not make it affordable again to people on a normal wage?'
Ferguson, a man so proud of his working-class roots in Govan, should realise this better than anyone else.
Football in England today is for the rich man, not for your everyday man.
And fair play to that Man United fan who rebuked Ferguson's rant, saying that Old Trafford is like a 'police state'.
He's right. It is. Fans are not allowed to stand up and chant or sing anymore.
The ground is kept under all-round surveillance by cameras, and any wrong move you make, you'll be ejected from the stadium and have your season ticket confiscated and your name entered into the black list.
Take away the joy of being a football fan, and it's no wonder nobody's singing.
