Devils Collectors enjoy first Old Trafford meet-up

Devils Collectors, our very first Web3 fan group, was founded in September and hosted its first official in-person meet-up around Sunday’s victory over Leicester City in M16.

Its members – a cast of hardcore Reds from across the globe – were invited to attend our official Warm-Up event at the stadium on the eve of the game, before enjoying United's 3-0 win over the Foxes on the following day.

The supporters involved were initially brought together on Discord, a free communication platform used by millions of people, containing many virtual communities or ‘servers’. The Manchester United Discord server is one of them, and acts as a hub for many different channels where supporters from all over the world can discuss all aspects of United, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

Devils Collectors have their own private channel on United’s Discord server, and the only requirement to join is that you must be an owner of one of the 7,777 Devils digital collectibles that the club released back in 2022.

“The whole Discord, Web3 thing was completely alien to me two years ago,” explains Keith Leonard of Dublin, third from right in the picture above, who is the lead contact for Devils Collectors Manchester United supporters’ club. “I got an e-mail in December 2022 saying Manchester United were launching a digital collectible in the form of a key, and I was sitting on my couch and I thought to myself: ‘You know what, I'm a big Manchester United fan. Let's see how this goes.’

“The key was to unlock something and that was the Devils collectibles. I decided maybe that I'd give it a go and I bought a Devil… Through the buying of that I was directed to Discord and I ended up in a Devils community.”

From there, Keith connected with scores of other hardcore Reds. Strong bonds quickly formed, eventually leading to talk of creating an officially recognised supporters’ group.

“You go on other social media platforms and sometimes the conversations are not the most pleasant or friendly, but in our community, we are family,” adds deputy contact Issa, left of Keith in the photo, who is based in Chicago. “We know each other well, and we welcome any new member. We are now on the way to 300 official registered members who own an official Devils collectible.”

More than 94,000 fans are part of the United community on Discord, with the Devils Collectors' group just one of many channels it hosts. Devils Collectors are the first to form an official fan group, but Keith and Issa – co-founders of the supporters’ club alongside Gerry from Ireland and Mark from Manchester – believe they won’t be the last.

“Initially, it was just that we wanted to have a supporters’ club to be part of the club that we love, and have that connection,” acknowledges Issa. “But on reflection, now it is huge and I feel like it is a step in a direction that lots of other clubs may follow… If you asked me 30 years ago: ‘Could you imagine a place that you can connect with every single person in the world around United and share your passion and discuss football 24/7?’ I would have said that's a dreamland, you know?”

The group is also planning to organise social meets around the world, to add to the virtual activity which is bubbling away online through every hour of every day. Last weekend’s meet-up at Old Trafford was the first, but Keith sees a big future ahead and wants to encourage other Reds to join Discord and connect with the vibrant United community there. So, how do other fans get involved?

“The first thing I would suggest is that they download Discord and join the Manchester United Discord Channel, and within that there's lots of people to help out… Manchester United themselves and the Web3 team have a really good explanation on their website too."

“You can really access everything Manchester United through Discord and that’s what makes it special,” enthuses Issa. “On matchdays, you're able to talk to other fans and watch the game together, analyse it and at the same time get the updates from the official other media accounts. So, it's really a great idea and I hope it continues to grow. I think, once fans experience what Discord is and what it can offer, I think it's going to continue to grow. Honestly, I see a bright future for it.

“Discord is basically a platform that is aimed at bringing fans closer to the club through visuals and not just chat. So there's a lot of behind-the-scenes content from the team, and it allows people in other countries to get closer to the club. That's really what has been amazing about this connection we’ve made through digital collectibles, and what makes it a special place.”

Click here for more information on digital collectibles and Web3.