The man with a foot in both camps

''I didn’t see the draw as I was working but my phone started buzzing with messages full of excitement – and nerves,” explains the 58-year-old.

''I was excited that Betis hosted United for a friendly in December and was fine with that, it was a friendly. But with these games in the Europa League I initially felt torn and was a bit gutted since two parts of my family would be pitted against each other.

''Maybe I hoped for a Betis v United final. And I was conflicted and thought things like, ‘how sad for Betis to play United when United are so in-form’. But then I began to really look forward to attending the games. And even though one will lose, a little bit of my heart can still be happy because one will win.''

Cassidy explains how he came to support two clubs. ''My mum was from Seville and my dad from Manchester,'' he tells United Review, our matchday programme.

''Mum was a season ticket holder at Betis from her childhood and used to go to the games with her father, my grandfather. Dad, Denis, a Catholic of Irish stock, born in Miles Platting, was a lifelong United fan.

''So, I didn’t have much choice. After serving in the RAF, my dad – who sadly died in 2017, aged 81 – began his career on the Irlam Guardian and then moved to the Sheffield Star where he famously ‘fixed it’ for his pal and another United fan, Michael Parkinson, to land a date with Mary, his wife to be.''

Ian now lives in Barcelona, 700 miles from Seville and 1,200 from Manchester. It’s a convenient base for watching United around Europe, but he also has a season ticket at Betis, who play in Seville, Spain’s fourth biggest city, with a population of 700,000. It’s a football city too: Betis’ average home crowd is just north of 50,000 this season, while Sevilla’s is 36,000.

''It’s all about Sevilla and Betis,'' explains Cassidy. ''[In Seville] you don’t see anywhere near the amount of Blancos [Madrid fans] or Cules [Barcelona fans] as in other parts of Spain.

''What you do see is a vast number of Beticos [Betis fans] living in Madrid, Barcelona and other major cities. These are generally the descendants of the working-class masses who left the south in search of jobs in the 1950s and ’60s.''

Cassidy has travelled around himself, living in the UK, Argentina and Spain. ''I started following United when I was nine, the season Tommy Docherty’s team went down and, after two decades in the shadows of Liverpool, came the Fergie years.

''I was lucky enough to get tickets for the game at the Nou Camp in 1999 and the Moscow final in 2008. I’ve loved following United around Europe as I’ve not been living in the UK.''

The links with Betis also go back to childhood, when as a small child he’d spend his summers in southern Spain – the highlight being listening to Betis friendlies on a small transistor radio with his grandad. When he was 18, he spent a year in Seville and went to every home game. When they didn’t lose one and qualified for Europe, he was hooked.

Ian’s highlights as a Betis fan are the two Copa del Rey final wins he’s witnessed – one of them last season. But there is also another precious memory that is personal to him.

''In May 2017, I watched my son and daughter, aged 11 and 9, walking out hand in hand with the players for a league game against Atletico Madrid.

''They’ve both had season tickets since before they were a month old. The pride I felt is hard to describe.''

You can read the full feature about Ian's divided allegiances, and more, in Thursday’s edition of United Review, available at the ground on matchday, and online here.