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Victoria Jane: The stage is our second home

by
Joe Ganley
Wednesday 10 July 2024 14:22

Singer, songwriter, tastemaker, presenter... Victoria Jane is one of the rising stars of the UK music scene. Less well known, however, is her football allegiance.

Born in London, the 25-year-old moved to Manchester during her primary school years, and swore an oath to United at an early age.

When our new adidas home kit for 2024/25 was released, alongside the theme 'Own the Stage', Victoria was an obvious choice to take part in the kit launch, as someone that is shining in the spotlight and doing things in her own unique and inimitable way.

In 2021, she launched her own show on BBC Radio 1, Future Soul, but unlike many other DJs, she continues to produce her own music and refuses to accept that the two pursuits should be kept apart.

So, where does that single-mindedness come from? And how does United inspire her?

Video
Check out a clip from our interview with Victoria.
"My family has always supported United," she told us, at a recent shoot where she donned our new home kit for the first time. 
 
"Half my family is City, half my family is United. So, I’ve grown up always supporting United through my family. I first got introduced to United when I was younger, when all the older players were playing, but it’s always been the team I’ve supported.
 
"I’ve grown up supporting this club and to be in this campaign is insane. I never thought as a young black girl growing up I’d be doing something like this, and I’m very grateful to United for asking me, because it shows people you can do something like this."
Jane has experience of living in both London and Manchester, but she believes there's something in the water up north that enables the latter to consistently punch above its weight.
 
"Manchester has always been unique and special because everyone who is a creative in Manchester has got something different about them," she says. "They’re not all replicas, everyone sounds so different, looks so different and is so talented. So Manchester is thriving."
 
And that creativity, that relish for excitement and personality in performance, isn't just something held by Manchester's music, but its footballers too. One, in particular, symbolises that for Victoria.
 
"Kobbie," offers Victoria, instantly. "I just think he’s such a great player. He embodies all those things, he’s shown everyone what he’s made of in such a short space of time and he’s a great person to base the kit on, when you think about what it represents.”
Victoria in our exciting new adidas home kit for 2024/25.
What it represents is United's new era, and an embrace of all that comes with wearing our badge: demanding the spotlight, being ambitious, bringing confidence to everything you do. And when it comes to 'owning the stage', Victoria has more than a few words of wisdom to share.
 
"The more comfortable you are, the better you’re going to perform. So, I think it’s just practice and just having that self-belief," she explains, of her own journey on stage and in front of the radio mic.
 
"What I love most about being on stage? It’s interesting, because I know I perform to people, but I feel like I’m performing to one person. I feel like being on stage is like a second home to an artist, a singer, so it just feels so comfortable. But every time I get nervous and every time it feels surreal."
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Old Trafford itself, of course, is one of the football world's biggest stages, and Jane recently had the experience of gracing the pitch, giving her a flavour of what Kobbie et al live through every other week of the season.

"It was such a special day and I’m very grateful to have done that. I used to play a lot of sport when I was younger, but I’ve not played sport in a while, so when they asked me to do the pitch day I was literally in fear for my life! Because I thought I was going to get injured!

"The guys I played with were serious guys, they knew what they were doing. But it was good fun. My performance was all right. I think if you asked any of them, I think they’d say I put in a good shift!"

Get 10 per cent off our new adidas home kit for 2024/25 by signing up to United Direct.

You can catch Victoria's show, Future Soul, on BBC Radio 1 every Monday.

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