Rick Witter: Old Trafford can overwhelm me!
My love of Man United started very early on in life.
I was born at Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport, just a few miles from Manchester, in 1972. My first house was in nearby Hazel Grove and then, shortly after, we moved to Bramhall.
We ended up moving to Torquay when I was about six years old, due to my dad getting a promotion at work and having to move down to the south coast. He worked for Rumbelows, the TV and fridge-freezer retailer – remember them?
But I had extended family scattered around Cheadle and Davenport, and have lots of great memories visiting the north throughout my teens.
My maternal grandad was a Blue, but Dad was a Red. And living at home meant following in his footsteps from the off.
I recall the first game I went to with family really well. I was coming up to five years old and watching United beat Liverpool 2-0 in the Stretford End kind of started the whole thing off for me.
Mine and my older brothers’ bedroom around this time had walls painted red and white, with Man United duvet covers, pyjamas – the lot! And, every birthday or Christmas, I’d be gifted with the latest strip.
I also have memories of occasions where we would be driving and we would go past George Best’s house on the outskirts of Bramhall, which was quite the modern-looking thing for the time. I can still remember the big windows and huge amounts of glass now! I also remember being in awe around the Robins Lane area [in Bramhall], where many other first-team players chose to buy property.
Moving to Torquay at an early age rendered going to a game almost impossible, but it didn’t stop me following from afar and looking forward to Saturday afternoons, when I'd listen to the scores flooding in.
There was a cafe down by the harbour in Torquay called Macari's and my dad used to joke and say: 'Let’s go to Lou’s place for a cup of tea.'
I probably believed him and thought that it was owned by Lou Macari at the time, in my young naivety.
Around the time I turned nine, we upped sticks again and moved to Whitley Bay, before settling in York, just as I was starting ‘big school’ at 11 years old.
For those years, it was a continued case of being a fan from afar. But I loved hearing about the antics of players like Stepney, McIlroy, Greenhoff, Macari and Coppell, et al.
In fact, around that period, Steve Coppell was my hero, displaying his speed on the right wing and so much ability and work-rate.
I don’t get to Old Trafford half as much as I’d like to due to location and work commitments, but the feeling you get when you walk up those steps behind the ground and then are suddenly presented with a view of the pitch never fails to take the breath away.
I don’t get to Old Trafford half as much as I’d like to due to location and work commitments, but the feeling you get when you walk up those steps behind the ground and then are suddenly presented with a view of the pitch never fails to take the breath away.
All those memories of past glories can make one feel overwhelmed. And the atmosphere is usually electric.
I missed out on a fair bit in the 1990s, as, that decade, I found myself travelling the world promoting records, or I’d be in some studio or other writing and recording songs. But I always tried to find time to keep up to date with the team’s actions and, boy, were the '90s a great decade for the Reds.
I remember being in a hotel in London on the night of the famous Champions League win, and that turned into one big night! I’m also a big snooker fan, and that class of '92 thing with both sports – John Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams being the snooker equivalent of Beckham, Butt and the Nevilles – have created some amazing sporting moments.
I’m still an avid fan and hope that things are going to start to turn and get back to regular trophy-lifts in the coming years.
I believe the team, on their day, are a match for anyone. Onana looks a great buy, then there's the steadiness at the back of Lindelof and Martinez. You can’t beat Fernandes’s work-rate and passion, and with Rashford up top, anything is possible.
Clearly, managing the squad and following Sir Alex Ferguson is a daunting task and challenge, but I believe Erik ten Hag has the necessary skills and ambition to steer the current squad to something like our former glories.
Wherever the rollercoaster takes us, I, for one, will be along for the ride.
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