| [Blog] Tractor Boys Gate Crash Mancs Derby Written by ChickenMcGreal on Sunday, 7th Aug 2011 22:46 Well what an experience that was. I cannot think of too many occasions in my 33 years of supporting Town where I have been to a game and not had the pressure of wanting ‘my’ side to win the game as I sat very much a neutral at Wembley for the Manchester ‘derby’ Community Shield. I was lucky enough last week to win 20 tickets in a competition that I had vaguely remembered entering and four days before the game, the tickets arrived and I had to set about who I could ask to attend the game with me. Given that I managed to offload five tickets to some of the posters on TWTD and half-a-dozen more of my friends, accompanying me were Town fans and we felt like we had become gatecrashers of a party that we had not been invited to. But hey-ho, judging by the section of people we sat with, I think we were with several other thousands that felt the same! Without wanting to be patronising, on arriving firstly at Liverpool Street and then Wembley Park, it was weird to finally be in the company of some real Mancs and yes, some were even wearing red! It was especially bizarre though to talk to one guy in the Premier Inn near Wembley Park who clearly sounded as if he was from Manchester, to then confirm that he had travelled down from there leaving at 6.00am only to then tell me he was a complete neutral. I owned up to being a Town fan and said that I was equally non-committed to either side. Having taken up my seat high in the Wembley sky, we found ourselves in a block that was lacking colours, accents and passion you might expect of a derby. The only way we were going to find out if we really were in a ‘City’ block as stated on our tickets was when they scored. And when they did, not many people moved. So that confirmed that there were many more United fans than I realised around us. Or were there? When United scored their first two goals, again, not much movement, so were we all neutrals? However, when the third went in, many more stood and celebrated. Some perhaps at the thought of not having to suffer the extension of proceedings to penalties, but some as a show of appreciation for what was generally a good showing from United and that they had snatched a victory their performance perhaps deserved. As a Town fan, I could only dream for most of the afternoon that it was our boys that I was witnessing there and tried on many occasions to imagine that it was an East Anglian derby instead and how different it may have been. I suspect that the atmosphere would have been slightly more passionate and one of our travelling party – a season ticket holder at Old Trafford confirmed - that it would have been more electric had they of been playing Liverpool (the Mancs derby therefore does not mean as much as our own) and you just feel that even though it was bitter rivals playing one another, it still lacked that something special, perhaps because it was only a Community Shield game. So, after Town’s win at Bristol City the day before, this really wrapped up an excellent weekend of footie only spoilt by the sight of yellow and green scarves worn by Man United fans. Oh, and the stink bomb let off in our carriage on the train home back to Clacton which at one point had everyone pointing the finger of blame at me was equally as unpleasant. Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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