A Walk and a Song

Yesterday, prior to the game between Manchester United (my team) and Spurs, I took part in an organised protest march against the current owners of the the club.

The last time I took part in anything of this ilk was over seven years ago, when I happened to be in London and so joined the anti-War in Iraq rally that was widely publicised at the time.

The end result of that was a cause of some disillusionment as to the actual point of such events. A lot of people (and I can be one of them) look enviously towards the French, who tend to kick off at the slightest thing they're not happy about. But of course, different nation, different people.

Part of me suspects that the results of the poll tax riots and the miner's strike have penetrated into the national conscious, in a way, as in "why bother, when we end up doing what we're told anyways".

One of the reasons I decided to go on the march yesterday was purely just to express some kind of disillusionment with the situation at United. I've been a supporter for most of my life, and I can remember seeing the club grow from constant also-rans to top team in the country thanks to the expert management of Alex Ferguson. In turn, this allowed the club to become one of the richest in the world.

All of which is being undone due to the scourge of the Glazer family, the club have the concrete boots of debt threatening to drag them into the murky depths. Fergie, despite his sad backing of the owners, deserves some credit for keeping things looking good to the casual observer: the signing of Javier Hernandez is looking to be a top piece of management and his handling of the Rooney saga was superb - emerging as the broken hearted father figure, let down by his favourite son.

But a lot of United fans (including me) are of the mind that the team needs major investment, which wouldn't have been so much of a problem ten years ago. True intentions aside, a lot of us had to smile when Rooney stated he wanted to leave United because nobody could assure him of future signings of good enough quality to bring success. That he has been apparently appeased somehow should make for an interesting summer, one way or another.

I'm realistic enough to know the protest yesterday won't change much. The Glazer family don't give two hoots what we think of them, as long as enough people spend enough money to keep the whole thing going. For now, maybe it's enough to say we were there, that maybe something will grow from it, if we're lucky, and that it's warming to see that a few thousand people felt strongly enough about an issue to get up and make some noise about it.