Well, that was a bit different!

As a slightly lacklustre, and weakened Poppies shuffled to a disappointing Trophy defeat yesterday, all I could think about was the really unusual day we were having in Manchester.

FC United struck me as a strange club.  You can only applaud the reason behind their formation and their passion for keeping going, their friendliness and inclusiveness in the bar area.

And yet....

Something about it didn't quite feel right.  Even though the supporters chose to distance themselves from the Glazer-era Manchester United by setting up this club, you still got the distinct impression that you were among Premier League fans playing at being non-league fans.  The Stadium is spectacular, but, again, half of it is for show.  The home fans would never dream of leaving their enormous terrace to stand at the undeveloped end of the ground.  They trap themselves in one place - just like Premier League fans.

The home fans are undeniably noisy.  But again, it seems like it is just for show.  And mostly the songs are about top-level rivalries they had, supposedly, given up.  Leeds and Manchester City wouldn't appear to be natural antagonists for this tier 7 club, whereas  Hyde and Ashton don't get much of a look in.  One was almost left with the impression with their singing that events on the pitch had little or no impact on the established repertoire and the performance of the supporters.  It sounds churlish to say when we consider raising a handful of chants as "atmosphere", that the home fans valued singing about their tribal affirmation well ahead of the actual football.

And, what must FC United think of Salford City?  Another, practically new start club backed to the hilt by former players these guys used to worship at Old Trafford.  It must be galling to see Salford achieve promotion after promotion, while their own club starts slithering down through the divisions.  Anger and self-righteousness can only carry you so far.  A wedge of multi-millionaires also helps!

And, I can never forgive being singled out as a Tory c*nt by one FC fan, when Poppies fans from the "affluent South" were invited to stick Boris Johnson up our collective arses.  Harsh chaps, harsh.  And, in light of the dozens of  Labour seats in the working class North and North-West in particular that turned Tory Blue last Thursday, pretty f*cking hypercritical!  We couldn't unseat a Tory in Northamptonshire if our lives depended upon it.  What was the North's excuse for turning their backs on Labour and voting in Brexit Boris?  If there's one thing worse than being a Tory c*nt, it's being a Northern Tory c*nt.....

The Good bit of New Trafford