Friday, October 29, 2010

Why Does Manchester United Have So Many Foreign Fans?

By Tom Doerr

Nemanja Vidic, the Serbian Captain and Manchester United defender has dismissed speculation that he plans to leave the club. He has been repeatedly linked to big money moves abroad to Barcelona, Real Madrid and AC Milan.

Vidic, 28, says there was never any doubt about his future at Manchester United despite Jose Mourinho's best efforts to coax him to Real Madrid. Before the world cup a representative had said Vidic had "requested some time from United to think about things", while Sir Alex Ferguson said he could not clarify the situation, obviously causing rumours.

Many are genuine fans, who watch every game, agonise over every stat and judge every player. But there are more who are simply referred to as 'glory supporters'. Individuals who have chosen to support Manchester United simply to be safe in the knowledge that sooner or later, they will deliver victory.

What is possibly the worst part of the whole debacle; Capello did not even have the courtesy to consult Beckham before making his decision public. One of the countries most internationally capped players woke up to newspapers announcing the end of his career, a fate not deserved by someone who has given so much to the sport.

His new 90,000-a-week contract will make him one of the highest paid players on the squad and the extension takes his deal up to a massive 18.72m.

Companies realise this and are willing to sponsor the broadcast of the game in their country, therefore more and more people get to watch them. Soon enough these fans have families and children are brought up fans of the club, just as any child in Manchester might be.

Wayne Rooney's contract, which currently has two years left to run, will be under discussion as the club attempts to extend it. Vidic's decision to stay is a huge plus for the team considering Rio Ferdinand's fitness problems and the general uncertainty of their defence.

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