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Authors' biographical notes
 Authors of:
A Seat In The Crowd
  
  

Paul T. Windridge
Back in 1957, we hadn't long bought a TV, so viewing was essential whatever the programme, but this was a very special day for me as it was the first time I had been able to watch Manchester United play. I was 8 years old and it was Cup Final Day. The Babes were unquestionably going to win the double when a certain Irishman in a claret and blue shirt decided to clatter into Ray Wood and the rest is history - and so is this..........


Growing up in a family of rugby fanatics I should never have become a football supporter, but I've always been a stubborn and awkward bastard so there should have been no surprise when I became enthralled with the men in red. Bearing in mind that this was pre Munich and I lived in the Midlands I should really have supported Wolves, but I didn't. Manchester United were the ones who embodied the romantic spirit for me. They were young lads who played football in the way few of us could ever dream of and I wanted to be like them. It was a time when the players played the game because they loved it and we watched because we loved them. Manchester United were the team for me, and what better club to be part of, and who better to look up to than Matt Busby. My loyalty grew from an early age and has never wavered. I have since infected my children with the dreaded Red disease and they have also become imbued with the spirit of Manchester United.
"A Seat In The Crowd" by Paul Windridge & Linda Harvey

The book is available from Trafford Publishing direct at: TRAFFORD PUBLISHING

Linda Harvey
I remember a while ago, I was asked to write an article about why I was a United fan and it was very hard to get past one simple statement - I was born in Salford! All those who know anything about the local area around Old Trafford will know that Salford is a Red town, just about as Red as you can get. When I was a kid, growing up in Salford in the 50's, there was only one team in Manchester - the Busby Babes. All us kids adored the Babes, but we also had our personal favourites - mine was Eddie Colman. My grandparents lived just down the road from Eddie in Ordsall and we would go over for tea every Saturday when I was little. The afternoon was often spent in Ordsall Park, hoping to catch a glimpse of Eddie as he strolled to Old Trafford for the game. I was 10 years old when Eddie died with the other lads at Munich, and my heart was broken on that grey February morning when Eddie's coffin left Old Trafford for the last time to make the short journey home to Archie St. Everything football (and United) have meant to me since has been defined to some extent by that moment.

In the intervening 42 years, United have hit the highs and plummeted to the depths. There have been moments of exquisite skill and moments of high comedy. There have been many celebrations and the occasional heartbreak. And I have had other heroes - Bobby Charlton in the 60's, Mark Hughes until a few years ago, and now the wonderful lads who won us the Treble last season. Through that time, through all the changes in my life, good and bad, United has always been there. A place to go to forget my troubles or celebrate my triumphs. A place where I have made friends who will last a lifetime. But, probably most important, a place where I can remain a child forever. At football I can sing and dance and cry and scream and worship my heroes. I don't have to be grown up and sensible. This is a very precious thing indeed.


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