‘The cup final was one of the best days of my life’

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Wednesday 04 September 2024 17:00

The majority of Manchester United fans born in the 21st century had been waiting for a day like 25 May 2024 for the entirety of their football lives.

Some younger Reds can dimly recall the Rooney-Ronaldo era and Sir Alex Ferguson’s final years, but most cannot remember the last time we mounted a serious title challenge or delivered a jaw-dropping win in a big final.

Seventeen-year-old Ben Davies, of Tameside, symbolises that shift in generational experiences perfectly. Born in Ordsall to a United-mad dad, he says his support of the 20-times champions of England was simply “compulsory”.

But his earliest memories are not of Moscow or Macheda’s goal; instead, it’s a penalty shoot-out defeat to Sunderland in the League Cup.

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“I had primary school the next morning, so I remembered we had to leave early and miss the penalties,” he chuckles.

“When I was younger, every single United game I’d say: ‘Oh, does it go to penalties?’ And the one game it did finally happen, I had to leave early! I remember listening to it in the car on the way home, with my two brothers and my dad. We were gutted.”

United have continued to bob up and down on football’s waves of fortune in the years since. But despite the fluctuations, young Reds like Ben are still picking up the faith all over the world. And when we do pull off something memorable – like this year’s magical FA Cup final win over Manchester City – it means so, so much.

“That was one of the best days of my life, that,” marvels Ben. “When we do win games like that, it’s just so much more special. If it doesn’t happen as regular, it’s actually better when it does happen, because you’re not expecting it.”

Hearing Ben tell the story of his day in London brings everything back – that shivery, sense-tingling feeling you get from all the best United buzzes. And, of course, they hit in a very pure way when you’re young.

“It was just amazing,” says Davies, whose day started with an early train down to London, and then a meet-up in Kilburn, a few miles down the road from Wembley. The sun was out, but emotions were very much mixed among United’s nervy travelling army. But once the whistle sounded, a unified defiance burst forth.

Ben (right) drinks in the atmosphere, as United dismantle City at Wembley.

“It was just the energy,” recalls Ben. “For Wembley, the atmosphere, it’s not easy to create, but it was definitely the best end I’ve been in there. It does help the players.

“My brother said it best: after the first goal, he thought we were going to sit back, but we didn’t. Rashy scored that offside goal and I think I went more mental for that than the Mainoo one – I didn’t realise it was offside until about 10 seconds later! Then we scored again not long after that.

“Even Kambwala was walking down the touchline, waving his hands about, getting the crowd going. Everyone just felt the way we were playing; the energy, the intense pressing, we just kept going for more. At the end we were just buzzing. We couldn’t stop speaking about it for hours.”

Ben is part of the Manchester United Youth Supporters’ Club, which formed in 2023.

Celebrations continued in central London, then in Manchester and, finally, in a house party that clattered on until 5am.

After all, when you’re 17 and United have just won the Cup, and you’ve got a network of like-minded Reds of your age, why wouldn’t you pull an all-nighter?

“The more you go, the more familiar faces you see, so the more you get chatting to people,” says Ben. “Usually I go on the Bandit Bus. It’s just dead good, because I always go with my brother.

“I think for Forest, there were eight or 10 of us, and we were all having a good chat. For Newcastle, it was like a three-hour journey and it felt about 10 minutes. You get to chat to everyone and it’s just mint.”

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It’s brilliant to see younger generations embracing United’s match-going culture, and even doing their bit to power it forward into the future – Ben is also heavily involved with the Manchester United Youth Supporters’ Club, which was founded last year.

Revealingly, when we start to wrap up our chat, by asking him how he thinks the new season will go, Ben’s answer is more concerned with tickets and trips than formations and false nines.

“I’m just going to try and go to every single game I can,” he replies, giving the resounding impression that the future of our support is in very safe hands indeed.

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Wednesday 04 September 2024 17:00