There's only one Man United!!

Last night (Tuesday) I had the great pleasure to watch my beloved Manchester United play for the first time in over 10 years. United played Birmingham City and won 3-1 in the quarter final of the Carling Cup competition.

A Report of the match can be seen at this link;

http://msnsport.skysports.com/matchreport.asp?fxid=291216&cpid=2

The last time I saw United live was at Wembley Stadium in the early 1990's and they lost that League Cup Final to Sheffield Wednesday 1-0.

Last night was wonderful. It was freezing but Annie and I had both wrapped up well with many layers of clothes and even a hot water bottle. The coffee from the flask at half time was very welcome and I resisted the temptation to buy a burger.

We sat among the Birmingham City fans and therefore I had to control my great desire to stand up and scream with joy as United scored three goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half.

There were 20,500 fans watching and it was fabulous to see United select many of their younger players - less well known maybe than some of the big stars but youngsters are always hungry for success.

The United travelling fans were tremendous and recited songs about George Best and Eric Cantona - two great heroes of Manchester United's past. The fans were good humoured and it made for a cracking atmosphere which seemed to be enjoyed by both sets of fans. All in all a great testimony to English football.

Some media people and supposed experts are writing off Sir Alex Ferguson the United Manager because the team have struggled earlier this season. I think Sir Alex is successfully building a new team and the youngsters who played last night were skilful, professional, hungry, competitive and they played some lovely one touch football.

I say never under-estimate Sir Alex.

Thank you Annie for coming to the match with me – that made it even more special.