Derry's only Manchester United supporters club looking for new members ahead of 2017/18 season

by Orlagh Mullan

Derry's only Manchester United supporters club have opened their doors to new members ahead of the 2017/18 season.

The City of Derry organisation was started in 1975 by Jim Bradley and Jim Wallace, with the latter writing to Old Trafford to enquire about setting up the club after discovering the pair’s mutual love for the Premier League outfit.

Meetings were initially held in Bradley’s barber shop but as word started to spread they were changed to the larger St Columb’s Hall. Since then they have a found a home in the Anchor, the Coachman, Upstairs Downstairs, the Gallery, Gransha and now in their new hub of Brigade Cricket Club.

Alec Birney is the current chair of the City of Derry Manchester United Supporters Club, and he explained the main benefits of signing up.

“We started in 1975 so we’ve been going more than forty years, and at the minute we have around 100 members. The main benefit to the supporter’s club is getting access to match tickets. We have 15 season tickets at the minute and they give us access to all cup games, not just the Premier League. As well as that we get up to 50 tickets outside of that for every home game,” he told the Derry News.

“As a member of the club it essentially means that you’re guaranteed a match ticket at some point in the season. We have our meetings every other Thursday in Brigade and it’s through the attendance at those that the allocation of tickets comes from. Every two months we sit down and sort tickets out for the upcoming matches, and we’ve found that’s the best method of doing it.”

While they are based in the Waterside, Alec said that their vast membership extends not just over Ireland, but into England as well.

“We’re the only Manchester United supporters club in the city, but it isn’t just people from here that are members. We have people from Maghera, Strabane and Moville, plus some as far as Milton Keynes and Aldringham,” explained the chairman.

“Obviously they don’t all have to attend the regular meetings but it’s just an example of how far of a reach we have built up. We have members from all arts and parts.”

While the club have not been able to attend as many group trips as would have been the norm in the past, they have been fortunate enough to enjoy experiences that extend beyond the typical match day.

“These days there aren’t as many bus trips to matches as what there would have been, but we always make a point of doing one club trip a year,” Alec admitted.

“We also went to a Watford game recently and stayed in Gary Neville’s Hotel Football, and we went to a talk with Ryan Giggs. Phil Neville and Nicky Butt were there too, and we’re hoping that we can organise something similar this season with another ex-player.”

The chairman also pointed to the camaraderie between the supporters as a big reason why their outfit has such a detailed history of success.

“There’s a good community spirit about the club, it isn’t just about handing out tickets and nothing else. We have a charitable organisation every year as well, so we try to help out where we can. One of our members, Andrew Maguire, is running the marathon on Sunday for the Ryan McBride Foundation,” Alec said.

“The meetings are only half an hour and we chat about what’s going on in the season, plus we have communication from Old Trafford and things like that, so it’s basically a hub of all things Manchester United.”

The City of Derry Manchester United Supporters Club are holding their AGM on Thursday June 8 at 7.30pm in the Brigade Cricket Club. All new members are welcome to attend. There will be a draw for two free match tickets for the 2017/18 season. You can also get membership on July 6 and August 10 before the cut-off date at the end of September.

Members must be signed up for OneUnited, which they can do through the official club website at a cost of £32. The fee to join the supporter’s club is £10 for an individual or £30 for a family, with under 16’s accompanied by an adult going free. For more information, you can contact the ‘City of Derry Manchester United Supporters Club’ Facebook page.