Manchester United and the Theatre of Dreams

Ariel Torres

 On November 5^th, I was fortunate enough to attend my second Manchester United game of the season. Not only did this coincide with Guy Fawkes Day, but it also marked a special day in Manchester United history. This day marked the 25^th anniversary of Sir Alex Ferguson’s arrival to Old Trafford in November of 1986. Sir Alex Ferguson, arguably the club’s most successful manager with claim to 12 of the club’s 19 Premier League championships in 25 years of managing, had his achievements acknowledged with the unveiling of the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand, formerly the North Stand of the club’s football stadium.

Being a football player and Manchester United fan myself, I felt very fortunate to be witnessing this momentous occasion. The unveiling of the stand was followed by an observed moment of silence for all the war veterans who had fought, and those who had lost their lives. I was in awe of the utter silence in a packed football stadium with a capacity of about 76,000.

The silence was ended with an almost uniformed roar of cheers and eager fans, excited for the match’s kickoff. Looking around, I saw some differences between the football matches here and the ones back home. For one, I was the only female in a row of about twenty people, and I only saw a couple others in the entire section. I found this odd because back home, there are almost as many females as there are males in the stadiums. Speaking with the man next to me, he explained that it was pretty rare to find females that followed football, and even more rare to find those that played. It was also refreshing to be in such a large crowd of football supporters because football (or soccer) isn’t nearly as big in the United States and I’ve often found myself in half-empty MLS stadiums with pretty quiet spectators – not nearly as fun. One of the biggest moments for me at the match, however, was seeing Javier Hernandez walk on to the pitch. One year ago, he ventured far from his home in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico – my family’s native land – to become Manchester United’s first Mexican player. Memories of watching countless football games with my dad back home when Hernandez played for our home team, Chivas Guadalajara, instantly came to mind. I thought of my dad, 5,000 miles away, watching this very game on television and just imagined we were watching together. Needless to say, I couldn’t help but feel a little homesick, though this has been one of my favorite experiences abroad.

(Hernandez is the one kneeling.)

The match ended in a 1-0 victory over Sunderland for Manchester United and while I heard many complaining of there not having been enough goals, I thoroughly enjoyed the game and just being in that kind of atmosphere, surrounded by people with so much fervor for the sport, who follow it religiously – much like my family back home and in Mexico – was a tremendously rewarding experience and I can’t wait to go again next month.