A group of die-hard Manchester United fans go the extra mile – nearly 600 of them – to see their team in action after a 17-month wait.
Northern Ireland’s largest Man Utd fan club will travel a total of 873 miles across five different countries on Saturday afternoon to watch the Red Devils clash against Leeds United.
Carryduff MUSC’s last visit to Old Trafford was in March 2020, when United beat derby rivals Manchester City 2-0 before the Covid-19 lockdown.
All of their efforts to see their heroes in action again this weekend are simply for the love of the club.
The 45 supporters took the bus from Belfast to Dublin on Friday before taking a three-hour ferry to Holyhead in Wales.
Another two hour bus trip to Manchester is a very well-trodden road for Carryduff MUSC as they usually return home on the same route.
However, due to Covid-related bureaucracy when entering the Republic of Ireland from the UK, the club will instead travel 228 miles from Manchester to Cairnryan to catch the ferry from Scotland and back to Belfast tomorrow.
Carryduff MUSC secretary John White, 58, said travelers can’t wait to see Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad claim the Premier League trophy for the first time since 2013.
After starting at 4 a.m. on Friday morning, Carryduff MUSC, a cross-community, family-oriented club, won’t be home until midnight on Sunday.
The trip is made more difficult by Covid guidelines. UK passengers without proof of full vaccination currently require proof of a negative PCR test within 72 hours prior to arrival in Ireland and must be quarantined at home for 14 days, reduced to five days if the PCR test is negative.
“The reason we are going to Cairnryan is because it does not require PCR from Ireland to the UK, but if we want to return to that route, which we always do, it is more difficult with the Covid guidelines,” explained Mr White.
“We won’t be back in Belfast until 10am on Sunday evening.
“We leave Carryduff at 4am on Friday and come home at midnight on Sunday evening. It’s a hell of a trip.
“That has to be the case for every single game until the rules change.
“We’re going to the Liverpool game on Sunday October 24th and Man City on November 6th.”
After signing Borussia Dortmund’s England international Jadon Sancho and former Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane this summer, White said the kids heading to Old Trafford this weekend are counting the days to see how they wear the famous red jersey.
“The kids can’t wait,” he said. “You keep saying ‘sleep twice more’ and ‘sleep again’.
“You’d never hear these things in the 30 years I’ve been going because the kids say, ‘Daddy, do you need to be double stung?’?
“It’s a good game to start the War of the Roses against Leeds.”
Mr White outlined their travel plans and said they had decided to travel to Manchester a day early as kick-off due to television coverage is at 12.30pm.
“We’re going straight to Old Trafford at three on Friday and we’re giving everyone two hours in the megastore because all kinds of new kits are coming out every minute,” he continued.
“The kids will want the new jerseys, and a couple of the boys can have a pint while they all shop.
“We’re going from the hotel to Old Trafford at 10.30 on Saturday and get there around 11.00.
“The turnstiles open an hour before the game so you can go in and sit down, watch the guys warm up and get a feel for the atmosphere.
“We’ll go back to the hotel and watch the game on Saturday afternoon on TV.”
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