On the road with Man Utd’s hardcore away fans: Flat tyres, broken toilets & last-minute winners

The coach picks up more passengers outside Manchester Airport. Hearing that the coach was in traffic, some of those waiting took the opportunity to have a swift pint before climbing aboard.

Among them is Steve Black, who has been running the coach since 1996, and his two sons. He goes down the bus greeting each passenger and asking them about how they are faring with away tickets, which are notoriously hard to get hold of.

Just to apply you need to have had a United season ticket for at least three years, and then you have roughly a one-in-four chance of getting an away ticket, unless you are part of the loyalty pot.

Black, who has been writing a feature on every match in United We Stand since the 1990s, seldom misses a game. Very occasionally, however, life gets in the way. He missed Portsmouth away in 2006 when his father died and “the odd game” around the time his first son was born.

There is a core group of the same 30 or so faces each week and a revolving cast of another 20 who go when they can get tickets. Whenever something goes wrong, it falls on Black to sort it out. Such as when, after United were beaten at Arsenal in January 2023, the bus hit a bollard and needed a new tyre.

"Seven hours later, we were still 50 yards from the ground," he remembers. "But we found a pub and half the people got wasted in the Wetherspoons and had a fantastic time!" They eventually got back to Manchester at 5am, over 12 hours after the game had kicked-off.

Black often feels like a school teacher looking after unruly pupils, but he stresses: “We’ve had some good adventures, some ridiculous experiences.”

On the way back from Chelsea one year, a group at the back of the bus “decided to get the emergency hammer and play dare with the back window”. Somewhat predictably, the window smashed. At least one of those involved offered to pay for the damage.

Then are the surreal moments, such as when after an FA Cup tie at Exeter City, a home fan got on board the bus to "berate" the passengers. He would end up regretting jumping aboard, as the doors quickly locked behind him and he was driven all the way to Manchester, some 240 miles up the road. “He just accepted it in the end,” says Black.

Another time, there was an unknown man standing on Chorlton Street just before the bus was about to leave for Sunderland. He had had a drink or two, to put it mildly, and was taken under the supporters’ wing.

Black recalls: “He couldn’t speak. We took him straight on the bus and we got him in the game. He had a great day with us and we dropped him back in Chorlton Street afterwards. Still to this day no one knows whether he was a United fan. No one had a clue.”

What about the worst days? “Liverpool last year was hard,” admits Black when recalling the 7-0 loss at Anfield. And then there was the time that Manchester City won their first Premier League title while United were away at Sunderland.

For a few minutes, the fans and Sir Alex Ferguson thought United had won the league, but then news of Sergio Aguero's 93rd-minute winner against Queens Park Rangers began to filter through. It was a particularly bad day for one Monkey Bus regularm who was due to get married the following week and had his front tooth knocked out after a gloating Sunderland fan had thrown a coin at the United contingent leaving the ground.

“He kept saying ‘I’m getting married next week, what am I gonna do?’ As if what happened wasn’t bad enough, he got a broken tooth the week before his wedding," Black says.

But win, lose or draw, the camaraderie is what gets people coming back. “The beauty of it is everyone on here gets each other,” Black adds. “You can go down to Brighton and lose and it’s sh*t, but by the time you’ve hit the motorway and half an hour’s gone, people are up and dancing in the aisles. It’s our Saturday night out.”

As the bus gathers pace down the motorway towards Molineux, attention turns to the match at Wolves, who have proven tough opponents for United in recent years. But the main talking point is the recent activities of Marcus Rashford, who has been in the headlines for missing training the week before after his tequila-fuelled binge in Belfast at the infamous Thompson’s Garage.

The fact Rashford is a local lad from Wythenshawe and has been with United since he was a child does not protect him from the ire of the fans. “What’s he doing going to Belfast? I could understand if it was somewhere more like Dubai or New York,” says one. "But do you not respect the fact he went to a local dive rather than a VIP venue?” Apparently not.

“I’d respect him far more if he’d said ‘I can’t be ars*d this week so you can keep my £350,000.’ But I don’t see him doing that.” Another joins the conversation: “When we have an early kick-off and we have to get the coach at 6am, we go to bed early the night before. Why can’t he?”

This is the mentality of the hardcore fans, who sacrifice so much to follow the team over land and sea. They are worlds apart from the millions who weigh in on social media and call for the manager to be sacked after a couple of defeats.

And yet, the match-going fans can also be fickle. Rashford goes straight back into the starting line-up against Wolves and inevitably gives United the lead with a classy finish. “Rashford’s on the p*ss” is promptly heard from the away end.

United had failed to win their previous four away matches in the league, but play very well at Molineux, and for the first time in the season take a two-goal lead into half-time. They somehow throw it away, though, as they go from leading 3-1 to then drawing 3-3 by shipping goals in the 85th and 95th minute. The collapse is in keeping with what has been a harrowing season for United, every bit of hope and every sense of turning a corner followed by an emphatic blow.

But barely a minute after kicking-off again, Kobbie Mainoo goes on a run and curls the ball into the far bottom corner to win it. This is Manchester United all over, turning doom and despair into gold in a matter of seconds.

Needless to say, it’s bedlam in the away end, fans piling on top of each other as they greet Mainoo and his ecstatic team-mates. Moments like that make Fitzgibbon's' long journey from Cork worth it.

“That was unbelievable wasn’t it?” he says as we are reunited back on the bus. Others are re-watching Mainoo’s goal on their phones. “It just gets better and better every time you see it,” says one. “I told you I had a good record at Wolves,” says another.

The coach departs again for Manchester, but one bitter Wolves fan in the car in front is on a mission to puncture the euphoric mood and intentionally slows down before getting out of his vehicle. Black vents his fury at him, urging him to “get back in your f*cking car”. The journey resumes quickly enough and music blares out to further lift the mood.

Jonty, another regular who has been going to away matches since Portsmouth away in 2007, picks the tunes, mostly leaning on bands from the ‘Mad-chester’ era, particularly the Stone Roses, whose lead singer Ian Brown is a match-going United fan. The Happy Mondays and The Courteneers, who also support United, get an airing, although the biggest band from Manchester, City-supporting Oasis, are conspicuous by their absence from the playlist.

Across the aisle, two long-serving fans discuss their holiday plans, which have been freed up by United getting knocked out of the Champions League, and the pros and cons of following the team from Rome to Mandalay. “A Euro away costs you a minimum of £500,” guesses one. Another is self-employed and also has to forgo a £200-per day rate each time he goes on a European trip.

“I don’t want to think about how much I’ve spent on United,” he says. But would you swap it? “I wouldn’t swap back all the great times we’ve had with our mates. But I would swap some of those awful performances we’ve seen.”

United seem to be on a roll, having produced one of their best performances of the season against West Ham the previous week. And there is a buzz as we head to Villa Park, where the Red Devils have had a long list of unforgettable moments. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ruud van Nistelrooy inspired a frantic, five-minute comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in the FA Cup in 2002, while Javier Hernandez did the same in 2012, grabbing a hat-trick after coming off the bench.

Then there are the FA Cup semi-finals that have been played there, most notably in 1999 when Ryan Giggs ran the length of the pitch in extra-time against Arsenal to score one of the best goals in United’s history and keep the treble dream alive. “I’ve never seen us lose at Villa Park so I feel good about today,” says a fan who was present on that wild night.

The coach rocks up just outside the ground and parks alongside a row of other vehicles that have ferried United fans to the match. Just as at Wolves, Erik ten Hag’s side get off to a good start, with Rasmus Hojlund’s scoring an early goal, but then concede again after the break, with Douglas Luiz levelling before taunting Raphael Varane with his samba celebration.

This is a match that will make or break United’s top-four hopes, and after Luiz’s goal, it is Villa who look like they are going to go on and win the game. But once more, United find a way to win. Diogo Dalot plants a perfect cross onto Scott McTominay’s head and the substitute sends the ball crashing into the net, rushing straight to the delirious United fans to his right.

United have gone from having no hope of making the top four to giving themselves a fighting chance, slicing an eight-point deficit with Villa down to five.

Home fans had been goading the away section with chants of “You’re not famous any more”. And after McTominay’s goal, United supporters turn the taunt on its head, gleefully chanting “We’re not famous any more.” They know their club will always be the one everyone else wants to beat. As one banner at Old Trafford reads: “Hated. Adored. Never ignored.”

McTominay has bailed United out on numerous occasions this season, but while there is more praise for the midfielder's capacity to score within moments of coming off the bench, there is equal admiration for Dalot's cross.

Dalot knows what it is like to score a late winner in front of the away fans, as it was his scorching strike from outside the area which gave United victory at Sheffield United earlier this season, just hours after news broke that Sir Bobby Charlton had passed away.

“I’ve been in a lot of stadiums and I don't remember seeing away fans like Man United fans,” Dalot tells GOAL a few days after the win at Villa Park. “Away from home wherever we go, they are always there, they make their presence felt so it’s always special when we play away from home, because we feel they’re always with us no matter what.

"It’s difficult sometimes when results are not there. They can feel frustrated, but they always believe every weekend they will see something special. That’s the beautiful part of this club, every game you think something special is going to happen, that’s the magic that Man United has."

The visiting fans make the short walk back to the car park chanting “20 times Man United, playing football the Matt Busby way.” Back on the bus everyone is buzzing. “We probably didn’t deserve that,” admits one fan. Another starts up a questionable chant: “Garnacho to the left of me, Bruno to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle, Mainoo.” His effort is applauded and mocked in equal measure.

More impromptu chants are belted out on the way back as the bus swings into full party mode. The high point is when music man Jonty, who has just had to sort out yet another issue with the toilet, starts singing “Oh Erik ten Hag’ and the whole bus joins in.

More traditional numbers are sung later and as the bus rolls into Manchester, including the United Calypso, sung by Caribbean singer Edric Conor and released in 1957. The song, which is regularly heard at Old Trafford, contains the immortal line: “Whenever they’re playing in your town, get yourself to that football ground.”

The loyal followers from the Monkey Bus have been living by that mantra for most of their lives and will continue to do so. They will be making the five-hour trip to Luton on Sunday and to Nottingham Forest at the end of the month. Wherever Fernandes leads his team-mates out, they will be there. Their loyalty will not waiver no matter the result.

But next time, they will be hoping for a functional toilet.