Manchester United: The Biography - Jim White

[Bern]

Manchester has always been a very glamorous place for me, probably because I have never lived there.

As a Roy of the Rovers reader I naturally picked United as my team in the first FA Cup Final I saw (on South African television in 1979). United wore red, like Roy's Rovers, and Manchester didn't sound far off Melchester. Plus my uncle was a mad Arsenal fan. United lost, but it was a thriller. Gordon McQueen, Steve Coppell and Sammy McIlroy were out in the back yard from that week on, dribbling past bushes and arcing thunderbolts into the tree that stood for a goal.

Later I followed the Red Devils through the pages of month-old copies of Shoot that arrived out of sequence by sea mail. United's less than glorious seasons were duly marked up on the pull-out league ladders. Names like Bryan Robson, Ray Wilkins, Gordon Strachan, Norman Whiteside and Mark Hughes were added to the pantheon for kickabouts.

Later still, Manchester was sportswear, casual, Joy Division, Factory Records, The Happy Mondays... Madchester.

The story of the football club begins at the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company's Newton Heath carriage works, an industrial Hades where the average life expectancy in the mid nineteenth century was as low as seventeen. In 1878, following the lead of moral crusaders and public schools like Eton and Rugby, the L&YR board decided 'team games' would provide a 'muscular' alternative to the evils afflicting their workers - from drinking to masturbation. Well that didn't work, as drink would become synonymous with many of United's stars (most tragically, George Best) and then of course came Christiano Ronaldo. But the club itself survived a shaky start and mostly thrived.

Its defining moment came not in Manchester but in Munich in 1958. Returning from European competition, their plane crashed on take-off killing eight of a celebrated team of brilliant, young, locally developed players. The whole of England mourned. Unlike the Torino football club, which never really recovered after its all-conquering squad was wiped out in an air disaster in 1948, Manchester United survived the tragedy, regained the enmity of all England and put together more than one team to rival the Busby Babes.

In fact the biggest threat to the future of the club could be its present owner. Malcolm Glazer bought Manchester United as a debt-free (publicly listed) company in 2005. He put in £272 million of his own money and borrowed £540 million against its assets. A refinancing 'package' in 2006 saw the club with debts of £660 million, on which interest payments will be £62 million a year. For a sporting club, individual is probably better than public ownership, but leveraged buy-outs anywhere are an outright scam. Why would an American buy the club? Because someone left the door wide open. It's a play, for the money. United we scam.

But back to the real business of football. Two players who epitomise Manchester United are George Best and Eric Cantona. Pure artistry in attack, coupled with a bit of bonkers. They're on the cover of this book, along with Duncan Edwards, who promised to be one of the greatest but was lost at Munich.

George Best - like Pelé and Maradona - had the balance and bluff to put defenders on their bottom. It's glorious to watch in slow motion. And check this goal, scored in the twilight of his career. George Best also holds the record for Miss Worlds.

The imperious Frenchman Eric Cantona played with his collar up. A famously insouciant style of play was matched with an artist's desire to go beyond the artisan. He famously karate kicked an abusive spectator and was banned for a year. At the press conference he said simply "when the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you very much." He returned, to win three trophies in two seasons. But then he retired, suddenly, saying he'd lost the passion to play. Cantona currently does some acting. He had a cameo in the 1998 film Elizabeth starring Cate Blanchett. This year Ken Loach has a movie out featuring Cantona called Looking for Eric.

Football is theatre, and this book is a very enjoyable social history. Unless you're a Liverpool fan.