Goaless Muted Friendly

United 0-0 Juventus
Pre-Season Friendly att: 69,464

Got to the ground early to see the team with the trophies. It was a nice gesture but a little late. Not sure we'll ever see an official home coming trophy parade on the steets again. Too many health, safety and public order issues to get clearance from the authorities. Such are the times we live in.

The game was never going to be a humdinger. A distinct lack of firepower up front. Tevez, and Giggs in the centre, O'Shea and Fletcher behind, and young Lee Martin to supply the crosses from the wing. The defence looked good though.

Second half saw the home debut of Rafael DaSilva. A few more games and he'll be a fans favourite. The sort of player we love, like we did Heinze. Goes for all the balls, puts in the tackle and follows up in attack.

Other highlights....the showing of the Champions League final penalties on big screens - the crowd loved it. The young Fluminese side doing a lap of honour having won the Man United Premier Cup 2008 earlier in the day. Del Piero of Juventus getting an ovation when he went off. Getting rained on leaving the ground...

Friendly win at The Posh

Peterborough United 0-2 United Pre-Season Club Friendly
Not watched an un-official streaming game for ages. Not bad quality, didn't keep buffering, though it'll never be suitable for the big Tv in the lounge. It was all worth viewing just for Darren Gibson's goal in the second half. A 35 yard left footed screamer. This was also for the young Da Silva brothers from Brazil. I think they might have been out on loan to Fluminese, but don't quote me. Both play as full backs - the next Neville brothers maybe? Tom Cleverley has been impressing me in the recent games and hopefully he'll have a future at OT.

United must get many requests for friendlies, so why not keep it in the family and play The Posh managed by Darren Ferguson. They looked a robust side and gave United a strong game with their rapid closing down style.

Last point is this streaming tv milarky isn't going to go away. Anyone with a few cables and a subscription to a sports channel can re-broadcast it on the net. Close one down, another one can open and post the links in the forums.

You are my Solskjaer

United 1-0 RCD Espanyol
Ole Gunner Solskjaer Testimonial; att 68,868

We had to wait until the last 20 minutes of the game before Ole came on as a substitute. It was what the crowd had been waiting for. Even his warming up of running down the South Side touchline got cheers and ovation. As for the game it didn't really matter that much. Tevez looked great, Scholes is on form and Campbell scored the only goal. The picture is Ole taking a free kick towards goal. An enjoyable sunny afternoon.

Altrincham beat FC - oh well

Altrincham 3-0 FC United
Pre-season friendly match; att 831.
A warm, 17 degrees, summer evening and a tram ride from Stretford to Altrincham to see a non-competitive match. Really just to see the new signings for FC United, and what else am I going to do on a Tuesday? Stay in with the Tv - the Biffa herself is in London and the cats are out hunting.

It looked a promising open game. FC in an unfamiliar all blue, and Altrincham in yellow shirts and black shorts. But a goal down after 7 minutes and after that FC didn't look like they'd find the net. Second half they came closer - about five shots towards goal but nothing on target. Altrincham are an organised squad and don't appear to be troubled. They score again, on 65 minutes - game over. They get a third in the 80th minute. But by then I'm wondering how much the houses they are building behind the goal will be selling for. Think I'd go for the middle one, dreaming of watching Conference League football for nothing, and finding lost footballs in your garden.

So far from a thrilling game, just a run-out for the teams to get some match fitness. Get hungry in the second half and buy some chips. You can watch the game whilst in the queue but it's mostly Altrincham bringing on lots of substitutes.
Game 26, admission £7, programme £1, pie and chips £2.70, tram £2.70, bus £1.10

Countdown to the new season

Giddy about the new season already - only a month away. The fixtures are out and Sky and Setanta have started to wave their magic scheduling wand. Not so happy about Portsmouth away on a Bank Holiday Monday night. Also what's that pre-season match in Nigeria about? Also against Portsmouth. Possibly it's the million quid pay-out and not for getting ill on a lot of yellow fever vaccine. Just so we all get familiar with Portsmouth there is the Community Shield match at Wembley - the one you don't mind not winning as it's a good omen.

Hope you like the picture of the tunnel at Old Trafford with the background boards for the Tv interviews. Did the tourist bit last Friday by taking the Old Trafford tour. Must praise the staff at Old Trafford - friendly, very helpful and customer focused. They could see our disappointment when the trophy was away being polished or wherever it goes to. So they went and got it for our photo opportunity even though they were closing in a few minutes. You can see our snaps here on Flickr - includes a couple of biffas with the trophy. Had to keep our fingers off it - I'll take rubber gloves next time....

Lots more stories to tell. So back to blogging, and make smart the layout of this page. First game to go and see is next Tuesday - Altrincham v. FC United in a friendly. Altrincham must be one the luckiest teams of recent years. Should have been relegated from the Conference North for the last three seasons but escaped everytime because another team went into financial troubles.

FC Friendlies & Unibond

FC United of Manchester
Pre-Season Friendlies (confirmed to date)
Friday 6th June: Marburg XI (a)
it's in Deutschland, and part of an anti-racist demo & festival

Tuesday 22nd July 1945h: Altrincham (a)
Saturday 26th July 1500h: Tamworth (a)
Wednesday 6th August 1945h: Curzon Ashton (a)

Already looking forward to watching FC in the Unibond Premier next season, that's 3 divisions below the Football League. A chance to see plenty of teams I've never seen before like Leigh RMI, North Ferriby United from Hull, Buxton with the highest football ground in Britain, and some Scouse clubs like Marine and Prescott Cables.

Friendlies & Super Cups

The upside downside of winning major trophies is you're entered into extra competitions. The Community Shield is a regular extra fixture but I forgot about United having to turn up in Monaco at the end of August to play Zenit St. Petersburg for the UEFA Super Cup. Even more exhausting is the FIFA World Club Championship in Japan, 12th - 21 st December, which means two weekends of Premiership fixtures postponed....


Friendly
Saturday 12th July 1500h; Aberdeen (a)

Vodaphone Challenge 2008 in South Africa
Saturday 19th July: Kaiser Chiefs (a) in Cape Town
Tuesday 22nd July: Orlando Pirates (a) in Durban
Thursday 24th July: Orlando Pirates v. Kaiser Chiefs in Port Elizabeth
Saturday 26th July: winners of above game play United in Tshwane

Ole Gunner Solskjaer Testimonial
Saturday 2nd August 1500h: Espanyol (h)

Friendly
Monday 4th August: Peterborough United (a)
possibly another home match against Juventus (advertised on MUTV no date announced)

Community Shield
possibly on Sunday 10th August: Portsmouth (Wembley)

UEFA Super Cup
usually last week in August: Zenit St. Petersburg (Monaco)

Al Hilal and other bits

The Al Hilal v. United, testimonial match for Sami Al-Jaber (he made 4 appearances for Wolves) Checked out Al Jazeera (Sky 514) for a report but nothing. But caught the goals on good old Skysports News, as can be seen in the clip. The match report on the official Manchester United site gives it a bit of a comedy edge with goodwill. Danny Welbeck, an Academy is given the job to miss a penalty. Most testimonials are. Lost 3-2.

The African Nations Cup has started - some great football skills on show. There is a United player involved, Manucho Goncalves, just signed from Petro Atletico, turning out for Angola. So he speaks Portuguese then - is that the second language at Old Trafford? Don't follow this competition too closely but I'll be dipping into the Angola matches just for sheer nosiness...all available on BBC Interactive and Eurosport (Sky 410) and a good highlights show on BBC Three.
Wednesday 23rd January Angola v. South Africa 1930h GMT
Sunday 27th January Angola v. Senegal 1900h
Thursday 31st January Angola v. Tunisia 1700h

United to Riyadh

A fixture I've been looking out for is Manchester United's one million pound trip to Saudi Arabia. The date has been set for Monday 21st January.
Ferguson said “This is a great chance for the players to escape the harsh realities of winter for a few days, while keeping up their fitness levels and taking in the exhibition match,” adding “I hope we will come back from this refreshed and ready to continue the challenge for honours.”

It's FA Cup 4th Round weekend when they get back. Will be available on TV in the UK - very possibly not. Would you take an afternoon off work, allowing for time zone differences - very possibly not.

January Friendlies for clubs

Intriguing video in German of Lokomotive Leipzig vs FC United of Manchester. Warning it contains pictures of those Florida sun basking millionaires the Glazer family. This is to go with the story about FC United going to Germany in January. The event is an annual competition televised across Germany with three lower level Bundesliga clubs, Lech Poznan from Poland, Lokomotive Leipzig along with FC United. Henkel are the parent company of UniBond so the league couldn't really say no.

We've not heard much about Manchester United one million pound trip to play in Saudi Arabia. No doubt there are the details to work out. All the mutterings about having an Israeli stamp in your passport would prevent of some of the team getting out of the airport. The Jewish Chronicle actually phoned the Saudi embassy and the answer was no problem..Story.

Third Return

The return of the annual AFC Wimbledon v FC United fixture - there have been two previous ones so a third counts as a tradition.

Hopefully this will be available on internet radio. Not so sure WDON the Wimbledon station is still going because the site hasn't been updated since 2006. Maybe FCUM-TV radio will be reporting the match - in their unique style.

Also The Dons video highlights will not be showing this year. New kid on the block called Ryman TV filming that league. It's one of those you have to register, and no doubt have to pay. Mention of £3.95 to watch a live game. But for £9.99 a month you can have Setanta and watch the Premiership, Conference, SFL & etc. Still if it's your club involved, you want to watch, so out comes the credit card.

Someone is going to come up with a way of hacking into live streams. Maybe they have and I'd like to hear about it.

Looking for result

Started looking for the Port Vale v. Manchester United result tonight. It had gone 2115h and it wasn't mentioned anywhere. Even tried teletext. You know there are reporters everywhere and at every game. There must be the ultimate live scores site but until then the BBC Sport website vidiprinter will do. Eventually it did turn up and it was only a reserve team match. Lost 3-2. Have to wait a little longer for the match report.

Peak View

Tempted to take a view of the friendly match in Tokyo - Urawa v. United. Watch the second half, I thought. It's now raining, come home from the allotment wet through, retire indoors. Unfortunately I got my international times wrong and the match had kicked off at 1100h. Tried out the software to watch on the laptop. Received the whole game being repeated with Chinese commentary. But when you know the score you just go back to the time of the goals.

Oh well, lesson learned, 2-2 final score. At least Sopcast is working on this machine, and I started a thread in a football forum about the match.

United Friendlies

Don't think I could take to watching another friendly game for a while, though I did show a flicker of interest when the Inter Milan match at Old Trafford was announced..Most of them will be on MUTV which I don't subscribe to anymore, even canceled Sky for the summer. No doubt more will announced

Tuesday July 17 Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan)
Friday July 20 FC Seoul (South Korea)
Monday July 23 Shenzhen (Macao, China)
Wednesday July 25 Port Vale (A)
Wednesday 1st August Inter Milan (H)
Friday 3rd August Doncaster Rovers (A)
Saturday 4th August Peterborough United (A)
Sunday 5th August Chelsea (Community Shield - Wembley) Sky Sports
Wednesday 8th August Dumfermline Athletic (A)
Wednesday 8th August Glentoran (A) - Sky Sports

Asia Tour 2007

There was a time in the pre-Glazier days when I subscribed to MUTV. Then I could watch the summer friendlies at unfriendly times. So for old times sake I'm noting the dates of the Far East tour 2007...might be available on some dodgy broadcast somewhere, if I can be bothered...
July 17 Urawa Red Diamonds Japan)
July 20 FC Seoul (South Korea)
July 23 Shenzhen (Macao, China)
July 27 Malaysian XI (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Europe XI Video Clips

Click To Play

Manchester United play an all star Europe XI. A few short clips - penalty save, penalty scored, Ronaldo, Scholes, David Beckham speech, Mexican Wave - all in less than 2 minutes.

Player Brawl

Featured in today's sports news the player brawl between QPR XI v. China Olympic Team on the training ground. Match abandoned, one visiting player goes to hospital. I reckon this will be a viral video.
BBC Video Clip