30 Day Music Challenge: Day Seven

Day Seven: A Song That Reminds You of A Certain Event

I wrote something for this post a few days ago and decided that whilst the song was ace the event I was writing about really wasn't. So you may or may not get that post rehashed later on... In the meantime I have thought of both a song and an event that pleases me so on with the show!

One of the things that sometimes surprises people about me is that I'm a big football fan. It doesn't happen so often these days but certainly when I was younger I think it was less common for women to be football supporters. These days I think the sport is much more inclusive, Andy Gray and Richard Keys aside, and some of the most passionate football fans I know are women. I even used to play football when I was at school, even though I was absolutely useless and only ever started one real game. These days I stick purely to watching it, which often ends up with me sitting in bars full of shouty men who are normally supporting the other team and then suffering incredible amounts of stick about my choice of team from most of the men I know. Because I am, of course, a Manchester United fan.

Sadly this means I get accused of being a glory hunter a lot. And a plastic Manc - although as I grew up 45 minutes outside Manchester I'm not sure that's fair! The reason I support MU however has nothing to do with trophies - we're just good, deal with it - it's because they're my Dad's team. Dad started taking me to watch United matches at the pub across the road from the age of about 7 (this was in the days before we had Sky) and I used to have to stand by the door so I didn't inhale too much smoke. This coincided neatly with the end of United's wilderness years so I can only really remember them winning things, particularly the Double in 1994! However, as any United supporter will tell you, winning the Treble in 1999 was just an unbelievable experience. Watching the Champion's League final against Bayern Munich must have been one of the most stressful moments of my life - after Sheringham equalised in the 91st minute I literally couldn't watch the rest of the match. When Solskjaer scored in the 93rd minute to win the game my Dad, my brother and I cheered so loudly that I'm sure it was heard across the other side of Wrexham! A few days later the team returned from Barcelona for a open-top bus ride through Manchester with their three trophies - Dad picked me up from school and we hotfooted it down the M56 to join the crowds on Deansgate.  It was a beautiful June day and the atmosphere was electric, like being at a carnival! The one song that was everywhere was "We Are The Champions" by Queen - for most of my lifetime always a fitting song for Manchester United. Queen also happen to be one of my all-time favourite bands but maybe that's due to over-exposure to this song from an early age...

"We are the champions - my friends
And we'll keep on fighting - till the end 

We are the champions

We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions - of the world"