There are reportedly over a billion Manchester United fans across the globe. It stands to reason therefore that at least a few of them will be well-known.
In truth, ‘well-known’ doesn’t do these ten justice. Included in the United supporting ranks are several Oscar winners, the fastest man on earth, and the man behind arguably the greatest comic creation in modern times.
Rory McIlroy
Idolising the Class of 92 as a young boy the Ryder Cup hero was over-joyed to encounter Roy Keane in an Irish hotel when aged 12. Eventually the future golfing legend mustered up the courage to approach the midfielder to ask for an autograph, only to be told, ‘Not today, kid’.
The snub stayed with McIlroy, vowing to always give young fans the time of day when he fulfilled his own sporting destiny.
The pair have since joked about the encounter, with Keane bashful about the slight.
Julia Roberts
The toothy screen siren first became enamoured with the Reds when her three young sons took up soccer, the four of them cheering on their adopted side on the TV.
“We became sort of possessed,” she recently revealed on the Graham Norton Show. “I didn’t ever realise how exciting it was.”
The Oscar-winning actress made a pilgrimage to Old Trafford in 2016 and was a special guest at training when United toured the US a year later.
Conor McGregor
The UFC superstar teased fans in 2021 by stating on social media that he was interested in buying United, or at least secure a small stake. So wealthy has football become that even his £150m fortune would not have got him in the same room as the then owners.
The fighter is often seen in training sporting retro United gear.
Gary Oldman
Speaking of retro, Oldman’s love for the club goes way back, right to the glory days of the 1960s when George Best bewitched on the wing and Bobby Charlton banged them in from 25 yards.
Such is the Oscar-winners’ devotion he has even admitted he’d be willing to give up his treasured gong if it meant United won another league title. Regrettably, the latest sports betting suggests that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Danny Boyle
The affable director of Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire is another whose love for United was sparked by Best’s genius though, growing up in Radcliffe, north of the city, he shared that love with Bury, just down the road.
In 2003, Boyle was able to mix business with pleasure when making Millions, a film that featured St James Park in Newcastle as a backdrop.
Filming on matchday, the Magpies happened to be playing Manchester United that afternoon, the visitors surging to a 6-2 win.
John Cooper Clarke
A lifelong Red, Cooper Clarke has collaborated with the club on several occasions, the legendary punk poet adding an authenticity to kit launches via his words.
Ahead of a Manchester derby in 2014 he penned the following ode to his beloved side:
“I was born to be United, daddy told me when I was just a baby, When I was five I went down the Warwick Road, now I’m addicted to the only place I go.”
Rachel Riley
“It is in my blood. It was passed down from my dad from before I was born. We have had quality players, quality fans, quality stadiums, quality managers, and we play the United way.”
That was the Countdown co-presenter in 2015, talking to Soccer AM about her inherited love for the red half of Manchester. From childhood, Riley has regularly attended games at Old Trafford, cheering on Ryan Giggs flying down the wing as Sir Alex Ferguson’s team dominated domestically.
Can the Red Devils reclaim those glory days under Ruben Amorim? The football betting suggests the numbers don’t stack up.
Usain Bolt
There are many examples of Bolt’s sincere support of the Reds, not least his huge excitement ahead of playing at Old Trafford for a Soccer Aid match. He described the occasion as a dream come true.
Yet nothing better illustrates his fan-ship than an angry tweet posted earlier this year when United went two behind at Brentford. “This must be a joke,” the record-breaking sprinter ranted.
We have all been there, Usain. We’ve all done it.
Justin Timberlake
Former Leeds and Man United striker Alan Smith is a good friend of the US megastar, and though that’s not a sentence written everyday it explains why Timberlake is a long-standing Red, hooked up – via Smith – with matchday tickets in 2007 and continuing an allegiance ever since.
Rumours of a remix, saluting Ruben Amorim’s ‘Sexy Back Three’ defensive set-up remain unconfirmed at this point.
Steve Coogan
Describing himself as a ‘weekend fan’, the comedian often travels up from his Brighton home to visit family and take in a game.
Alan Partridge’s alias has an additional connection to the club, with his brother Brendan presenting segments on MUTV on occasion.
