T H E FANS
musc focus Reds Around the World:
Pakistan
Branch chairman Ismaeel Tayyab tells us about
support for the Reds in the Islamic republic
BRANCH NAME: MUSC Pakistan
FOUNDED: 2014
NATIONALITY: Pakistani
NUMBER OF MEMBERS: 130
How did your supporters’ club start?
The support for Manchester United has been in
Pakistan for a very long time. Members like Mansoor
Murad, Ajmal Ajaib and Hassan Hussein Qureshi have
been Reds for several decades and their children are
doing the same. All three generations! But we hadn’t
had any representation. So when I was in the UK as a
student, I spoke to another long-time Red named Bilal
Sulehri and we discussed how to get connected as
an official Manchester United supporters’ club. I went
to games and a few nice pubs where they showed
United games, and I wanted the same thing back in
Pakistan. A place where all like-minded fans can get
together, create connections and enjoy two hours a
week spending time supporting the club they have
wanted to visit all their lives. My job, my wish, was
to create a mini Old Trafford in different cities and
I was successful in doing that for six cities in Pakistan.
We had already built up a solid base of supporters
through Facebook.
The club helps supporters connect
over their love for Manchester United
In our regular bulletin
on official supporters’
clubs, MUSC Pakistan
tell us all about
themselves, while our
16-to-25s get on the
pitch and High Peak
scale a landmark
90 INSIDE UNITED APRIL 2024
S U P P ORTE RS’ C LU B S
Has football always been popular in Pakistan?
It’s always been popular, but the introduction of
different leagues on different channels in the country
has helped build it up further. Fortunately, the
national team also did well recently, winning a
qualification to play World Cup qualifiers. It’s the first
time it’s happened and we got packed stadiums as
a result, playing the likes of Saudi Arabia, Jordan
and Tajikistan.
What other sports are big? We think of Pakistan as
being cricket-obsessed…
We’re known as cricket-obsessed, but hockey is our
national sport and we used to be quite good. One
of our members, Trad Israr, highlighted to me that
in 1994 Pakistan held four world championships in
cricket, squash, hockey and snooker!
Where do your members come from?
The locations are spread out very nicely, which
is great to see. We have members from Kashmir,
Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Lahore, Sialkot, Abbottabad,
Peshawar, Balochistan. Karachi is heavily represented,
there’s a few from Gujranwala. Our headquarters is in
Lahore and that’s where I’m based.
Who’s the funniest character in the branch?
I love this question and we have several contenders.
It’s a close tie between Saaib, Arbab Iftikhar and Saad
Bin Khalid, although Trad Israr regularly pops up with a
joke that makes us burst with laughter. Our WhatsApp
group provides a lot of laughs and is a great release
from the stresses of daily life.
What is the best day from your 10 years so far?
It’s a tie between the Europa League final and the
2016 FA Cup final. We had a fully packed 500-seater
cinema for the Europa League final, and winning
always helps! For the FA Cup we were packed inside
a very small cafe, which got overcrowded due to the
demand. It was an electric atmosphere.
Describe a typical matchday…
Post-Covid it has been hard to fix on a place, but
we usually pick coffee shops as they have enclosed
spaces with projectors where we sit and have good
coffee and a good meal. If it’s a big game, there’s less
eating food and more eating nails. But overall our
screenings are very lively and we’ve had several fans
from abroad join us.
What’s the best thing about Pakistan, for those who
have not visited?
I should put food in the top three! Pakistan is very
hospitable too – Ronaldinho, Ryan Giggs and Kaka
came here to play sponsor games a couple of years
ago. The northern areas in Pakistan are a very famous
spot for tourists. We had a famous journalist, Jamie
Jackson, who came and he still remembers it fondly…
Tell us something about Pakistan we don’t know…
Pakistan is home to snow leopards that live far up in
T HE FA N S S UP P O RT ERS ’ CLUBS
Youth Supporters’ Club Kicks Off
musc focus
Our official new supporters’ club for 16-to-25-year-olds enjoyed its first
social at the beginning of March, as Old Trafford hosted a five-a-side event.
In typical Mancunian conditions, the group took to our Apollo artificial
pitch, by the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand, and enjoyed a good-natured
competition, which climaxed with a nervy penalty shoot-out. A signed
Harry Maguire shirt was awarded to the tournament’s best individual player,
Cole, and the 30-odd young Reds that turned up then decamped to the
nearby Railway Club in Stretford for a few post-game refreshments. It’s
just the start for MUYSC, whose aim is to “preserve the authenticity of
Members come from Manchester United’s support, nurturing the next generation of fans who
all over Pakistan will carry the torch of passion, loyalty, and unity forward”.
Action from MUYSC’s
five-a-side tournament
The club is celebrating its
10th birthday this year
the Himalayan mountains. These majestic creatures
are one of the rarest species on Earth. The Indus
Valley civilisation, which has multiple sites throughout
Pakistan, was one of the oldest in the world, and over
2,000 years older than the Egyptian pyramids.
Who would members say is the greatest United
player of all time?
I need to mention different members I asked, but
Saluting the High Peak Reds
Wayne Rooney is a popular choice. Khawaja Faiq, Congratulations to our High Peak supporters’ club, which recently marked
Bilal Ahmad, Zain Butt, Trad, Umer Khan, Saaib and its 25th anniversary with a pitchside visit to Old Trafford. The branch has
Ahmad Butt all chose Rooney. Some chose Cantona been making arduous journeys from deep within the Peak District since
and Keane. We’re blessed to have so many options 1999, with winter weather conditions providing frequent challenges.
to choose from. Personally, I’ve been a huge Michael “Sometimes the buses haven’t made it,” laughs secretary Keith Udale.
Carrick fan since forever, and it’s a dream to meet “Last winter, we were coming back from Old Trafford and the lad who drove
him one day. us was the only person to get through! There were trucks, cars, buses all
stopped and abandoned on the road. People just had to wait for the gritters
Which one opposing player, past or present, would to come out – it takes four hours to get home sometimes. But that’s what
you like to see play for United? you do to support United! Keith continues: “Twenty-five years? It doesn’t
El Fenomeno, Ronaldo, is a popular choice among seem a long time to me because I’ve been going for more than 65 years!”
our members.
High Peak supporters’ club
Which club do you consider United’s biggest rivals has notched a quarter-century
and why…
Liverpool, for the historical value of the rivalry.
Manchester City was also an option but that’s been
more recent. A game versus Liverpool gets your blood
flowing like no other!
What’s the best thing about being part of a United
supporters’ club…
The common consensus is the feeling of being closer
to Manchester United. Having an MUSC provides an
outlet to our members and we were also able to get
invites to various Teams calls with players and events.
Things like these make us feel extremely proud to be
visibly and audibly connected to Manchester United
heroes from the past and present.
What was your reaction to the news of Jim
Ratcliffe’s investment?
It was greeted with overwhelming positivity and the
fans are really excited for the future.
APRIL 2024 INSIDE UNITED 91