Over 33,000 fans welcomed a star-studded lineup of legends to the Theatre of Dreams with Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Paul Scholes all back donning United red in aid of the Manchester United Foundation.
United’s squad were to entertain a Celtic XI featuring Stylian Petrov and former Manchester City man Georgios Samaras. The match ended 1-1 after 90 minutes before the visitors prevailed in a 5-4 win on penalties.
The United legends were on top for large portions of the game, but if ever the men in green and white stripes were up against it, they certainly had a 12th man to boost their motivation.
Here’s what we took away from the wholesome day of charity football.
Five things we learned from the Man United vs Celtic Legends game
Celtic fans travel in force for the United Legends game
The Glaswegian side has followers around the world and the ‘Green Wall’ were in good voice in the away corner of Old Trafford. It was difficult to avoid the shamrock of the hoops on the ride up to the ground, which seemed to be an almost 50/50 colour split on the walk up along Sir Matt Busby Way.
ADVERTISEMENT
The reason could lie in Manchester’s large Irish community showing support for their second favourite club, behind the Reds, of course.
They were a constant presence until the final whistle, receiving the result they deserved as Darren O’Dea slotted the winning penalty in the shootout – with a compulsory belly slide celebration to boot.
ADVERTISEMENT
Carrick and Fletcher have still got it
Amidst Man United’s current midfield woes, the match on Saturday confirmed that the partnership of Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher still works in 2024. The midfield pairing dictated proceedings with their usual calm and control which never left the duo despite being on the wrong side of 40 years old.
As the match went on and the pace of the game gradually diminished, I couldn’t help but wonder whether my Sunday side could give these old boys a game.
A sequence of one-touch passes and neat flicks around the corner between the pair followed by a meandering run into the box by Carrick quickly put all my questions to bed. They are five-time Premier League winners for crying out loud, we’ll just stick to the local park.
ADVERTISEMENT
🤝 Reuniting with former team-mates ✅ 🏟️ Playing at #OldTrafford ✅ ❤️ Vital funds raised for the Foundation ✅
Even for a charity match, there is no love lost between ex-professionals. Their bodies might be ageing but the passion for a meaty tackle evidently never goes away.
For the Reds, Phil Bardsley and Fletcher couldn’t help but get stuck in whilst Celtic’s Joe Ledley and Charlie Mulgrew were the main culprits to never shirk a 50/50.
The Celtic boys were flying in around the box, which helped give us the moment of the game – a Wayne Rooney free-kick into the top corner from 25 yards. Textbook.
Rooney never lets you down
If it was ever in doubt, Wazza’s class is permanent. He may be a far cry from the 18-year-old who would go on to score over 250 goals for the Red Devils but he rolled back the years with a pearler of a strike.
After a previous attempt from a dead ball which struck the wall, the former England man obliged with his next attempt. He was hardly going to let the Old Trafford faithful leave without another iconic finish.
ADVERTISEMENT
The goal just before the halftime break drew the entire stadium to its feet, including a rightful applause from the travelling support. The second biggest roar came during his departing substitution for Paul Scholes – a fitting tribute to mark the return of arguably United’s best ever.
With the first team action on hold due to the international break, this was the perfect replacement of footballing action for an unbelievable cause.
The match against Celtic generated almost £1 million in revenue, which will help to support the Manchester United Foundation’s work with young people in Greater Manchester and other outreach areas in the UK.
United Foundation Chief Executive John Shiels said: “We’d like to thank our fantastic team of legends for playing so brilliantly in the name of charity.”
“We are incredibly thankful to Manchester United fans for supporting our work all year round, but especially so today, when the price of their ticket goes back into our work supporting young people.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The United vs Celtic Legends produced a wonderful atmosphere (Credit: The Manc Group/MUFC via supplied)
The United vs Celtic Legends game was just the latest in the club’s regular programme of exhibition matches for a good cause among a variety of other annual fundraising activities.
The Foundation delivers community outreach and educational programmes to encourage young people to make more positive life choices across the 10 boroughs all year round.
What better way to connect to our community than through the beautiful game?
The 2026 World Breaking Finals of the UK B-Boy Championships are coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
It’s official: the UK B-Boy Championships are returning to Manchester this year for the 2026 World Breaking Finals, in what is a special anniversary for the annual tournament.
Celebrating three decades since the inaugural event this summer, the UK B-Boy Champs will once again remind fans why they still remain among the gold standard for competitive breakdancing.
With elite breakers and dance battlers from more than 20 different countries in attendance – and plenty of contestants from each, at that – it’s going to be a real global showcase of talent.
Returning to Manchester once again, we can’t wait to see breakdancing take over the Factory International concourse and wider campus.
Anyone in the world will know that the city also hosted another big European equivalent back in 2022 on behalf of the 2022 World DanceSport Federation, but the UK B-Boy Championships have a passionate following of their own.
This also happens to be the 30th anniversary of the event, so it’s a momentous occasion on many levels.
With live music from not only classic artists and legendary MCs, but artists for the future too, there’ll be plenty of tunes and impressive moves from start to finish.
Coming to Aviva Studios this summer, they’ve billed it quite short and sweet: “The sickest breakers on the planet will battle in a once-in-a-generation celebration of Hip-Hop culture.”
They’re promising “High-stakes rivalries. Gravity-defying moves”, and “Unforgettable performances”, adding, “This isn’t just another battle – this is the Champs legacy in motion.”
Credit: Supplied
The World Breaking Finals get underway in Manchester on 16 August at Aviva Studios, and it’s all set up to be arguably the biggest yet.
General admission went on sale this past Friday, 13 March, with adult tickets starting from only £20 and kids from just a tenner.
As we mentioned before, this isn’t the only big sporting date coming to Manchester this year, with the likes of the British basketball’s annual Cup Finals concluding at AO Arena and another big Super League set to for a grandstand finish at our other big indoor entertainment venue…
Featured Images — Publicity pictures (supplied via Get the Affects Communications)
Sport
The Premier League and EFL should follow La Liga’s lead and bring Retro Matchdays to the UK
Danny Jones
Following the news that La Liga is set to debut a new ‘Retro Matchday’ round, we can’t help but ask the question: why didn’t the Premier League and EFL think of this first?
Well, technically, neither did the Spaniards, but you take our point.
Anyone who follows the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or even the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) equivalent here in the UK and mainland Europe, will know that the concept is nothing new – but by and large, it seems to be for the beautiful game.
In case you missed it, in an effort to further capitalise on the increasing trend of vintage and classic football kit fashion/the wider nostalgia culture that only seems to be growing every year, Spain’s top two tiers will soon host their inaugural Retro Matchday gameweek next month, and we want a piece of it.
Set to be hosted from Friday, 10 April, over the usual weekend of football in their premier and second division, and running until the final lot of fixtures on Monday, 13 April (no, thankfully not an April Fool’s), supporters will get to see players step out onto the pitch in some of the country’s most iconic kits.
Depending on who you ask, some would argue that Spain has some of the nicest footy shirts all time, whether that be the national side or clubs themselves.
To be honest, we definitely have a soft spot for a proper European throwback – we’re thinking Borussia Dortmund’s 1995/96 home kit, the Napoli kits of the 80s, that amazing Toyota-sponsored Fila Fiorentina kit at the turn of the millennium – and even some of the best 2000s ones now look so old-school.
In fact, we actually had a taster of these kinds of special matches in the past, including here in 0161 for the likes of the Manchester Derby.
Reminds me of the Manchester derby in 2008 where they played in retro kits due to it coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster. Looked absolutely brilliant. pic.twitter.com/TLRjKHThbG
When you also take into account that, besides collectors already creating a whole new craze in filling their cupboards with classic kits, the likes of Nike, Adidas and more now regularly turning to old designs like the ‘Futura’, Total 90′ and various ‘adi Originals’ revivals of late, it’s more the rage than ever.
Birmingham’s recent ‘penguin’ remake, Port Vale’s traditional 150th anniversary one, based on their 1953-54 season jersey, not to mention countless other lifestyle fashion collections inspired by historic releases, you can’t move for the stuff – so why not get them wearing it on the grass?
As mentioned, the likes of local ice hockey outfit Manchester Storm have been taking a leaf out of the NHL’s book for ages now, with the annual ‘Retro Nights’ proving to be some of the most popular dates on the calendar, even selling off original shirts in the stadium itself before, during and after the match.
We genuinely can’t think of a single football lover following a team at any level in the English football pyramid that wouldn’t LOVE this. In fact, plenty of them already go to the ground wearing their dad’s second-hand away strip, which has turned out to be a modern cult favourite among the next generation.
These are the kinds of ideas we can see fans actually getting behind; you can find out more HERE. Would you like to see a retro Premier League and/or EFL match day featuring your favourite kits from down the years?
Harry Quick -
9th September 2024 
