I was so glad to see the capacity crowd at Old Trafford respect the minute of silence for the victims of the Munich Air Disaster this afternoon. Many people were worried that some moronic Manchester City fans would ruin the moment and jeer and howl and shout, so much so that City supporters’ groups had asked that the minute of silence be changed to a minute of applause. That request was turned down and rightly so, and I’m happy that the fans behaved in a respectful manner.
Remember, these English fans are the same ones that booed the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner at the Ricky Hatton-Floyd Mayweather boxing fight in Las Vegas in December of last year. These are the same ones who couldn’t keep their mouths shut at Wembley on Wednesday during the same kind of tribute before the England-Switzerland friendly.
English fans are well-known for their raucous actions before, during, and after matches. To be honest, I had my doubts over whether this minute of silence would be upheld by everyone. In a crowd of 75,000+ there are usually always going to be a few drunken morons whose belligerent behavior is embarrassing. But today, everyone did the right thing and I couldn’t have been more pleased to see that.
