Club of the Month

George Best Carryduff Manchester United Supporters Club

The George Best Carryduff Manchester United Supporters Club was officially founded on the 15th August 1991 with approximately 128 members. Today our club has grown to a membership which has been known to exceed 500 by the end of a football season. The name of George Best was added following an approach to the family shortly after the great man's death and voted for at the AGM in May 2006.

Match tickets were our priority and cheap trips were our aim. Over the years we have learnt that cheap isn't always best and value for money is what brings the members back to our branch having sampled what else is available to them. Today the cost is £145 for a weekend away.

Many rumours get back to us suggesting we have a waiting list for people to join our branch. This is a myth that baffles are committee every year. Our doors are always open to Manchester United fans. We have tickets for EVERY single United competitive game at Old Trafford. We have built up our season tickets to 70 over the last 15 years.

Many celebrities have supported us in our charitable events over the years, the most famous being Sir Alex Ferguson who has been a patron of the branch for over 10 years. Eamonn Holmes of Sky News is our president who, at every opportunity, gives us a mention on TV and through his press column at the weekends. We were particularly delighted to have been involved with the George Best Foundation at the City Hall event on 22nd May 2006 to celebrate what would have been the 'genius' 60th birthday. Meeting his family and becoming good friends has been the highlight of our 15 years of raising funds.

John White is our founder branch secretary who works tirelessly to ensure everything is in place for our trips. Ably assisted by a hard working committee which is elected each year, he arranges tickets, hotel rooms, and all travel. John is also author of the Official Manchester United Quiz Book and the Manchester United Miscellany amongst many others in the series.

Our biggest coup was in 1999 when we managed to get 34 members to Barcelona for the Champions League final against Bayern Munich. An excellent result.

Meetings take place EVERY Tuesday with the exception of a short break during the close season from the middle of May to the end of July. Our website www.carryduffmusc.com is updated on a daily basis with news on what is happening and updates on availability of tickets for various games.

Our main objective is to get a coach filled for every single game. This doesn't always happen and on occasion members will have the opportunity to get tickets to make their own travel arrangements. We hold 2 social evenings for members each year to subsidise certain games. One is usually a night at the races and the other is Christmas dinner which is well subsidised.

Other events include open nights where non-members can come along and join our branch for a heavily reduced membership fee. Anyone interested in joining our branch as a result of following up this publication will also have the same opportunity to do the same. Check out our website today and contact us.