THE wacky world of the internet has seen an explosion of fan channels giving their view on the state of the respective teams.
But it has also given rise to some bizarre challenges, dares and bets, though one Manchester United fan may have gotten himself into more than he bargained for.
Frank Ilett runs The United Strand fan channel[/caption]
Frank is refusing to cut his hair again until Man Utd win five games in a row[/caption]
But after starting on October 5, Frank is now five months into his challenge[/caption]
And Man Utd are struggling to win back to back games, let alone five in a row[/caption]
Frank Ilett, 28, runs the social media channel The United Strand.
The page started up back on October 5 when Frank decided to commit to a challenge that would see him not cut his hair again until Man Utd won five games in a row.
Frank believed this run would only last a few months at most considering the last time Man Utd had won five in a row was in January to February 2024.
However, 149 days later it does not even appear to be remotely close to being finished after a dreadful run of form under Ruben Amorim.
And Frank has admitted he might have overestimated his chances.
Speaking exclusively to SunSport about what inspired the challenge, Frank said: “Well, it was just for a bit of fun, really, to be honest. It was literally just I don’t really know why I just went for it.
“I saw this guy doing it with, I think, an NFL team or something like that. And he was doing three matches in a row.
“But I remember thinking, oh, that’s quite a funny thing and thinking, oh, yeah, you know, obviously I’m a Man Utd fan.
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“I think maybe there might be some interest there because it’s, you know, it’s Man Utd they’re obviously a massive club and worldwide kind of club as well, not just one only Americans care about.
“So, yeah, I so I thought I saw that. And then I thought about it for a little while. And then I just suddenly was like, I’m just going to do it.
“I just think it’s fun. I think that, you know, it’s a painful time to be a Man Utd fan at the moment and just wanted to spread some humour, really…
“Did I imagine it would go on for this long? No, no, no.
“So I thought I thought it would go on for a few months. When I first started it, I don’t know why, but I just went for it and I didn’t really give much thought to it at all, really.
“And then it was only once it kind of started to get into it. I started to kind of go, ok, how long is this really going to go on for?
“I started in October and I checked. I was like, hang on a minute, when did Man Utd last do this? So I checked and it was January – February 2024, so not that long ago.
“Now it’s a year ago, but at the time in October I was thinking, you know it’s not a crazy thing that hasn’t happened in a few years or something. That gave me a bit of hope.
“I looked at the kind of fixtures coming up and stuff and there were some fixtures in January which looked very winnable and I was thinking that’s when it’s going to end.
“And, you know, and then there was a cup game that was added into that as well which kind of made it easier. And we lost the game, which meant February games were kind of easy.
“Now we’ve gone past that point and now I’m just hoping for the best and seeing what happens. I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes until next season now.”
Frank, who has lived in Spain with his girlfriend for the past year, admits he flirted with the idea of doing a three-game streak instead of five, but thought it would be “too easy”.
He said: “Well, that was the thing. I thought about doing three and then I, stupidly, thought to myself, ‘Oh that seems a bit too easy’.
Frank admits he thought the challenge would be over by early 2025[/caption]
But he now expects the challenge to last into next season[/caption]
“So I thought I’ll go for five, you know to make it a bit more of a challenge. But little did I know how challenging that was going to be.”
Frank told us he used to have long hair in his early 20s so it was not a totally alien feeling to him, but admits it is a “lot more effort” to maintain it now.
He added: “You can see my hair like it goes out, not down. So yeah, it’s hard to kind of maintain a little bit, but, you know, just part of it, part of the challenge, I suppose.”
Man Utd are languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table and are looking increasingly unlikely to play any part in European competitions next season.
With their penalty shootout defeat to Fulham in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday, the Red Devils only realistic hope of playing in Europe next season will be them winning the Europa League.
However, Frank is refusing to place the blame on Amorim, instead believing it is the club’s owners, including minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazers, who are mostly to blame for the mess the club finds itself in.
Frank said: “I think I speak for a lot of Man Utd fans where, [it feels like] it’s basically the same as the Glazers in charge, which I think a lot of people expected as well, to be honest.
“I don’t think anyone really expected that much because, yeah, it just hasn’t gone well. All of the decisions are just ridiculous.
“I mean, you know, like the thing recently about closing the canteen and to save a million pounds a year when there’s people that make that in a month at the club that don’t even play that often.
“Like, was it £55-65million they paid for Mason Mount? I mean, I can’t even remember when he last played. And I can’t remember when he played consecutive games. That’s for sure as well.
Man Utd ratings vs Fulham
MANCHESTER UNITED crashed out the FA Cup on penalties against Fulham.
Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee had poor spot-kicks saved as the Red Devils slipped to their sixth home defeat under Ruben Amorim.
Fulham broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time with a well-worked corner.
Antonee Robinson darted to the near post and flicked it onto Calvin Bassey who directed his header into the bottom corner brilliantly.
Just as United’s frustrations were brewing, Bruno Fernandes was the saviour yet again.
He picked up Diogo Dalot’s perfect cut back and fired it beyond the stretch of Bernd Leno.
United had chances towards the end of the second-half, with subs Alejandro Garnacho and Chido Obi unable to finish.
There was nothing to separate the sides in extra-time and penalties were needed.
Despite well-taken kicks from Fernandes, Diogo Dalot and Casemiro, Lindelof and Zirkzee woefully fired directly at Fulham hero Leno.
But which Man Utd players could hold their heads up and which flopped?
“And yes, so when you, you know, there’s I know that to be fair, that wasn’t Ineos but it’s a similar thing where you need to kind of get rid of players like that and get in kind of fresh faces, fresh legs.
“Instead of, you know, worrying about a million pounds that it costs to feed all the staff and keep everyone happy at the club.”
Frank says his main goal of the challenge is to bring some joy to a painful situation.
The United Strand channel – a nod to popular fan channel The United Stand, who Frank says he has watched for a few years – has exploded in popularity to now have more than 60 thousand followers on Instagram.
Originally Frank was aiming to reach 10,000 followers by the end of 2025, but saw that goal achieved by last December, while hitting 20,000 by the middle of January.
The number of viewers, both United and rival fans, has seen the challenge viewed more than 35 million times over the last 90 days alone.
Frank is even aware of some United stars past and present being aware of his hairy situation, including Denis Irwin, academy star Ethan Wheatley, British boxer Frazer Clarke and tennis star Jamie Murray.
He said: “Every time I get any followers I’m still surprised by it. I can’t believe there are so many people interested.
“I was looking at my analytics the other day and I’ve had 35 million views in the last 90 days, and when I think that many people have actually seen my face it does feel a bit weird.
“But I’m happy people have kind of connected with it in a positive way, like everyone seems to just be having a laugh with it with me. It’s nice to bring some joy to people.”
In terms of future plans, Frank says he would love to arrange some fan meet-ups in the future.
Meanwhile, he has also admitted he would be open to doing a similar challenge, possibly with hair and beard, while he also wants to grow his YouTube channel and visit every La Liga stadium.
Frank told SunSport his channel had reached more than 35 million views in the last 90 days[/caption]
Frank says his main goal is to spread some joy during a painful moment for Man Utd fans[/caption]
He says he has been told club legends like Denis Irwin know about the challenge[/caption]
Other major sports stars like boxer Frazer Clarke are also keeping an eye on the challenge[/caption]
