KOTTAYAM: Leaving every ‘Man U’ fan in the state in bouts of euphoria and keeping the red flags flying sky-high, the Red Devils Kerala (RDK) has made it into the elite league of fan clubs as the Premier League giants Manchester United Football Club has officially recognised them as the first Manchester United Supporters Club- Kerala (MUSCK).
Famed as the most popular football club in the world, Manchester United has more than 200 officially recognised supporter clubs across 50 countries in the world. With the official recognition, RDK has become the third official supporter club in India after Mumbai and Bengaluru, and the 11th in Asia.
Started out as a small clique of friends keeping tab of Manchester United games, Red Devils Kerala grew at an exponential rate over the years. From a small group of eight, the Club now has a total membership of 2,250 fans in different towns around the state. Amal D Menon from Irinjalakkuda, one of the founders of the group says, “I have always been an ardent football fan but nothing captured my imagination like Manchester United did and I wanted to share that feeling with other fans in the state”.
The Club aims at bringing all Manchester United fans in the state under one banner and bridge the communication divide between Old Trafford and Kerala. “Our passion towards the club has been recognised and we hope MUFC takes note of this and visits India during their pre-season travels in the coming years,” said Vimal Mohan, one of the core members. Manchester United is not the first football giant to find its fanbase in Kerala. Other clubs like their arch-rival Liverpool already operates supporter clubs. But unlike the others, getting MUFC recognition is a difficult job. In order to apply for the same, the club has to have at least 50 official members, regular screenings and social activities. Being recognised as MUSCK, the club will now find a place in the MUSC map. In future, the club aims at expanding their activities to more towns in Kerala and to conduct regular screening of every Manchester United matches. Now, the screenings are conducted in Kochi and Kozhikode only. They are also planning to conduct football tournaments and quiz as fund raisers for social welfare activities.