It is with some sadness I read this weekend of the death of Anthony H. Wilson. A lot is and has been said about Tony Wilson, not all of it complimentary, especially from myself. He was a pompous, stuck-up, egotistical and worst of all Man United supporting git. But. I always liked him.
On the football front, as you can imagine, I have a certain and immediate dislike to anyone who supports the team known as the scum here in Manchester, but to Tony's credit, he always hated City. Not as much as Liverpool, but he always hated the blue half of Manchester football.
This may appear an odd reason to like him, but with the ups and downs of city over the last 30 odd years the bulk of united fans see us as a nothing team, not really competition for the mighty red global merchandising machine. A large proportion of the glory hunting southern fans probably don't even know Manchester has two teams.
So for Tony to dislike us, and see his lip curl almost into a snarl when he had to mention us on Granada reports, was always a pleasure - as it was a sign of recognition. We may have been (and probably still are) a pin prick in the side of United, but at least we could still annoy them.
The second reason that I liked, nay loved, Tony Wilson was his undying love of Manchester.
As people who know me, or come to know me through this blog will realise, I am no patriot. I dislike any form of nationalist behaviour (Especially in Football) and am not even that keen on the whole "Northern" thing. But I am a proud Mancunian. Ask me to explain the difference between regional pride and national pride and I couldn't. I just love Manchester.
And so did Tony. No matter what he did or what happened in his life, he was always banging the Manchester drum.
Even now, I can see him, sat on a cloud with a harp next to Elvis trying to persuade him to come and do a gig at the Apollo in Ardwick. Alternatively if Tony has faked his death as well I guess they'd be sat wearing false beards in a posh bar in Castlefield.
Either way, he'd be telling Elvis that Manchester had the best, weather, the best venues, the best Hamburgers, anything. Because in Tony's eyes it always was.
Nice one Tony. R.I.P.
By the way, not in too much peace Mr Wilson, first weekend of the premiership season, City won, United drew, Rooney out injured. Nice one.
Now then, when's that gig?
On the football front, as you can imagine, I have a certain and immediate dislike to anyone who supports the team known as the scum here in Manchester, but to Tony's credit, he always hated City. Not as much as Liverpool, but he always hated the blue half of Manchester football.
This may appear an odd reason to like him, but with the ups and downs of city over the last 30 odd years the bulk of united fans see us as a nothing team, not really competition for the mighty red global merchandising machine. A large proportion of the glory hunting southern fans probably don't even know Manchester has two teams.
So for Tony to dislike us, and see his lip curl almost into a snarl when he had to mention us on Granada reports, was always a pleasure - as it was a sign of recognition. We may have been (and probably still are) a pin prick in the side of United, but at least we could still annoy them.
The second reason that I liked, nay loved, Tony Wilson was his undying love of Manchester.
As people who know me, or come to know me through this blog will realise, I am no patriot. I dislike any form of nationalist behaviour (Especially in Football) and am not even that keen on the whole "Northern" thing. But I am a proud Mancunian. Ask me to explain the difference between regional pride and national pride and I couldn't. I just love Manchester.
And so did Tony. No matter what he did or what happened in his life, he was always banging the Manchester drum.
Even now, I can see him, sat on a cloud with a harp next to Elvis trying to persuade him to come and do a gig at the Apollo in Ardwick. Alternatively if Tony has faked his death as well I guess they'd be sat wearing false beards in a posh bar in Castlefield.
Either way, he'd be telling Elvis that Manchester had the best, weather, the best venues, the best Hamburgers, anything. Because in Tony's eyes it always was.
Nice one Tony. R.I.P.
By the way, not in too much peace Mr Wilson, first weekend of the premiership season, City won, United drew, Rooney out injured. Nice one.
Now then, when's that gig?
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