Why I’m a Red: Oxford and Banbury’s Mick Thorne
One day, there was an advert put in the Oxford Mail by the coach company that used to do the Oxford branch. We went along to the meeting about it and I came away having been talked into being secretary!
I said I’d do it for a year. Forty-nine years later, I’m still here doing it!
I actually formed the Oxford and Banbury branch from three branches – there was originally an Oxford branch, a Banbury branch, and a small Bicester branch. All were unaffiliated in those days. They were just small groups of Man U supporters.
Since we were formed in 1974, we’ve run at least one coach to every single competitive home game. That’s really remarkable. We still do it now.
We’ve got just over 200 official members and we’ve got 60 season-ticket holders. The coach is a family thing. We get single women, women bringing their young kids, guys bringing their kids. We have three generations of my family! There’s myself, my son and we’ve got seven grandkids that go. Five of them are season-ticket holders in their own right now.
On an average matchday, there’s nine of my family on the coach and at Old Trafford!
