Carryduff MUSC

25/05/2026

The Committee would like to thank all our members who attended our 35th Annual General Meeting on Friday past.

Well done to all the members who won top attendees' awards. Photo's attached in no particular order.

The treasurer has asked for all outstanding bank transfers in respect of membership for the 2026/27 season to be paid immediately.

The committee are having a well deserved break. No memberships or questions are being responded too. For all queries and anyone still to renew their membership please attend the first Branch meeting for the new season on:

Tuesday 23rd June 2026
7.30pm
Belfast Boat Club
Lockview Road
Strandmillis.

New members are very welcome to join on the night.

John White
Branch Secretary

24/05/2026

Brighton and Hove Albion 0- 3 United



Well done Michael Carrick.



Many Congratulations.



I will say again that he was not my choice for manager but I will support him. And, to be fair since he took over a sinking ship in January 2026 from the totally ruderless Ruben Amorim, I can’t argue against the statistics he has notched-up since.



Played 17, Won 12, Drew 3, Lost 2, Goals For 30, Goals Against 16. Win Ratio 70.59%. Compare his Win Ratio to other United Managers post The Boss who were in charge for 17 games or more:

Ruben Amorim - 38.10%

Erik ten Hag - 54.69%

Ralf Rangnick - 37.93%

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - 54.17%

Jose Mourinho - 58.33%

Luis van Gaal - 52.43%

David Moyes - 52.94%



Rangnick was supposed to be a Professor of Football, almost like another Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. Methodical, Well Prepared against upcoming opponents, a Disciplinarian, he knew the Science involved for players to maximise their output from their diet to their mental state of mind. The manager at my local Library would have done a better job. And as for Amorim, supposedly the hottest ticket on the Managerial Merry-Go-Round across Europe at the time, and who was supposedly coveted by a plethora of Top European sides. Fair play to Liverpool who looked at him to replace Jurgen Klopp, but instead put their coin in a different Slot on the Roulette Table of available managers. Liverpool’s decision paid dividends but now they are reconsidering whether to opt for High or Low on Arne Slot for next season. With the departure of Liverpool’s Egyptian King, a modern day Football Pharoah, Mo Salah, I think Slot may be out the Exit Door at Anfield not too long after Mo packs his suitcases for a trip to John Lennon Airport.



“You say, "Yes", I say, "No"

You say, "Stop" and I say, "Go, go, go"

Oh, no!

You say, "Goodbye" and I say, "Hello, hello, hello"

I don't know why you say, "Goodbye", I say, "Hello, hello, hello"

I don't know why you say, "Goodbye", I say, "Hello"

I say, "High", you say, "Low"

You say, "Why?"

And I say, "I don't know"

Oh, no!”

Lyrics from Hello, Goodbye by The Beatles



So, back to our appointment of Amorim and his catastrophic time in charge of us. Whoever at Old Trafford pulled the trigger on the gun in a game of Russian Roulette to appoint him as our Manager needs to reload that same gun and put a bullet in all six chambers and aim the gun at his temple.



Today’s victory was a good one. Let’s be honest The Seagulls, in this case Sardines, have got the better of us since Eric Cantona decided he was no longer interested in being the captain of us, the world’s Greatest Football Club, and steering our ship, the one on our Crest not Eric’s Trawler, to greater Glory having inspired us to 4 Premier League titles, 2 FA Cups (two Doubles) in the five years, 1992-97, he captivated us, placed us under his Spell, and took us all to the Promised Land. He was our Moses in Biblical terms.



Bruno Fernandes added the outright record for assists in a season to his Premier League and Football Writers' Association Player of the Year awards, and then scored a goal himself as Michael Carrick's first game in permanent charge ended in victory at Brighton and Hove Albion.



Gong into the game we were beaten on four of our previous seven visits to this stadium, but my Fellow Reds who traveled to the South Coast on a blistering hot day revelled in Carrick's 12th victory since taking charge.



Let’s be honest after the Leeds United game which proved to be Amorim’s last game in charge of us, did you ever think we would finish third in the Table and secure Champions League football? Hands Up if you did. My hands are at my side. No one has helped more to achieve that than Fernandes and, after equalling the Premier League Assists record jointly held by Thierry Henry and Kevin de Bruyne against Nottingham Forest last week, he claimed it on his own when Patrick Dorgu powered home his first-half corner.



A brilliant one-two between Amad Diallo and Mason Mount created a second for Bryan Mbeumo before Fernandes drilled home a third three minutes after the restart.



I used lyrics from a Beatles song for Mo Salah earlier so I think it is only fair that I find suitable lyrics for our future King of Old Trafford to let him know that I never want him to leave us.



“You're in my heart, you're in my soul

You'll be my breath should I grow old

You are my lover, you're my best friend

You're in my soul

My love for you is immeasurable

My respect for you immense

You're ageless, timeless, lace and fineness

You're beauty and elegance

You're a rhapsody, a comedy

You're a symphony and a play

You're every love song ever written

But honey, what do you see in me?

You're in my heart, you're in my soul

You'll be my breath should I grow old

You are my lover, you're my best friend

You're in my soul

You're an essay in glamor

Please pardon the grammar

But you're every schoolboy's dream

You're Celtic, United, but baby, I've decided

You're the best team I've ever seen”

You’re In My Heart by Rod Stewart



So, looking forward to Seaaon 2026-27 and Champions League football.



Onwards and Upwards.



Keep The Red Flag Flying High.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbwV5XX6phU



John White

Branch Secretary

► Subscribe to Sky Sports Retro: http://bit.ly/SkySportsRetroSub"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into t...

23/05/2026

A message from Norman Whiteside to all Carryduff members. GGMU

22/05/2026

Today is the day - it's our AGM!

22nd May 2026

7.00pm for registration
7.30pm start

12 Belfast Boat Club
Lockview Road
Belfast
BT9 5FJ

All welcome

21/05/2026

2026 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

FRIDAY 22 MAY 2026

7.00PM - REGISTRATION

7.30PM - START

BELFAST BOAT CLUB, LOCKVIEW ROAD, STRANMILLIS, BELFAST



This is your opportunity to renew your Branch Membership for Season 2026-27. When the Fixture List for the new season is published those members who attend 5e AGM will be the first to be offered a place on a Branch Trip for the first few games.

It is also your only chance to try on and buy one of the 11 new Branch garments.

Hoping Branch members can attend and please bring our juniors also.

John White

Branch Secretary

17/05/2026

MANCHESTER UNITED 3-2 NOTTINGHAM FOREST

So, a second successive 3-2 home victory with the win over Liverpool securing us Champions League football for the first time in two years, whilst this victory today guarantees us third place, securing only a fifth top-three finish since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

I thought we were very lucky to escape with a 3-2 win today.

My Player Ratings:

Lammens - 7/10, so glad to finally sign a goalkeeper from Transylvania who is not a Count Dracula impersonator, and actually welcomes Crosses!

Shaw- Flawless, did his job.

Dalot - did Colonel Saunders die yesterday? Our Headless Chicken had a decent game for a change.

Martinez - The Butcher chopped up the Forest attack.

Maguire - Big Slab Head was Imperious, won every tackle in the air and on the ground. Such an improved player from two seasons ago.

Mainoo - My Man of the Match. Can’t still get why Ruben Amorim never played him.

Bruno - too Yappy. Handbags for Glad Rags. But, he was sensational in pressing the defence and driving us forward, although Amad was not on the same Hymn Sheet.

Amad - Just makes me Mad. Why has his form dipped so much since he came from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Cunha - he scored but he is still too ball greedy.

Mbeumo - he also scored but he was off his game today.

Casemiro - Farewell to a Legend

And, if Joshua Zirkzee is a Professional Footballer then I am a professional Surfer. But, Hey, I have never surfed in my life. I was born and bred in the Short Strand area of East Belfast. The River Lagan was beside me but it was not for surfing. The only Surf I knew was a kid was the white powder my Mum, May God Rest Her, was the white powdered, SURF WASHING POWDER, she put in the washing machine to clean my Wrangler jeans.

So, what awaits us next season?

The hard work might only just be beginning.

Third in a 40-game season, with no Europe and exits at the first hurdle from both domestic cups – before Carrick arrived – is an achievement. However, in the storied history of the club, which the 44-year-old was a central part of for 12 years, it is at the bottom end of the ambition scale.

Asked for his view on what improvements United needed to make to get to the level required, Carrick offered this appraisal.

"There's a couple of sides to it," he said.

"There is understanding the position we want to get to from where we've been and understanding what steps that takes.

"You want to keep improving but the closer you get to the top of the league, the harder it gets. You've got to make big steps, but it's harder to make those big steps.

"Certainly, evolving the group is one thing. That's not a negative on the group as it is now, we've got a good group of players we want to try to improve and get better.

"Is that additions, or additions and some of the younger players, who will be better for it again with an extra season of experience?

"There is no magic ingredient. It's hard work, a bit of brains, a bit of intelligence and good players as well."

So, what is in Carrick's 'in tray'?

Last summer's recruitment was excellent. Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Senne Lammens have all made a positive contribution.

This summer needs to be just as good.

For a start, United need to sign at least two, possibly three, central midfielders.

They have been linked with several players including Brighton's Carlos Baleba – who they were keen to sign last summer and may be available this time for substantially less than the £100m fee being bandied around 12 months ago.

Then there is Ederson from Atalanta, Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton, Bournemouth duo Tyler Adams and Alex Scott, Mateus Fernandes from West Ham and Aurelien Tchouameni, who was involved in that huge bust-up with Real Madrid team-mate Federico Valverde.

At the top of the list in England's Eliot Anderson, who for the second time this season was outstanding against United for Forest.

It was Anderson who was the supplier for Morato's equaliser just as it was Anderson who was rampaging through the home midfield in the first half.

It did appear Forest boss Vitor Pereira was damning the 23-year-old with faint praise when he reacted to a question about Anderson's performance by stating it came "in an open game".

However, Pereira's other words left no doubt.

"He has the talent to be one of the top of the top," he said.

"He can score more goals and take a little bit more risk in the last third because he has a very good shot.

"It depends on the system. If we give him total freedom to build the play, he can do everything. But we are playing with two midfielders, which is a system that doesn't give him total freedom to create.

"He needs to understand when the other one loses their position, he cannot, but he has a lot of talent. He is young and will fly with big wings."

In addition to central midfield, Carrick needs a left-sided player, presumably in defence to support Luke Shaw given Patrick Dorgu, signed as a wing-back, is seen as more of an attacking player than a defender.

United may also need cover for Lammens in goal and Sesko in attack.

This is a key question. Carrick confirmed in his post-match address that Tyrell Malacia will join Casemiro in departing Old Trafford this summer. The same is also true of Jadon Sancho and Rasmus Hojlund, whose loan to Napoli will become permanent now they have qualified for the Champions League.

There is uncertainty over another on-loan pair Andre Onana and Marcus Rashford purely on account of their wages but inside Carrick's squad there are players few external observers believe are good enough.

Joshua Zirkzee was introduced into the game against Forest, Manuel Ugarte was not. Tears would not be shed by supporters if the pair were not around next season.

Mason Mount has been linked with a summer move away from Old Trafford but speaking in the last couple of weeks, the former Chelsea star gave every indication of wanting to be part of next season's push for honours.

United blocked a potential return to Turkey for back-up goalkeeper Altay Bayindir in January. They are unlikely to do so again this summer.

Will Shea Lacey and JJ Gabriel get a chance in pre-season?

Tyler Fletcher and JJ Gabriel collected respective Under-21 and Under-18 club player of the year awards prior to kick-off against Forest.

In a pre-season campaign that begins against Wrexham in Helsinki before the World Cup final is over, when any player involved in the tournament is likely to be missing, that pair are among the academy stars in line to get a chance to shine.

The same is also true of Tyler's twin brother Jack; England Under-20 international Shea Lacey and Jacob Devaney, who has done so well on loan at St Mirren over the second half of the season. United's Under-18 skipper Dan Armer impressed United coaches in the FA Youth Cup final. Midfielder Jim Thwaites did not do as well but has shown enough promise to get on the first-team bench last month.

All are likely to be given a chance. The big question is which players will take it.

What about Carrick's coaching team.

If Carrick's appointment is fait-accompli, the unknown is what will his coaching team look like?

It would seem fairly obvious Steve Holland, Jonathan Woodgate and Jonny Evans will continue. Travis Binnion has impressed with his work on the attacking side but he already holds a crucial role as head of player development within the club's academy.

Binnion has been almost ever-present at youth games since moving into the senior coaching team. With substantially more games, it is impractical to think he could continue to do both jobs.

Carrick may also look to broaden his coaching team. Aaron Danks worked with the former midfielder at Middlesbrough and has been linked with a move to United from Bayern Munich, where he currently works under Vincent Kompany.

17/05/2026

New Branch leisurewear available for order at our AGM.

Friday 22nd May 2026.
7.30pm
Belfast Boat Club, Lockview Road Belfast.

The committee

17/05/2026

Match Day!

Members leaving the hotel for the last home game of the season. Bring on United!

15/05/2026

MANCHESTER UNITED v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Branch Trip

Pick -Up Times and Meeting Points
Saturday 16 May 2026
7.00am - Bus Stop, opposite Ivanhoe Hotel, Saintfield Road, Belfast
7.30am - Great Northern Tower/Cafe Nero, Great Victoria Street, Belfast
10.15am Stena sailing from Dublin to Holyhead
We are staying for 2 night at the Shrigley Hall Hotel.
All members going to the game have been sent a Branch season ticket and are asked to check their Manchester United App to see it.

New Branch clothing. We have 11 different items and you can only buy them at our Annual General Meeting next Friday.

John White
Branch Secretary

14/05/2026

BUSBY’s LAST LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE AND THE TRINITY



It was 59 years ago this week that Manchester United won their seventh and last ever English First Division Championship League title, Season 1966-67.



We were Champions of England in 1907-08, 1910-11, 1951-52, 1955-56, 1956-57 and 1964-65.



it was Matt Busby’s third Pennant to fly proudly from the highest Stand at Old Trafford, a Red & White triangular flag that said to visit fans - Welcome to the home of English Football’s Best Team, Reigning English Champions.



Alex Ferguson, Fergie, The Boss, King of Hair-dyers (David Beckham do you recall a flying football boot), King of Spin (I would love it if we beat them - remember the Kevin Keegan moment? He’s Cracking Up and Cheer Up Kevin Keegan ….” added 13 Premier League titles to the 5 Sir Matt Busby won. Ernest Mangnall guided us to League Championship glory in 1907-08, 1910-11, and to our first FA Cup,success in 1909, a 1-0 victory over Bristol City.



Denis Law, May He Forever Rest In Peace, was our Top Goalscorer in Season 1966-67. He bagged 25 goals, 23 in the League alone. Sir Bobby Charlton and the immortal George Best are currently playing on the same team as The Lawman in Heaven today. Denis is still celebrating a goal with his customary salute of right arm raised high, index finger pointed upwards to the sky with his cuff rolled up inside a clenched fist. Bobby is the same old Bobby, scoring goals from distance with nonchalant ease, coolly unconcerned, casual as if to say “It’s just a goal.” Bestie on the other hand celebrated his goals on and off the pitch, both arms raised upwards with his head titled back as his long black hair sat neatly on his slim shoulders when the ball nestled in the back of the net and some hours later he was celebrating his strike once more only this time in a V.I.P. Booth at a Manchester Nightclub, he did not open his own Nightclub named “Slack Alice” until 1973, with no doubt several bottles of Champagne.

Eric Cantona once famously said: “I am not a man. I am Cantona.”

For me I think Denis would have matched this with: “I am Denis The Menace, Manchester United’s Lawman, who is feared by all teams across Europe and beyond.”

Sir Bobby: “My name is Robert Charlton, a Busby Babe, who is proud to wear the shirt of Manchester United and my country, England.”

And, so to Bestie. My goodness there are so many Quotes that spring to mind. The obvious one is:

“Pele called me the greatest footballer in the world. That's the ultimate salute to my life.”



But, if I was asked to supply a single quote for my Boyhood Hero, and George I miss you so much, the Stylo Boots we both wore are still unavailable, the FORE aftershave is no longer produced, but, in tribute to you, I am still enjoying “The Best Family Sausages.” Cookstown Sausages of course. I do not even look at the ingredients of them, letstface it, they are not the equivalent of Mark’s & Spencer’s range of sausages, but I could not care less because every single time I put a fork into one, I hold it up and look at it, and think back to my childhood when I just wanted to be my Hero, that’s you George.

So back to my line for George, and hopefully my Dad, who attends all of your games in Heaven, will agree with his son, is the following which is inspired by a song from The Who entitled “Who Are You?”

”My name is George Best.

Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Oh, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Come on and tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Oh, who the f**k are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)”

Busby’s Crown would not be matched again for 26 years when Alex Ferguson guided United to the inaugural Premier League title in Season 1992-93.

https://youtu.be/PNbBDrceCy8



John White

A promo film for The Who’s 1978 single ‘Who Are You’ from the album of the same name. Filmed at The Who’s Ramport Studios in Battersea, London on 4 May 1978 ...