Brian O’Driscoll explains love for Man United.
Former Ireland rugby captain Brian O’Driscoll has explained the reasons why he started supporting Manchester United as a youngster.
O’Driscoll predominantly grew up in the 1980s, when Liverpool’s dominance made them the popular choice for kids in Ireland when it came to choosing an English team to support.
Despite the fact that Man United were more of a ‘cup team’ throughout the decade, they still had a fair amount of support on these shores, and for O’Driscoll, it was a family connection that swayed his preference for the Old Trafford club.
Cousins influence Brian O’Driscoll’s Man United support.
“The reason I’m a Man United fan is because I have cousins from Manchester, and they came over when I was five years of age,” said O’Driscoll, on a recent episode of Life With Brian: The Brian McClair Podcast.
“They said ‘who do you support?’ and I was like ‘I don’t know’. A lot of my pals were Liverpool fans at the time. They said ‘you support Man United,’ and I said ‘right’ and that was it from then on in.
“I was buying VHS tapes when they were barely featuring in the late-1980s and sure enough, the timing came brilliantly, early-1990s, then you had this phenomenal 20-year period where they’ve been exceptional and been the standard-bearer in English football.”
Man United fan.
O’Driscoll also revealed his love for Mark Hughes, adding that a friend of his preferred McClair, who started up front alongside the Welshman in the late-80s and early-90s.
A successful career in rugby would follow for the young O’Driscoll, which coincided with another period of dominance for United in the 2000s and early-2010s.
Since he retired in 2014, United haven’t been the force they once were, but the 44-year-old is sure to have enjoyed watching Erik ten Hag’s men lift the Carabao Cup at Wembley on Sunday.
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