How I became a Man Utd fan

Ronnie Whelan made me a Man Utd fan. This sounds odd, perhaps, but yet it is true. I was nine years old and was watching the League Cup final between Man Utd and Liverpool on TV. Actually, I think the tournament was called the 'Milk Cup' at the time. United played well in the first half, and went 1-0 up through an early Norman Whiteside goal. It looked like it this would be the only goal of the game, but United suffered several injuries and were practically playing with nine men towards the end (each team was only allowed one substitution in those days). This seem thoroughly unfair to me, as Gordon McQueen was limping around, unable to play yet still out on the pitch. With a few minutes to go, Liverpool equalized, unfortunately, and the game went into extra time. And in extra time, Ronnie Whelan scored what must have seemed like a beautiful goal to Liverpool fans - a curled shot that left  Gary Bailey no chance - but which I felt was cruel and unfair. I decided to support the team that was struck by such misfortune. I then read about the club's history, and realized that the club had had more than its fair share of tragedy, most notably the 1958 plane crash in Munich. Since then there has been no other club than Man Utd for me.