They Bleed Red, White and Black

With apologies to UWS from whom I shamelessly borrowed the format.

Name: Robert Crossley.

Age: 54.

Nickname: Robbo.

Where do you live? Huddersfield.

Marital status: Happily married to Carol since 2002.

Occupation: Systems Analyst.

Where do you sit inside OT? North Stand Tier 1 Upper (H stand in old money).

What was your first United match? Away v Huddersfield (30 January 1971), Home v Ipswich (4 September 1971).

Who is your favourite ever United player and why? Ronaldo. You shouldn’t need to ask why.

Favourite all-time United XI from players you have seen? Van der Sar; Gidman, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Ronaldo, Charlton, Robson (captain), Best; Law, Ruud. Subs: Wilkins, Beckham, Larsson, Rooney, Cantona.

Regarding the subs: No keeper as we could always use Rio or even Wazza who by all accounts is pretty handy between the sticks. No defenders as we could always drop Robbo back in an emergency. Wilkins and Beckham as they are two of my personal favourites from their eras and were both fantastic ambassadors for the club. (As with Ruud, Jaap Stam and Willie Morgan, they were both sold too early; I still believe that, had Big Ron kept Wilkins, we wouldn’t have had to wait until 1993 to finally get our hands on the elusive Championship). Larsson, Wazza and Eric as I’m a firm believer that you need players on the bench who can come on and change the course of the game when called upon, Larsson against the Arse in the 2006 Champions League final being a prime example.

Which one opposing player, if any, would you like to see playing for United and why? Dimitar Berbatov; pure class.

Now that my wish has come true and we've signed Berba it has to be Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, another Dutch goal machine like Ruud. However, given that he's already 25 and we're now (hopefully) sorted in the striker department for some years to come I think it's highly unlikely that we'll ever see him in the famous red shirt (2 September 2008).

David Silva; he was brilliant in the 45 minutes he played in the recent friendly against Valencia, very skilful and with an eye for the killer pass (14 August 2009).

Best ground you’ve seen United play in? OT.

Worst ground? The Goldstone Ground, Brighton.

Best atmosphere? Barcelona at home in 1984.

Favourite ever game? The 1983 FA Cup final replay as it was the first time I saw United pick up silverware (and the FA Cup was still a big deal 26 years ago).

Worst? Arsenal at home in 2002 when they clinched the Premiership.

In how many countries have you seen United play? A paltry two (England and Wales).

Favourite European trip and why? Never been on one, discretion being the better part of valour and all that.

Where would you most like to see United play? The Galpharm stadium, Huddersfield.

Most despised rival club and why? Liverpool. Got mightily sick of having them rammed down our throats throughout the 70s and 80s (yes, just as the ABUs have felt about us ever since).

Most despised rival player and why? Martin Keown. An ugly person and an ugly player to boot, epitomised by his disgraceful monkey antics against Ruud in September 2003 (pity Ruud smashed his penalty against the bar; we‘d never have heard of the vastly overrated ‘invincibles‘, or one-offs as I prefer, had he despatched it with his usual unerring accuracy).

What is the biggest sacrifice you have ever made to get to a game? I missed a very good friend’s fiftieth birthday bash but it was an FA Cup final!

What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever seen at the match? The look on Kevin Phillips’ face when Barthez chipped him with a perfect pass to Silvestre’s feet.

Fave magazine? Mojo.

Website? The Website of Dreams, an anorak‘s (wet) dream.

Newspaper? Express.

Film? The Austin Powers trilogy.

TV programme? I’m Alan Partridge.

City? Sydney.

Album? Endless Wire by The Who.

Do you collect any football-related memorabilia? Ticket stubs, although with the introduction of the Automatic Cup Scheme it’s now limited to the occasional away match and the home matches for which Carol doesn’t get chubbed.

Any chance encounters with United players? Once stood behind Andy Ritchie in the ticket office queue at the East Lancs Railway in Bury.

What’s your take on the Glazers? Obviously the debt is a major worry but the shirts have always been the be-all and end-all for me; after all, the Edwards family and the PLC used to get plenty of criticism, not always warranted IMHO .

Most attractive female in the public eye? Kym Marsh, formerly of Hear'Say and now a star of Corrie.

Can you play football to any sort of standard? Not really; represented the house at school and wasn’t bad at 5 a-side.

Describe a perfect day. United winning the FA Cup in the afternoon then an Eric Clapton gig in the evening (replay-aside, it happened on 21 May 1983).

How will United do next season (2008/09)? Based on my assumption that Ronnie will go and that we'll replace him with at least two top-notch players (an out-and-out striker, a left-sided midfielder to replace Giggs and possibly a right back) I believe that we'll win the Club World Championship - or whatever it is that Fifa call it - and one other trophy. If that other trophy happens to be an 18th League Champonship or a fourth Champions League then I'd be more than satisfied; to hope for a repeat of last season or 1999 would just be greedy. (23 June 2008).

Well, we've kept Ronnie - for now - and signed Berba so the squad is actually stronger than I predicted it would be in June. But I'm sticking with my earlier prediction, namely the Club World Championship and one other trophy, although the other trophy will have to be the Champions League again as the massive Berties have got the three domestic trophies sewn up already - or so you'd believe if you took any notice of the guff emanating from the Boo Camp! (2 September 2008).

That's the first part of my prediction safely negotiated - the Club World Cup - following our victory in yesterdays final against Liga de Quito of Ecuador. 2008 has been another vintage year for the club: champions of England, Europe and - nominally, at least - the world. The serious business of winning one or - hopefully - more of the four trophies still available resumes at Stoke on Boxing Day. (22 December 2008).

(2009/10) Well, farewell Ronnie and thanks for the memories. I for one will give you a big cheer when you next play at OT, as you probably will at some stage in your Real Madrid career. As for this season, I believe that we'll win one of the Champions League, Premiership and FA Cup. There's no doubt that we'll miss Ronnie although I believe we'll cope with altered tactics. We've lost great players before and prospered although none was at the time the best player in the world. I'd feel more confident if Hargreaves was back any time soon; if not, I feel we need to sign a stop-gap, how old's Marcos Senna now? (14 August 2009)