Football’s back, but it’s not just the return of the action on the pitch. After an enforced season of absence, it’s also the fans back in the stadiums, and that’s the reality of football being back. And with its true return, so to does Framed, with our lens focused on Old Trafford and the Man United v Leeds game.
With the absence of fans over the last 18 months, Framed sort of lost its relevance; this was, after all, a series designed to showcase matches in their purest sense through an expert lens, taking people that otherwise couldn’t make it along to the game and right into the stadium, and offering the full match day experience from the perspective of the fans. But now football’s back, fans are back, and so is Framed. First up for the 21/22 season we headed to a tasty encounter at Old Trafford, which saw Manchester United entertain Leeds United. Back with a bang.
With the Theatre of Dreams rocking at near capacity, the returning home fans couldn’t have asked for a better show. Paul Pogba pulling the strings with four assists, Bruno Fernandes back on song with a hat trick after a lacklustre Euro display, the only smudge coming from Luke Ayling’s sumptuous strike that actually had the visitors level for a spell. But 5-1 didn’t flatter the hosts. After 17 months of empty seats and eerily quiet stadiums, Old Trafford was rocking to the beat of a fully firing Manchester United. Unfortunately for Leeds, they were on the receiving end of the mauling, however, even the travelling fans would probably take that and be in the stadium to see it. The glorious chorus of chants and songs, of taunts and celebrations, of groans and commiserations, all contained within the confines of a stadium. It's good to be back.
Photography by Maximilian Hetherington for SoccerBible.