To help with the lack of footballing knowledge on Jwned " The Rags"

Luton, Beds, Adrian.

The Rags

How United became the 'Rags'Updated:I’ve always wondered how United got to be nicknamed the ‘Rags’, until I found a fascinating snippet in Gary James’ Manchester - The Greatest City.

It appears the name was given to them by their own fans.

During the 1930-31 season, United were in a wretched state. The club teetered on the brink of bankruptcy and were attracting crowds of less than 4,000 for some games - despite still being in Division 1.

Harry Hughes, a City fan working in Trafford, tells this story:

“I worked in Trafford then, and all the locals were United fans. I was working nights and when Saturday morning arrived a couple of them asked ‘are you going to see the Rags today?’ I didn’t know what that meant, and then they explained that United fans had started to call the team the ‘Rags’ because they were so poor and that their kit looked liked rags. So after that I knew who they meant, but when I mentioned the Rags, they’d go, ‘who the Hell are you talking about?’ They didn’t like the opposition saying it.”

The poor level of support continued throughout the 1930s. When war broke out in 1939 an immediate ban was placed on the assembly of large crowds. The joke doing the rounds in Manchester was that United would have nothing to worry about.

There’s another great Rags story told by Howard Burr, secretary of the Reddish Blues. Full story here.

In 1968, Howard’s father was manager of the Umbro factory in Stockport. When United reached the European Cup final they put in a rushed order for the kit. The material his dad used had been lying about in the factory since the place was built and was full of dust and cobwebs.

In fact, some of the machinists were upset it was being used because they used to cut lengths off the roll to take home for dusters.

~ For the record, I should point out that Old Trafford did get the odd huge gate in the 1930s. In March 1939 the ‘Theatre of Empty Seats’ drew a crowd of 76,962 - when Wolves played Grimsby in the FA Cup semi-final.

Manchester - The Greatest City is currently out of stock at Amazon, but you can find more books on City by Gary James and other authors here. Other book sellers are listed in our Shopping section here.
How United became the 'Rags'Updated: December 20th, 2006I’ve always wondered how United got to be nicknamed the ‘Rags’, until I found a fascinating snippet in Gary James’ Manchester - The Greatest City.

It appears the name was given to them by their own fans.

During the 1930-31 season, United were in a wretched state. The club teetered on the brink of bankruptcy and were attracting crowds of less than 4,000 for some games - despite still being in Division 1.

Harry Hughes, a City fan working in Trafford, tells this story:

“I worked in Trafford then, and all the locals were United fans. I was working nights and when Saturday morning arrived a couple of them asked ‘are you going to see the Rags today?’ I didn’t know what that meant, and then they explained that United fans had started to call the team the ‘Rags’ because they were so poor and that their kit looked liked rags. So after that I knew who they meant, but when I mentioned the Rags, they’d go, ‘who the Hell are you talking about?’ They didn’t like the opposition saying it.”

The poor level of support continued throughout the 1930s. When war broke out in 1939 an immediate ban was placed on the assembly of large crowds. The joke doing the rounds in Manchester was that United would have nothing to worry about.

There’s another great Rags story told by Howard Burr, secretary of the Reddish Blues. Full story here.

In 1968, Howard’s father was manager of the Umbro factory in Stockport. When United reached the European Cup final they put in a rushed order for the kit. The material his dad used had been lying about in the factory since the place was built and was full of dust and cobwebs.

In fact, some of the machinists were upset it was being used because they used to cut lengths off the roll to take home for dusters.

~ For the record, I should point out that Old Trafford did get the odd huge gate in the 1930s. In March 1939 the ‘Theatre of Empty Seats’ drew a crowd of 76,962 - when Wolves played Grimsby in the FA Cup semi-final.


There you go, many stories like this, I've spoken to a Blues fan and he knew the story back to front, also claimed there are many differant versions of it also claimed the Gallagher brothers have refered to Man Utd as the rags many times on TV, said Man Utd fans always like to deny the story but he thought it was common knowledge.

The Howard Burr version.

Held in high esteem by City fans.


Rags The Story





RAGS - WHERE DID IT ALL BEGIN?

Let me tell you a story. Cast your minds back to 1968. We are League Champions and those sad Red b@st@rds were stealing our thunder - not for the first time - by playing Benfica in the European Cup final. They lost the toss for choice of colours and chose to play in blue. My father - a life long Blue (it's in the blood you know) - at the time was manager of the Umbro sportswear factory based at 63 Union Street, Stockport. The call came from their Head Office at Wilmslow, "Ken, we're doing the kits for Utd. and I want you at Stockport to do them and we've got to move quickly as they want them for a photo call". Now you can imagine my dad's reaction - like fcuk we will, they can join the queue and wait their turn just like everyone else (except City). Time was ticking by and everyone (except my dad) was getting a bit frustrated. Then the big day came - out came the blue material for the European Cup final shirts. It had been lying about in the factory since the place was built. it was full of dust and cobwebs - in fact the machinists were upset it was being used because they use to cut lengths off the roll to take home for dusters! Yes the scum were being turned out at Wembley dressed in Rags!

Good old dad. God I was proud of him. I couldn't wait to get to school and tell everyone! So the material was marked out and cut. Now before anything could be sewn together the embroidering has to take place. Phone call to Head Office: "what's going on the front of these European Cup final shirts?" was my dad's question. "The City of Manchester Coat of Arms" came the reply, short pause - "Pardon?", "The City of Manchester Coat of Arms", "Over my dead body!" Now this was the insult of all insults. Here's my old man doing his utmost to ridicule the Red b@st@rds by sending them out at Wembley dressed in rags and now they wanted him to put the City of Manchester Coat of Arms on the front. Enough was enough. There is no way on God's earth was my dad having anything to do with that. I still remember him coming home absolutely seething and refusing point blank to do it. Anyway, dad being dad, stood by his guns and the shirts were sent away for the embroidering to be done. I don't know where, and he doesn't know where, but done it was. But we could all sleep at night having the satisfaction of knowing that my dad had turned the Red b@st@rds out in the European Cup final dressed in material that was fit for nothing but Rags!

My dad went on to work for Umbro at Stockport up until he retired, nearly 50 years all told, and still gets great pleasure in telling this story today.

Howard Burr

Dont bring me into it, all I mentioned was listening to a Rod Stewart song.

As for lack of football knowledge, that is your opinion, which you are fully entitled to.

Some people lead extremely boring lives dont they

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:

Some people lead extremely boring lives dont they

Yes, you do, dont you

shouldnt you be on the Scum board sucking up

Thanks for the info, Mal.

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:shouldnt you be on the Scum board sucking up

Hey chap I hate all this lovey stuff as well, respect and admiratioin for each others teams just aint right

Bedshammer wrote:Thanks for the info, Mal.

Yes it made a captivating read Mal

Finn wrote:

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:shouldnt you be on the Scum board sucking up

Hey chap I hate all this lovey stuff as well, respect and admiratioin for each others teams just aint right

Says the guy who went up town to celebrate Villa winning the european cup

villanfromluton wrote:

Finn wrote:

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:shouldnt you be on the Scum board sucking up

Hey chap I hate all this lovey stuff as well, respect and admiratioin for each others teams just aint right

Says the guy who went up town to celebrate Villa winning the european cup

Only because I got a shag out of it!

Finn wrote:

villanfromluton wrote:

Finn wrote:

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:shouldnt you be on the Scum board sucking up

Hey chap I hate all this lovey stuff as well, respect and admiratioin for each others teams just aint right

Says the guy who went up town to celebrate Villa winning the european cup

Only because I got a shag out of it!

Morals is not a word you have heard of at the sty . As for getting a shag, she must have been desperate

villanfromluton wrote:Dont bring me into it, all I mentioned was listening to a Rod Stewart song.

As for lack of football knowledge, that is your opinion, which you are fully entitled to.

Nice to see the ice breaking, Luton. Mal saying you have a lack of football knowledge suggests that you have knowledge of other things. You should take that as a compliment from your old sparring partner. The rest of us know you know feck all about feck all.

jak wrote:

villanfromluton wrote:Dont bring me into it, all I mentioned was listening to a Rod Stewart song.

As for lack of football knowledge, that is your opinion, which you are fully entitled to.

Nice to see the ice breaking, Luton. Mal saying you have a lack of football knowledge suggests that you have knowledge of other things. You should take that as a compliment from your old sparring partner. The rest of us know you know feck all about feck all.

Okay, my opinion is he is an arrogant old who makes Victor Meldrew look happy, who the fcek wants to know about a rag

Malachite wrote:Luton, Beds, Adrian.

The Rags

How United became the 'Rags'Updated:I’ve always wondered how United got to be nicknamed the ‘Rags’, until I found a fascinating snippet in Gary James’ Manchester - The Greatest City.

It appears the name was given to them by their own fans.

During the 1930-31 season, United were in a wretched state. The club teetered on the brink of bankruptcy and were attracting crowds of less than 4,000 for some games - despite still being in Division 1.

Harry Hughes, a City fan working in Trafford, tells this story:


“I worked in Trafford then, and all the locals were United fans. I was working nights and when Saturday morning arrived a couple of them asked ‘are you going to see the Rags today?’ I didn’t know what that meant, and then they explained that United fans had started to call the team the ‘Rags’ because they were so poor and that their kit looked liked rags. So after that I knew who they meant, but when I mentioned the Rags, they’d go, ‘who the Hell are you talking about?’ They didn’t like the opposition saying it.”

The poor level of support continued throughout the 1930s. When war broke out in 1939 an immediate ban was placed on the assembly of large crowds. The joke doing the rounds in Manchester was that United would have nothing to worry about.

There’s another great Rags story told by Howard Burr, secretary of the Reddish Blues. Full story here.

In 1968, Howard’s father was manager of the Umbro factory in Stockport. When United reached the European Cup final they put in a rushed order for the kit. The material his dad used had been lying about in the factory since the place was built and was full of dust and cobwebs.

In fact, some of the machinists were upset it was being used because they used to cut lengths off the roll to take home for dusters.

~ For the record, I should point out that Old Trafford did get the odd huge gate in the 1930s. In March 1939 the ‘Theatre of Empty Seats’ drew a crowd of 76,962 - when Wolves played Grimsby in the FA Cup semi-final.

Manchester - The Greatest City is currently out of stock at Amazon, but you can find more books on City by Gary James and other authors here. Other book sellers are listed in our Shopping section here.
How United became the 'Rags'Updated: December 20th, 2006I’ve always wondered how United got to be nicknamed the ‘Rags’, until I found a fascinating snippet in Gary James’ Manchester - The Greatest City.

It appears the name was given to them by their own fans.

During the 1930-31 season, United were in a wretched state. The club teetered on the brink of bankruptcy and were attracting crowds of less than 4,000 for some games - despite still being in Division 1.

Harry Hughes, a City fan working in Trafford, tells this story:

“I worked in Trafford then, and all the locals were United fans. I was working nights and when Saturday morning arrived a couple of them asked ‘are you going to see the Rags today?’ I didn’t know what that meant, and then they explained that United fans had started to call the team the ‘Rags’ because they were so poor and that their kit looked liked rags. So after that I knew who they meant, but when I mentioned the Rags, they’d go, ‘who the Hell are you talking about?’ They didn’t like the opposition saying it.”

The poor level of support continued throughout the 1930s. When war broke out in 1939 an immediate ban was placed on the assembly of large crowds. The joke doing the rounds in Manchester was that United would have nothing to worry about.

There’s another great Rags story told by Howard Burr, secretary of the Reddish Blues. Full story here.

In 1968, Howard’s father was manager of the Umbro factory in Stockport. When United reached the European Cup final they put in a rushed order for the kit. The material his dad used had been lying about in the factory since the place was built and was full of dust and cobwebs.

In fact, some of the machinists were upset it was being used because they used to cut lengths off the roll to take home for dusters.

~ For the record, I should point out that Old Trafford did get the odd huge gate in the 1930s. In March 1939 the ‘Theatre of Empty Seats’ drew a crowd of 76,962 - when Wolves played Grimsby in the FA Cup semi-final.


There you go, many stories like this, I've spoken to a Blues fan and he knew the story back to front, also claimed there are many differant versions of it also claimed the Gallagher brothers have refered to Man Utd as the rags many times on TV, said Man Utd fans always like to deny the story but he thought it was common knowledge.

Well how interesting is this then?,,

villanfromluton wrote:

jak wrote:

villanfromluton wrote:Dont bring me into it, all I mentioned was listening to a Rod Stewart song.

As for lack of football knowledge, that is your opinion, which you are fully entitled to.

Nice to see the ice breaking, Luton. Mal saying you have a lack of football knowledge suggests that you have knowledge of other things. You should take that as a compliment from your old sparring partner. The rest of us know you know feck all about feck all.

Okay, my opinion is he is an arrogant old who makes Victor Meldrew look happy, who the fcek wants to know about a rag

That's rich from a fucker that's got years on me and thinks impotence is a position in life, if I'm arrogant you need to learn some humility Luton, you see Luton i'd like to see things from your perspective the problem is i can't get my head that far up my arse.

I'd like to be civil and say "well we will have to agree to disagree" but after a lot of thought!!!!! naaa don't think so.


This needs to be put to the bored, i propose a vote, a simple option for voters to decide on in the many disputed points between Luton and Malachite who do the board think is correct, thats it, Beds should put this up and Beds administers the red card and the loser is suspended for 1 month. The vote should run for 24hrs......that's it. ASAP.

Just think Luton if you win your ego will finally achieve greatness.

Dont be such a plonker, if you cant see that I was being sarcastic to Jak with my comments, you are not as bright as I thought you were.

I'm not prepared to get involved in a silly slanging match over a thread I have made little comment on, as for a vote, me thinks get a life

Malachite wrote:

villanfromluton wrote:

jak wrote:

villanfromluton wrote:Dont bring me into it, all I mentioned was listening to a Rod Stewart song.

As for lack of football knowledge, that is your opinion, which you are fully entitled to.

Nice to see the ice breaking, Luton. Mal saying you have a lack of football knowledge suggests that you have knowledge of other things. You should take that as a compliment from your old sparring partner. The rest of us know you know feck all about feck all.

Okay, my opinion is he is an arrogant old who makes Victor Meldrew look happy, who the fcek wants to know about a rag

That's rich from a fucker that's got years on me and thinks impotence is a position in life, if I'm arrogant you need to learn some humility Luton, you see Luton i'd like to see things from your perspective the problem is i can't get my head that far up my arse.

I'd like to be civil and say "well we will have to agree to disagree" but after a lot of thought!!!!! naaa don't think so.


This needs to be put to the bored, i propose a vote, a simple option for voters to decide on in the many disputed points between Luton and Malachite who do the board think is correct, thats it, Beds should put this up and Beds administers the red card and the loser is suspended for 1 month. The vote should run for 24hrs......that's it. ASAP.

Just think Luton if you win your ego will finally achieve greatness.

Cracking stuff mal.

villanfromluton wrote:Dont be such a plonker, if you cant see that I was being sarcastic to Jak with my comments, you are not as bright as I thought you were.

I'm not prepared to get involved in a silly slanging match over a thread I have made little comment on, as for a vote, me thinks get a life

Vote......why not, democratic and in itself i bit of fun, divisive i agree, and as you know only to well its not only this thread, have to say a vote is a good option,sorts it out, clears the air.


I'll pop back to see if Beds is up for it. The vote i mean.

Malachite wrote:

villanfromluton wrote:Dont be such a plonker, if you cant see that I was being sarcastic to Jak with my comments, you are not as bright as I thought you were.

I'm not prepared to get involved in a silly slanging match over a thread I have made little comment on, as for a vote, me thinks get a life

Vote......why not, democratic and in itself i bit of fun, divisive i agree, and as you know only to well its not only this thread, have to say a vote is a good option,sorts it out, clears the air.


I'll pop back to see if Beds is up for it. The vote i mean.

What exactly is there to sort out? If you read the thread, it is not me who is making comments about your story of the rags.

I agree, we need a vote

QBVILLA wrote:I agree, we need a vote

I agree that you need to keep that ugly mush of yours out of it, but I hope that you remember those tickets that may come your way if there is a vote

villanfromluton wrote:

QBVILLA wrote:I agree, we need a vote

I agree that you need to keep that ugly mush of yours out of it, but I hope that you remember those tickets that may come your way if there is a vote

I like the proposal Mal has put forward.It's fair and balanced and I find it insulting that you think you can buy my vote.TBH Lutes i think that you realise that you've gone too far this time and are feeling a tad embarrassed.I'd have a lot more respect for you if you put your hands up and just said sorry

QBVILLA wrote:

villanfromluton wrote:

QBVILLA wrote:I agree, we need a vote

I agree that you need to keep that ugly mush of yours out of it, but I hope that you remember those tickets that may come your way if there is a vote

I like the proposal Mal has put forward.It's fair and balanced and I find it insulting that you think you can buy my vote.TBH Lutes i think that you realise that you've gone too far this time and are feeling a tad embarrassed.I'd have a lot more respect for you if you put your hands up and just said sorry

I dont want your fceking respect and you can stick your vote up your hairy ass