When Eric Cantona of Manchester United did his amazing Kung-fu kick on an obnoxious Crystal Palace supporter seventeen years ago this month, I was there. By chance I was also an eye-witness thirty-five years earlier when United's goalkeeper Harry Gregg spectacularly whacked a spectator at Luton Town in April, 1960, knocking him to the ground.

Over the past few weeks, with Manchester United keen to extend Paul Pogba's contract with the club, there have been rumours linking him with a move to Italian clubs. The papers suggested that the talented youngster would be able to leave on a free this summer although the manager has today confirmed we have the option to extend his current deal for another year.

It has been estimated that Manchester United have 333 million supporters in over 200 countries, providing an astonishing cumulative audience of 4.2 billion television viewers watching the team in 2010-11. It would be lovely to think we're all one big happy family but it's probably no exaggeration to say that millions of those very fans have no idea that the name they routinely use for their favourite club irritates the hell out of untold thousands of others.

Welcome one and all. The first post in the Scottish Football Blog's 24 hour blogathon. Enjoy.
A perfect starting point, then, suggested by the Twitter fixture that is @steakheed
This might seem like a bit of a cheat. People who read this blog will know I don't shy from a spot of Hibernian navel gazing.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl's NHL stars

6 February 1958 was the darkest day in Man Utd's history when 23 members of its football team were killed after their plane crashed trying to take off a runaway at Munich airport. Amongst them their best and brightest talent including the prodigious Duncan Edwards.

There is an argument to be made that Gordon Smith is the forgotten giant of Scottish football.
Although his memory lives on with those lucky enough to have seen him play, recognition for his exploits as a player and for his unique acheivements seems to have slipped away.
Yet his was a remarkable career: five league championships with Hibs, Hearts and Dundee.

It was a sobering day for Arsenal's fans at Old Trafford today as they witnessed the systematic dismantling of their "talented" team at the hands of a group of players who have taken over their mantle as the best young team in the Premiership. The final score of 8-2 savagely exposed all of Arsenal's shortcomings that have been simmering under the surface for a couple of seasons now.

For all the talk of which player will be going where as the transfer window creaks to a close, there can be little question that, for all the attention lavished upon player transfers, it is the appointment of a new manager that can truly be the existence-changing moment in the entire history of a football club.

"Well, that was the most boring thing you've ever taken to me."
The harsh verdict of a boy of around ten on How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won The FA Cup. Proving, if nothing else, that this play might not be for everyone. And that Edinburgh's public school production line of precocious little bastards continues apace.

There can be few more thrilling experiences than watching Manchester United come from being two goals behind at Wembley to beat 'noisy neighbours' Manchester City 3-2 with a last minute winner in the Community Shield. However much City may now try to dismiss the occasion as simply a 'pre-season warm up' it's still a terrific feeling to see so many United youngsters rising to the occasion in classic Busby Babes' style, all those players like Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck, each giving hope that another generation of 'kids' is coming through at Old Trafford.

"I once wrote to Sir Matt Busby to ask if I could be a ball boy at Old Trafford and he made it happen right away. I worked there between the ages of nine and 11. Even today, the club still supports...
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Nickspinkboots' Note: Readers, please welcome Kiran Vr, a United fan who takes his football very seriously. He's the editor-in-chief of Inside Manchester United, a blog for all things United and more. This is his first guest post here, and if you critters behave yourselves then it won't be his last.

27.05.2011 - Fue en Wembley (1968) donde el Manchester United de Matt Busby produjo el milagro (ante el Benfica de Eusebio) de llevar por primera vez la Copa de Europa a Inglaterra (el mismo MU que luego perdería la Intercontinental con Estudiantes).
Fue también en Wembley que, luego de dos intentos frustrados (1961 y 1986), el Barcelona de Cruyff (con Guardiola en cancha) conquistó su primera Copa de Europa (1992).

When Ernie Walker was in charge of the SFA everything in the world was perfect.
Obviously it wasn't.
But when I were a lad and Ernie ruled the roost Scotland qualified for World Cups. All the time. Five qualifications in a row he presided over.
Ah, to be back in the day for just one shining moment of optimism.

In a smoky, wood-panelled boardroom, Welshman Jimmy Murphy portrayed by David Tennant in the BBC's new dramatisation of Munich, United hears the words "For the time being we are going to shut down Manchester United Football Club."

It's only days after Munich.

In a smoky, wood-panelled boardroom, Welshman Jimmy Murphy portrayed by David Tennant in the BBC's new dramatisation of Munich, United hears the words "For the time being we are going to shut down Manchester United Football Club."

It's only days after Munich.

Obviously it would be preferable if City did not use the label "Munichs" as a derogatory term for their neighbours and rivals, but they do, and have been using it for many years. Regrettable as that may be, and distasteful as the whole topic might appear to anyone with a normal sense of values, it is possibly worth saying that the use of a nickname is not quite as offensive as imitating aeroplanes and singing the infamous runway song.

To borrow a phrase, football makes strange bedfellows. It is not entirely uncommon for a manager to lead one club for years only to depart for said club's principal rival, at times irking supporters on both sides of the divide. Some have become so adept at hopping into the enemy's bed though, they feel no compunction about doing it a couple times, as Harry Redknapp demonstrated last decade by leaving Portsmouth for Southampton only to make a return engagement with Pompey.

Duncan Edwards (1 October 1936 – 21 February 1958) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United and the England national team. He was one of the Busby Babes, the young United team...
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"You have to respect Sir Alex's achievements at United though, don't you?"

Well no, not at all actually. I can't understand why any normal person wouldn't hate the scum. They represent everything that has been wrong with English football since 1990. The evil empire, and not a football club, but a Chinese tourist's idea of what a football club is like.

A moment of repose before the big day ahead.
6th February 1958.
A plane crashes on a runway in Munich. 23 of the 44 passengers die, including eight Manchester United
players.
Among them was Duncan Edwards. It is football's tragedy that we will never know the player he could have been:
Is it possible that Duncan Edwards was really that good?

Football lends itself supremely well to the pursuit of counterfactual history.
Maybe that's particularly true of international football in Scotland with our litany of perceived hard luck stories and our decades old theme of being governed by diddies.
There is an argument that counterfactual history is little more than a distraction to the real study of history, a parlour game that shouldn't detract from more serious business.