“Do it for Frank” is unlikely to type a part of ’s staff speak as head to West Ham this night. However maybe it ought to. It’s clear that when fan Frank Ilett vowed to not minimize his hair till his staff had received 5 video games in a row, he didn’t count on to be approaching 500 days with out stepping right into a barber’s, or for his look to have grown fairly so ridiculous, or to have gathered extra social media followers than some Manchester United first-team gamers. After 4 consecutive wins, although, he’s extraordinarily near his self-inflicted ordeal lastly being over.
Ilett’s problem started on 5 October 2024 and amid the membership’s worst-ever begin to a Premier League season. It was a little bit of a joke, the 29-year-old mentioned, with the hope of “spreading some humour and positivity” and serving to the membership’s supporters get by way of the “darkish days” – United had saved a wretched season the 12 months earlier than by profitable the FA Cup, nevertheless it was clear all was not effectively. By the top of the month, supervisor and the promise of the smiling Ruben Amorim arrived. On the time, the thought of a rejuvenated United happening a run was hardly inconceivable, however then the nosedive began. Below Amorim, United stumbled by way of the remainder of a doomed marketing campaign, ending fifteenth within the Premier League and dropping the Europa League remaining.
Because the losses mounted and United’s slide worsened, Ilett’s hair ballooned and the dimensions of his viewers did too. His varied ‘The United Strand’ accounts, throughout Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube, gained a whole lot of hundreds of followers, along with his day by day updates accumulating tens of millions of views. On the centre of every video was, after all, the hair, which with every passing month not solely grew longer however grew to become extra ridiculous, increasing outwards in each course, bobbing on prime of his head and hovering across the again of his neck like a thick shrub of floating fuel. United’s dismal finish of the season consigned Ilett to a complete summer season beneath this absurd, dense, bushy cloud. That the Oxford-born Ilett now lives in sunny Spain added to the load he was below.
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All through all of it, Ilett has remained positively upbeat and endlessly optimistic that United’s fortunes may flip. In doing so, he has additionally raised cash for the psychological well being charity Thoughts and, when he surpassed his earlier fundraising goal,; when Ilett is ultimately sheared, his locks shall be donated and became wigs for younger most cancers sufferers coping with hair loss. Whilst United have been so woeful, this has, at the very least, been an entertaining sideshow. Whereas it has been as infamous on this specific spell of the membership’s regular decline as Outdated Trafford’s leaky roof, Amorim’s 3-4-2-1, huge Sir Jim’s cuts and Roy Keane’s rants – it’s one that can, ultimately, convey some good into the world.
And but, for some, Ilett’s hair is an overgrown reminder of the depths United have fallen to, and a case research into the usually divisive influence of the viral on-line fan/content material creator. It was the poisonous ambiance that consumed the ultimate years of Arsene Wenger’s legendary reign at Arsenal, for instance, that proved fertile floor for the expansion of Arsenal Fan TV. Again then, a fuming post-match monologue outdoors the Emirates following the membership’s newest heavy defeat to Bayern Munich could be assured to slap, racking up tens of millions of views throughout digital platforms. As content material, AFTV was an unbelievable success. However to the loyal, match-going supporter, AFTV had been accused of gleefully feeding on the embarrassment and consuming up the hits. Arsenal are removed from the one Premier League membership to have skilled this cut up between factions.
Ilett has not but required , or had Outdated Trafford collectively chant “get out of our membership” for inadvertently highlighting their shortcomings. However that isn’t to say his problem has not been with out incident. In September, a grim clip of Ilett being assaulted within the concourse whereas attending United’s residence match in opposition to Chelsea was broadly shared on-line – along with his hair grabbed and forcefully yanked downwards by one other supporter, who was later banned from Outdated Trafford. Ilett informed the Manchester Night Information that he had been known as an “attention-seeking c**t” however reported that 99 per cent of all different reactions had been optimistic. Since then, his following on Instagram has tripled from nearly 400,000 to over 1.2m and fortunately, maybe for everybody, the top is in sight.
Manchester United have received 4 video games in a row for the primary time in nearly two years (Getty)
As head coach, Amorim mentioned he hoped United would discover the shape for Ilett to get his hair minimize as quickly as attainable. But it was that proved to be the turning level: with Michael Carrick on the wheel, United have overwhelmed Manchester Metropolis, Arsenal, Fulham and Tottenham in consecutive video games and head to West Ham tonight bidding for 5 wins in a row. It would have been 493 days since Ilett started his problem and the thrill is palpable: Carrick’s teenage kids, naturally, are followers and have made certain their dad is conscious. He joked he by letting them know what’s on the road on the London Stadium, though they too have been peppered with questions on Ilett every time they win a few video games in a row.
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“I can perceive what’s happening with it and it does make me smile, nevertheless it received’t have an effect,” Carrick maintained. A win for United would proceed their resurgence and march in the direction of a return to the Champions League; for Ilett, it’ll convey the top of a light-hearted stunt that has, in additional methods than one, grown uncontrolled. He may have his 5 minutes of fame. He’ll give the identical interview on his spherical of breakfast TV couches. Somebody may have paid an inordinate quantity for the cash shot of the barber’s clippers working by way of the tangled mess, and Ilett will really feel a complete lot lighter.
What does this all say in regards to the sense of entitlement that seems to be seeping into modern-day fandom? Maybe it’ll encourage copycats: a Liverpool fan from Southend on starvation strike till they signal a defender, a Tottenham supporter in Cork handcuffing themselves to a park bench till Thomas Frank is sacked. However finally, if all goes to plan, the winners shall be United, and the gamers who would not need to be reminded of their half on this woeful chapter.