Manchester United is one of the biggest football clubs in the world. We may not be living our glory days right now, but the pull of United reaches across the globe. Even some of the world’s most famous names have publicly backed the Red Devils.
You might hear some famous names who back the Reds and think, “Yeah, that makes sense”, like Manchester lads Tyson Fury, and Terry Christian. However, some come as a bit more of a surprise.
This post is about the latter. Surprising celebrities who genuinely support Manchester United. Not just random celebs who went to a game once. Like Justin Timberlake…
Elon Musk
To be honest, I doubt how much Elon Musk cares about Manchester United these days, but he has gone on record saying they were his favourite team as a child.
The reason we know this, is because in 2022, he posted a tweet saying he was going to buy the club:
Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2022
He quickly followed this up with a “Just kidding”, but the hysteria had already begun.
Anyway, to clear the matter up, Elon Musk explained he wasn’t buying any sports club, but then went on to tweet:
Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U. They were my fav team as a kid.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2022
Given his track record for making ‘jokes’ you could argue that this was a joke too, but it doesn’t seem that way to me. It seems like he has a genuine fondness for the Red Devils, even if he is too busy conquering space these days to come to a game.
Julia Roberts
I was surprised to find out that Julia Roberts even knew what football was, being from the land of soccer and everything, but the Oscar winning actress is a genuine Manchester United supporter.
She got into ‘soccer’ via her kids, who played the game and watched it at home. Roberts got sucked in by how exciting it was and United became the family team.
Here she is talking about it on Graham Norton:
View this post on Instagram
She has been to see them play at Old Trafford several times, has met the team, and genuinely keeps up with our results.
Go on Julia!
Stormzy
You probably already know this one, but it is nevertheless surprising to see English/Ghanaian grime artists from London supporting a football team from Manchester.
He can’t even remember how his affinity with the club started, he was just born to be a Red:
He loves football in general and has even set up a football diversity initiative called Merky FC which Man Utd partnered with him for, and he’s often seen wearing United apparel. He even had a little pop at David Moyes in one of his songs, Know Me From:
“Look I don’t rate them boysBare wasteman, bare pagan boysI come to your team and I f**k s**t upI’m David Moyes”
You have to listen to it to get the full effect. He really pings that bit out.
Poor old Moyesey.
Orlando Bloom
The Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean actor is a posh boy from Canterbury, so why on earth does he support Manchester United?
Well, he has done since he was a kid.
His neighbour and best friend came from a Manchester United family, and Bloom would spend a lot of time at their house. There would inevitably be football on some of the time, and he got wrapped up in it by default.
He admits that he hasn’t always kept up with things as an adult, but still regards United as his team. There’s nothing wrong with that. Once a red always a Red, I say.
Usain Bolt
Another famous fan you might already know, but not one with an obvious connection.
It was watching Ruud van Nistelrooy that made Usain Bolt a United fan. As a kid, Bolt idolised him, and that made him a Red. When Ruud left the club, Bolt was already invested and has been ever since.
He has been to watch numerous games, has been guest of honour in the past, and has met many players as well as Sir Alex Ferguson.
He’s not just a fan, he’s a super fan. He dreamed of playing for the cub when he was younger, and even managed to get on the pitch and score once – albeit during a Soccer Aid match. Nevertheless, he scored in a competitive fixture at Old Trafford – how many of us can say that?
Dream come true.
Conor McGregor
One of the UFC’s most outspoken fighters kept uncharacteristically quiet about his support of Manchester United. Probably because he was too busy talking about himself.
However, his history as a Red Devils fan became big news in 2017, when he revealed he was attracted to the club as a youngster by a combination of their winning mentality and the Irish representation in the team. This was the days of Roy Keane, Denis Irwin, and a young John O’Shea.
He bought his first United kit at 8 years old (that brilliant grey kit from 1996), and was pictured working out in a retro kit on his Instagram.
He had lots of good things to say about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before he was made permanent manager too:
Ole Gunnar Solskjær is a special man!
The Man United Super Sub.
Player AND Manager. Insane!
You can feel the passion he has for his club and it’s history.
Beaming with pride as he vividly explains the teams amazing counter attacking ability over the years. Past and present!
Wow!— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 26, 2019
He apparently has links to Celtic as well, but United are his first team. He even joked about buying them once at the height of the protests over the Glazer’s. Imagine McGregor dealing with player dissent!