Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has revealed that he and his teammates gave their approval for the song ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ to be played before matches at Old Trafford, as they thought it would help improve the atmosphere.
This season, United have often played the song just before kick-off, a change that fans have embraced, joining in with some passionate renditions.
United fans have sung the song for years, but this season, the decision to play it at Old Trafford has paid off. The adapted lyrics – “Take me home, United Road, to the place I belong. To Old Trafford, to see United, take me home, United Road” – have struck a chord with supporters.
Ruben Amorim taking it all in.
“Take me home, United road,
To the place I belong…”
Chills. 🥶pic.twitter.com/2AUelAHBz5
— UF (@UtdFaithfuls) November 30, 2024
Fernandes spoke at a Q&A session with fans and explained the key role he played in the radical shift in United’s pre-match routine.
The skipper said [as quoted by Manchester Evening News], “I think it’s a song that everyone knows in the dressing room, so it’s a popular song for us in the dressing room, and the understanding we had from the outside was that it’s one of the most popular songs for the club. I think the lyrics, at home, work well, so everything together, we thought it would be a good thing.”
“Obviously, we don’t want to make it as something we do because other teams do it, but we felt it’s something that the players… we spoke with certain players and said ‘what do you think about this, how would you feel about having this before the game, would it give you a push, lift you a little bit, what are your thoughts?’”
He continued, “For example, in Portugal, it is very natural that everyone has their own song, we call it an anthem. Everyone puts the song before the game starts and, as the referee whistles, they put the song down and the fans carry on singing. I was watching the Sporting game the other night and they didn’t even end up singing the song, because Sporting scored after 50 seconds!”
“But it’s a moment where every fan lifts up. Everyone in the stadium feels that song very much and it’s a song that resembles the United history as well. It was little mix of things that we thought might be a good thing to try.”
“Our main thing in the beginning was that we don’t want the song to be on by itself, we want the fans to get that. We put the song on, it starts and then the fans can carry on, we don’t need the song to be there. We don’t need to be the loudest, it’s a moment of union between the team and the fans, because it’s a song that means a lot to the fans and we know that. So it’s a moment we want the fans to take on for them but it’s going to go to the pitch.”
The playmaker noted that he has often found himself singing the song while in the tunnel before matches.
Fernandes also divulged that when the Red Devils won the FA Cup last term, ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ was the first song club staff broke into to celebrate the momentous occasion.
According to Fernandes, United staff also weighed in on the decision to shake up their pre-match routine. It was just the players alone.
United are back in action later this evening when they take on Lyon in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie. It’s almost guaranteed that Old Trafford will be buzzing, with ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ on everyone’s lips. Kick-off is at 20:00 BST.
Featured image Shaun Botterill via Getty Images
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