In any other town Wythenshawe Amateurs Football Club might get a little bit more love.
However, growing a club in the shadow of two of the footballing world’s biggest behemoths has its difficulties.
But when those two giants unite and place a brotherly arm around you the prospects suddenly seem a lot brighter.
As Wythenshawe look to secure a £100,000 ‘super grant’ from Budweiser both Manchester United and City have pledged to support the side.
The Reds plan to broadcast a show every week on its MUTV channel highlighting the club and showcasing their shared history while City will be showing their support through their social media channels.
MUTV will showcase the fixture in 1956 when Wythenshawe Amateurs faced off against a United youth team featuring Sir Bobby Charlton and Wilf McGuiness.
The teams played out a competitive 2-2 draw and shared a trophy for six months each.
MM spoke with Basil Kabbani, Chairman of Wythenshawe Amateurs, who said that the club are hoping to use the ‘super grant’ to make it a centre for everyone in the area.
“The area deserves a big club; we are the largest club in the Manchester area post code,” he said.
“We want to give the club a chance to be the hub of the community, the £100,000 will be a catalyst to develop the club.”
“We have received a lot of support from a number of places but we have not received the financial backing.”
The club was founded in 1946 and have three senior teams, 20 junior teams, two girls teams and a ladies team but because of their lack of a regular base they have to play across six different sites.
There are plans to increase the number of teams to 40.
“There are 90,000 people living in Wythenshawe, the same number as Oldham who have a football league club,” said Mr Kabbani.
Wythenshawe Amateurs are hoping to fend off competition from seven other non-league clubs to secure the £100,000 grant from the Budweiser Club Futures Programme in partnership with the FA.
The grant would be put towards developing a state-of-the-art clubhouse with changing rooms for the senior and youth team setups.
The club are urging fans to support the club and go online and vote on Facebook, voting will close on the February 28.
To vote visit www.facebook.com/budweiseruk and follow the links to Budweiser Club Futures.
Video and Image courtesy of MUTV via YouTube, with thanks
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