Get ready for a Stand Off

Main Stand and MRE to battle it out at Grantham game

With Christmas not far away and carols in the air, we thought it would be a great idea, and a bit of festive fun, to finally get an answer to the perennial question: Which stand is the loudest at FC United - the Main Stand or MRE?

So, at the last home game before Christmas against Grantham Town on Saturday, December 15, there will be a competition between the two stands to see which of them can sing the loudest and generate the best atmosphere throughout the game. The judges deciding the winner will be FC United manager Margy, coach Chuks and player development coach Daz Lyons. They will base their verdicts on which stand gets behind the team longest and loudest throughout the game.

So what’s its all going to sound like on the day? We spoke to some FC regulars to get their views. Danny Livesey, one of the loudest singers in the MRE, said: “The only good thing about the Main Stand is the view.???

Trev Fox, self-styled Main Stand singer/ songwriter, is looking forward to the day. "We’re working on a few new Christmas songs. It’ll confuse the MRE, they won’t know what hit ’em," he told us.

Lee Barrow, ex MRE’er but now in the Main Stand, said: "I used to go in the MRE on a regular basis but what’s with singing the songs so fast? The Main Stand sing at the right speed. I think Stand Off is a great idea. A few of the young ones in the MRE have gone off to college and/or found girlfriends, so we need to get them back for this game," he said.

Throwing down the gauntlet to the MRE, Main Stand regular Paul Cambridge said simply: “We are the MAIN Stand, they are just the apprentices."

FC manager Karl Marginson is also looking forward to the day. “Our supporters are fantastic and it will be great to have a bit of pre-Christmas fun to see if we can replicate some of the best atmospheres we’ve ever had at Gigg Lane," he said. "I don’t know how we’ll choose between the stands, and who will come out on top but we’ll see on the day.???

Whether you’re a Main Stander or an MREer, let’s turn the Grantham game into a flag day to create some colour and while we’re at it give those old MRE and Main Stand supporters who haven’t been for a while a big nudge to get along and sing their hearts out for the Stand Off Trophy.