Day With The Brigade

It's been 13 years since Roy Keane made those infamous comments about the Prawn Sandwich Brigade at Old Trafford, but while Keane left the club a few years later, the corporate hospitality (like United) will never die. The irony wasn't lost on me, then, when I found myself looking at Keane's name up on the honours board in the Captains Lounge, one of United's many hospitality suites, yesterday.

Miraculously, by way of a lot of people being unavailable, I'd received an offer from some family friends (thank you!) to the tune of two free corporate tickets to  the United vs. West Brom match. Naturally, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Adam and myself found ourselves suited and booted on Sir Matt Busby Way, with a hangover to match United's actual performance. While the game might not quite have gone to plan, I couldn't enjoy all the free hospitality without sharing it.

The biggest difference between watching with the punters and sitting with the big wigs is the fact that, rather than shovelling down a burger on the walk to the match, you can enjoy a three-course meal while the ground fills up. Unfortunately, on this occasion there were no prawn sandwiches but there was more than enough to sort out two lads trying to sort out foggy heads. For starters, I went with the antipasti platter or, as I prefer to call it, meat plate.

Next up, more meat. I'm not normally a lamb fan but we went for it on recommendation. I'm aware that the dish doesn't look incredible but hey, taste and sight are two very different senses.

And, just before kick off, we tucked into... no, not meat, but the time-old combination of sticky toffee pudding and ice cream. 

There was also the chance to indulge in a few half-time and post-match beers, provided by United's official beer partners, of course - thanks Monsieur Woodward.

United also leave you with a couple of souvenirs, including a personal plaque with the fixture details to make sure you never forget a disappointing 2-1 defeat. And all for the price of rail fare and having no voice! Now, let's sort out what's going on on the pitch!