Lindsay Roe talks about Hotel Football and his fifty year journey supporting the Manchester team
Football fans smiling over drinks in a busy hotel café
Lindsay Roe at Hotel Football(Image: Hotel Football)
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Football's magnetic energy drew an eleven year old Lindsay to Manchester's Old Trafford ground in 1976, with his uncle. United were playing Birmingham City.
“I remember everything from that first game," he reminisced. "From the smells of the street vendors, to climbing the stairs to the Stretford End and then seeing the stadium open out in front of you; I knew I was hooked from that first moment.”
Half a century and a thousand pilgrimages later, Lindsay Roe, 61, branch secretary of Nottingham's Manchester United Supporters Club, is organising coaches to Old Trafford for fans residing in the midlands.
The former Ilkeston operations director's commitment to the Manchester United games has made him a witness to fifty years of change in the world of football, 'not for the better in some instances.' Throughout his life of adventure following the team from Rotterdam in 1991 to Moscow in 2008, watching stadiums grow, Sky TV elevating the English leagues, and relationships with club branches see-sawing, there is one game-changer Lindsay consistently credits for brightening his experience the most.
"In the last ten years since it's been open, Hotel Football has added a new dimension to the match day experience for me," Lindsay told the Manchester Evening News. "What the guys do at the hotel is brilliant, the atmosphere it generates just really caters to everyone's taste."
Manchester United supporter standing between Old Trafford stadium and Hotel Football
Lindsay Roe outside Hotel Football, Old Trafford a stone's throw away(Image: Hotel Football)
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Linday's connection with the stadium's next-door neighbour began before the doors had even opened in 2015, this relationship leading to his Supporter Branch becoming acquainted with one of England's national team legends.
"The manager at the time took me round before it was completed," Lindsay said. "I saw it at different development stages, and you could tell from the layout and plans that it was going to be exciting to experience. Then when it opened that's where I met Gary Neville, who did a dinner for us at the hotel, then later down in Nottingham.
"Just an amazing night. Gary was so accommodating and approachable, he had photographs with everybody, autographs with people that wanted them. We organise dinners from time to time in Nottingham, but we still talk about that one as one of the best we've ever done."
From that moment, Hotel Football has become a second home for Lindsay, going far beyond simple lodging as the place where his matchdays begin. The pre-match and post-match events have become key extensions of his matchday experience:
"Whether it's food and drinks in the bar, catching up with new and old friends or one of the hospitality packages which include guest speakers and quizzes, the atmosphere is electric," he said. “Words don’t do it justice. From the moment you walk through the door, you feel welcome and special."
Lindsay attends 'every game at Old Trafford,' but notes that the hotel's facilities enhance the experience even for people without tickets. "Sometimes you'll have a family where two of them will go, two of them will stay, so they obviously show all the games in the bar area, and at the Old Trafford Supporters Club downstairs."
The site offers 133 guest rooms with 40-inch plasma TVs, on-site Café Football guest dining, 'influenced by the spirit of the game,' and dry cleaning services.
Though Lindsay's duties to bring the Nottingham supporters branch to matches has evolved with time, he had been involved in the committee since day one in 1990, counting 30 to 35 members who have also been there with him since the start of the journey. "We also tend to have two or three summer trips to 'test cricket' games with some people from the supporters club, at grounds like Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, and the Oval," he added.
The fiftieth anniversary of Lindsay's first historic match is coming up this August, and although the exact logistics are still in the air, he has let the Hotel know ahead of time that he is planning celebrations: "If there is something that can be organised at Old Trafford through the Supporters Club then that's even better."
Hotel Football is 1.1 km from The Lowry, 3 km from The Opera House, and 11 km away from Manchester Airport.
Jess Southworth, sales and marketing director at the hotel, sums up that what Lindsay gets out of Hotel Football is returned through his presence: "His passion for Manchester United and his loyalty to us and the club make him truly special. Every time he walks through our doors, he brings that same energy and enthusiasm that defines football culture and we’re proud to call him our very own ‘superfan’.”
Lindsay Roe outside Hotel Football
“You can’t guarantee the result after 90 minutes, but you can guarantee you’ll have a great time here. The location is perfect for football, but it's the people that make you want to come back."(Image: Hotel Football)
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