Usain Bolt calls Manchester United fan show from Jamaica to discuss victory over Middlesbrough

United fan Bolt called MUTV from Jamaica to express how happy he was with the 2-1 win over Middlesbrough and admit it was 'like watching the old Manchester United'

Jack de Menezes
Saturday 31 December 2016 19:59 GMT
Comments
Usain Bolt calls Manchester United fan show from Jamaica to discuss victory over Middlesbrough

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

If Manchester United fans were surprised with how the side rallied from behind to beat Middlesbrough, there was an even bigger shock in store for viewers of MUTV.

The years since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement has seen the famous United comeback, often in ‘Fergie Time’, disappear from the Premier League, but the good old days returned on Saturday afternoon as United fought back to claim a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba.

After matches, United’s in-house channel MUTV hosts a fan phone in show, with Lou Macari and offering their thoughts on the match as supporters call in.

One person they will not have been expecting to call in though is nine-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt, but that’s exactly what they got.

Originally believing they were taking a call from “Usain from Jamaica”, presenter Mandy Henry enquired if it was Usain Bolt, though she clearly did not expect him to confirm he was the world’s fastest man.

But after claiming that he was indeed the Olympic legend, he went on to explain why he was so impressed with the performance from United, while former players Gordon McQueen and Lou Macari starred on in amazement.

“It is Usain Bolt, it is Mr Bolt,” he said. “I’m just saying how I’m really proud of the guys today. They came through, I felt like I was watching the old Manchester United. They really came through.

Bolt’s line from Jamaica wasn’t the greatest, which led to him being inaudible for a few seconds, before adding: “They pushed on and persevered, the Manchester United way. It was a great match, I’m happy, very happy about this.”

Asked how if he had anything special planned for the New Year, he answered: “No, just home and a few fireworks. That’s it.”

Henry, McQueen and Macari looked bemused by what had just happened, fully aware that the call was in all likelihood a hoax, but the Jamiacan took to Twitter to confirm it was actually him.

“Come on lad of course it was me on @ManUtd TV just now,” he wrote.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in