MANCHESTER UNITED have offered a hilarious official response to the supporter who continues to go without a haircut until the club win five games in a row.
Frank Illett, 29, made the vow over a year ago to grow out his frizzy and curly hair before Ruben Amorim was even in charge and is still waiting for United to deliver.
Following Sunday’s dramatic 2-1 win over Liverpool, the first time the Red Devils have tasted victory at Anfield since 2016, Illett is now as close as he has been to making a much-needed trip to the barber.
His hair, which is now the stuff of social media legend, has helped gain him over 327,000 TikTok followers, 7.7million likes, and almost 500,000 Instagram followers.
Such is the prominence of his page United We Strand – a play on the popular site United We Stand – the club itself was drawn to celebrating Harry Maguire’s shock header on Merseyside.
Speaking in his daily video post (now up to 380), Illett had said on Sunday morning: “Away to Liverpool today, a win here could change everything.”
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Seizing the chance to cash in on a memorable day against their historic rivals, United’s official TikTok account replied: “We have an encouraging update”.
Illett himself was all too happy to respond again. He said: “Yessss!! 3 to go! 🙏🤩”
While his online fame has drawn 99 per cent positive interactions, Illett was attacked earlier this season during the win over Chelsea.
He told SunSport: “Yeah, it was a bit weird to be honest! I thought he was just joking to start with, but then he started yanking my hair and calling me an ‘attention-seeking c***’.
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“The whole day was full of hundreds of positive interactions yesterday and 99 per cent of all of the reactions to this challenge has been nice. But just a few people can ruin it!
“My intention with this challenge was never to highlight Man United’s flaws. It was always and always will be to spread humour and positivity to United fans in a difficult time.
“I never expected it to go on for so long, but I’m hopeful we can go on a good run soon and I, more than most, want these wins to come as soon as possible!
“I will always try to focus on the positives and hope that this was just a one off.”
To mark one year of the journey, Illett dyed his hair red and has now even seen defender Diogo Dalot asked about his wait.
Talking to DAZN afterwards, Dalot said: “Let’s see. We hope that we can give him that haircut.
“But we have to go game by game. Obviously, we know this is a very difficult league, we have tough games.
“And, of course, we have to go after that consistency that we have lacked because we have already shown in the past that we can compete against any team in the world.
“We get to the big games, we get to have good performances. Now it’s trying to make it happen every game.
“We now have the next game at home and that’s what’s important to us.”
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Amorim has finally won back-to-back league games for the first time since being appointed and has the chance to make it three in a row in all competitions next time out at Old Trafford against Brighton.
United beat Sunderland before the international break but saw their streak reset before that with a loss away to Brentford.
Man Utd ratings vs Liverpool
MANCHESTER UNITED secured a famous win away at Liverpool courtesy of a late Harry Maguire header.
The Red Devils had not won at Anfield since 2016, but Ruben Amorim’s bold tactical moves paid off.
Though they did have to rely on a bad day in front of goal for their hosts as both Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo missed sitters.
Whereas down the other end, Bryan Mbeumo scored after less than two minutes with a shot that Georgi Mamardashvili may feel he should have kept out.
Gakpo did get on the scoresheet with one of his many chances as he tapped in almost on the goal-line.
But Man Utd weathered a storm from the Reds and Bruno Fernandes’ brilliant assist allowed Harry Maguire to head home the winner.
Here’s how SunSport’s Samuel Luckhurst rated the Red Devils’ stars.
Read the full article here