Football & Music? Course You Can Malcolm

FC United Of Manchester was formed in 2005 after the Glazier family took control at Old Trafford. As the club and many others slipped away from the fans and further in to the hands of the money men, FC United offered an alternative. A member owned community Football Club, offering each member a vote on the running of the club even down to the admission price and the shirt design.The club is now entering it's 8th season and are currently playing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

You might be wondering why we are telling you about a Football Club on a music blog...Well in a small corner of Gigg Lane (The temporary home of FC) before kick off on a Saturday, you will find 'Course You Can Malcolms'. Possibly best described as a club night in the afternoon. At CYCM you'll find home made food, a fine selection of ales, great music and occasionally belly dancers.

Wanting to know more about how Malcolms fits in to the fans pre-match build up, we spoke to one of CYCM volunteers to find out.

How long have you been running? 

5 years.

What is the capacity?

160

Where does the name come from?

It means anything is possible, from the add for a cold relief sweet. Malcolm asks his mum if he can go out and his mum says 'course you can Malcolm. I am far too young to remember this.

Give us an idea of what sort of music we can expect?

Expect anything from death rock to Irish harp music. We try to keep it varied but it does reflect the availability of bands and the prevailing local musical trends.

How do you select the bands to play CYCM?

They have to be a Manchester band, playing original music and stupid enough to want to play at an insane venue on a Saturday afternoon, for a bottle of beer each. Although we did once have the Japanese band My Way My Love, whose singer ended their set with a running jump into the drum kit. Quite a few of the bands do have connections with FC too, including the members of Wu Lyf that played. We also have to thank TNS Records for assistance in organising a couple of the events recently.

How long do the bands play for?

22 minutes, one minute for each player of the football teams.

It's not just music, you've had performances from Poets and Drama groups as well?

Moston youth group MaD have performed at CYCM, Poets, and who could forget end of season belly dancers.

Can you give us a few of the highlights of CYCM so far?

It is a members collective, we organise and run the place ourselves and raise money to benefit the club. Performance highlights for me include the aforementioned My Way My Love and watching Gideon Conn's acoustic set amuse a largely hungover crowd on New Year's Day.

If you could have any band playing at CYCM, who would you be?

I am always grateful for any band that volunteers their time and puts up with us, lugging gear up the staircase at Bury. I would like it if we had a band return to CYCM after having made their fame and fortune and come back for a reunion gig.

Is this going to be the season FC get promoted from the Northern Premier?

Do we really care if we get promoted or not? We will maintain tradition and lose in the playoffs.


CYCM is the live version of A Fine Lung:
http://www.afinelung.com

You can find out more about FC United Of Manchester here

Thanks to Chris from CYCM!