UNITED. DELIVERED.: CRUNCHING IN CARDIFF

The UNITED. DELIVERED Global Football Tour touched back down in the UK for a fun-filled, bone-crunching parent-child match in Cardiff. Host says it was “worth every ounce of pain.”

A broken rib was not quite what Dan Robertson expected when he registered for a chance to host a UNITED. DELIVERED. match. Instead, he wanted to host a “great morale boosting event” for kids and parents. He got both, and he says it was worth it.

“I know I’m paying the price now, but I wouldn’t have changed it for the world…it’s worth every ounce of pain,” he said after the match.

A die-hard Manchester United fan who dreamed as a child of staring in the Theatre of Dreams himself, Dan now shares his passion for football coaching kids in his community. He leads the under 14 boys team at A.F.C. Whitchurch, which he describes as a grassroots football team. He has big dreams for his team, too. 

“If we can coach one of these kids to make it, then that would be awesome,” he says.

My body is a wreck but it’s worth every ounce of pain.

Dan Robertson, UNITED.DELIVERED. match host

Putting Cardiff on the map

Dan says hosting a UNITED. DELIVERED. match was the perfect opportunity to combine his love for Manchester United with his passion for coaching. He essentially saw it as a gift he could give his players and their families for their great spirit and support.

“This would be a dream for me,” he said in his entry. “I would love for my kid’s team to be part of this event. I’m so proud of my team.”

He also wanted to reward the families for everything they do for the team.

“All the parents come and support week in week out,” he said. “I want to give them a chance to put on a kit one more time and show the kids what they are made of.”

How does he feel about sharing a match ball with other United fans around the world?

“It’s unbelievable that the ball has travelled the world and is now here in little old Wales,” he says. “I think there’s something like 600 million fans around the globe, so we’re putting Wales and Cardiff on the map.”

Watch more tour highlights from November:

Putting your money where your mouth is

Dan put together a parent-child match pitting his team against their parents and guardians. 

“This will be a great morale boosting event,” he said in his entry. “Football should always be a fun family friendly game so may this continue.”

The parents fancy their chances against the boys.

Dan Robertson

But perhaps he also wanted to challenge his players – and show the parents a thing or two. 

“The parents fancy their chances against the boys, so I thought, ok, put your money where your mouth is and we’ll have a game.”

Indeed, they did. It was a very close game right to the end as each side – the kids in yellow and the parents in red – fought hard for some extra special bragging rights. So hard in fact that coach Dan himself broke a rib while scoring a goal. Talk about total commitment! 

It was all in good fun and Dan says the experience far outweighs the injury.

“Today was amazing. My body is a wreck, but it’s worth every ounce of pain. Thank you so much!”

A trip to Old Trafford

Dan now has a chance to win another dream moment: a trip to Old Trafford. That’s something the coach and family man doesn’t get to do these days.

“It would mean the world to go back to Old Trafford,” he says. “I’d been quite a few times before I started coaching, but now my Saturdays are taken up with coaching and family life.”

The UNITED. DELIVERED. matches will be held throughout the 2017/18 season. You can follow the Tour, check out pictures from each of the local matches, and lend your support to the red or yellow sides at each stop by visiting the UNITED. DELIVERED. page on InMotion, or following @DHLManUtdand #DHLUnitedDelivered on Twitter.

Register here to win the chance to host a match with the official UNITED. DELIVERED. football.