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Nieuws
- 31 minutes ago
How one Man Utd fan's hair captured the attention of the football world
Martin Macdonald
- 1 Nov 2025 05:01 CDT
- 8 min read
Nieuws
He is the most famous Manchester United fan in the world at the moment.
In October of 2024, die-hard Red Devils supporter Frank Ilett came up with the idea to not cut his hair until Man Utd won five matches in a row as they hadn't done so since the previous February.
At the time the joke was conceived, Man Utd were 14th in the Premier League, having endured a poor start to the season under Erik ten Hag.
Fast forward over a year later and the team, now under Ruben Amorim, have still yet to achieve the feat which has led Ilett's hair left to grow, and grow...and grow.
It has been nearly 400 days since he started growing his hair.
Ilett wen't viral and soon became internet-famous with well over half a million followers on Instagram. He updates his followers every day with his journey.
Back in March of 2025, he told BBC Radio Manchester: "I'm really hoping it's done by the end of the season or else it's going to be a very hot summer.
"Sadly I reckon it's going to be next season now, I think. I've looked at the remaining fixtures and I don't see a run of five that's winnable.
"It has been very difficult.
"But I want to do the hair cut at Old Trafford, or at least somewhere nearby.
"Either way, there's plenty of time to plan it!"
He was right, it did go into next season.
As Man Utd lost and drew more matches, some actually forgot about the challenge, but he is back in the headlines again as the Red Devils have won three matches in a row.
This weekend, they hope to make it four against struggling Nottingham Forest.
The deciding fixture may very well come against Tottenham in two weeks.
'Beckham should cut his hair!'
When asked about Ilett, who calls himself 'The United Strand', former Man Utd star Nani responded by saying that United legend David Beckham should be the one to cut Frank's hair.
"If that means that Man Utd is winning, I want him to cut his hair," the Portuguese told Covers.
"We need two more games and I believe it's going to happen because of the way we've been playing, I think it’s deserved. Man Utd just need to be very, very disciplined during the next two games, staying humble and working hard.
"It doesn’t need to be 3-0 or 4-0, 1-0 is enough. I think after he cuts his hair then everything will change and we will look forward. I think he’d like a legend to cut his hair and I think David Beckham should do it, he’s had plenty of practice. He'd be perfect!"
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