Meet the Man United super fan who hasn't missed a game since '74 and skipped his brother's wedding for a match

Is this Britain’s most dedicated football fan? Manchester United supporter Peter Bolton may take some beating.

The 56-year-old, who is set to jet off to follow the Red Devils on their pre-season tour of Asia and Australia, has not missed a single game at Old Trafford since 1974 and Bolton even dodged his brother’s wedding for a United game.

Speaking to Sportsmail, Bolton said: ‘When I met my wife in 1976 at a disco, she asked me if I would be going the next week. I replied “No, it’s Spurs away.” From day one, she has known I live my life around the football. In 1979, we were getting married and I picked a nice June date – because there would be no football!’

Present and correct: Man United super-fan Peter Bolton with the World Club Cup in a photograph from 2008

‘When my brother was getting married, he had a weekend date set during the season. I had to make an executive decision…so I went to see United at home and then went along to the wedding party at night. He wasn’t upset. He knew that football would rule when he set a date during the season.’

Next week, Bolton flies out to Sydney for the second leg of the United tour – his wife suggested he gave Bangkok a miss – and it is the start of a hectic three week spell in which football-mad Bolton will clock up 30,000 miles and spend over 50 hours in the air as he follows new manager David Moyes’ first pre-season with the club.

Bolton, who lives just a few miles away from Old Trafford in Timperley, said: ‘I doubt I will get much change out of £5,000 over the next few weeks. It’s hard to tell, as you can never predict with spending money but there will always be things to see and do in cities likes Sydney as one-offs.



'I have worked out that my total travelling will be over 30,000 miles and some 55 hours on the plane. The problem is that none of the flights are direct.

Club legend: Gary Neville stands next to Bolton's One Love United flag

‘I will be going from Manchester to Sydney via Dubai. Then Sydney to Yokohama via South Korea. Then it will be the Osaka train for the next one before heading to Hong Kong via Shanghai. Then it’s back to Manchester via Dubai and up to Stockholm in Sweden. Even coming back from there, we have to go via Oslo!'

Bolton, who has attended over 1,000 consecutive home games and been following United since 1962, also has a keen interest in the youth set-up at Old Trafford.

‘I did 120 games last year. If the first-team aren’t playing, I’ll try and follow the reserve and youth teams as much as I can – both home and away. Last year, I went to Swansea and Southampton to support the youth team.

‘My wife knows I love football and there’s a lot of other days in the year where I can spend time with her and the family. At the end of the day, I’m only going to football. It’s not like I’m out drinking all night or other things like that that other husbands may be doing. But that’s my life – football, family and the kids – that’s all that matters.’