Who is The United Strand? Why Manchester United fan Frank Ilett is refusing to cut his hair

A Manchester United fan has amassed over 1.5 million followers on social media, solely through the decision to avoid cutting his hair.

The Red Devils have not had it easy since Ruben Amorim arrived at the club, finishing 15th last season, and though there are some green shoots, they are still prone to bouts of rocky form.

If you’re struggling to picture how rocky it’s been at Old Trafford, content creator Frank Ilett has a nifty visual representation.

Who is The United Strand?

Back at the start of October in 2024, around a month before Amorim was appointed head coach, Ilett, also known as The United Strand, set his club a challenge.

He vowed not to cut his hair until Manchester United managed to win five games in a row, a feat they last managed in February 2024.

The 29-year-old, formally from Oxford and now living in Spain, has documented every single day of his challenge across his various social media accounts.

With each daily video, his mop of curly hair expands to the point where it is now almost bursting out of frame on his portrait vlogs, prompting him to strike up a partnership with Little Princess Trust, a charity that provides free wigs to young people up to the age of 24 who have lost their hair through cancer treatment or other conditions.

The name The United Strand is a play on famous Red Devils fan channel The United Stand, hosted by controversial social media figure Mark Goldbridge.

“It’s been an absolutely crazy journey – I never expected my hair, or my following, to be as big as it has become,” Ilett told the BBC.

The challenge has even reached Amorim. “Ah, one day he’s going to cut his hair,” Amorim told Men in Blazers. “I don't know when! Let's win the next one, then we'll see. For me, I just hope for him to cut his hair as soon as possible.”

In FourFourTwo’s opinion, Ilett has set a very ambitious target at a difficult time for the Red Devils.

With the club not in Europe, and out of the Carabao Cup, United only have FA Cup and Premier League games to bank five consecutive wins, not an easy task given the quality of the division.

But it came close in October, with wins against Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton, before relatively close draws with Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest, so it’s clearly not impossible.

For the sake of Ilett, his barber and Manchester United fans in general, let’s hope his hair is being cut sooner rather than later.

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