Man U's Finest Ignore Chevy's Offering For Their Own Rides
Chevrolet may be sponsoring football club Manchester United ( while also pulling out of the European market), but it doesn’t mean the footballers are interested in what their sponsors are selling.
The Daily Mail (yes, I know – CA) reports the 15 Chevrolets delivered to the club back in April — including Camaros and Corvette Stingrays — haven’t been driven in anger or on the high street by any of the players on the team. A source stated the cars, when not sleeping in the Carrington Training Centre’s parking lot, were only driven by the training ground staff.
Instead, the team roll up in more European fare: Man U captain Wayne Rooney waves the Union Jack proudly in his “Overfinch” Range Rover, midfielder Marouane Fellani opts for the Teutonic precision of his Mercedes SUV, and striker Robin van Persie pulls up for practice in a Porsche 911. Only team manager Louis van Gaal drives a Chevy — a Captiva, to be exact — but that belongs to him.
Though a Chevrolet representative stated the players were under no obligation to drive any of the 15 vehicles delivered — the rep called the provision a “voluntary drive programme” — the move isn’t likely sitting well with the brand, who paid £350 million ($560 million USD) in 2012 to sponsor the team over seven years.
Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.
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You are a soccer rock star and you show up to a club party in a soccer club loaner, after having wiped off the prior player's sperm from the steering wheel. Yeah, that makes sense.
The Daily Mail article shows the players' Porsche, Range Rovers and Mercedes as RHD. I wonder if the Corvettes and Camaros were RHD?
Americans refuse to watch Europe's subpar interpretation of sport. If Man U players refuse to drive free Chevrolets, they are merely restoring cultural equity.
Two forms of xenophobia are exhibited by the post and the replies. The first is the usual Euro attitude shown by the Man U players towards American cars - They're awful. The second is the usual American attitude shown towards football, as it is known in the entire rest of the world - Soccer is awful. Both are demonstrably the attitudes of folk with their heads buried so far in the sand that the available oxygen levels are only barely enough to sustain minimal levels of sentient life.