When a show isn’t scripted, the participants are free to express, however, and whatever they like. But sometimes in the heat of the moment, one utters the words that lie deep buried within him which he/she had been wanting to say for long, words that might come out as obnoxious and disgraceful.
Such a thing transpired on a famous channel named the Paddock Podcast where Stephen Howson (who also has the privilege of co-hosting ‘Vibe with Five’ with Manchester United’s esteemed centre-back, Rio Ferdinand) came all out and splurged out a deplorable and a shameful comment that angered every United fan.
“I think where United are at the moment, F*** it, I’m gonna say it on camera. I think Woodward was worse for us than Munich.” This statement by Howson also shocked the host of the Paddock Podcast, who took some time to process this shameful comment made by him.
But Stephen Howson didn’t start out as a podcast show host. In fact, Howson launched his career as a Rugby League player for the Salford Red Devils. After his short stint as a rugby player, Howson was commissioned in the British Armed Forces, where he completed three operational tours of duty, which included the dangerous terrains of Afghanistan and Iraq.
After leaving the armed forces, Howson did odd jobs until landing a gig as a Presenter at Full Time Devils, the largest single club fan channel in the world. While working at this job, Howson launched a YouTube channel named ‘MMA Latest,’ which slowly turned into one of the most reliable sources of Mixed Martial Arts news.
He even started his own YouTube channel named ‘Stephen Howson’. He didn’t stop just here. He went further and made his own football club called the Stretford Paddock FC, which competes in Lancashire and Cheshire AFL Premier division. Along with the club, he runs another fan channel named ‘Stretford Paddock’ which Howson defines as a medium for sensible United fans.
But his sensibility went for a toss when he made the horrid remark about the Munich air disaster.
Everyone was at Howson’s neck for comparing a national tragedy to Woodward’s mishandling of the club in the past decade. The disgusting thought that Woodward’s era can be compared to a calamity that took place back in 1958 when eight United players and three members of their staff lost their lives in an aeroplane crash left all the fans on Twitter extremely livid.
The football netizens reminded Howson that despite Woodward making a mess of their beloved club, it gave him no right to compare losing a few trophies to the lost lives of a generational team and all the lives affected by it.
There were cries on Twitter for Ferdinand to sever all ties with Howson immediately. But after witnessing all the backlash of his absurd remark, Howson went into damage control.
Howson apologized to the fans with a tweet, mentioning that we have taken his comment out of context. He clearly stated that he’s a die-hard Red Devil who has nothing but love for his team. In his tweet, he urged everyone to see the entire clip and not just the edited part of the clip which has been doing the rounds on the internet.
“I definitely should have worded this better & apologize for any offence I’ve caused. Please watch the full context below, I hope people can see what I was trying to say. I’m a fan who loves our football club, not a trained presenter, so I may f*** up sometimes.”
It took ten years for Manchester United to recover after the tragedy in Munich. Maybe if Howson apologizes for every day for the next 10 months, he might just be able to overcome the tragic effects his words left on the fans and club alike.
If you have a speck of common sense, you would understand what he was trying to say. The Munich disaster brought United fans together, the Glazers have split the fanbase several ways. Simple.