A fan's year-long hair bet hinges on Manchester United's winning streak. Can Michael Carrick's revitalized squad finally deliver?
Frank Ilett is a Manchester United fan who has not cut his hair since 5 October 2024, because of the club, but it seems that is about to change shortly.
The fan became famous for making a simple, but difficult to fulfill, bet, motivated by the growth of his social media following in parallel with the length of his hair: to let it grow until his team won five consecutive matches.
In a desperate attempt to mock his own team and conditioned by the pressure from people seeing his progress every day as he posted on social media how he was letting his hair grow, Frank resisted, lasted over a year, and the Red Devils could not complete the streak.
But in 2026, it seems the story will be different, as since Michael Carrick assumed responsibility as coach following Ruben Amorim's departure, the team has entered an enviable rhythm that now has them in fourth place overall in the Premier League.
And that gained even more strength this Sunday by dramatically defeating Fulham 3-2 in Matchday 24.
Casemiro and Matheus Cunha had them ahead 2-0 by the 56th minute, then Jimenez at 85' and Kevin at 90+1' seemed to give the Cottagers the equalizer, but Benjamin Sesko scored at the last second at 90+4' to seal the victory.
Manchester United is in a Champions League spot, only five points behind second place (Manchester City) and 12 behind leader Arsenal (53), so in addition to being able to compete for Frank Ilett's cursed streak, they can also aim for the title, as everything is going this campaign.
The team had to recover from losing against Brighton in the FA Cup third round, shake off the failure, and rise against two of the three strongest teams in the league.
To do so, it defeated City 2-0 in the Manchester derby and won against all odds 3-2 against Arsenal, so its third consecutive victory came against Fulham.
For Frank Ilett, the fan behind the page 'The United Strand', which already has 880 thousand followers on Instagram, to be able to cut his hair, United must win its next two matches.
This would occur, at best, on Tuesday, 10 February against West Ham, provided they first beat Tottenham on Saturday, 7 February at Old Trafford.
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