Sacked Amorim apologises to Man United fan whose hair keeps growing until five straight wins

Ruben Amorim has acknowledged the viral Manchester United supporter who has not cut his hair since October 2024, telling Frank Ilett — known online as ‘The United Strand’ — ‘sorry about that’ when the pair crossed paths at the Portugal Football Summit.

Ilett began his challenge on 5 October 2024, vowing to let his hair grow until United win five matches in a row, with all proceeds from donations going to the Little Princess Trust, a charity that provides real-hair wigs to children who have lost their hair through cancer treatment. Amorim, who was sacked by United in January after finishing 15th in his debut Premier League campaign, twice guided the club to three-match winning streaks — close, but never enough to trigger a haircut.

Ilett shared a photo with the former United boss on Instagram, captioning it: “Great to meet Ruben Amorim at the @portugalfootballsummit. He saw me, pointed to my hair and said ‘sorry about that!’” He added: “Still have love for him.”

The fan’s challenge has attracted widespread attention, and Ilett has spoken openly about his dream ending to the saga. “My ideal thing would be to get it cut at Old Trafford by one of the players,” he told talkSPORT in September 2025. “I completely understand why they haven’t been in contact with me. But I’m hoping once there’s maybe a bit more of a positive vibe around results, if we’re on four-in-a-row, then hopefully they might feel like they’re in a place to sort that out for me.”

United’s last five-match winning run came under Erik ten Hag in February 2024. Under current manager Michael Carrick, the club came closest to ending Ilett’s wait — winning the first four games of Carrick’s tenure before drawing with West Ham in February. United’s most recent outing ended in a draw with Fulham ahead of the international break, with their next fixture against Tottenham Hotspur on 10 October.

By the time the challenge is finally completed, it will have been more than two years since Ilett’s last haircut. Amorim, meanwhile, has moved on to AC Milan, where he has made a steady start to the Serie A season with the club sitting fifth in the table.