member loginOliver Houston
Vice Chair
Having been active in the SUAM campaign, Oliver has been a Committee member and SU/MUST's Press Officer since our inauguration in 1999.
He was a journalist in Manchester, working for the official websites of the League Managers’ Association and the English Premiership, before moving to London in 2002 to be a Campaigns & Communications Officer for an international human rights organisation. He now runs his own independent film production company.
In 2004 he was elected as our Vice-Chair, though he is still principally responsible for MUST's relations with the media.
Oliver is the son of one of SUAM’s founders, the late Roger Brierley , and the day he was brought home from hospital after being born, his first introduction to our beloved United was no less than the 1977 FA Cup final, when United wrecked Liverpool’s treble ambitions.
Excluding the Cantona years (surely just a dream) and the Treble season (all still a blur), the best games Oliver says he ever attended were:
His first match at Old Trafford on January 24th 1987, when United beat Arsenal 2-0 in the League: David Rocastle was sent off, fisticuffs in the dug-outs ensued, and Terry Gibson scored his first and only goal for the club - Roger said that seeing his 9-year-old lad leap up in the Stretford End shouting "Off! Off! Off!" was among his proudest ever moments as a parent!
His first Cup Final(s) and Semi-Final(s) in April and May 1990, when United had to replay Denis Irwin’s Oldham Athletic after a 3-3 Semi at Main Road, beating them 2-1, before again drawing in the Final 3-3 with Crystal Palace (who had beaten Liverpool 4-3 in their equally thrilling Semi), with one of the strikes being a particularly beautiful belter from Sparky, only to eventually win the Final replay 1-0 and lift the trophy – exhausting and exhilarating!
His first ‘away’ game, on November 28th 1990, when he witnessed the total thrashing of Arsenal at Highbury 6-2 in the Rumbelows Cup (though it still felt unusually tense at 4-2 up), with a joyously show-boating hat-trick from Lee Sharpe.
One of the great European nights at Old Trafford on October 1st 1997 when, having demolished Porto 4-0 the previous season, United turned it on like never before and, with an incredible 3-2 win over Zidane’s Juventus (which was actually 3-0 if you discount the first and last minutes!), at last instilled the unshakable belief that the trophy would one day soon rightfully be ours.
The greatest (or, at least, the funniest) comeback of all-time, on September 29th 2001, 5-3 away against Spurs in the League. Chants of “3 nil up and f*ucked it up, Tottenham is our name” and “Hoddle for England” had everyone in fits of laughter all afternoon.
You can read ‘profile interviews’ about Oliver’s work with MUST, conducted in February 2005, by The Times (‘Fans hell-bent on foiling Glazer’) and the Manchester Evening News (‘The Reds Defender’) as well as articles he’s written for The Sunday Times about the takeover (‘Supporters must pull together to resist Glazer’s advance’) and The Observer about ABU-ism (‘United crisis? You're just jealous of the Reds’)
Oliver also spent a number of years writing about Colombia, home to the world’s longest-running civil war. This included widely syndicated articles (eg-‘War is Brewing in Colombia’) letters to newspapers (eg-‘No Arms Aid to Colombia’), and editing the magazine ‘Justice for Colombia’.
He is a member of the National Union of Journalists, and also of the Labour Party, where he campaigned against the invasion of Iraq (‘War in the Gulf tests loyalty of the faithful’).
Oliver can’t stand people talking in the cinema, leaving mobile phones on in theatres, or putting raisins in scones.
He is now old enough to finally admit he’ll probably never pull on the No.7 shirt for United, although he spent many years as a youngster attending the Bobby Charlton Soccer School with precisely that goal in mind - and his fondest memory is having been lucky enough (aged 8) to have a kick-about on the pitch at Old Trafford!
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