Manchester United paid tribute to their late fan, Mani of The Stone Roses, ahead of their game against Arsenal today (January 25).
The Manchester music icon passed away from respiratory issues in November at the age of 63 and was laid to rest the following month with a funeral at Manchester Cathedral that was attended by countless friends and music legends, including Liam Gallagher, Paul Weller and Ian Brown.
Also there were Manchester United legends David Beckham and Gary Neville, and it was well known that Mani was a devoted and lifelong fan of the Red Devils.
On Sunday afternoon, United travelled to the Emirates Stadium to play Arsenal in the Premier League, and they took the opportunity to pay tribute to Mani by walking out of the tunnel wearing jackets with ‘Mani 1962-2025′ printed beneath the club crest, alongside artwork reminiscent of The Stone Roses’ first album.
Forever United 🔴🍋
This afternoon, we will pay tribute to the late, great Mani ❤️ pic.twitter.com/QHl3cBL8CI
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 25, 2026
Loving that jacket in memory of Mani. 🍋
R.I.P Mani. ♥️ pic.twitter.com/dV1rnt7Ts6
— Paul Manc Bald and Bred (@MufcWonItAll2) January 25, 2026
Amazing tribute to Mani from Manchester United pic.twitter.com/aO8nMskEQV
— Bands FC (@_Bands_FC) January 25, 2026
A tribute from the club after his death read: “A lifelong Red and friend of the club…Mani’s music continues to be played at every Old Trafford matchday and most notably when ‘This is the One’ signals the teams walking out of the tunnel. It continued to make him proud when attending fixtures with his family. The club was part of his DNA and he was proud to be Red.”
They concluded: “A part of Manchester’s history, Mani will be sadly missed by everybody who knew and loved him. The club’s thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.”
Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown spoke at the funeral ceremony. “Mani was like a brother to me, a musical comrade,” he told the congregation. “Beautiful soul and spirit. Mani was able to laugh his way through any darkness. He was the life and soul of any room he was in.”
Mani also played with Primal Scream from 1996 to 2011, and Bobby Gillespie also spoke at the ceremony: “Mani’s warm and welcoming manner, treating me like an equal, made me feel like a million dollars, and I’ll never forget that. No-one was too important to escape his laser-eye ability to cut the pretentious and self-important down to size, myself included.”
“His ability to make laughter out of any situation was our great value wherever we were in the world,” Gillespie added. Comparing his aura to that of Manchester United legend Eric Cantona, he said: “Mani’s not dead, he’s just gone. He will always live forever in my soul and mind.”
In a tribute to Mani, NME described how the late musician “held a rare place in the world of bass heroes” and “defined a scene with some of the most infectious and hypnotic basslines ever recorded.”
“Both weighty and melodic, Mani’s bewitching basslines became the bedrock and, often, the driving force of The Roses’ breakthrough tracks ‘Elephant Stone’, ‘Made Of Stone’ and ‘She Bangs The Drums’, and underpinned the band’s low-slung funk development on ‘Fools Gold’ – arguably a four-minute encapsulation of the entire late-’80s dance rock scene,” it read.
Tributes poured in after the news of Mani’s death was shared. My Bloody Valentine dedicated their first tour in seven years to him, Oasis played ‘Live Forever’ in his honour, and Richard Ashcroft played a cover of ‘She Bangs The Drums’.
